GABS Festival, in partnership with Hop Products Australia (HPA), has announced the four new and emerging breweries that will be part of the Up & Coming Brewers Bar at the Melbourne Festival.
The Up & Coming Brewers Bar gives the selected breweries the opportunity to share a stand at GABS with all bar and beer tap equipment provided. In addition, the successful breweries receive up to 20kg of the highest quality Aussie, international or innovative hop products from our partners at HPA so they can make a sensational festival beer.
This year’s Up & Coming Brewers for Melbourne are:
- Bendigo Brewing, Bendigo, VIC
- Jump Ship Brewing, Port Lincoln, SA
- Maffco Brewing and Distillery, Maffra, VIC
- Murray Towns Brewing Co, Gateway Island, VIC
Mike Bray, Managing Director of Spectapular Enterprises, creators of GABS Festival & Good Food & Wine Show, said: “Every year it’s great to see the new emerging breweries who apply for the Up & Coming Brewers Bar at the GABS Festival.
“There is a lot of talent and creativity here in Australia, and to give 12 emerging brands per season the opportunity to showcase their awesome beer to enthusiasts is just part of what GABS does for the industry. It’s always very exciting when many of them go on to achieve great things in subsequent years.”
The four brewers were all understandably delighted to become part of this year’s GABS Festival in Melbourne.
Evan Hunter of Bendigo Brewing said: “Bendigo Brewing opened in late 2024 on the site of one of Bendigo’s earliest gold rush era breweries, in the heart of old China Town. We preferentially source local, regeneratively grown, organic, and heirloom varieties of grain and hops for maximum flavour with minimum environmental impact, utilising slow, inefficient old-world techniques to make the most of these special ingredients.
“We’re incredibly excited to be part of the Up & Coming Brewers Bar at GABS Melbourne 2025 because it is an opportunity to showcase our beers in front of a new and passionate audience. It’s also our first ever beer festival.”
Michelle Hankins of Jump Ship Brewing added: “We are delighted to be involved and extremely appreciative of the opportunity to showcase our brand interstate. We are very excited to take our crew from Jump Ship Brewing from Port Lincoln on the west coast of SA to Melbourne.”
Maffco Brewery and Distillery is nestled in the heart of the beautiful Gippsland region in Victoria, and the team said: “Based out of a carefully restored century-old milk factory in Maffra, we are dedicated to crafting quality beer utilising both international and locally sourced, Australian ingredients, showcasing the rich agricultural heritage and community spirit of Gippsland.
“At Maffco, we strive to make each batch of beer our best batch yet, exploring every beer style along the way.
“Join us at the 2025 GABS Melbourne, HPA ‘Up & Coming’ bar to taste our beer and become a part of the story.”
Finally, Barry Young of Murray Towns Brewing, said: “As a new craft brewery we have a number of reasons to be proud of our journey so far. We are proud of our story, our region of Albury Wodonga, the support from our local community and most importantly the quality of our beer and how it has been accepted by our community.
“GABS Festival and our acceptance in the Up & Coming Breweries bar gives us an amazing opportunity to increase our reach to a market that appreciates and understands craft beer. Hopefully it validates where we are and inspires and provides us the confidence to go on to bigger and better things.
“We are truly grateful to GABS for providing this opportunity and cannot wait for the fun to begin.”
This year’s GABS Festivals take place at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre from Friday, 4 to Saturday, 5 April 2025. Then it heads to the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, South Bank from Friday 23, to Saturday, 24 May 2025. And finally the ICC Sydney, Darling Harbour from Friday, 30 to Saturday 31 May.
Tickets are available through the GABS Festival website.