On Thursday 3 October, the Inner West Ale Trail celebrated its launch, having expanded to encompass 18 independent microbreweries and cementing its status by forming an official collective.
The launch party was held at Mixtape Brewing & Bar in Marrickville, where each of the Inner West Ale Trail breweries showcased a range of beers, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in attendance to welcome the launch of the new initiative.
The Prime Minister said: “The small businesses that are here employ local people, they create economic activity, but more importantly than that, for the community, they create joy, and they’re fantastic places to engage. I’m very pleased to be associated with this launch tonight, I want to congratulate everyone who has been involved.
“Rest assured that on the journey that I’m on, I’m very supportive of small businesses, I’m very supportive of social interaction and engagement. I’m very supportive of the idea that we’re not just individuals, that we actually need to engage socially, and that’s how you build a stronger society.
“Fun is back in Sydney. This is a great global city, and congratulations to all of you who are contributing to make it an even better, global fun city.”
Darcy Byrne, Mayor of the Inner West Council, and Michael Rodrigues, 24-Hour Economy Commissioner, also spoke about the formation of the Inner West Brewery Association and the official Inner West Ale Trail collective, and the vital role they play in the local community.
“I want to acknowledge the brewing sector in the Inner West, which has grown from nothing 20 years ago to being an integral part of our local economy and a huge part of our local culture over the last couple of decades and in the last few years,” stated Byrne.
“The truth is, in a cost-of-living crisis, the easiest thing for people to pull back on is buying a craft beer at their local brewery, because you can go to Aldi and buy a six-pack for $10, and a lot of our breweries have been struggling. They’re trying to hold on to make sure that things turn around, and that will happen, but they still want to be alive when that happens, and that’s really important for the Inner West community and the Inner West Council.
“The fact that we are the national capital of craft brewing is the biggest attractor that we’ve got for our local community, and the fact that the New South Wales Government have recognised that by investing in what we’re celebrating tonight, investing half a million dollars into creating the Inner West Ale Trail, that’s a really big deal,” he concluded.