Bridge Road Brewers have secured one of the biggest names in brewing for the 2023 High Country Hop, with Matt Brynildson of Firestone Walker heading to the Beechworth festival in March as a keynote speaker at the event's technical symposium.
The festival, presented by HPA – now in its ninth year – is a celebration of the annual Australian hop harvest at which attending brewers will be showcasing a series of beers made with fresh hops from the 2023 harvest.
Joining the host brewery and Firestone Walker are festival debutants Fox Friday, Molly Rose and BentSpoke as well as returning breweries Hop Nation, Billson's, Bright, King River and Mitta Mitta.
There will also be a diverse and eccentric musical lineup, which will be announced in the new year.
The original inspiration for creating the High Country Hops festival came when Bridge Road Brewers founder Ben Kraus exhibited at the Firestone Walker Invitational, and has described himself as "thrilled" that things have come full circle.
"I had attended Birra del Borgo's invitational event in a regional town outside of Rome twice as well as the Firestone Walker invitational in California," Ben said when announcing the 2023 festival. "Both events saw a brewery hosting a festival featuring other brewers, something that hadn't been done before in Australia. This was the motivation to create an event where we could showcase our peers and also celebrate hops and their growers."
Once again, the music lineup is as eclectic as the beers that will be pouring. Comedian and renowned choccy milk lover, Aaron Gocs, is MC and he'll be joined on stage by Birdz, Bananagun, Auntie Leo & The Backstabbers, Babitha, Maple Glider, The Seven Ups and PBS legend DJ Miss Goldie.
