Overview
For beer lovers, the Great Australasian Beer Spectapular is the kind of festival that you plan your calendar around. When one year's fest is over, everyone instantly starts looking forward to the next year's. It was back in May and June that 2023's GABS took place, and you can now lock in your 2024 dates around the same time in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
Of course, the New South Wales, Victorian and Queensland capitals host beer festivals most weekends, but GABS is its own unique beast. It dedicates itself to weird, wild, wonderful and inventive varieties that are made exclusively for the booze-fuelled party. Think of a foodstuff — peanut butter, coffee, earl grey tea, chicken salt, pizza, fairy floss, bubblegum, doughnuts, red frogs and sour gummy bears, for instance — and there's likely been a brew made to taste exactly the same at GABS.
Only dates have been confirmed so far, and not venues, the brewers heading along or the beers they'll be whipping up. Still, attendees can look forward to an event that's considered to be one of the best craft beer and cider festivals in the Asia Pacific region.
If you're a newcomer to GABS, it started off as a Melbourne-only celebration of ales, lagers, ciders and more. Then it began spreading along Australia's east coast capitals, as well as to New Zealand. Now, in its Aussie stops, it pours at least 120 different types of brews each year.
The event surveys both Australian and New Zealand breweries, with more than 60 normally showcasing their wares annually. Also on the bill: other tipples, including non-alcoholic beers, seltzers, whiskey, gin, cocktails and wines.
GABS is known for dishing up a hefty lineup of activities to accompanying all that sipping, too, which usually spans a silent disco, roaming bands, circus and sideshow performers, games and panels with industry leaders, plus local food trucks and vendors to line your stomach.
Fancy getting in on the GABS fun at home now? Every year, the crew behind the fest also pust together the Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beer poll, which is open for votes until Sunday, January 14 for 2023's best brews.
GREAT AUSTRALASIAN BEER SPECTAPULAR 2024 DATES:
Friday, May 17–Sunday, May 19 — Melbourne
Friday, May 31–Saturday, June 1 — Sydney
Friday, June 14–Saturday, June 15 — Brisbane
GABS will take place across Australia's east coast throughout May and June 2024 — head to the event's website for further details.