Craft Beer & Cider Festival

When I heard that the Sunny Coast was getting a new beer festival I was pretty happy. Then I heard that it was going to be ON my birthday and my excitement levels really peaked – what could be more perfect?

The Sunshine Coast has a slew of craft breweries and this festival gave me a chance to sample them all – plus a few more from around the country – in one spot.

Despite a rainy forecast, the Saturday dawned hot and sunny (possibly next time a little more shade might be required…it is HOT in Queensland at the end of November peeps!)

Gates opened at 1pm and the day promised more than 160 beers and ciders from Australia and New Zealand available for tasting and with our tiny sample pots, I am sure I made a fair dent in that number!

Local brewers represented included Eumundi Brewery, Your Mates, Moffat Beach Brewing, Bargara, Brouhaha and Buderim Ginger.

You didn’t have to worry about cash on the day which was nice. Your entry wristband could be loaded with whatever money you wanted to spend and you just scanned it at the stands around the stadium for your food and drinks. No chance of losing it and at the end of the event (which finished up at a very respectable 9pm) any unused funds on your band could be refunded to you.

If the sample pot wasn’t quite big enough for you, or you found a tipple that really took your fancy, you could purchase larger drink sizes as well.

There really was a beer, or cider, or ginger beer, for everyone. I tried everything from heavy, malty flavours to lager-style, easy drinking brews and I probably missed a few as well. A girl can only drink so much!

In addition to the many drinks on offer, there were plenty of food trucks (think mexican, donuts and kebabs!), giant TV screens (for the cricket fans…) and live music.

There was room to set up your own picnic rug on the grass or if you were lucky, grab a free hay bale to rest your weary beer-drinking feet.

This was pitched as a family-friendly event and while there was a little for the kids to do and food for them to eat – I am not sure it is the right space for children – especially later in the day as a few of the beer taps ran dry and people got a little rowdy.

The icing on my birthday cake was that there was a lucky door prize and I happened to be one of the winners – definitely a first for me.

If I have one complaint, it actually started before we entered the Sunshine Coast Stadium – the queue was at least 20-25 minutes long and we had all pre-paid for our tickets and ‘express entry’. A more streamlined entry system should be looked into for future events.

Given this was the first year, there is room for growth and I will be back in 2018 to check it out all over again.