Victoria is set to be treated to a plethora of beer festivals over the coming months, as the seemingly insatiable appetite for mixing craft beer and live music sees the return of regional events on the Mornington Peninsula and Geelong and new ones, such as the Bendigo Craft Beer Festival at the end of November.
The event that kickstarted them all in 2012, the Ballarat Beer Festival, is back for a third run out on the City Oval too, featuring a few tweaks and improvements on this year but still the same blend of brewer and food stalls, live music, educational seminars and an expanded kids area.
“It’s all happening,” says festival co-founder Simon Coghlan. “It’s that time of year when you can barely believe it’s September already.”
Having been taken aback by attendances at the first festival in 2012, when 4,500 rocked up, some had to be turned away and most brewers ran out of beer, the organisers planned for 10,000 punters in 2013 and invited twice as many brewers to take stalls. But while attendances rose to 6,500, this shortfall in what Simon says were “probably a bit ambitious” expectations has led to a rethink for 2014.
“We are running with less brewers because we are trying to work on a philosophy of quality over quantity in the hope they all get more out of it,” says Simon. “We had such a big success in year one, with 16 of the 20 brewers running out of beer – that was terrific. We said we would double the crowd so geared up for that as we wanted to provide first and foremost a great experience for the customers.”
That they achieved without a doubt, but double the brewers without double the crowds meant not all exhibitors fared as well as the year before.
“This year there will be less brewers so they should all do a roaring trade. That way we have happy customers and happy brewers.”
They’re also revisiting the way people get into the Oval to cut queues even at the busiest times to 10 minutes or less, particularly for those who have prepaid for their tickets. The educational marquee is being expanded, with Pete Mitcham, aka Prof Pilsner, once again at the helm, and the central marquee will be bigger, offering more shade, and with the bar run by the major sponsor James Squire moving to one side so that those in the marquee can see the main stage.
What requires no tweaking is the atmosphere among attendees. As is the way with craft beer events – seemingly no matter the scale – there wasn’t a single report of trouble or a single arrest among the 6,500 people drinking in the sun over eight hours.
“It’s a great achievement,” says Simon. “And testament to the message that we are sending, how we are positioning ourselves and also how craft beer is to be enjoyed. We love the crowd that comes along. The people that want to drink to get drunk are the ones who would look at the cost of the festival and what they can get at Dan Murphy’s for that price and stay and drink in their backyard.
“Through social media, emails and other feedback in town, people are truly surprised that so many people can be in the Oval getting stuck into beer in such a friendly way.”
Once again, the choice of headliner on stage is smart. Following The Beards in 2014 will be Henry Wagons, as pure an entertainer as you could wish for and a man who even brewed his own beer with Mountain Goat for Good Beer Week this year. There’s a long support lineup too.
“We’ve got Wagons and the Little Bastards plus five other support acts. That will add great amount of value to the day. For $45 people are getting quality entertainment on stage for eight hours,” says Simon.
The degustation dinner featuring many of the brewers will return on the eve of the festival and there will be a smattering of wine and cider too to appease the broad church the festival attracts.
“If it’s just about beer then you’re singing to the same people, preaching to the converted,” he says. “We want to expose people who aren’t beer drinkers to all of the options – to spread the message.”
He says his two venues have seen a rise in the volume of craft brands sold over the bar – and an even bigger rise in cider sales – over the past couple of years, particularly among younger drinkers. And with Ballarat home to the Red Duck and O'Brien breweries as well as the all craft beer venue The Mallow Hotel, it does seem that better beer is getting something of a hold in the city with a proud brewing past. Hopefully it’s a trend that will continue.
As Simon suggests: “I don’t know who will be drinking Carlton Draught in 20 years time.”
Full details on the festival and how to buy your tickets in advance can be found on the BBF website.
The Crafty Pint’s Flickr Slideshow from 2013
