Victoria’s summer of beer is taking shape, with less than two months to go until Beers By The Bay lands at Mornington Racecourse to herald three outdoor beer festivals in little more than ten weeks. The majority of the brewers, beer companies and cider producers are confirmed, the entertainment is in place and a number of local restaurants have confirmed that they’ll be bringing their favourites dishes to the party too. The organisers have lined up a little Crafty bonus too: if you buy your tickets through the festival website before 5pm this Friday and enter the word “Crafty” in the promo box, you’ll get five bucks off entry.
Among the beers appearing on the day will be a special brew created for the day by two of Mornington Peninsula’s finest, Mornington Peninsula Brewery and Red Hill. They will be joining forces at the former’s brewery – a mere stone’s throw from the festival site – to create a collaborative brew under the Two Bays banner. What it will be is yet to be confirmed, although we’ve heard talk of a black rye IPA…
“We’ve always spoken about it,” says Mornington Peninsula Brewery co-founder Matt Bebe. “Dave Golding [from Red Hill], AG {Mornington head brewer] and myself had thrown it around as an idea, then this came up and thought it would be a great opportunity to get together.
“It will be a keg only beer that will be available for the first time at the festival, where we’ve got a double marquee with Red Hill.”
Beers will also be pouring from the likes of local brewery Hix from Dromana, Holgate, Mountain Goat, Kooinda, Grand Ridge, Boatrocker, Cavalier, Matilda Bay, Prickly Moses, True South, Southern Bay and Tooborac Hotel & Brewery. There will be plenty of cider too – from Mock and Cheeky Rascal to name but two – plus some of the region’s wineries.
Entertainment will be headed up by MC James Brayshaw from The Footy Show (above right with festival organiser Lachie Stoller) and features musical headliner Ash Grunwald. On the second stage, you’ll find the likes of Paul Mercurio giving beer and food masterclasses, brewer Q&As, beer and cheese demonstrations and lessons in home brewing. On the food front, already confirmed are Peninsula restaurants Steam and Baha’s from Rye and Dromana’s Two Buoys.
Festival organiser Lachie Stoller says: “The response of the local population has been great; everyone’s keen to get on board.”
- The festival is on November 17 and runs from midday to 8pm. It’s adults only this year too, with festival organisers granted an over-18s license. It has a capacity of 8,000.
Tickets
You can buy tickets through the Beers By The Bay website now.
Standard entry is $35
Entry with a tasting glass, lanyard and five tasting tokens is $47.50
You can purchase return shuttle bus tickets from Frankston for $5
Don’t forget you can get five dollars off your entry if you enter the promo code “Crafty” when buying tickets before 5pm on Friday.
