On The Hop on tap this weekend!

NOW in its ninth year, Bendigo On The Hop will return to town this weekend with a new selection of local and independent brewers.

Eighteen breweries have been paired with nine venues around the city to celebrate the best new flavours in Victorian beer.

Bendigo Beer’s Chris Adkins said the festival would appeal to a general audience, as well as confirmed craft beer enthusiasts.

“I think there’s a danger of craft beer festivals seeming like they’re just for your die-hard craft beer drinker,” he said.

“But we’re seeing more and more people coming along and discovering some new flavours.

“The benefit of that as well is that they get introduced to some of these smaller, independent regional breweries that we’re hosting,”

Mr Adkins said several independent had breweries closed in recent years due to hard market conditions, and the primary aim of On The Hop was to redirect consumers back to smaller companies.

“It’s been really nice to see the emphasis, not just when it comes to beer, but on the whole to see people become more conscious about supporting local,” he said.

Bendigo On The Hop seeks to champion breweries that are working to open people’s minds to what beer can be.

Sailors Grave from Orbost in Gippsland is a brewery known for unusual flavours and emphasis on Australian ingredients and will feature at the Cambrian Street Hub.

“One of their beers that they’re bringing along for the festival is the lemon meringue cream sour,” said Mr Adkins.

Brewers Collective on Short Street will also be participating in the festival as a venue and brewery.

“Their head brewer Brett has come up with a tiramisu golden ale as their beer for the festival,” Mr Adkins said.

But the fun and froth-volity won’t end this weekend with aspiring home brewers able to gain inspiration from the ales on offer for Bendigo Beer’s upcoming Homebrew competition on 28 October.

“Our competition is a bit more fun,” Mr Adkins said, “everyone who enters can and anyone else who turns up gets the opportunity to taste all the beers that are in the competition on the day.”

Bendigo On the Hop is almost sold out, but entry forms for the homebrew competition will soon be available at the Bendigo Beer website.