Marrickville brewery The Grifter Brewing Co. is getting behind local music festival Psyched As Forever with the release of a special-edition collaborative brew, Psyched As Pilsner.
Now in its third year, Psyched As Forever is a DIY community festival with a jampacked lineup of local and international artists, and a celebration of the life and legacy of Psyched As Co-founder and Inner West musician Richard Mills, who tragically passed away in 2022.
Grifter has thrown its support behind the festival with the release of Psyched As Pilsner, and honouring Mills’ Kiwi roots, the beer heroes New Zealand hops, using Moutere Riwaka and Kohatu to craft a light-bodied beer with tropical, passionfruit and citrus flavours.
Grifter Co-Founder Matt King told Beer & Brewer the brewery has been involved in the festival in an unofficial capacity for many years, and the idea for Psyched As Pilsner was born following Grifter’s sponsorship contribution last year.
“I remember the early days where we did an activation at the bottle shop next door to the house where Psyched As was being held – $15 four-packs – those were the days.
“It’s important on so many levels. We love supporting community-minded events within music and arts when we can, especially within our backyard. The other reason is the more recent festivals have been in honour of Dickie Mills, who was near and dear to our hearts at The Grifter Brewing Co. We miss him every day and it’s great to see this event being held in a way to remember him.
“I thought it would be a bit more of a fun way to donate to the festival, by brewing a beer together and donating all of the proceeds to Psyched As. It was a fun day, with the crew and Dickie’s family coming down to the brewery for the brew day. I feel as though we can safely mark this one in the diaries every year now,” he added.
Now pouring for a limited time at venues around the Inner West, with a small number of kegs saved for the event in January, King says beer lovers can expect “high drinkability, something perfect for summer. A splash of kiwi hops. Nothing too fancy, a familiar beer”.
Psyched As Forever will take over the Sydney Portugal Community Club on Saturday 25 January, headlined by all-woman indie rock band The Buoys off the back of a sold-out Australian tour.
The line up will also feature Full Flower Moon Band, The Gooch Palms, Gimmy, Grinding Eyes, Antenna, and plenty more local and international talent in performances across two stages.
Promising to be the biggest year yet for the community festival, a portion of ticket sales will be donated in memory of Mills to Bula Bula Arts Centre in Rammigining, where he previously worked.
Tickets are now available to buy here.