Sydney Beer Week is about to kick off, and David sits down on the Hotel Sweeney’s rooftop with the man running it, Pete Anstey. Pete is the General Manager of Hotel Sweeney’s and Managing Director of Sydney Beer Week. He’s fresh off Oktoberfest in Munich, wearing lederhosen, and pouring fiestbiers on tap.
Pete explains how he and his partner Josh run a 10 day festival around full time jobs and young kids. They do it for the love of the industry, not to make money. They cover what’s on, why it’s built to include everyone, and why most events are free.
In this episode
- Pete’s Munich Oktoberfest trip and the Hofbräu fest beers on tap at Sweeney’s
- How Hotel Sweeney’s built its craft beer reputation, from a table of unknown bottles to a weekly tap takeover
- The Two Birds Taco keg record: 45 minutes
- How Sydney Beer Week came about
- The return of the Beer & Brewer Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement and Rising Star awards
- The Pro Am: home brewers compete, winners brew commercially with a partner brewery, and the public votes on the final beer
- The Beer Olympics (darts, can stacking and more) and the Sunday final with a $1,000 bar tab
- Pints & Plaits, a gluten-free Two Bays tap takeover, whiskey masterclasses and beer cocktails
- Why October is the sweet spot for a beer festival
- Why the Hotel Sweeney’s cellar capacity is four people
Timestamps
- 0:00 Welcome and meeting Pete Anstey
- 0:28 Oktoberfest, Munich and the Hofbräu beers
- 3:14 Hotel Sweeney’s rooftop and its craft beer history
- 5:39 The 45-minute keg record
- 6:28 How Sydney Beer Week started
- 8:41 The Beer & Brewer Awards
- 11:09 The Pro Am explained
- 14:26 Beer Olympics and 10 days of events
- 17:03 Pints & Plaits and the gluten-free activation
- 19:15 Whiskey and cocktails
- 20:43 Sydney as a beer destination and why October
- 23:00 The cellar capacity question
- 24:08 How to get involved (most events are free)
- Sydney Beer Week: https://sydneybeerweek.com.au/
- Hotel Sweeney’s: https://hotelsweeneys.com.au/
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Episode produced by: WHEN Studios
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Host: David A. Lennon – @davidalennon
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