Good things brewing as Treasury offers craft winners a big heads-up

Treasury Brisbane will throw its support behind the Royal Queensland Food and Wine Show, offering a 12-month commercial contract to the winner of the best craft brewer section to sell beer through its restaurants and bars.

These venues include LiveWire 24/7 Sports Bar, Fat Noodle, Mei Wei Dumplings, and Treasury Brisbane’s newest Will & Flow overwater bar located along the Brisbane River.

Treasury Brisbane said the contract would be career-defining for the winner.

As part of the inaugural partnership with the show, Treasury Brisbane is sponsoring four new beer and wine categories in the show including “Best New Queensland Craft Brewer Award” and “Best Queensland Beer of Show” – both now open for nominations with entries closing on 29 January 2021.

The winner must have to have been brewing for three years or less.

Aether Brewing head brewer George MacGregor said he was up for the challenge.

MacGregor, a Canadian, has been with the company for just over a year and watched the growth in local brewers.

“We’ve just brewed a new Double IPA that was released as part of our birthday celebrations and this would be an example of the types of beer we’d love to sell in Treasury Brisbane if we win.”

“I saw a genuine passion for craft beer in Brisbane complemented by a friendly camaraderie between brewhouses, which I believe is based around the common goal of getting more people excited about local, craft beer,” Mr MacGregor said.

“I have always loved food science and I think brewing is a great marriage between using science and making something with your own hands, but also being able to relax and enjoy your work with a cold one afterwards.”

RNA Chief Executive Brendan Christou said the Royal Queensland Food and Wine Show Beer Awards were dedicated to recognising and rewarding the nation’s outstanding producers and their products and this was a fantastic opportunity.

“Our Beer Awards are one of six nationally recognised Royal Queensland Food and Wine Show competitions unearthing Australia’s finest products,’’ he said.

Treasury Brisbane chief operating officer Kelvin Dodt said he was proud to launch the partnership to help promote and support Queensland’s craft brewing industry, which plays an important role in the state’s tourism and hospitality sectors.

‘The craft brewing industry is all about creating artisanal and local products and we’re proud to be part of that by supporting these awards,” Dodt said.

“We hope many craft brewers will throw their hat in the ring and enter these awards, and we look forward to working with the winner of ‘Best New Queensland Craft Brewer Award’ to sell their beer and also create some exciting events on property in the future, such as a ‘Meet the brewer’ type event.

“While we’ve been a central part of Brisbane’s nightlife for the past 25 years, our property has significantly transformed in recent times into one of the city’s most fun and vibrant dining and entertainment destinations.

“As we look ahead towards late 2022 and the opening of our game-changing $3.6 billion Queen’s Wharf Brisbane development, we couldn’t think of a better time to help create opportunities for people to showcase their bespoke products and continue building a culture of innovation across the city and the state.”