Roll up, roll up! Aotearoa’s premier festival of froth is on for the 22nd time on August 23-24 at Wellington’s Sky Stadium!
Whether you’re a Nerd or Noob — Beervana 2024 promises to deliver something for everyone and we got the inside word from Beervana ringmaster, Ryan McArthur, who delivers some hand-picked festival highlights
The Germans are coming!
Due to reasons that don’t need explaining, Beervana’s international showcase has been on hiatus since 2019. But it’s back in 2024 and the Germans are bringing their beers to our shores! (And they’ve left the Reinheitsgebot law at home.)
“This year features the highest number of international breweries exhibiting since Beervana hosted USA, Japan and the UK in 2019,” says Ryan.
He wanted three German breweries that portray the breadth of brewing history, creativity and beer styles in the German landscape.
“I wanted an older brewery with a traditional approach, like wheat beers and lagers; a new world, international approach to brewing with and a specialty brewery,” he says.
Schneeeule (Berlin) is the one-woman brewery that single-handedly revived the traditional German-style Berliner Weisse — a cloudy, sour beer style that had all but disappeared from the city it’s named for. Brewer, Ulrike Genz, discovered some old Berliner Weisse bottles in a vault and cultivated the yeast to bring the style back to life.
Schneider Weisse (Kelheim) is a weissbier (wheat beer) brewing company bringing traditional top-fermented wheat beers unaltered from the original 1872 recipe, now created by a seventh generation of the Schneider family.
Sudden Death (Lübeck) is boutique brewery known for its modern approach including hop-forward US-styles and the highest-rated fruited sours in Germany.
Alongside the International invitationals, Piccadilly, an importer of German beer, adds to the showcase with beer from Hofbrau, Paulaner, Lowenbrau, Weihenstephaner as well as the first official shipment of Ayinger.
Finally, it wouldn’t be an international showcase without brewers from each brewery attending to pour and chat beers — which also means international/Kiwi brewery collabs are back on the table.
Schneider Weisse’s brewmaster, Elena Fersch; Sudden Death’s brewer and founder, Oliver Schmökel, and Schneeeule’s brewer and founder, Ulrike Genz, will collaborate with local breweries such as Double Vision and Duncan’s — with more to be confirmed.
“We pair up international and local breweries to instigate and grow new relationships across distances. Those breweries team up to brew over Beervana week, and then release those beers a month or so down the line,” says Ryan.
Beervana Ballot 2024 — Vote for best stand
UK elections? Yawn. A more concerning US election? Too scary to look at.
You know the old saying: “Democracy sometimes works”. Well, voting at Beervana always works. Punters vote annually on their favourite festival beers — but this year, democracy amps to the next level with breweries vying for the honour of Best Stand.
One element that sets Beervana apart from other festivals — and helps generate that carnival atmosphere — are themed brewery stands.
“The creativity of breweries often extends beyond the beer and artwork to the physical stands themselves, giving breweries the opportunity to show off their personalities,” says Ryan.
To make it an even playing field, there will be multiple categories, including small, medium and big exhibitors.
So exercise your right to vote — check out those eye-popping aesthetics and engaging beer pours! Then take it to the proverbial polling booths at Beervana Ballot 2024.
National Cornhole Champs
Ryan describes Beervana as “a new surprise revealed around every twist and turn of the Sky Stadium’s concourse”.
Play table tennis with the Radio Hauraki crew, or up your brewing skills with a homebrewing talk. There’s plenty of bands and DJ sets to cut shapes to — or if the old legs are feeling a bit weary from your third lap around the stadium, kick back with your brew buddies in one of the chill seating stations dotted around the circumference.
And this year, you could fulfil your lifelong dream of becoming a New Zealand sporting hero… at the Cello National Cornhole Championships, hosted for the very first time by Beervana.
This bucolic pastime of throwing a humble bean bag into a hole at the end of an inclined board has proved a popular favourite at the festival, but this year, we’re talking edge-of-your-seat stuff: stadium seating, two courts, four matches at a time with qualifying rounds taking place over the first three sessions and the final during session four. The ultimate winner will be crowned the official New Zealand Cornhole Champ!
But I don’t drink beer!
You want your bestie/co-worker/mum to come to Beervana with you … but they don’t drink beer.
Weirdly, you don’t need to be a beer drinker to have a good time — or even find something to imbibe. Over recent years the festival has seen huge growth in sales of cider, sparkling mead, alcoholic ginger beer and beer-based cocktails.
And — even if you think you don’t drink beer, there’s been a fair number of conversions of over the years… cue file audio: “I didn’t think I liked beer, but now I love <insert sours/stouts/wheat beers/newly discovered beer style here>!” A word of warning: it can happen to you too.
Quality kai
Festival noobs are always surprised that the food at Beervana is as much a highlight as the beers. With 20 vendors, Beervana is renowned for its diverse variety of independent eateries and cuisines. Sure, you’ll find some fried, beige, battered “beer food” yums but there’s so much more to devour.
Every year, you’ll spot long lines for Boulcott Street Bistro’s whitebait fritters, or oysters in multiple forms at Mahurangi Oysters. But we recommend further loosening the old belt buckle to make room for newcomers such as: Ansum Pasty Company from Auckland, whose handmade pasties have a cult following; Abandoned Brewery’s stacked deli sandwiches; Tayta’s authentic Lebanese pitas and mezze; US-style BBQ, hot dawgs and burgs from Loosie’s Superette; Java Fusion’s Indonesian fare; and Kāpiti ice cream.
All dietary requirements — no matter how niche — you’ll likely find them catered for at Beervana.
For tickets, info and updates on Beervana, visit www.beervana.co.nz.