Karen Golding from Red Hill Brewery has been inspired by German beer festivals for their GABS beer.

What beer are you making for GABS?
To be finalised, but hopefully a german style festival beer. A marzen possibly.

Does it have a name yet?
Festbier probably.

Where did the inspiration come from?
German beer festivals and the styles of beer we like to brew.

How much effort goes into designing a beer for GABS?
A lot! As the remaining beer also needs to be sold elsewhere there are a lot of other considerations besides just making the beer, such as label design, packaging, selling the beer, etc.

Does GABS give you the chance to go a bit crazy and try something you might not normally brew?
Sure, for many brewers it does, although for us, we tend to stick to more classic styles, so we definitely try styles we may not have done before but it probably won’t be crazy!!! Especially if it has to be sold elsewhere also.

Does the Spectapular bring out a competitive streak?
Not for us, again, we brew what we love to drink. Not to compete against others or get notoriety for the sake of it.

Explanation for the unaware: GABS is Great Australasian Beer Spectapular, a beer festival in Melbourne, Australia, from May 24-26 this year where brewers make a beer they’ve never made before and bring it along so the punters can try it. Cool, huh?