In a landmark partnership with the 2021 Royal Queensland Food & Wine Show, Treasury Brisbane will hand the state’s best new craft brewer a career-defining opportunity to showcase their skills and talents to the public.

As part of the inaugural partnership, Treasury Brisbane is sponsoring four new beer and wine categories in the show including ‘Best New Queensland Craft Brewer Award’ and ‘Best Queensland Beer of Show’ – both now open for nominations with entries closing on 29 January 2021.

The winner of the ‘Best New Queensland Craft Brewer Award’, who must be brewing for three years or less, will get to promote their talent through a 12-month commercial contract that enables his/her brewery’s beer to be sold across Treasury Brisbane’s wide array of restaurants and bars.

These venues include LiveWire 24/7 Sports Bar, Fat Noodle, Mei Wei Dumplings, and Treasury Brisbane’s newest Will & Flow overwater bar located along the Brisbane River.

Aether Brewing Head Brewer George MacGregor, who has been with the company for just over a year, said he was keen to enter the award, which would help drive awareness and support of the Northgate-based brewery to new audiences.

“With a team of around 10 people, Aether Brewing just turned four last week so this presents a great opportunity for us to continue raising our profile with our refreshing line-up of mid-strength, full-strength, IPA, and specialty beers; plus a variety of seasonal ones,” Mr MacGregor said.

“We’ve just brewed a new Double IPA that was released as part of our birthday celebrations and this would be an example of the types of beer we’d love to sell in Treasury Brisbane if we win.”

Mr MacGregor said he moved to Brisbane from Canada last year and it didn’t take him long to notice a strong craft brewing scene in the state’s growing ‘foodie’ capital.

“I saw a genuine passion for craft beer in Brisbane complemented by a friendly camaraderie between brewhouses, which I believe is based around the common goal of getting more people excited about local, craft beer,” Mr MacGregor said.

“I have always loved food science and I think brewing is a great marriage between using science and making something with your own hands, but also being able to relax and enjoy your work with a cold one afterwards.”

RNA Chief Executive Brendan Christou said the Royal Queensland Food and Wine Show Beer Awards were dedicated to recognising and rewarding the nation’s outstanding producers and their products and this was a fantastic opportunity.

“Our role at the RNA is to celebrate the best of the best in agriculture and we’re proud to be at the forefront of recognising excellence in food and beverage production,” Mr Christou said.

“Our Beer Awards are one of six nationally recognised Royal Queensland Food and Wine Show competitions unearthing Australia’s finest products.

“For an up-and-coming craft brewer, having your beer sold through Treasury Brisbane’s venues is a great way to showcase your talents to the consumer and build your profile in the industry.”

Treasury Brisbane COO Kelvin Dodt said he was proud to launch the partnership to help promote and support Queensland’s craft brewing industry, which plays an important role in the state’s tourism and hospitality sectors.

‘The craft brewing industry is all about creating artisanal and local products and we’re proud to be part of that by supporting these awards,” Mr Dodt said.

“We hope many craft brewers will throw their hat in the ring and enter these awards, and we look forward to working with the winner of ‘Best New Queensland Craft Brewer Award’ to sell their beer and also create some exciting events on property in the future, such as a ‘Meet the brewer’ type event.

“While we’ve been a central part of Brisbane’s nightlife for the past 25 years, our property has significantly transformed in recent times into one of the city’s most fun and vibrant dining and entertainment destinations.

“This year alone, we unveiled a revamped LiveWire Sports Bar to become the city’s new home of sport and live entertainment; we opened a new hawker-style Cantonese restaurant in Mei Wei Dumplings; and just in the past month, we ventured off-property to launch our new stunning overwater bar, Will & Flow.

“As we look ahead towards late 2022 and the opening of our game-changing $3.6 billion Queen’s Wharf Brisbane development, we couldn’t think of a better time to help create opportunities for people to showcase their bespoke products and continue building a culture of innovation across the city and the state.”

For more, including how to enter the 2021 Royal Queensland Food & Wine Show beer awards, visit www.rqfws.com.au/beer-awards. The winners of the two beer awards will be announced in March 2021.