Ballarat Beer Festival - 2013

[Yob]

Linky

Whats the crack with camping at this event from those in the know?

Seems like a few of us Melbourne lads are going to head down, I assume that the local mob will be out in force?

Anybody been before and what did you think, worth the effort or just go camping with a few kegs of Home brewed delight?

:icon_cheers:

 

[Spiesy]

sounds like fun... unless it's a stinking hot day!

 

[fraser_john]

Unless it has changed since I lived in Ballarat as a youngster, the City Oval has no camping facilities.

 

[Da Bear]

Yeah mate, not that kind of festival. Worth the trip though, was a good day out last year, heaps of brewers and beer (although they underestimated our thirst at some, they'll have a better idea this year I'm sure), some good grub and beer/cheese matching sessions etc.
And apparently it'll be twice the size in 2013.

Biggest issue was a lack of volunteers, but being the first time they'd held it, that's probably to be expected.

 

[fraser_john]

Since you were a youngster.........
Back in the goldrush.... I thought they all camped in tents back then

LOL wise guy hey? Back in my day of the gold rush there was no oval!

I actually used to go to the primary school between the lake and the oval Pleasant Street Primary I think it was called.

 

[Truman42]

Linky

Whats the crack with camping at this event from those in the know?

Seems like a few of us Melbourne lads are going to head down, I assume that the local mob will be out in force?

Anybody been before and what did you think, worth the effort or just go camping with a few kegs of Home brewed delight?

:icon_cheers:

Yob, I went last year with the missus and her bro and wife. We got there right on opening and it was a great day. You can get half a glass with one token or a full glass with two but a lot of them were pouring full glasses and only charging one token. I must admit towards the arvo the lines were very long, especially to get tokens and food. The beer lines were also very long but they seemed to move quickly.

There was a great selection of beers and also some wines for those that have wives who only drink wine. We spent a lot of time at the Kooinda stall drinking their beers and the guys there were great.

A lot of them did run out of beer but will probably be better stocked this year. They ended up turning people away at the gate because they didn't expect such a large crowd. So make sure you buy your tickets via ticketek. Don't wait to get them at the ground.

The bands were awesome too and we sat on hay bales watching the bands.

We had a good time and are going again this year. I've already booked the motel. You can camp anytime..

 

[Danwood]

Me and a mate went last year, Yob, and I'd be going again this year if it wasn't for me having 4 wisdom teeth out 2 days before ! ''Weak''....yes, I know !

Ticket sellers wander around selling too, so you don't always have to queue at the ticket tent.

The event had sold out by 3pm ish last year and towards the end of the night James Squires was pretty much the only stall left with beer.

I'd recommend camping there and not leaving so late you end up running the last mile to the train station to catch (just) the last train...running whilst full of beer is shitbags !

It sounds even better this year...Kooinda, Red Duck and Holgate being my picks.

Drink reasonably responsibly !

 

[Captain Yobbo]

Hey Yob

Pitty it wasn't later in the year I would love to of come along I got family in Maryborough so could of stayed with them would of been good to put a face to the name.
But again having to be a slave to the system and will be running a business I can't attend.

Cheers Wayne

 

[herbo]

Linky

Whats the crack with camping at this event from those in the know?

Seems like a few of us Melbourne lads are going to head down, I assume that the local mob will be out in force?

Anybody been before and what did you think, worth the effort or just go camping with a few kegs of Home brewed delight?

:icon_cheers:

No camping there. Closest camping would be one of the caravan parks on the edge of town. Definitely not walking distance from the City Oval.

Dare say local mob will be well represented.

 

[GrumpyPaul]

Me, my sons and a few mates have our camp site booked at the Welcome Stranger caravan park.

a will be kicking back there for some post festival brews.

See you there.

 

[Yob]

would of been good to put a face to the name

it's a pretty rough face mate, you might not be as pleased as you think

Thanks for the info lads

:icon_cheers:

 

[wakkatoo]

adding to this one late: unless someone else has picked up the baton, the BAR won't be there. I did hear that a brew club from geelong will be though. We were keen, but not desperate to be there again and a combination of being so damn busy and the information not flowing as readily as it has previously meant that any BAR representation this year will be purely in a social sense along with the other 10,000 attendees.
Not sure who from the BAR will be going, I know I'm not due to a family commitment.
It's a great day if you don't mind waiting for the more popular beers. The increase in size this year should help address some of the teething issues faced last year.

Oh, definately no camping but you could bunk down with the hobo's who call Vic Park home....

 

[podon]

I went last year with a bunch of mates. Absolute ripper of a day.

Get their early and start with the better know brewers. The lines at the end of the day are pretty long and before you know it your lining up again for another. Also, brewers last year ran out pretty quick, but I'm sure they'll stock up more this year.

Take the biggest hat you can find!


After party @ the mallow!

 

[Truman42]

A few extra brewers there this year too that I dont think were there last year.

Old salt brewing co
Two birds brewing
Southern bay brew co
SavaraIn Brewery
Boatrocker brewing co

and of course my favourite RedHill Brewing.

Looking at the site map they have a lot more food stalls and the brewers area is certainly a lot bigger than last year. They are using the full oval this year.

Worth getting there early. We were there at opening last year and it was great, we got to sample all the beers before the crowds got there.

Great beer, great food, great entertainment and great eye candy..What more could you want??

P.S. if you get there early buy a **** load of tokens as that line was bloody slow.

 

[jimi]

How 'kid friendly' is the festival? Did anyone take along their kids last year? Are the kid activities eg face painting and petting farm costly?

 

[Truman42]

From there website

Once again were planning a great range of activities just for the kids including face painting, a jumping castle, craft, games and more.

Plus new in the Kids Zone for 2013 is an animal petting farm experience where kids can have some hands on time with a wide range of friendly farm animals!

Last year the atmosphere was great for kids early on. Not sure how it was later that evening once everyone had been drinking all day as we left about 4pm.

Not sure if the activities for kids were free or not.

 

[mr_tyreman]

Geelong crew (corio bay brewers) wont be attending as a club, rather a bunch of rowdy punters, we are in talks to have a stall at the Geelong one though...Im taking a swag, im sure i can find a bit of dirt

 

[JestersDarts]

I'll be heading there from Renmark, SA - going down on the Friday night.
Any tips on where to camp?
Any AHB meet ups at the event?

JD

 

[GrumpyPaul]

Anyone else getting excited?

or is it just me

 

[Truman42]

No getting excited too. We had a great long weekend there last year. Taking Friday and Monday off work.
That's exciting enough let alone drinking craft beer all day.