It was an unusually hot one for Melbourne. What better way to beat the heat than to attend a festival where you are guaranteed not only 100’s of craft beers and ciders, but also incredible music from acts like the DMA’s, Something for Kate, Alex The Astronaut, WAAX, West Thebarton and Looser. Sounds good right…?
Here’s our low down on The Beer Incider Experience
Getting there:
All ticketholders were entitled to free public transport on the day of the festival which made getting to the festival a breeze. We were prepared to brave the heat of the sun, but when we arrived at the Melbourne Showgrounds location, we were pleasantly surprised to find that the majority of the festival was positioned indoors. This gave instant atmosphere to the space and allowed patrons shade from the summer sun.
Beer Selection:
Festival goers were given a small beer ‘keep-cup’ to reuse for the day. Spoiled for choice in craft beer and cider – the ‘keep-cup’ was probably for the best as this allowed you to ‘sample’ to your heart’s content before the beer or cider got too warm. An amazing credit to Beer InCider is that they choose to only work with independently owned breweries and cideries.
Food Options:
It’s hard to even know where to begin with this. There were too many good options to choose from so our group end up choosing ‘snack’ portions throughout the day to allow for maximum food enjoyment. There was never a long line and food was delivered hot, fresh and tasty. Options included Limp Brisket, 8BIT Burgers, Sliders on Tyres, Wingsters, Red Sparrow Pizza and many more. My own personal favourite was the alcoholic IPA popsicles from Popstic Ice cream – just when I thought beer couldn’t get any better – they have turned it into a dessert!
Entertainment:
All of the bands that performed were outstanding, but the performance by Something for Kate took me back to my youth and it was amazing to see Paul Dempsey and the crew killing it on stage. Another notable mention was the performance by Alex the Astronaut who I felt captured the hearts of the audience with her beautiful personal stories in between songs. The final performance by DMA’S got the whole crowd signing along not only during the performance but also in the train that left the festival. VIP ticket holders had the added benefit of being able to view the performances from a viewing deck side stage as well as a separate VIP bar area.
The Verdict
All in all it was a day full of fun, sun (not too much though) and delicious craft beverages. The team at Beer InCider have done an outstanding job to make sure that independent breweries and cideries had the perfect environment for their (already adored) products and brand to be consumed by just the right audience – us… the fans of craft.
