For Ballarat’s breweries next Saturday’s Ballarat Beer Festival will provide a launching pad for what they hope will become a pilgrimage for beer lovers throughout the state.
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In 2017 the annual event at City Oval will place a particular focus on the best brews coming out of Ballarat, with a fenced-off Ballarat Brewers Backyard to feature among the more than 40 brewers from around the country.
Rebellion Brewing, Athletic Club Brewery and Red Duck will all flaunt their wares next Saturday at the festival’s sixth incarnation.
For Alfredton brewers Red Duck, this year’s event will be their first return in three years. Owner Scott Wilson-Browne said having all three local brewers located in the same space at the festival provided the businesses with a chance to sell themselves as a collective.
“Part of being involved in the festival is for us to have a reputation not just as individuals but to give Ballarat a brewing identity,” Mr Wilson-Browne said.
“There’s four breweries in Ballarat now and there's no reason why there won't be more in the future.
“We’ve been pushing and campaigning and pioneering for years, and now we've managed to get craft beer beyond being a trend to a point where it's now mainstream.”
Since Rebellion’s establishment back in 2004 Ballarat has not only become a hub for craft brewing, but Ballarat’s drinkers have also become more discerning consumers.
“People come armed with a lot more information and they've got greater expectations now,” Rebellion co-owner Andrew Lavery said.
In the week following the festival Rebellion, Athletic Club, Red Duck and newcomers Cubby Haus Brewing will launch the Ballarat Beer Trail, which will attempt to encourage beer connoisseurs to make a day trip to the region to sample the best Ballarat has to offer.
The idea follows on from the long-established practice of wine tours which have proven so popular in regions such as the Pyrnees and the Grampians.
As well as providing punters with information on the city’s fbreweries, the document will also sell region’s culinary attractions.
Owner of the recently-opened Athletic Club Brewery Peter Parry said the trail would help to change the way people viewed beer consumption, with a shift towards appreciation rather than “guzzling”.
“All of us have got different beers which you don't get from the major streams, even though they have branched out into offering craft styles,” Mr Parry said.
“I appreciate the fact that there's three other breweries so people don't have to come to just one, it's worthwhile to come to two, three or four.”