The Hunter Valley Wine and Beer Festival in back in 2025, returning for its 13th year on Saturday, 12 July.
Held at the Rydges Resort Hunter Valley the festival will feature over 45 of the Hunter Valley’s best wineries, brewers, and distillers, including Pepper Tree, Allandale, Leogate Estate, Gundog, Gartelmann, Elbourne Wines, Sydney Brewery, Zymurgy Brewing, Phoenix Distilling Co. and Pants Off Distillery.
Beer & Brewer spoke to a spokesperson from Sydney Brewery about how beer will have greater prominence at this year’s show.
“Whilst wine is the key focus, we’ve always felt the importance of offering alternatives to wine like beer, cider and spirits. As with any culinary experience, there’s nothing like a beer or cocktail to commence or finish the evening with.”
The team behind the festival are experts in running craft beer festivals, which helps provide a wealth of beer knowledge to the event.
“This is our 13th annual Hunter Valley Wine and Beer Festival on the back of running the Canberra Beer and Cider Festival for 18 years now, so we certainly are well credentialed. We are also partners with GABS, so together we provide an indomitable force. Ably led by Jenny and Jenna Farrell of SFC and Lisa Doppler from SpecTAPular Enterprises and their teams, we coordinate with the wonderful staff of Rydges Resort Hunter Valley to ensure a smooth festival that’s enjoyable for the exhibitors and patrons.”
With a focus on celebrating local products, the spokesperson noted the styles gaining traction among the local brewers that will be on display this year.
“Brewers like to push the boundaries of beer styles, producing a variety of small batch limited edition brews each year. The festival is the perfect platform to showcase experimental styles, as consumers are looking to broaden their taste experiences,” they said.
“From fruited sours and hazy pales to robust IPAs, choc chilli porters and flavoured ciders, we have something for all tastes and offer our core range beers and ciders to complete the picture.”
Festival guests will also have access to a number of culinary experiences with a range of local vendors offering tastings in addition to a Masterclass Stage, headlined by celebrity chef Miguel Maestre. Food and beer matchings, guided tastings and educational experiences will also be on offer.
“We are hosting a cheese and beer matching Masterclass with Hunter Belle Dairy from the Hunter Valley. Hunter Belle is providing an Ash Brie, which we will pair with Sydney Cider, as cider really does come into its own with cheese.
“We’ll have ‘Beer Cheese’ made with our very own East Coast IPA which will, of course, pair with the beer itself. It may seem a strange pairing on paper, but the beer cheese is fantastic and exemplifies how well beer does go with cheese,” said the spokesperson.
There will be live music going all day with performances by Kuta Groove Duo in the afternoon and the Fifth Whiskey Band following.
Families are welcome, with free entry for children accompanied by an adult. A Kids Zone Pass (just $10 on the day) offering access to jumping castles, train rides, face painting, and more. The festival proudly supports the local Rural Fire Service, with fundraising activities running throughout the day.