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GABS - THE best festival in Australia, or at least that is what the organizers would have you know. It is maybe the biggest, maybe the best. I mean back in the day it certainly was, but that's when there wasn't a festival every second week and we were all amazed by some wacky brews.
Do get me wrong, my annual trip to GABS (which stands for Great Australisian Beer Spectapular) is still something to look forward to, but it's not the event it once was, or maybe I'm just getting older and more cynical.
This year, which is it's 15th, and maybe the 11th I've been to was shortened from 5 sessions over 3 days to 3 sessions over two day, with Friday being a super session. Previously this was two sessions, day which went from maybe Noon to 5pm and then Night from 6pm to 11pm. Friday afternoon being the quietest session, filled with beer nerds and the odd corporate type. This year they made it a single session of Noon to 10pm - which is an impossible amount of time to drink for.
I had gone with my Brother, at a respectful 1.30pm start, with some loose plans to meet another friend who I knew was coming, and maybe my wife would join us late afternoon as she had a lunch she needed to go to, but might 'kick-on' as it turns out over the course of the afternoon and evening people ebbed and flowed from our group as I pumped into various people I knew including a fairly large crew of people I used to work with which was nice.
And I guess that is one of the great advantages of a beer festival, there is something for everyone, you wander off you get a beer, you wander back to roughly were you last saw people chat whilst drinking and then wander off for another beer.
I mean I only got lost four or five times, but that's understandable - it's a big place. Something like 500 different beers on offer with about 40 different breweries having stands serving their own beers and then there are the container bars, this used to be the whole festival, but the focus has changed.
The Container bars are 120 beers from 120 different breweries around Australia and NZ (commonly called Australasia, hence the A in GABS) who have brewed a brand new beer for this festival, they tend to be weird, they tend to be beers you get as tiny tasters. Now this is a ghost town, which is a bit of a shame.
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Instead you wander between the breweries stands as they will have 3-4 of their standard beers and 1-2 out there beers for the more adventurous, I imagine this is a much better deal for them, and they get much more branding and a chance to interact. There are still gimmicks. Garage Project, and amazing brewery from NZ had a beer called Blue Moon Rising described as A special Gabs & Firestone Walker Invitational iteration of Yuzu Rising Sun, Layered Sour - infused with Lavender and appropriately blue. One-off, keg only and of course it was served with a ball of smoke on top
Which surprisingly lasted all the way back to the table before deciding to make a run for it
The highlight, as it was last year as well was a Brewery called Good Land, which is from Gippsland, about 200km east of Melbourne. Their gimmick was a milk bar, which mean a look of Smoothie Sours, including a 'Blue Heaven' which was fairly impressive. But more impressive was their series of 4 different imperial stouts that has all spent time in barrels.
That fact that I started and ended my day at Good Land and had tasters of 6 of their beers is a sign of just how good they were.
It was an amazing day - we obviously couldn't do the full session, My wife did join us at about 5pm which probably keep me there a little longer than I should have, people started dropping off, I slowed significantly as she explored the stalls some more and eventually we called it a night about 9pm. I'm already thinking about how I might tackle this again next year, I think more time at the container bars it a must.
Oh and Hydrating, that works as well, even when drinking very big Goodland Stouts.
Whoot - that sounds like a great day with good beer.
Cheers and prost
Sound's like an event I shouldn't miss if I ever get ti Australia (and won't get killed by a random snake or spider 😉 before I get to this festival).
I'd love to attend an event like this someday.
I'm also fascinated by the 'active' photos of your beers:)
Have a lovely Sunday!
Well, was a great day for you. Thanks for sharing Cheers and Beer!!!