The Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular, or GABS as it is commonly known, is a beer and food festival that celebrates the diversity and creativity of craft beer. It is run by The Local Taphouse beer bars each year in Melbourne and Sydney and in 2015, almost 23,000 people attended the events.

The Local Taphouses regularly run beer festivals, or SpecTAPulars, to showcase rare or exclusive beers under a different theme. The original GABS (it was originally called the Great Australian Beer SpecTAPular) was held at both venues in both Sydney and Melbourne on 12 February 2011. Another notable, annual event is the GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of the Year countdown. This event was originally held each Australia Day on January 26, but is now held on the fourth Saturday of January.

The main idea behind GABS was to invite leading Australian craft breweries to brew a special beer just for the event. Not especially confident, Taphouse owners Steve Jeffares and Guy Greenstone thought they would be lucky to get ten new beers so planned to put their favourite Australian beers on the 10 other available taps. The response from brewers was so positive that, ultimately, 22 breweries produced 20 brand new beers for the event.

Emboldened by the events' initial success, it was decided to relocate GABS to the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne for three days the following year and become part of Melbourne's Good Beer Week celebrations. About 8000 people attended.

GABS now features hundreds of beers, brewery stands, beer education, local food vendors and entertainment but it is predominantly known for the GABS 'Festival Beers' which are brewed especially for the event by leading brewers in Australia, New Zealand and other invited international brewers.

The first GABS Sydney took place at the Australian Technology Park on Saturday 30 May 2016.

In 2015, American magazine, Beer Connoisseur, rated GABS as one of the top 20 beer festivals in the world.

Statistics

2024

Top Hottest 100 Winners

'Status Quo' Pale Ale (Mountain Culture Beer Co, NSW) 'Original Pale Ale' Pale Ale (Coopers Brewery, SA) 'XPA' eXtra Pale Ale (Balter Brewing Company, QLD)

2023

Top Hottest 100 Winners

'Status Quo' Pale Ale (Mountain Culture Beer Co, NSW) 'XPA' eXtra Pale Ale (Balter Brewing Company, QLD) 'Crankshaft' American IPA (Bentspoke Brewing Co, ACT)

2022

Top Hottest 100 Winners

'Status Quo' Pale Ale (Mountain Culture Beer Co, NSW) 'XPA' eXtra Pale Ale (Balter Brewing Company, QLD) 'Crankshaft' American IPA (Bentspoke Brewing Co, ACT)

2021

Top Hottest 100 Winners

'Crankshaft' American IPA (Bentspoke Brewing Co, ACT) 'XPA' eXtra Pale Ale (Balter Brewing Company, QLD) 'Larry' Australian Pale Ale (Your Mates Brewing Co, Sunshine Coast)

2020

Top Hottest 100 Winners

'Crankshaft' American IPA (Bentspoke Brewing Co, ACT) 'Pacific Ale' Australian Pale Ale (Stone & Wood Brewing Co., NSW) 'XPA' eXtra Pale Ale (Balter Brewing Company, QLD)

2019

Top Hottest 100 Winners

'Pacific Ale' Australian Pale Ale (Stone & Wood Brewing Co., NSW) 'XPA' eXtra Pale Ale (Balter Brewing Company, QLD) 'Crankshaft' American IPA (Bentspoke Brewing Co, ACT)

People's Choice Winner

'Grape Bubblegum Sour' Berliner Weisse (Currumbin Valley Brewing, QLD)

2018

Top Hottest 100 Winners

'XPA' eXtra Pale Ale (Balter Brewing Company, QLD) 'Pacific Ale' Australian Pale Ale (Stone & Wood Brewing Co., NSW) 'Crankshaft' American IPA (Bentspoke Brewing Co, ACT)

People's Choice Winner

'Boozy Froot' New England IPA (Big Shed Brewing Concern, SA)

2017

Top Hottest 100 Winners

'XPA' eXtra Pale Ale (Balter Brewing Company, QLD) 'Pacific Ale' Australian Pale Ale (Stone & Wood Brewing Co., NSW) 'Crankshaft' American IPA (Bentspoke Brewing Co, ACT)

