It’s the flavour of the summer season, whether it’s bottled or fresh from the tap, you just can’t look past a delicious, cold beer. And you won’t be short of finding one at this year’s Bendigo Craft Beer & Cider Festival, where beer lovers will be surrounded with more than 100 beers and ciders to choose from.
Marketing and Communications Coordinator Jayde Billett says the March festival is a calendar highlight for Bendigo, been the perfect time of year for the town to celebrate the rise of craft beer and beer festivals, now in it’s fourth year.
“It’s still a beautiful time of year without been too hot, and before it starts to get a bit cold, so it’s definitely something different. We don’t have anything like this here [in Bendigo]. We have On The Hop, but it’s a totally different ball game – different season, different type of festival,” she says.
With a massive focus on local brewers, the festival celebrates some of the best brews in Australia with more than 20 different brewers of beer, cider and even alcoholic iced tea. Brewers featured on the day include Victorians Southern Bay Brew Co, Jetty Road Brewing, Odyssey Brewing, Watts River, Yenda, Bells Beach Brewing and Bendigo’s own True Brew and Brooke’s Bendigo, along with brewers from South Australia and New South Wales.
“At the festival, we let the brewers bring whatever they want in on the day. Some bring one type of brew, others bring four types of brews. It also depends on what they have available and what they’ve thought of for the day. Some brewers might even have like a special brew for the day, or some of them will just bring their most popular, or their most sought after, or even ones they have just created and they want to showcase like a new release.
“For them, it’s just a really good platform to showcase their new brews and their popular ones, as well for people who actually want to go out and explore all these new brews.”
Following an explosion of new styles, collaborations and experiments, the Australian craft beer scene is creating more enticing brews than ever, and Jayde reflects on this culture, which focuses on creating an experience for beer drinkers.
“It’s amazing seeing how it’s grown over the past five years, to just be this real experience for people. Rather than going out and having just a regular pot of heavy, they actually go out and they source a particular beer. There’s IPA drinkers and then there’s people who just drink a lager or a pilsner, it’s so fun now, you can just go out and taste so many different brews,” she says.
“It’s such a culture now and it’s so fun – it’s just boomed. Beer festivals popping up, all the new breweries, it’s amazing. Every year there are so many more breweries and it just really helps local tourism no matter where you are. It’s an experience more than anything.”
And what’s any good festival without some good music and food to match. The festival includes gourmet food from a variety of food trucks, including Mexican tacos, pulled pork burgers, donuts and ice cream, and music specifically chosen to tie in with the beer tasting vibe with performances from locals including indie rockers Jack and The Kids, lyrical genius Grim Fawkner, and Bendigo brother and sister duo Greer.
Make the most of the sunshine that we have left, bring a rug and your best crew (kids can come too), and let the beer connoisseur in you relish.
When & Where: Tom Flood Sports Centre, Bendigo – March 25
Tickets available via the website.
Written by Talia Rinaldo
Facebook image taken from Valhalla Brewing’s socials. A brewer appearing at the event.