Blobfish 2023

Overview

Australia's most interestingly named beer festival is back for another year. Blobfish makes its much-anticipated return to North Melbourne's Meat Market on July 22, once again pulling together a lineup that celebrates the sour, the funky and the delightfully different.

Founded and helmed by the team at Footscray's own Hop Nation Brewing, the tasting party will run two sessions this year – day and night – offering punters the chance to sample a whole swag of rare and unusual beers from 44 Aussie and New Zealand labels. Some known, and some not so known.

Whichever session you pick, you'll spend 4.5 hours sipping your way through a diverse range of sours, saisons, barrel-aged brews, fruity concoctions and rare small-batch runs, from the likes of NZ's Garage Project, Sydney's Wildflower and Van Dieman out of Tasmania. Locals among the line-up include La Sirène, Collingwood's Molly Rose and regional favourite Bridge Road Brewers, as well as Hop Nation's own funky, barrel-aged spin-off label, Site Fermentation Project.

The options don't end there, either, with a 'lager lounge' where you can cleanse the palate between tastings, DJs running tunes all day, and whacky food like Kanga Asada Tacos by Dingo Ate My Taco, wild boar pies from Pie Thief, and Bluebonnet Barbecue's crazy-good smoked goat rolls with chimichurri and mushrooms.

A ticket will cost you $80 (plus booking fee), and that includes entry, 60mL tastings of 44 festival brews, a Blobfish branded festival glass and a festival tasting guide.

Images: Supplied