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High Country Hops 2019

Bridge Road Brewers are thrilled to announce the return of the High Country Hops Festival in 2019. Now in its 5th year, this is the only festival of its kind in mainland Australia. A celebration of the Victorian hop harvest and the launch our fresh hop beers, this is a once-a-year opportunity to taste the freshest beers imaginable, straight from the source!

Saturday March 30 and Sunday March 31 sees our brewery carpark transformed into a craft beer lovers dream, as 8 brewers from the High Country, and 2 special guests, gather to pour their wares. Top that off with carefully curated local wines, food trucks, glamping options, kids activities and a suitably festive musical line up, and there’s something for everyone.

Entry to the festival grounds is FREE all weekend. A limited $25 Tasting Pass grants you access to a 100ml taster from each of the 10 participating breweries in your very own High Country Hops beer glass… Get in quick!

The Brewers

Each year at hop harvest in North East Victoria, the brewers of the high country congregate to showcase their wares and celebrate the bounty of the season, as they launch their annual fresh hop beers at High Country Hops.

High Country Brewers

As the number of craft breweries in the High Country continues to grow, the sense of camaraderie, spirit of collaboration and collective striving for quality remains. This is an undoubtedly unique region on Australia’s craft beer map.

Joining us from our neck of the woods will be:

• Black Dog Brewery
• Blizzard Brewing Co.
• Bright Brewery
• King River Brewing
• Mitta Mitta Brewing Co.
• Rutherglen Brewery
• Sweetwater Brewing Co.

Special Guests:

• Wildflower Brewing + Blending
• Hop Nation

This year for the first time, we’ll be hosting some special guest brewers from further afield. Joining the festival line up are Wildflower Brewing and Blending from Sydney, whose barrel aged blends are amongst the most artfully crafted and exciting beers coming out of the country at the minute. And rounding out the showcasing breweries are Footscray legends, Hop Nation who’ll be slinging their exciting range of ultra-refined esoteric ales.

The Best Local Drinks

For 2019, we’ve curated a handful of the finest local wine + spirit producers to pour drinks for the discerning punters at High Country Hops. Whether you’re into dry-hopped Gin or Biodynamic Gamay, there’ll be plenty of non-beery bevs to expand both your mind and your palette.

Select Vignerons of Beechworth: We have selected a line-up of our favourite wines + producers from the revered Beechworth Wine Region. Including outstanding examples from Sorrenberg, Domenica, Sentio, Castagna, Vignerons Schmolzer & Brown, Fighting Gully Road + Indigo Vineyard.

Reed & Co. Distillery: Reed & Co. Distillery is a family owned and operated distillery in the alpine town of Bright, and makers of the fabulous, Remedy Gin. This year’s festival sees the return of their 2018 festival collab with Bridge Road Brewers. ‘Lupugin’ is a delicious dry hopped Gin, juniper driven with a double serve of galaxy hops, dessert lime & Mountain pepper – A must try for Gin buffs!

Corowa Distilling Co.: Corowa Distilling Co. is housed inside a 120 year old Flour Mill in Corowa, on the Murray River, just down the hill from Beechworth. They make single Malt Whisky in the Scotch style. See why their booze is on the radar of whisky boffins around the world.

The Music

From Swampy NOLA Jazz to Sea Shanties + DJs playing Neil Young on repeat, High Country Hops’ musical offering is raucous, heartwarming and just the right amount of party. Perfectly paired to a day in the Autumn air.

Low Down Riders: Born and bred in Sydney’s inner west, the Low Down Riders are a five piece, inspired by the musical gumbo that is New Orleans street music. Their Raucous, swampy brand of Jazz, will light up the festival up at peak hour on Saturday.

Southern Ocean Sea Band: Big band folk jams all the way from Port Fairy – These guys n gals weave historical stories & legends into song & shanty. Captivating stuff + the ideal soundtrack to a fresh hop ale!

The High Street Shufflers:Yackandah’s favourite 10-30 piece piece rag-tag roaming street band, play brassy covers of pop classics to warm your soul.

The Kissin’ Cousins: Beechworth’s Bluegrass heroes, The Kissin’ Cousins are no strangers to High Country hops stage. They’ll be doing a mandolin shreddin’ victory lap on Sunday arvo.

Bad Knees: Smashing cartilage since the year dot, the Bad Knees bring their Billy-Rock to Hops Fest. These guys know their instruments even better than their inline-skates, and have tunes to match. Get up early to bend your Bad Knees.

Wild North Record Players: The Wild North Record Players are an itinerant group of men and women who take pleasure in collecting + playing good music, and who possess the uncanny knack for making a festival ground feel like you’re hanging in their lounge room.

Suomi Selectors: 3 music nerds from Finland via Brunswick + and the outskirts of Beechworth play IPA drinking hits of tomorrow, yesterday and Saturday evening.

The Food

We love food as much as you do and understand the importance of having top notch eats as a part of the festival experience. Which is why we’ve identified cooks and makers who WIN, to do their thing – At our thing!

Taco Truck: Raph Rashid is one the forefathers of modern Australian food truck culture. His Taco Truck (+ Beatbox Kitchen) ushered in a food revolution in Melbourne, making great food portable + accessible to people in all corners of the city. We’re very excited to have Taco Truck at High Country Hops. (Saturday Only)

Old Factory BBQ: Benni McKechnie cooks meat over the fire, low and slow, on a colossal, 15 foot, custom built BBQ. The results have been known to make grown-ups cry.

Toun’s Kitchen: Toun and her family are a larger than life cooking machine, turning out the North East’s freshest authentic Thai classics. (Saturday only)

An Choi Vietnamese Street Food: Ann lives in nearby Myrtleford and makes killer gỏicuốn, Banh Mi to die for, and her nem nuong is off the charts. Trust us, you want to eat this on Sunday.

Gundowring Ice Cream: People often say “It’s all about the ingredients”. Gundowring ice cream proves that theory and then some. The milk that makes this ice cream comes from the cows on the Crooke family farm. And said milk, makes this ice-cream some of the most delicious in the country. Visit their stall to try some our latest collab, ‘Bing IPA’ yes, BEER icecream.

Glamping

As a part of this year’s High Country Hops Festival, Bridge Road Road Brewers are offering punters a unique opportunity to glamp in the middle of Beechworth’s Historic precinct.

Glamping package: A mere 150m from the brewery, this is a first for modern day Beechworth, replicating the Gold Rush tent villages of the 1850s – with a significant upgrade in luxury! Premium bell tent accommodation is provided by ‘Into The Woods’ and includes additional extras courtesy of Bridge Road Brewers to the value of $75 per person!

*A weekend tasting pass + Craftd festival glass – Which gives you tastings from each of the 10 breweries at the festival.

*A welcome pack including a bottle of fresh hop beer straight off bottling line, Bridge Road Brewers merch + an Itinerary for your time in Beechworth.

*A greeting to town and the glamp site from local historians (dressed in period costume!) who’ll outline the historical significance of beer to Beechworth and it’s importance in day to day life in the Goldfields!

* Private Brewery Tour + Tasting with Bridge Road Brewers staff

Accommodation is for 2 nights – Friday 29 & Saturday 30 March

Check-in from 3pm-7pm on Friday March 29.

For pricing and bookings head here.

For further information please contact Bridge Road Brewers.