Vegemite and stale bread beer? GABS Festival brings bizarre brews to Sydney

• The Great Australian Beer SpecTAPular (GABS) will take over the ICC Theatre in Darling Harbour at the end of May.
• Over 500 beers have been confirmed for the festival, including some truly bizarre flavour profiles like emu bushtucker and vegemite and stale bread.
• In previous years, some of the most ridiculous-sounding beers have ended up tasting good, owing to the sheer ingenuity of Australia’s progressive craft beer scene.

The annual Great Australian Beer SpecTAPular, now one of the world’s biggest beer festivals, has been known to get a bit wacky with experimental brews.

Each year, breweries from around the world descend upon Australia’s major capitals for this travelling bastion of beer, which features the country’s longest pop-up bar with 120 taps all running on one line, showcasing brews from both local and international breweries.

Over previous years, we’ve seen everything from sushi beer and ice cream beer to cookie stouts and lollipop sours on show, right alongside more traditional (see: normal) beers, some of which have gone on top become best-sellers like Hop Nation’s Jedi Juice and Feral Brewing’s Karma Citra.

READ MORE: Felons Manly is the modern brewpub Sydney deserves.

This year will be no different. In fact, it’s looking like the craziness has been dialled up with a list of eye-opening flavour profiles like vegemite and stale bread, milk chocolate orange, and… green ant and emu bushtucker.

As the format goes, there will be 100 taps dedicated to the most creative beers, while 20 taps will be pouring a variety of alternatives including spirits and cocktails. It’s the only place in Australia where you can taste over 100 new (and in most cases, exclusive) brews under the one roof.

Some of the most interesting stars on the lineup include:

• Broken Bay Pearl Oyster Beer by Six String Brewing Co. from Erina, NSW
• Milk Chocolate Orange Stout from The Costal Brewing Company in Forster, NSW
• Vegemite, Stale Bread & Macadamia Nuts Beer from The Social Brewers in Mortdale, NSW
• Brisket Burnt Ends Rauchbier by Moffat Beach Brewing Co on the Sunshine Coast
• Green Ant & Emu Bush Tucker Beer by Jarrah Boy on the Sunshine Coast
• Cherry Coca Cola by Blackflag Brewing on the Sunshine Coast
• Nitro Beer with Raspberry & Hibiscus by Valley Hops Brewing in Brisbane, QLD
• White Chocolate & Creamy Vanilla Stout by Your Mates on the Sunshine Coast
• Rainbow Ice Cream Cone by Good Land Brewing in Traralgon East, VIC
• Warhead Lolly Beer by Bowden Brewing, SA

Aside from all the roaming circus acts, live bands, carnival games and even a few eating competitions, a sure-shot highlight of this year will be the launch of Mountain Culture Beer Co.’s latest brew, Juice Trip, touted as the popular brewery’s “biggest innovation” since the award winning Status Quo Pale Ale, which topped the GABS Hottest 100 list two years in a row.

READ MORE: You can now get bottomless chocolate mousse and caviar cheeseburgers at this French pop up restaurant.

Some of the oldest breweries in the world will be there

After making their debut at GABS last year, the world’s oldest brewery is heading on back down to pour several of its award-winners. Weihenstephan brewery was founded 1000 years ago in a monastery in Freising, Bavaria. Since at least 1040, this pioneering brewery has been the bedrock of Bavaria, leading to one of the world’s most diverse and fascinating beer scenes.

They’ll be joined by another German brewery, Schlenkerla, which also has a long and storied history dating back to 1405. The 15th century brewery is known for its ancient brewing techniques, it being one of only two breweries left in the world to use an open fire in their own in-house malt house to dry their malt. Needless to say, expect smokey profiles at the dedicated Schlenkerla stand.

In total, there will be 500 beer taps taking over the ICC in Darling Harbour, sitting alongside a great range of other drinks including cocktails, whiskies, wines and non-alcoholic flavours to present a fully-rounded scope of what drinking looks like in 2025.

The Great Australian Beer SpecTAPular

Where: ICC, Darling Harbour
When: Friday, May 30 – Saturday, May 31, 2025
Price: From $42