The wait is almost over – the third Good Beer Week kicks off in less than 24 hours. The Crafty Pint will be there at 8.30am tomorrow morning for the start of the very first event, The Big Apple & The Goat at Mountain Goat, and, all being well, will still be going strong when the last beer is being poured on May 26.
By now, pretty much everyone should know what they’re doing over the coming nine days – if not, why not!!! There’s a pretty hefty amount of information about the festival, visiting brewers, the Pint of Origin and most of the events that we are involved in up on Crafty already (mainly in the Features section). But there are still a couple of things that we need to tell you about.
First up, is the return of Crafty Curates, one of the events from the first Good Beer Week that saw the fledgeling site take over the taps at The Terminus and Royston for the week. Back then, we aimed to create a lineup that covered most beer styles and featured at least one beer from each state across the taps. Given the concept grew legs and spawned the Pint of Origin at last year’s festival, we haven’t covered every state and territory this time around. However, throughout the festival, the 32 taps (pouring 16 beers) at the Festival Hub, the Terminus Hotel, will be pouring a lineup of beers that we hope captures the essence of craft brewing in Australia today and also provides a platform for many of the international guests that are travelling to Melbourne.
Throughout the week, four of the lines will be pouring what we’re terming “Aussie Classics” – Hightail, Pacific Ale, Little Creatures Pale, Hop Hog – while another two will be dedicated to the Time Out “Intercity Smackdown” beers, of which more later. The other ten lines will rotate permanently, with two dedicated to new Australian breweries, four to big, rare and generally great Aussie beers and four featuring some amazing beers from around the world. We’ll aim to tap the last of these categories when the brewers responsible for them are in town and hope to have the brewers at the venue to meet punters and chat about the beers while they are pouring; keep an eye on social media for updates.
Anyway, here’s the opening night lineupâ¦
- Mountain Goat Hightail
- Stone & Wood Pacific Ale
- Little Creatures Pale Ale
- Feral Hop Hog
- Cavalier / Proud Mary / Time Out Melbourne Angsty Hopster
- Riverside / Time Out Sydney BondIPA
- 7 Cent Japanese Ale
- Edge Brewing Project Cool Hops
- Murray’s Spartacus IIPA
- Moon Dog Love Tap
- Moo Brew Vintage Stout
- Feral Watermelon Warhead
- Garage Project Venusian Pale
- Yeastie Boys Pot Kettle Black
- Brooklyn Brewery Sorachi Ace Saison
- ParrotDog BitterBitch IPA
Believe us when we say the standard will not drop over the week…
Time Out’s Intercity Smackdown
Many of you may have already read about the Melbourne – Sydney beer face-off instigated by Good Beer Week media partners Time Out. The full story is here, but essentially the staff at each city’s mag teamed up with a local brewer to create a beer that encapsulates each city. In Sydney’s case a fruity, sunny, beachy IPA with passionfruit; in Melbourne’s a brooding, feisty and mysterious Black Coffee IPA featuring Proud Mary coffee.
And now it’s up to you guys to decide which is best and, thus, bring an end to the time-honoured battle for superiority. To do so, read on – you could win a prize for partaking. Here’s what Time Out’s Gemima Cody has to say on the matter…
“Which city tastes better as a beer, Sydney or Melbourne? The best argument in favour of Sydney’s passionfruit-forward BondIPA or Melbourne’s dark and brooding cold drip coffee infused Black IPA (Angsty Hopster) will win one night’s stay at Crown and a $200 bar tab at 29th Apartment.
“Tag the beer #BondIPA or #AngHop and tweet @timeoutmel and @goodbeerweek your best tasting notes. Talk some smack! Shake some cages. Settle the score.
“Is it #BondIPA because it smells like the beach, and it drinks like a rainbow rave at the Opera house? Or the #AngHop because it’s smooth, sophisticated and, like Melbourne, tastes entirely douchebag free?
“You decide!”
Start voting from tomorrow!
Crafty’s Good Beer Week Rules
- Have a good time.
- All the time.
