Yes, they had beer as well as food and wine!
This is one of the few festivals that I get really excited about. We go every year, without fail. It's an absolute blast, and we always discover some fantastic wines whenever we visit.
Only, this time I decided to focus on the beers as much as possible. And Damn, I was so glad that I did.
Beer, beer and... now I'm tipsy...
As it turns out, there are more breweries at this festival than ever before. When I walked in, I was surrounded by beer. It was a beer fanatic's heaven. Apart from the 0% beer that I was encouraged to try by @just2random. Here's me being sad with a 0% beer:
I tried beer from:
- Southern Bay Brewery;
- Some company that makes 0% alcohol beer that doesn't deserve a mention;
- Fury and Son; and
- Cavalier Brewing
Of these breweries, Cavalier stood out as the best of the bunch. Mainly for their Brown Ale, which was just incredible. They also produced an excellent Stout. I'll be making a point of taking the long drive to their brewery in the near future so keep an eye out for that review soon.
And the wine?
Of course, I had to try the wine as well. I couldn't really ignore given how much of it was around me. And there were some fantastic wines to try. It's just a shame that by the time I got to the wine, I may have already been a little tipsy.
There are two wineries that I visit every year.
- Soul Growers for their Cellar Dweller Cabernet Sauvignon; and
- Rolf Binder for his Bulls Blood Shiraz.
I grabbed a bottle of the Cellar Dweller straight away, the 2016 vintage is just as good as last year's. Sadly, the Bulls Blood Shiraz didn't impress much this year. But I did get a chance to try something that was hidden behind the counter. I don't recall the name (tipsy remember) but it was a single block shiraz which was excellent. This shiraz can only be purchased via mail order so I'll grab a bottle or 6 this week.
Summary
Well, another year down but the first time I have ever recorded the event. Overall, I was really impressed to see so many breweries at the event. The beers were actually the stand out for me this year, especially that Brown Ale.
Music from Epidemic Sound
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