Small brewers go bigger

Organisers of the Small Brewers Beer Festival, an event that thumbs its nose at the big brewers’ move into the boutique beer market, are holding a second event this month, this time at Exhibition Park. In March, the brewers met at the Botanic Gardens, and organiser Mick Strickland says they reached capacity within 90 minutes, which explains the move to a bigger venue.

Strickland accuses the big breweries of trying to squeeze out the smaller makers through monopoly contracts with clubs and bottle shops.

‘‘We don’t have the manpower, time or financial muscle to open a case with the ACCC, so we thought the best way to fight back was to hold more beer festivals and get the small brewers noticed by the pub, club, restaurant and bottle shop owners,’’ he says.

The festival, on September 28, is open to small breweries and cider makers from around the country, and Strickland says 30 will be there, including Riverside, Dad and Dave’s, the Mornington Peninsula Brewery, Pinchgut, Dalgety, Cavalier, Black Duck, Swell, and Murrays. His company is the Stricklands Beer Group, which makes the 1842 beer sold in Canberra. Bands and food also on the day, $35, moshtix.com.au.