Australians love beer. Proof of that is all the different names they have for this great drink. Australian beer is fairly familiar to North Americans and Europeans. It may taste like lemonade to the European real-ale addict, but it packs quite the punch.

　　13th National Festival of Beers (Sept 13-15, Brisbane )

　　You can sample some 150 of their own brews at the festival.

　　And for the first time this year, performers from Brisbane’s birthplace of comedy, the Dockside Comedy Bar, joined the largest line-up of talent in the event’s history.

　　The festival features a non-stop range of musicians, comedians, dance acts and fashion parades.

　　Organizer Richard Deery, whose Story Bridge Hotel has hosted the event since 1989, said this year’s festival from September 13-15 dwarfed previous efforts, making the National Festival of Beers the largest event in Australia devoted to the national drop.

　　For the first time this year, food was a major feature of the event, with Brisbane’s best restaurants combining for a five-star Food Festival. TV chef Peter Howard, from the Today show, passed on cooking tips, along with some of Brisbane’s most respected chefs.