obsidian dark beer festival

The festival will be taking place at the historic Ballarat Mining Exchange, 12 Lydiard St North Ballarat.

The festival will be completely indoors, with heated concrete floors to provide any extra warmth that you need in addition to the delicious beers on offer.

Local to Ballarat

 - best to utilise public transport, taxis or ubers to and from the venue

Melbourne based

 - utilise the cheaper daily fares and journey to Ballarat on a VLINE service. The timing of sessions should enable you to easily get to and from the festival in a timely manner (but you can always hang around and sample some of the great local bars and eateries)

 - the venue is around a 5 minute walk from the Ballarat Train Station

Surrounding areas

 - most areas will have some form of public transport service to Ballarat but if not, why not make a night of it and stay in town at one of the great accommodation providers!

Tickets are $85 (+bf) and includes samples of 28 dark beers, festival glass, masterclasses and entertainment. It really is great value for the range of beers that will be on show!

The 14 independent craft breweries really are spoiling you. You can expect to see a festival exclusive or two, limited releases, beers on draught for the first time in their release, and some great core range beers. 

Think everything from Doppelbock to Black Pilsner, Barrel Aged Stout to Brown Ale. There will be a great range of dark beer styles on show!

While not included in the ticket price, local distilleries Kilderkin and Itinerant Spirits will both be serving up spirits and cocktails.

There will also be a Can Bar offering some palate cleansing beers (should you feel the need).

Tickets will be available for sale up until the commencement of each session (subject to availability). If capacity allows, ticket sales will be available during each session. 

Social media pages will be updated to reflect a session being sold out.

You will be provided a wristband on entry which will enable you to leave the venue and return. This may be required if you wish to head outside for a cigarette, as the venue itself is non-smoking.

Some of Ballarat's best local producers will be on show. We have the legend that is Oz serving his amazing Turkish flavours, Campana's offering cheese platters, and Flying Chillies serving Bao.

Local music duo Pink Moon have curated a particularly dark playlist that will see a mixture of live music and DJ Sets for the duration of each session.

You can expect to hear from a mixture of breweries and industry representatives. Topics may include things like barrel programs from breweries, how to set up a brewery using recycled materials, techniques to making a great sour dark beer, and more!