The annual Ballarat Beer Festival is just over a month away, and the program which will be spread across a Saturday is promising their biggest showcase of independently Australian owned craft brewers to date. Set for City Oval on Sat 21st January, the massive showcase will be stacked with over 150 styles of beers and ciders, a day of good drinking scored by live music that aims to celebrate the variety on offer across the country. 40 brewers have come on board to help move this thing along, and both big and smaller names will be working together as well as highlighting 20 new release beers.
The likes of Pirate Life, Coopers, Brooklyn Brewery, Hawkers and Two Birds will head up the program, which also includes the festivals first ever human sized foosball game forming part of the “Beerllarat Olympics” alongside family-friendly games and drinking-friendly activities. Also on the agenda is the Ballarat Brewers Backyard, curated by local brewers Red Duck, O’Brien and The Athletic Club, fashioned as a special event focusing on homebrews.
A special prelude degustation dinner will be hosted the night before the festival at converted warehouse Housie Housie, offering a five-course set menu paired up with two matched beers per course. Drinks will be carefully selected by Professor Pilsner and Beer Diva, both whom will be around on the Saturday to run a few beer education classes, one of which is a beer-cheese pairing session.
For non-beer drinkers there will be a selection of regional wines and ciders on offer, as well as a variety of cuisines from several food trucks parked on site.
Ballarat Beer Festival
Where: City Oval, Ballarat
When: Saturday 21st January
Tickets: $45pp (does not include ticketed degustation dinner the night before) from www.ballaratbeerfestival.com.au
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