As the day’s first drop of beer passes my lips, a friend remarks, “This place ain’t so bad, I definitely could have done time here.”
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It’s a wry observation, but he has a point.
With over 50 boutique beers on offer, plus a global selection of cuisines and top shelf musical acts, it’s hard to imagine that we’re standing in the haunted grounds of Maitland Gaol.
Memories of hangings, floggings and infamous inmates like Ivan Milat, have made way for the two-day Bitter and Twisted International Boutique Beer Festival.
It’s safe to assume that life for the souls locked in the former maximum security prison was not this decadent.
With tasting cup and tokens in hand guests wander from tent to tent, beneath scorching sunlight, and sample the carbonated wares of an array of independent microbreweries.
What is immediately evident is that these craft brewers are producing beverages superior to the major players.
Highlights of the Bitter and Twisted tasting circuit are the ciders and ginger beers, many of which are blended together by discerning tasters.
A popular tent is that of Matso’s Broome Brewery.
Their Ginger Beer is superb – as is Matso’s Mango and Desert Lime Cider.
But when you order the two mixed together you get a Gango – pronounced “jango”– and the flavours are sublime.
Next door at Brookevale Union, where the bartenders are costumed as a pirate and Batman, is the opportunity to try their supreme ginger beer and apple cider.
Many token-bearers ask for a “50/50” which is a mix of both – it is a delight.
Some beers required multiple tastings.
These are the Hangman Pale Ale from Rocks Brewing Company, the Hefeweizen by Six String Brewing Company, the Hunter Kolsch from Hunter Beer Co., the Big Hitter Special Bitter from Morpeth Brewing and Beer Co., the Grand Ridge Pilsener and the Reef Blonde from Blue Sky Brewery.
When the stomach starts to rumble, Twisted attendees are not starved for choice.
The menu includes salt and pepper squid, Ridgey Didge pies, Russian blinis, wood-fired pizzas, Nepalese dumplings, Portuguese chicken, Thai cuisine traditional German sausages and delicious beef jerky from Aussie Battler.
Adding to the historic atmosphere of Maitland Goal, with its mammoth walls of 1840s sandstone, are a host of live musical acts.
De’May’s dreamy acoustic guitar work, fragile, lulling vocals and poetic lyricism is a captivating opening to the day’s musical program.
Richard Perso has a gutsy, acoustic blues stomp of a man much older than his 22 years, plus three didgeridoos.
Bakoomba, fronted by Senegal’s Fode Mane, draw tasters to the front of the stage to dance to their infectious afrobeats – an irresistible mix of funk, reggae and high-energy percussion.
Quarry Mountain Dead Rats draw instant comparisons to Mumford and Sons, which could be the unwanted tag for any raw bluegrass band in the years to come.
Nevertheless, their sound is dirtier and more diverse than Mumford’s and every person in earshot is foot-tapping along.
The day is headlined by the classy Lanie Lane, who performs a stripped-back set flanked by two guitarists.
The show highlights the jazzier influences in her sound, with Lane’s crooning renditions of What Do I Do and Oh Well, That’s What You Get Falling In Love With A Cowboy two of the standouts.
It closes another brilliant day at Bitter and Twisted.
Next year’s event cannot come soon enough.
