Hawkers Beer will literally bring the circus into its Reservoir brewery, in what is arguably the most unique Good Beer Week event on this year’s schedule.
Preparations are underway for the Hawkers Brewery Circus, which will take place in the evening on Saturday 13 May and will see Melbourne’s best circus artists juggle beer, fly from the rafters and tumble through the tanks.
With previous experience in Cirque Du Soleil, Circus Oz and Circa, the circus performers will put on a routine that responds to the brewery’s physical constraints and unique architectural dimensions, all while Melbourne alt-pop trio Halycon Drive treat the audience to a live show.
Hawkers co-founder Mazen Hajjar said the event has been created in an effort to one-up last year’s brewery cinema, a hit at the 2016 Good Beer Week.
“This year we were thinking ‘how do you beat putting in a big screen and bean bags in a brewery?’ Hajjar told Beer & Brewer. “And someone said ‘hey, the only thing bigger than a cinema is a circus’, so it all started off as a joke!
“But it all very quickly became very serious – we started out like ‘wow, that’d be a great idea’ but we actually went ahead and investigated it and found out that it was a possibility.
“How often do you get to see actual circus artists perform in the confines of a space like a brewery?”
Hajjar also revealed that Hawkers will be releasing its 2017 Imperial Stout at the event, in addition to a brand new and limited Hop Series IPA – the first beer to be launched under the leadership of new head brewer Justin Corbitt.
Food trucks will be on hand, including one of Melbourne’s top slow cooked American BBQ purveyors, Fancy Hanks, who will be supplying circus-goers with delicious smoked meats to enjoy alongside the Hawkers Beer while they take in the spectacle.
“Now the pressure is on to outdo this next year – I’m not sure what the hell we’re going to do!” said Hajjar.
Tickets ($130) are extremely limited and include five schooners – book here.
And don’t forget: we’re giving away a trip to Good Beer Week’s second weekend (18-21 May). The prize includes flights to Melbourne, three nights accommodation, tickets to a bunch of GBW events, and a year’s subscription to Beer & Brewer – so get your entries in now!