The Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular (GABS) is back in Sydney and if you're a craft beer lover, this is your Disneyland (and you know how we love Disney)

Celebrating its 15th year, GABS is now a global heavyweight on the craft beer calendar. In 2015, American magazine, Beer Connoisseur, rated GABS as one of the top 20 beer festivals in the world. It's not just about drinking — there’s food, entertainment, games, and over 120 exclusive beers and ciders brewed just for the event.

GABS Sydney 2025 Details

Dates: May 30–31, 2025
Location: ICC, Darling Harbour
Tickets: $49 via Ticketek
Beer count: Over 120 festival-exclusive beers and ciders

We’ve been heading to GABS for at least four years running—once even doing both the Sydney and Melbourne festivals in the same year (highly recommend it if you’re game). We’ve been going since the early days, back when we had our own mugs in little lockers behind the bar at the Local Taphouse in Darlinghurst. This year, we’re keeping it local to Sydney. Here’s what we’re most excited about.

Festival Beers

The big draw for GABS is, of course, all of the festival beers. There are over 120 brand-new and exclusive beers crafted by craft breweries from around Australia and New Zealand, most of which are small independent breweries.

Here is a round up of the beers we are most excited about grouped in categories of: the interesting, browns and reds, triple digit ABVs and international offerings.

Bucket Brewery (NSW) S(pud)Mashable 5.0% | Specialty Beer “We’re aiming for a nice dry smashable Pilsner with the use of a considerable amount of locally grown potatoes in the mash.”
Green Gully Brewing (VIC) F you I wont do what you tell me 5.0% | Saison/Farmhouse Ale
“Our festival take on ageless European style. it will buck the modern system with comments like ‘this tastes really good considering it was made by a farmer and not a bald fat monk.’ Hybrid non diastatic yeast with a little something from the farm. Punters will be surprised.”
Urban Alley Brewery (VIC) Sunlight Feels Like Bee Stings 5.5% | Saison/Farmhouse Ale “This Bier De Miel is a dry, pale and hoppy saison with honey added during fermentation for lifted aromatics.”
Molly Rose Brewing (VIC) Vegan Custard Tart 5.4% | Lager – Festbier/Marzen
“That perfect jiggle, the sprinkle of nutmeg, biscuity crumbly pastry and sweet vanilla custard. Custard tarts are perfection in a tiny tin cup. This beer is that perfection in your tiny little cup but also vegan and a lager.”
Steam Jacket Brewing (VIC) Cool Ship Series 7.2% | Lager – Imperial Pils/Lager “This imperial pilsner is big, bold, and traditionally brewed. Starting its life in a coolship and having enjoyed an extended stay in our lagering tanks, it boasts a clean and crisp taste, a complex flavour profile of honey, biscuit, toffee, and a nutty finish, buoyed by a soft and luscious mouthfeel.”n text goes here
Captain Bligh's Brewery (TAS) A rose in every cheek 5.0% | Brown Ale – Australian“There is nothing like Vegemite on Toast after a night out on the beers! Why wait? Vegemite toast beer!!”
Earth Beer Company (NSW) Maple Macadamia 6.5% | Brown Ale – American
“Delicious Canadian Maple Syrup combined with toasted Macadamia on a rich malty brown body.”
Local Brewing Co. (VIC) Blood Red Redemption 8.0% | IPA – Red“A red IPA chock full of hops with a secondary ferment with blood plums. Pouring with a deep red hue and a delicious blend of hops, malt and fruit.”
Hop Hen Brewing (VIC) Fields of Red 7.5% | IPA – Red“A beautiful blend of rye and fresh beetroot combined with a hearty malt bill and the freshest of hops to provide a delicious balance between malty goodness and hop forward flavours and aromas.”
Dangerous Ales (NSW) Princess Peach 10.0% | IPA – Hazy “Peach Cream Thiolized Triple Hazy IPA.”
Fox Friday Craft Brewery (TAS) Master of Shadows 11.0% | Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout“Pouring as dark as night with viscosity for days, The Master Of Shadows is a beer that is both balanced and excessive. Coconut, chocolate and ample whiffs of bourbon float effortlessly across the palate while subtle vanilla notes and a roasty bitterness ties everything together nicely.”
Curly Lewis Brewing (NSW) Big Buckler 10.5% | IPA – Imperial
“Introducing the Big Buckler. Paddle into this Imperial IPA. Big, bold and extremely fresh with intensely rich resinous hops, a good amount of pine and subtle tropical fruit notes.Very balanced with caramel malt sweetness with a long bitter finish.”
Weihenstephan (Germany) Winterfest 5.8% | Lager – Festbier/Marzen
“The bright, golden color of our Winterfestbier brightens the dark depths of winter. A lengthy maturation period gives this beer its full-bodied flavour. A fine, aromatic bouquet emanates from the densely latticed foam crowning this winter seasonal, emphasizing the strong character of the beer.”
Schlenkerla Brewery (Germany) Helles Marzen 5.1% | Rauchbier
“Introducing our Helles Märzen – a delightful twist on the classic Märzen. This brew retains the rich, full-bodied malt character you love, but with a lighter touch of smoked malt. Perfect for those who appreciate tradition with a modern twist!”

Planning Your Day at GABS

There are many ways to GABS: stick to your favourite styles, hunt the weirdest brews (blue beer, anyone?), or try a little of everything. With taster cups, it’s the perfect place to experiment. The GABS website offers a primer for the uninitiated on how to get your paddles at the tanks.

GABS offers a web-based app is a helpful tool to browse the full beer list, find beer locations, create custom tasting paddles and log beers into Untappd. In previous years, we found the paddle planner a bit glitchy, but we will see how we go this year.

You can always go down the route of DIYing a list of your own (we’re working on this now). Extract the beer data from the website and popping it onto a Google sheet. Last year, we met a group of fellas who made a printed version and laminated. Waterproof genius!

Insider Tips

Grab a seat early – the good ones vanish fast.

Write beer numbers on both sides of your paddle (trust us, things spill).

Always have a plan B – some beers run out.

Expect queues – paddles, food, bathrooms – all of it.

Remember to drink water, eat food, take breaks, and look after your mates throughout the day. GABS is a marathon, not a sprint and the day will fly by. Before you know it, the music's fading and the lights are up on GABS 2025.

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