The Seven Best Beer-Fuelled Things to Do at Brewsvegas 2020

Called it. When more and more breweries started popping up in Milton, we were pretty sure that a brewery crawl was going to be in order. Trust Brewsvegas to make the idea a reality — and to keep it coming back year after year.

There’s no prizes for guessing what happens on The Milton Good Beer Trail, but there is plenty of beer. Yes indeed. Take a 1.4 kilometre stroll between The Scratch, Milton Common, Newstead Brewing, Brewski and Mongrel, snaffle a different Brewsvegas schooner at each venue, and just generally be merry. Who’s thirsty?

For the past two years, Semi-Pro Brewing Co has been whipping up beers in East Brisbane. To mark its big milestone, the Manilla Street venue is celebrating, obviously. And it’s doing so in its typical style. There’ll be beer. There’ll be bites to eat. And there’ll also be a petting zoo.

Head by from 10am on Saturday, March 14, and you can sink brews with one hand while petting an adorable critter with the other. Cute shenanigans are what second birthday parties are all about, after all — but this one also involves beer.

If you like beer and you live in Brisbane, then you’ve probably noticed a trend in recent years. In fact, you’ve probably been making the most of it. That’s to be expected when a certain patch of turf starts welcoming new drinking spots with frequency.

Thanks to Ballistic Beer Co in Salisbury, as well as Helios Brewing Company and Slipstream Brewing Company in Yeerongpilly, there’s no shortage of breweries to have a beer at on the southside — and while you’ve likely been hopping between them all anyway, Beermuda Triangle gives the area’s boozy crawl an official spin. Head to one the above list of places between 1pm on Saturday, March 14, catch a bus to the other two and back until 8pm, and drink frothy ales at each.

For much of Brewsvegas, hopping around town — and making your way between as many Brisbane bars, breweries, pubs and other watering holes — is on the agenda. Sometimes, though, you just want to sit in one place, have a great meal and enjoy an inventive lineup of paired beverages.

Enter Felons Brewing Co’s Sour Grapes Dinner. Because it’s part of a beer festival, brews are still on the menu; however they’ll be of the sour kind. You’ll sip your way through four — and four rosés, too — while eating a four-course dinner.

Brisbanites are in for one big night of live music when the Young Henrys Rock & Roll Circus rolls into town next month. After taking its show down to Melbourne for the first time last year — and livening up Sydney since 2016 — the free blowout is set to hit up Brisbane for the first time as part of Brewsvegas.

Head in to The Foundry on Thursday, March 19 , when some of Australia’s best musical talent will join forces for one night only. Expect a ‘super band’ to take the stage — including members of The Grates, DZ Deathrays, The Chats, Polish Club and VOIID. Backed by Young Henrys house band, aka The Replicas (which features members of The Delta Riggs, The Preatures and Sloan Peterson), they’ll perform classic hits and alternative favourites for the masses from 8pm until the wee hours.

Whether you loved Double Dare, Download or A*Mazing (or Vidiot or Pick Your Face), every kid that’s ever watched a children’s game show has wished they could take part in the fun. Actually, let’s admit it: every adult wishes that, back in the day, they’d had that experience — slime and all.

While Brewsvegas can’t quite send you back in time to make that dream come true, it can offer up the next best thing from 10am on Saturday, March 21. At Netherworld — where else? — this year’s fest is putting on Stack Hats & Slime: Gameboy Gameshow, where everyone will pretend it’s the 90s, grab a friend and compete in kids’ TV show-style physical and video game challenges.

If you’re planning on spending a Saturday with a beer in your hand, then one Fortitude Valley establishment has you covered. Admittedly, serving up pints is what Bloodhound Bar does every day of the week; however in honour of Brewsvegas, it’s bringing back its beloved beer fest on Saturday, March 21, adding it to the city-wide celebration and making an extra special occasion of it.

At the sixth Hopfields, Bloodhound Bar is also making an occasion out of showcasing hops, without which we wouldn’t have the brews we know and love. With that in mind, expect all the tasty IPAs from around the world that you could dream of — and plenty you’ve likely never heard of, too — including limited releases, launches of new beers and one-offs brewed especially for the event, plus a slew of classics.