If it seemed that June was a particularly busy month for beer events across the country, a quick flick back through the calendar showed it wasn’t really. Which is to say it was, but no busier then May, April or March. As the Prime Minister might say, there’s no better time to be a beer lover in Australia.
Before we reach the halfway point of the year there’s the small matter of the Crafty Cabal’s Queensland launch this Saturday – if you’re a Cabal member in the Sunshine State, be sure to register to come and drink free beer with us. If you’re not yet a member, sign up today then come and drink your subscription fee in beer tomorrow.
Other events to close out June are a big tap takeover at the Union Hotel (and by 'big' it means 20 beers north of 6 percent ABV) and a six course degustation amongst the tanks at the Rocks brewery, while Nail is going coast to coast with a Beer n Bites evening in Perth and an End Of Financial Year blowout at the Royal Albert Hotel in Sydney that will feature a couple of vintages of Clout Stout.
July 1 marks the deadline for entries to this year’s Sydney Royal Beer Show and also the start of Dry July. If you’re not planning on going without, you can get stuck into some big beers as Mane Liquor serves up whiskey barrel aged beers alongside the whiskeys the barrels were originally used for.
To help ease you through the drama of Election Day the good people at Cutty Cellars are throwing a beer festival featuring 16 different brewers and some excellent beers (Cabal members can go in the ballot for enough tasting tokens to try pretty much every beer for free – just go into your members area). If the result of the election goes for or against you and you need a way to celebrate or commiserate, head to one of the Local Taphouses where their Fourth of July celebrations kick off a couple of days early with a USA SpecTAPular right across their taps.
Back to the Crafty Cabal (for the last time in this roundup, we promise), South Australia gets its first chance to drink in the merriment at a collaboration brew day at The Wheaty and we have tickets to give away for the Adelaide Beer & BBQ festival where Crafty will be giving sermons at seminars, as well as launching Pint of Origin in SA for the first time.
Out west, the Perth Royal Beer Show is approaching and to get you all excited about the competition the organisers are putting six of the Champion beers from last year’s show on the bar. Speaking of champions, the Maroons have done the business again already in State of Origin 2016 but the Quarrymans is still putting bragging rights on the line when they get Yulli’s and Black Hops to face off in a state-based beer battle.
Being July, there are bound to be a few mid-winter Christmas events popping up though it’ll be hard to top the Mad Abbot’s Christmas in July at the Empire Hotel which will feature three vintages of the Little Brewing Company’s Belgian Quadruple Christmas Ale, plus three other beers, plus the brewer – if that doesn’t leave you feeling warmed right through, nothing will. In other Belgian related things, July 21 is the little European country’s national day so the Belgian Beer Cafe has gotten right into the spirit by inviting five local brewers to make a brand new Belgian inspired beer which they’ll be launching alongside a couple of the old Belgian greats.
This old and new theme comes to a neat bookend at Red Hill on the Mornington Peninsula which will be hosting its annual Secret Stash weekend on July 23. If you’re only ever going to go to Red Hill once, make it this weekend when they dig into their cellar and pull out a whole swag of old favourites and rarities.
