Beer Swag Day 2021

The 2021 Winners!

Thanks to everyone that took part in Beer Swag Day 2021, helping to turn the anniversary of the nationwide shutdown into a celebration of local beer and the community that surrounds it.

We managed to come up with a shortlist of our favourite entries from around the country – a mix of videos and photos of epic collections (and a very cute baby). Votes for the overall winner were split across a few of the entries but, in the end, the grand prize went to Chelsea Bright.

In 2020, she was the shortlisted finalist for Victoria for an amazing video and narrowly missed out. This time around, she produced promo videos with Brendan "The Beer Economist" Fernandez in advance of the big day before creating another unique video featuring her riding a dinosaur through her new home in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales.

She's since embarked on an epic and rather enviable mission, which you can read about here, and has asked us to spend her $250 prize for her so we're working on some surprises!

The full rundown of finalists, each of whom have received #keepinglocalalive t-shirts, going clockwork from top left above, is:

Matt – @thecraftygingerbloke

Brendan – @thebeereconomist

Sarah – @hercraftbeergoggles

John – check out his remarkable video here

Geoff – @craftbeerpatchandpin

Jason – @craftbeertassie

George – @george_organ

Chelsea – @beer.throughbrighteyes

Let's do it again in 2022!

On March 23, 2020, Australia closed.

Our pubs, bars, brewpubs and taprooms turned off their lights as the beer and hospo industry was brought to its knees along with so many others.

But, for the most part, they survived thanks to the support of legends like you who threw your support behind the local beer community.

Now, one year on, it’s time to keep on #keepinglocalalive as Beer Swag Day returns for 2021 – complete with another sweet competition.

Every day is a good day to support local – but let's make March 23 a special time to celebrate your favourite businesses in these still uncertain times.

HOW TO CELEBRATE BEER SWAG DAY

If you’re a beer lover...

Snag some swag

Pick up some merch from your favourite brewery or venue as a way of showing your support.
The Keeping Local Alive tees are back too – in black or white this year – ORDER HERE before March 14!

Brag your swag

Show off your favourite tees, beanies, stubby holders and more on social media.

Tag your swag

Tag your local breweries and venues – using #beerswagday2021 and #keepinglocalalive so we can find you!
There's prizes for the best posts too (see below)

If you’re a beer business:

Keeping local alive is all for you, so you could consider encouraging your loyal customers to get on board by running a competition, hosting an event, or promoting your merch with a discount. If you're not open on March 23 (it is a Tuesday, after all) don't feel tied to that day – it's the vibe, man.

You could even buy Keeping Local Alive tees for your entire team too...

Whatever you do, keep sharing the message with beer lovers everywhere!

The future of local beer… it’s STILL in your hands!

WIN WITH BEER SWAG DAY!

Last year, Beer Swag Day attracted hundreds of awesome entries from beer lovers all over Australia showing off their hauls of branded clothing, glassware, openers – you name it! From a shortlist of state and territory winners, Sam Beard's entry (pictured above) won the public vote that saw her pick up a swag full of swag.

So, how could we not run another competition?

This time around, we'll be looking for the best, funniest, most creative, innovative and impressive posts to hit socials between March 1 and 23 – tagged appropriately with #keepinglocalalive and #beerswagday2021.

We've got Keeping Local Alive t-shirts for state and territory winners and have put together a panel to judge the best of the best. The grand champion will receive $250 from the Keeping Local Alive campaign to spend on goodies from their favourite beer businesses.*

FIND A LOCAL BEER BUSINESS

As the country started to open up again in 2020, The Crafty Pint team set about adding more beer businesses to their free app as a way to help people wanting to support local.

It was originally created to help beer lovers find good beer wherever they are in Australia, based around a map featuring hundreds of breweries, bars, pubs and bottleshops, as well as stories, beers, events and more.

The COVID-19 pandemic made it clear how such a tool could be handy for anyone playing their part #keepinglocalalive wherever they are in Australia.

There are always new breweries and good beer venues opening – and others making the switch to supporting local craft brewers – so if there's a business missing you think should be in there, drop the Crafty team a line so it can be added.

* You can check out the competition rules for Beer Swag Day here.

