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GABS beer festival is coming to Sydney

Callan Boys
Callan Boys

A wonderland of beer: GABS at Melbourne's Royal Exhibition Hall.
A wonderland of beer: GABS at Melbourne's Royal Exhibition Hall. Supplied

Gabba, gabba, hey. Here's something that should put a smile on the dial of every craft-beer fan in NSW: The Great Australian Beer SpecTAPular (GABS) is coming to Sydney.

We're not talking a couple of kegs trucked up from the Melbourne event either. On May 30 at The Australian Technology Park in Eveleigh, Sydney gets the full song-and-dance SpecTAPular with more than 300 beers from 150 domestic and international breweries on show. Of the 150 brews, 120 are being created specifically for the event.

"Breweries can submit any beer they like as long as they've never brewed it before," says GABS co-founder Steve Jeffares.

The Sydney event will feature more than 300 beers.
The Sydney event will feature more than 300 beers.Supplied
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"Some choose to brew in a traditional style, perhaps with a twist, while others use exotic ingredients and brewing processes to come up with something very creative."

One-off beers for this year's event include unusual ingredients such as oysters, orange peel, coriander seeds, finger limes, peaches, cherries, truffles, chocolate, biscuits, split peas, pineapple, coconut and vodka. There's also a brew in the works that will taste like banoffee pie.

Local brewers to exhibit at the Sydney event include Young Henry's, Riverside, Murray's, Thirsty Crow and 4 Pines while Three Blue Ducks, Cornersmith, LP's Quality Meats, Veggie Patch and Mary's will be on hand to line stomachs with top-notch tucker.

For the past three years, GABS has been held at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne. About 20 specialty brews were shipped to Darlinghurst's Local Taphouse after the event.

The GABS showcase was always a great day out in Darlo. I remember being bowled over by Yeastie Boys "Gunnamatta" IPA in 2012. It was brewed with earl grey blue fower tea leaves, it tasted like a surfing mission to the south coast and it has since become one of my all-time favourite beers. Here's to future beer discoveries at this year's festival.

Tickets on sale March 25. See gabsfestival.com.au.

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Callan BoysCallan Boys is editor of SMH Good Food Guide, restaurant critic for Good Weekend and Good Food writer.

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