Blobfish 2022

Overview

After two years of COVID cancellations, Australia's most interestingly named beer festival is finally back. Blobfish makes its much-anticipated return to North Melbourne's Meat Market this month, 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 across two sessions on Saturday, July 23, offering punters the chance to sample a whole swag of rare and unusual beers from 19 leading Aussie and New Zealand labels.

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, Van Dieman out of Tasmania and Queensland's AWOL. Locals among the lineup include Future Mountain, 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, a range of food vendors and an oyster bar shucking all through the day. Plus, there'll be DJ tunes to soundtrack your sipping.

A ticket will cost you $85, which includes entry, a keepsake Blobfish beer glass and tastings from each brewery.

Blobfish sessions run from 11.30m–4pm and 5–9.30pm.