Bar Series 2017 is underway

Bridge Road Brewers has enlisted leadingcraft beer venues for the relaunch of its Bar Series initiative.

The first Bar Series happened in 2012, giving several venues the opportunity to collaborate with Bridge Road on an exclusive beer.

“I’d like to think Bridge Road Brewers have played somewhat of a pioneering role in the idea of venues collaborating with brewers here in Australia,” said Bridge Road’s Ben Kraus.

“Since that time there have been a huge number of collab brews between bars and brewers around the country that continues to develop the ties between craft brewers and craft beer venues.

“It really is a great way to share our passion, build relationships and educate each other about brewing beer and actually selling it in the wild,” said Kraus.

He said the series features contributions from some of the most interesting and influential craft beer venues in Australia.

“Unfortunately we can’t do this with all of our great customers. We have tried to select some of the iconic venues we have had a strong relationship with since we began brewing in 2005,” said Kraus.

The intention of the program is that the venue chooses what they would like to brew, with Bridge Road facilitating recipe development and brewing it with the bar team.

Each venue takes half of their own collaborative beer and the remainder is distributed to other participating venues, so that each participant has a chance to taste and showcase beers created by other like-minded people from around Australia.

“This format creates a bit of creative competition, but the fact that the venue has to commit to a large volume of their own beer keeps some of the creativity in check, and ensures ideas don’t get too wild,” said Kraus.

The first brew is already underway with Matt Emmerson of Brewski in Brisbane.

“We’re currently brewing a finger lime steam ale that we aim to have ready in time for Brewsvegas on March 10th,” said Kraus.

“Matt has managed to smuggle a few kilograms of finger limes from Queensland in order to bring something from his home state to the brew.”

Bridge Road Bar Series 2017 participants are as follows, with more to be confirmed:

• Brewski (Brisbane)
• The Wheatsheaf (Adelaide)
• New Sydney (Hobart)
• Debacle (ACT)
• The Cherry Tree (Melbourne)
• The Catfish (Melbourne)
• Grainstore (Newcastle)
• Scratch and Netherworld (Brisbane)
• The Wandi Pub (Wandiligong)
• Beer Deluxe (Multiple locations)