The time has come, in 2016, for naysayers to set aside their Neanderthalic notions of drinking beer and eating barbecued meats as an event. Sure, it’s a simple pleasure. But too often is it reduced to the idea of cardboard sausages in white bread, washed down with pigswill liquid with classic rock blurring in the background.
Come on. We’ve come a lot further than that. Australia is crafting some of the best beer experiences in the world right now, with local producers devoutly focused upon quality of drink over quantity of product. And as for meats and vegetables cooked over a grill, well, we’ve all been beaten over the head by the term ‘respect for the produce’. Because that’s a thing. Not just the title of a faux celebrity cookbook available on discount at your local supermarket.
The point is, we’re beyond the gimmicks and the mass swill. When the Adelaide Beer & BBQ Festival come to town this July 8-10 at the Adelaide Showgrounds, it will be a celebration for connoisseurs and the general punter alike. Tickets are already flying out the door and it’s not hard to see why. It’s like a Showground rock star line up of yesteryear, if rock stars were chefs and beer makers.
Already on the line up are the increasingly familiar craft names of 4 Pines (NSW), Brew Dog (UK), Big Shed, Brooklyn (USA), Clare Valley, Exit (Vic). Founders (USA), Hawkers (Vic), Hoffbrau (Ger), Little Creatures (WA), Little Bang, Malt Fiction, Modus Operandi (NSW), Moo Brew (Tas), Pirate Life, Prancing Pony, Sierra Nevada (USA), Smiling Samoyed, West City (Vic) and Young Henry’s (NSW). This will now be complimented by a collaboration with Australia’s preeminent ‘good beer’ website and blog, The Crafty Pint, and a 20ft shipping container with 18 taps pouring beer from a host of different breweries — including New Zealand’s Epic Brewing and others which have rarely been showcased in SA before.
2016 BBQ Ambassador, South Africa’s ‘punk chef’ Duncan Welgemoed, has also lined up some additional names to the chef line up with Street ADL, Nola, Jack Ruby, Rosa’s Argentinian Kitchen and Gweilo BBQ included today to the already long list of Rodney Scott BBQ (USA), Mary’s Burgers (Newtown, NSW), Africola, Gilbert Street Hotel, Golden Boy and Comida. Plus, we’d like to draw special attention to the involvement of master Adelaide chocolatier Steven ter Horst. Steven has dedicated himself to creating things that people have never experienced before, so he’ll be creating the perfect BBQ dessert for the occasion.
Then there’s also the music line up, because turning the radio up simply isn’t enough. Nationally acclaimed Adelaide producer Oisima will be bringing his full live band to the stage, while Panama and The John Steel Singers will also make the trip from interstate to feature as part of carefully list. Of course barbecue experts have great taste in music as well.
And don’t forget Adelaide’s very first Australasian BBQ Alliance sanctioned competition with 24 teams from across the country battling it out for the title of Grand Champion with nearly $10,000 worth of cash and prizes up for grabs. The teams will be cooking Pork, Pork Ribs, Beef and Lamb low & slow at the Beer & BBQ Fest on Saturday afternoon and overnight to be judged Sunday by a panel of homegrown chefs and passionate American style Barbecue judges. Should make for one hell of a spectacle!
All of this, crammed into one wonderful weekend. We suppose if you’re one of those docile Adelaide folk who don’t leave the house in the winter, you’d be more than welcome to attend in your pajamas. Or wrapped in a doona. Just mind the meat crumbs. It’s not good to eat where you sleep.
Entry remains $25 for day sessions, $30 for night sessions or $60 for a weekend pass. Tickets are
available via the event website. And it sounds like they’re not done with the line up quite yet, so keep an eye for further tweaks via the ABBF Facebook page.
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