People's Choice Winner

'The Mountie' Maple Imperial Stout (Stockade Brew Co, NSW)

2016 Top Hottest 100 Winners

'Pacific Ale' Australian Pale Ale (Stone & Wood Brewing Co., NSW)

'IIPA' American Double IPA (Pirate Life Brewing, SA)

'Hop Hog' American Pale Ale (Feral Brewing Company, WA)

People's Choice Winner

'Peanut Brittle' Gose (Bacchus Brewing, QLD)

2015

Attendance Royal Exhibition Hall, Melbourne. 22–24 May 2015 Attendance: 16,200 people Australian Technology Park, Eveleigh, Sydney, 30 May 2016 Attendance: 6,300 people

People's Choice Winner 'Milk and Two Sugars' Imperial Milk Stout (BrewCult, VIC)

Complete List of Festival Beers

'Milk and Two Sugars' Sweet Stout – Brewcult (VIC) 'HazElla' American Brown Ale – 2 Brothers Brewery (VIC) 'Golden Stout Time' Sweet Stout – Big Shed Brewing Concern (SA) 'Nightcap' Russian Imperial Stout – Mountain Goat Beer (VIC) 'Puffinus Huttoni' Soured Fruit Beer – ParrotDog (NZ) '[ragna]RÖK' Double IPA – Ekim Brewing Co (NSW) 'Banoffee Pie Dessert Ale' American Brown Ale – Mismatch Brewing Company (SA) 'Peach Saison' – Burleigh Brewing Co. (QLD) 'Betelgeuse' American Amber Ale – KAIJU Beer (VIC) 'Bébé Rouge' Fruit Beer – La Sirène (VIC) 'Spotted Dick With Custard' American Barleywine – Moon Dog Craft Brewery (VIC) 'The Marsellus Wallace' Porter – Duckstein Brewery (WA) 'Kill Patrick' Dry Stout – Black Hops Brewing (QLD) 'Velvet' Sour Beer – Homestead Brewery (WA) 'Pucker Up – Black Doris Bam'ba'Lambic Baltic Porter – Mike's Organic Brewery (NZ) 'Snickers' Brown Ale – 4 Pines Brewing Company (NSW) 'Bossa Nova Baby' Speciality IPA – Garage Project (NZ) 'Midnight in the Carpark of Good and Evil' Specialty Beer – Young Henrys (NSW) 'Almonds of Steal' Brown Ale – Mildura Brewery (VIC) 'Bourbon Old Fashion Cocktail Beer' Old Ale – Panhead Custom Ales (NZ)

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2014

Attendance Royal Exhibition Hall, Melbourne. 22–24 May 2014 Attendance: 12,000 people

People's Choice Winner 'Praline' Belgian Ale (La Sirene, VIC)

