I wish I were in one of my favorite cities—Melbourne, Australia—so I could attend the Blobfish Beer Festival at the historic Meat Market, a venue that's worth a visit with or without beer. The Meat Market website describes the space:
Meat Market is an iconic heritage listed building in Melbourne reimagined as a venue hire space for arts, culture and events. With five dedicated arts spaces for hire, Meat Market accommodates performances, circus and dance, creative productions, exhibitions, music, photography, film, fashion, markets, corporate events and more.
Featuring original cobblestone floors, period fretwork, stone arches and a captivating barrel vaulted ceiling, book a quintessentially Melbourne event space for your next event. Effortlessly straddling historic and contemporary elements, Meat Market's team can tailor a package to suit your needs.
It's a perfect place to hold the Blobfish Beer Festival, which, in an homage to the lowly blobfish, features strange and under-appreciated beers. The festival website provides this overview of the event, which will happen on Saturday July 22, 2023:
Like the Blobfish itself, sour, funky and wild beers emerge from the depths of the beer scene – intriguing, slightly obscure, somewhat unknown but always exciting. Get set to sip a diverse range of sours, saisons, barrel-aged brews, fruity concoctions and rare small-batch runs from 21 breweries across Australia and New Zealand.
For $80 AUD (about $52 USD), you can taste all 42 beers that are featured at the festival, from these breweries:
Beerfarm – BentSpoke Brewing Co – Black Arts Brewers and Blenders – Boatrocket Brewers & Distillers – Bridge Road Brewers – Deeds Brewing – Felons Brewing Co – Garage Project – Ida Pruul – La Sirène Brewing – Ministry of Beer – Molly Rose Brewing Co – Rocky Ridge Brewing Co – Sailors Grave Brewing – Site Fermentation Project – Slow Lane Brewing – Sobremesa Fermentary & Blendary – Stomping Ground Brewing Co – The Barrel Farm – Van Dieman Brewing – Wildflower Brewing & Blending
And if that's not enough, there's also going to be other drinks, lots of food, and plenty of fun:
Rattenhund Bar – chill out and sip palate cleansers
Natural Wine, Mezcal & Cocktail Bar – curated by one of Footscray's favourite bars, Mr West
Entertainment – DJs spinning tracks to keep the vibe
Carwyn Cellars – Get yourself some takeaways at the bottle shop
Pie Thief – arguably Melbourne's favourite pies (including vegan and vegetarian options)
Oyster Bar – Two buck shuck!
Dingo Ate My Taco – The taco's you've been waiting for!
Bluebonnet BBQ – American style bbq with a 'wild' twist
My mouth is watering, and I've got my dancing shoes on. I feel like I need to book a plane ticket now!
