Media Release

Articles published under the media release byline are news produced by the relevant business and remain unedited by Brews News.

Save the Date: BrewCon19 in Melbourne

The IBA is pleased to confirm that we will be hosting 2019’s BrewCon in Melbourne at Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre on Wednesday 4th and Thursday 5th September. Save the date in your calendars now.

BrewCon is expected to maintain double-digit growth in attendees, with industry specialists from Australia and around the globe coming together to pool knowledge that will help Independent Brewers reach their full potential. Details of BrewCon registrations will be announced in March. In the meantime, ensure your IBA membership is up to date to take advantage of member discounts and early bird prices.

With 2018’s Sydney Trade Expo boasting a 33 per cent increase in exhibitors from the year prior, the 2019 Expo promises to be bigger than ever. We will be reaching out to our 2018 exhibitors in planning for the Expo and we encourage all IBA Associate Members to work with us to showcase your offerings to our members. The IBA is releasing its BrewCon trade and sponsorship prospectus on 8 March 2019.

Start Planning for The Indies 2019

As ever, BrewCon will culminate in The Indies Awards Ceremony, a celebration of excellence in the Independent Brewing sector. In 2018 we saw a record 747 beers entered into the competition. We look forward to this growth continuing into the second year of the rebranded Indies. Keep an eye out for the announcement date for opening entries early next year.

Queensland Craft Beer Strategy Launches

The formal launch this week of the Queensland Craft Beer Strategy is a timely recognition of the contribution our sector makes to Queensland manufacturing and the promise it holds for strong future growth. Congratulations to our Queensland IBA members, led by David Kitchen, for their hard work over the last nine months and success in pushing for change.

With its focus on investing in the skills of the Queenslanders in our industry, driving access to new markets for our unique products and clearing the path to growth through regulatory streamlining, the Strategy establishes a strong platform.

Queensland Craft Brewers are independent brewers. The IBA has made it clear to stakeholders what this independence of ownership means: that every dollar spent on our beer goes right back into the Queensland economy.

The IBA congratulates the Queensland government on this initiative. We will continue to work closely with our new contacts right across the Queensland government to realise this sector’s potential.

Welcome to New IBA Staff

Finally, the IBA warmly welcomes our newest recruits, Kate Paterson and Siobhan Kerin. Kate and Siobhan will be well-known to many of you in their previous roles as Chair and General Manager of Melbourne’s Good Beer Week. At the IBA, Kate will be Head of Industry Development, Siobhan takes on the role of Head of Events and of course Good Beer Week now joins the IBA’s roster of marquee events alongside BrewCon and The Indies.

We’re super pleased to have Kate and Siobhan on the team. In the new year they will be contacting IBA members and stakeholders to begin their work, so please make them welcome.

In the meantime, if you don’t follow us already on social media, you can find regular updates @indiebrewers on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.