Complete List of Festival Beers

'Crème Caramel' Dessert Style Ice Beer (2 Brothers, VIC, 13%) 'red.RYE.low' American Rye Red Ale (4 Hearts, QLD, 2.9%) 'Gin and Juice – Snoop Dogg Tribute Ale' Flavour-Infused Golden Ale (4 Pines Brewing Company, NSW, 5.5%) 'White Rocket in Flight, Afternoon Delight' Belgian Farmhouse Wit with Rocket (7-cent, VIC, 5%) 'Rastafari Unchained' Barrel Aged, Brettanomyces Fermented Stout (8 Wired, NZ, 6%) 'Mallerstang' American Amber Ale (Adam Beauchamp/Birbeck's, SA, 6%) 'Land of Plenty – AIBA Collaborator' Kellerbier (Feral/2 Brothers/CUB, WA/VIC/VIC, 6%) 'Koji' Sake/beer hybrid (Australian Brewery, NSW, 5.8%) 'Betsy' Roasted Coconut and Vanilla Porter (All Inn, QLD, 5.2%) 'Sex, Drugs & Rocky Road' Rocky Road Dessert beer (Bacchus, QLD, 8.6%) 'Sticky Nipple' Milk Stout (Barossa Valley, SA, 5.8%) 'Baby Cham' Funky Saison (Beavertown, UK, 5.1%) 'Roflcopter' Grapefruit Farmhouse IPA (Behemoth, NZ, 6%) 'Kooringa' India Pale Lager (Birbeck's, SA, 6%) 'Black Eis' Weizen Eisbock (Black Heart, VIC, 13%) 'Dark Kolsck' Kolsch/Dunkel (Blackhorse, NSW, 4.5%) 'PB' Amber Ale (Bootleg, WA, 4%) '& J' Berliner Weisse (Thirsty Crow, NSW, 3%) 'Saison' Saison (Boatrocker, VIC, 6.4%) 'Pepper Steak Porter' Smoked Spiced Porter (BrewCult, VIC, 6%) 'Once Upon a Whisky Barrel There Lived a Funky Tripel' Whisky Barrel aged Belgian Tripel (Bridge Road, VIC, 9%) 'Battle of the Bulge' Occupied Belgium IPA (Bright, VIC, 7%) 'Dream Date' Dark Date Ale (Burleigh Brewing Company, QLD, 5.2%) 'Blood Stone' Red Ale (Buxton, UK, 4.2%) 'Fireface' Imperial Choc Chilli Schwartzbier (Byron Bay, NSW, 6.5%) 'Emperor Nero' Black India Pale Lager (Camden Town, UK, 5.8%) 'Belgian Stout' Belgian Stout (Cheeky Monkey, WA, 6%) 'O'Hara Irish Red' Irish Red (Clifton Hill, VIC, 4.6%) 'Coedonado' Barrel Aged Strong Beer (Coedo, JAPAN, 9.5%) 'Gary Lebron' Musk Saison (Colonial Brewing Company, WA, 5.8%) 'Kiwifruit Pils' Kiwifruit Pils (Croucher, NZ, 5.5%) 'Rocket Science' Planet of the Hops Triple IPA (Dennis, NSW, 11.9%) 'Electrolyte Forte' (Doctor's Orders, NSW, 7.5%) 'Vanilla Bean Framboise' Framboise (Duckstein, WA, 6%) 'Mulberry Bright Ale' Bright Ale with Berry Infusion (Eagle Bay, WA, 4.9%) 'Angry Pirate' Rum and Oak IPA (Edge, VIC, 6.5%) 'Slammer' Single-Hopped Pale Ale (EkiM, NSW, 6.3%) 'Endeavour Vintage – 2014 Seasonal Series' American Red Ale (Endeavour, NSW, 5.2%) 'Fitzroy Hipster Ale' Australian Pale Ale (Evil Twin, USA, 5.5%) 'pHunking Fresh' Wild Ale (Feral Brewing Company, WA, 6.5%) 'A Cure for Mad Dog Bites and Other Maladies' Porter (Gage Roads Brewing Company, WA, 5.8%) 'Umami Monster'Imperial Umami Ale (Garage Project, NZ, 9%) 'King Leopold's Ghost' Belgian Strong (Golden Bear, NZ, 7%) 'Wild Wood' Oaked Citra-Sauvin Pilsner (Golden Eagle, NZ, 5%) 'Go Figure' Ginger Beer with a twist (Grand Ridge, VIC, 4.5%) 'Wayfarer White' Belgian Witbier (Green Beacon Brewing Co., QLD, 4.5%) 'Primate' Banana Chocolate Stout (The Grifter, NSW, 5.5%) 'Midnight