The #keepinglocalalive campaign sprung into life as Australia's national shutdown approached and helped galvanise the beer industry and the wider community that surrounds it.

While there have been casualties along the way – and some businesses and beer lovers have done it tougher than others – for the most part, we're still standing a year on. As the stories below highlight, the brewing, hospitality and retail sectors proved to be agile, adaptable and innovative to ensure they made it to where we are now: not out of the woods completely, but able to look forward with increasingly, if cautious, optimism.

One silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic is that support for local breweries, bars and pubs has never been stronger – and we want to see it get stronger still. That comes down to the choices you make every time you buy a beer or go for a meal.

The future of local beer – it's STILL in your hands.

Postcards from the Edge

The Keeping Local Alive campaign was sparked by an article of the same name addressing the mounting challenges faced by the beer industry in the week before the nationwide lockdown.

Since then, The Crafty Pint has run a series of articles from the frontline of the COVID-19 crisis in the local beer community under the Postcards from the Edge banner. A mix of inspirational innovations, personal tales and the challenges businesses and individuals are facing, it sits alongside the photo stories on the #keepinglocalalive Facebook page and The Crafty Pint's Instagram as a document of this remarkable period in time – both for the local beer world and the world at large.

You can find all the stories below – and get in touch if you have a story you think should be there.

Postcards from the Edge No.38: Room At The Inn

June 12, 2020 by Will Ziebell

Now venues are reopening across Australia, two mates keen to get back to their favourite watering hole have devised a new system that allows customers to find out if there's room for them at their local.

Postcards from the Edge No.47: Interstate Mates

August 6, 2020 by Guy Southern

During the first lockdown, everyone in the beer industry was faced with similar challenges. Now, with some states rolling back restrictions while Victoria is suffering again, the brewing industry is rallying to help mates in need.

Postcards from the Edge No.24: Grain Re-Store-d

May 2, 2020 by Will Ziebell

After a short break to take stock, the Grain Store team leapt back into action last month as a takeaway and home delivery service. They've even reimagined their legendary beergustations for Novocastrians to enjoy at home.

Postcards from the Edge No.31: Once In A Brew Moon

May 19, 2020 by Guy Southern

After a detour into making sanitiser from cheap wine, Perth's Whipper Snapper Distillery got stuck into one more project before returning to whisky: turning kegs from 21 WA breweries into a one-off batch of Moonshine.

Postcards from the Edge No.13: Tumut To Go

April 8, 2020 by Will Ziebell

Pubs and breweries across the country have been switching to home delivery as a means of #keepinglocalalive. But few are clocking up the kilometres – or doing it with the panache – of Tumut River Brewing Co.

Postcards from the Edge No.49: Wombating COVID

August 17, 2020 by James Smith

Three years ago, KAIJU! founders Nat and Callum Reeves chatted about collaborating with a New York brewery. When the pandemic shut the world down, instead of putting an end to such talk, it sparked Mortal Wombat.

Take Care

These remain difficult times for employees and business owners across the industry. Look after each other.

For more information or support surrounding mental health issues, you can contact:

* Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36

* Lifeline on 13 11 14

* Movember Conversations is an interactive tool from the Movember mental health team

Want to show your support for the local beer community? We've created a series of assets free for anyone to use online or put up in their venues.
Thanks to Jessie at Craft Instinct and Sergio at Darkside Studio for their help once again.

The future of local beer – it's STILL in your hands.

BEER SWAG DAY 2021 ASSETS

Want to help spread the word? Here's some print and digital assets you can download for use in the lead up to Beer Swag Day 2021 on March 23.

Poster – PDF

Poster – jpg

Social Tile (Plain) – Square

Social Tile (Dates) – Square

Beer Swag Day Animation (Instagram)

Beer Swag Day Animation (Insta Stories)

Beer Swag Day Animation (Facebook)

Facebook Event Image

Transparent Logo File

Web Banner – 728 x 90

KEEPING LOCAL ALIVE ASSETS

Here's a selection of updated #keepinglocalalive assets that might be handy for your socials and websites when reminding people of the importance of supporting local.

The Home of Australian Craft Beer

Keeping Local Alive