Can-demic – the High Country at Home case 
Mornington Peninsula Brewers Beach Box 
Tiffany Waldron (centre) with the Indie Knock Offs box
If the people can’t come to you then come to the people and that’s just what Victoria’s High Country Brewery Trail brewers have done with their special release collaboration case.
The ‘Can-demic Case’ is their answer to getting their craft in the people’s hands at a time when normally the area is teeming with tourists. The 24 pack consists of beer and cider selections from Bright Brewery, Bridge Road Brewers, Black Dog Brewery, Blizzard Brewing Co and Alpine Cider and is available for purchase online.
Other boxed collaborations to emerge recently include a range of Mornington Peninsula breweries releasing the ‘Beach Box’ and Founders First’s ‘Local Craft Indie Knock Offs’. See below for more details on these.
Victorian High Country brewers have done it tougher than most of late, with the economic fallout from COVID-19 coming on the heels of devastating Summer bushfires.
Bright Brewery marketing manager Laura Gray said the Can-demic case was perfect for those beer lovers who were missing their trips to the High Country.
“This is such a spectacular time of year in the High Country and it’s also a time when our local breweries are turning out some of their best brews. It’s devastating that we can’t share that with visitors this year,” Gray said.
“(This) allows us to send 24 little pieces of the High Country out into people’s homes, which will hopefully help to tide them over until we can welcome them back up here with open arms.
Likewise for TWØBAYS Brewing Co’s founder Richard Jeffares, the Mornington Peninsula brewers wanted to be stronger as one at a time of hardship.
The Beach Box is a mixed 12-pack, with two styles from each of the independent breweries in the region that had canned beers – Red Hill, TWØBAYS, Jetty Road Brewery, St Andrews Beach Brewery, Mornington Peninsula Brewery and Dainton Brewery.
“For many of the local breweries, their taproom was well over 50 per cent of their business – so having to close that has had a huge impact on their business and their staff. And then to have another 50 per cent of your customers also close – with less than 24 hours’ notice – really created some massive challenges,” Jeffares said.
“As local businesses, it’s really important for us to look at ways we can provide something interesting for our loyal customers to try – and the Beach Box was a way we could bring together all the local breweries (that had beer in cans) and provide a value pack for customers.”
The Beach Box celebrates the brewing diversity of the region, with the likes of TWØBAYS’ gluten free XPA and Mosaic Session IPA lining up alongside a really fresh brown ale from Mornington Peninsula Brewery and Dainton’s Blood Orange NEIPA.
Another collaborative case hitting the market recently is the Local Craft Indie Knock Offs where Founders First have partnered with Liquorland, Vintage Cellars and First Choice Liquor to exclusively sell 5000 cases of the pack nationally.
The case’s 16 local craft beers were selected by Cicerone Tiffany Waldron and include BentSpoke’s Crankshaft IPA, Modus Operandi’s Silent Knight Porter and the Colonial Brewing Co’s Southwest Sour amongst others.
“The pack is a craft beer lovers’ smorgasbord, with a mix of familiar beers like IPA and Pilsner alongside Sour and Berliner Weisse,” Waldron said.
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