Cowboy Project' Sour Porter aged on cherries (Holgate Brewhouse, VIC, 6%) 'Brett the Bloody Orange' Barrel aged Brettanomyces Infected Blood Orange Saison (HopDog, NSW, 6.5%) 'Resin Dog' International IPA (Illawarra, NSW, 5.5%) 'Blonde' Belgian Blonde Ale (Indian Ocean, WA, 6%) 'Pitch Black' Stout with Orange (Invercargill, NZ, 5.8%) 'Red Bush' Rye Ale (Ironhouse, TAS, 5.5%) 'Where Strides the Behemoth' Cascadian Black Ale (KAIJU!, VIC, 11%) 'Japanese fruit tea infused rice lager' Rice Lager (Kooinda, VIC, 4.5%) 'Praline' Belgian Specialty Ale (La Sirene, VIC, 6%) 'The Brown Burn' Chilli Chocolate Brown Ale (Liberty, NZ, 6%) 'Breaking The Cardinal Rule' IPA Tripel (The Little Brewing Co, NSW, 9.5%) 'The SS Menno' Sour Beer (Little Creatures, WA, 6%) 'Red Red Wine...Ale' Red Ale brewed with grape juice and Nelson Sauvin hops (Lord Nelson, NSW, 4.8%) 'Circus of Sour' White Wine Barrel Aged Berliner Weisse (Magic Rock, UK, 3.5%) 'Roman Recess' IIPA brewed with wheat, rye, dried figs and fennel seed (Make Beer, VIC, 9.1%) 'Chocolate Mint Stout' Imperial Stout (Mash, WA, 10%) '30th Anniversary Ale' Red IPA (Matilda Bay, VIC, 6%) 'Roggen in the Rough' Rye Beer (McCashin's, NZ, 5%) 'White Coffee Stout' Wheat Beer (McLaren Vale, SA, 6%) 'mike's Hemp Bock' Traditional Bock (Mike's, NZ, 5%) 'Super Hopped American Dream' Hoppy Pilsner (Mikkeller, DENMARK, 4.6%) 'Winter Smoke' Smoked Porter (Mildura, VIC, 5.5%) 'Triple Dry Hopped Imperial Pilsner' Imperial Pilsner (Moa, NZ, 7.5%) 'Cold Drip War' Mischkaffee Dark Ale (Moon Dog, VIC, 6%) 'The Dark Monk' Belgian Black IPA (The Monk, WA, 7%) 'R'n'R' Porter (Mornington Peninsula, VIC, 7.3%) 'IPAison' IPA meets Saison (Morrison, TAS, 6%) 'Morktain Goat Jaffa Ale' Choc-Orange Black Ale (Mountain Goat, VIC, 5.2%) 'In Bloom' IPA (Murray's, NSW, 6%) 'Mad Dog' Wild Colonial Ale (The Mussel Inn, NZ, 5%) 'Copper Hopper' Hoppy Red Ale (Nail, WA, 6%) 'Old Fashion' Barrel Aged Strong Ale (Naked Monkey, WA, 8.9%) 'Triple Wood Knot Brown' Brown Ale (Nøgne Ø, DENMARK, 10%) 'Black Sabbath' Black Barley Wine (Panhead, NZ, 11%) 'DevilBird' Belgian Golden Strong Ale (ParrotDog, NZ, 8.4%) '640P' IPA (Pixel, NSW, 6.4%) 'Hefeweizen Steam Bock IPA' Weizen Bock (Prancing Pony, SA, 7%) 'Black Elderberry Bock' Bock (Prickly Moses, VIC, 6.2%) 'Forsaken' Red Saison/ Japanese Brown Ale (Red Duck, VIC, 6.1%) 'Wee Heavy Double Barrel Aged Scotch Ale' Strong Scotch Ale (Red Hill, VIC, 10%) 'Quiet Deeds Vanilla Porter' Porter (Red Island, VIC, 5.9%) 'Export Pilsner' New World NZ Hoppy Pilsner (Renaissance, NZ, 4.3%) 'Othello's Curse' Imperial Black IPA (Riverside, NSW, 9%) 'The Pickpocket' Apricot Wheat Beer (Rocks, NSW, 5%) 'Sideshow Sally' Blonde Ale (Sideshow, VIC, 4.7%) 'Koalafornia Dreamin' – Beer Camp #120) Imperial Brown Ale (Sierra Nevada, USA, 7.5%) 'Arabesque' Rye Amber Pilsner (Six String, NSW, 6%) '150% Citrus' Extra Super Special Hoppy IPA (Sixpoint, USA, 7.5%) 'Smokin' Pope IV' American Brown Ale (Southern Bay, VIC, 5.5%)