Kitchen Confidential: BeerFest comes to Brisbane — with wine, spirits

Australia’s longest-running beer festival comes to Brisbane for the first time this weekend — and this one offers something others don’t.

AUSTRALIA’S longest-running craft beer festival is coming to Brisbane for the first time, taking over Victoria Park in Herston this Saturday.

While Brisbane is currently awash with beer events thanks to Brewsvegas, setting this experience apart is that it’s not just for lovers of a pint.

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The family-friendly celebration features comedy, with some world-class performers taking to the stage opposite live music, headlined by Aussie act Art vs Science, as well as masterclasses, street food and beer, wine and spirits.

That’s right, beer lovers will be able to bring their non-brew-drinking buddies with a host of Tasmanian vino on offer, such as Jansz and Ninth Island, plus whisky, vodka and gin from the likes of Lawrenny Estate in Tasmania.

And on the beer front, expect local brewers such as Aether, Ballistic and Bacchus, alongside interstate operations that have maybe never ventured to Queensland before like 101 Brewery, BentSpoke Brewing Co, Black Flag Brewing and Blasta Brewing Co showcasing a host of tipples created specifically for the festival.

A particular highlight will be the masterclasses, says festival director James Harding, encouraging everyone to attend the cheese and beer matching workshop by Eumundi Brewery and meet the brewers.

BeerFest is heading to Brisbane's Victoria Park.

“With a lot of other festivals, the breweries have their sales teams manning the stalls, but with us, we have the brewers in among the action so they’ll be available to chat one-on-one with the customers,” Harding says.

“We’ll have some great Q&As and something for the real beer nerds.”

The signature drink of the festival will be the special hazy ale created by Art vs Science, which has been a sellout across the country.

But also promising to be popular are sour beers, with Aether doing a blackberry version, Blasta rolling out a raspberry number and Ballistic pouring their Twang Apricot variety. Punters can also expect plenty of pale ales, hazy ales, summer ales and interesting NEIPAS (New England IPAs).

“These festivals are all about challenging the palate and having something weird and wacky that you haven’t had before,” Harding says.

With kids taken care of with dodgem cars, carnival games and free face painting, it promises to be a fun day out for all.

Find tickets at bris.beerfestivals.com.au