BEER lovers get those taste buds ready, the Bitter and Twisted Boutique Beer Festival is on again.
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The two-day festival at Maitland Gaol will feature 18 brewers showcasing over 80 beers from Australia and New Zealand.
For Aberglasslyn‘s Dusty Miner owner Stu Duff, it’s one of the best days of the year.
“It’s my favourite festival that I do. It’s all about people who enjoy beer coming together,” he said.
“I’ve been attending the festival since it started on the drinking side but on the serving side, this is my third or fourth year.
“For Bitter and Twisted, I always do specialty beers. This year I have the Dusty Monk which is a Belgium style beer and the other two are sours, which are a bit experimental one-off kegs. One is passionfruit and mango sour and the other is strawberry and raspberry sour.”
Mr Duffy has been brewing craft beer for over 20 years, before building his own micro brewery in his shed in 2014. He produced his first batch in 2015, and since then has won multiple awards for his beers.
A jam-packed lineup of entertainment includes indie favourites Cloud Control and Last Dinosaurs, with local and regional acts supporting them.
The first bottle shop in the festival’s history, Tighes Hill Cellars will be running the VIP area – serving Hawkers beer.
“This is our first year. We are really excited about being able to partner with Bitter and Twisted. We see this as a long term partnership because we are all passionate about craft beer,” Tighes Hill Cellars’ director Rob Richards said.
As part of the bottle shop’s sponsorship, they will also have a site on the ground and collaborating with Beresfield MaltnHops Beerhaus.
For the newly opened brewery’s operations manager Lucas Cassell, the festival is an opportunity to showcase their new products.
“We are aiming to bring six beers to the festival. We are bringing a New England IPA. It’s our first time making it so hopefully people will enjoy it,” he said.
There are still tickets available for the Sunday, and can be bought at bitterandtwisted.com.au.
