Wangaratta played host to droves of craft beer devotees on Saturday afternoon at the third annual Ales on the Ovens festival, pulling in a solid crowd of around 1000.
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Its organiser Judd Porter is a teacher by trade, and readily admitted it’s not a profession one would think matches with beer.
But he got involved with the team at King River Brewing and fell in love with its subculture that has swept the North East in recent years.
“It’s sort of like wine, people are starting to appreciate what they’re drinking,” he said.
Ales on the Ovens continues to expand.
“There’s more vendors, so it’s grown in that regard,” Mr Porter said.
“We’ve had solid interest from outside Wangaratta, which is a big improvement too.”
The event was a three-year plan hatched by Mr Porter with fellow organiser Annalee Nolan, and both hope to continue it into the future.
“We were talking about how exciting it is that it’s got to this size,” Mr Porter said.
“We’re really proud that we’ve been able to bring something to the area, and we’d be looking for some sponsorship next year.”
Seventeen independent brewers from across Victoria headed to Wangaratta for Saturday’s party, offering punters samples of varying styles of beers.
Among them was Prickly Moses, from south of Colac, who brought their brew bus.
Revelers lapped up live entertainment on the main stage, while children were entertained at a petting farm and kids’ corner.
Ms Nolan said she had received a great reaction from beer lovers and parents alike.
“It had a really fresh, unique family feel to it which is exactly what we set out to achieve,” she said.
“The feedback was amazing, the dance floor was full of kids and the parents just felt like they could really relax and it was a safe environment, so everyone enjoyed it.”
It comes as three of the Beechworth’s Bridge Road Brewers beers made the Hottest 100 Craft Beers of 2016, which is a list compiled by website Craftypint.
Its pale ale was 13th, with its Bling Bling (No.85) and Bling (No.92), pleasing brewer Ben Kraus.
“There's about 500 breweries in Australia, and there isn't room for all of them on the list,” he said. “To have three of our beers make it is a fantastic result. The key for us is that our beer is available nationally.”
Mountain biking paired with craft beer microbreweries in the North East has proved a big tourism draw-card for the region.
The high country brewery trail passes through Taminick’s Black Dog Brewery, Beechworth’s Bridge Road Brewers, Bright Brewery and Sweetwater Brewing in Mount Beauty.
