The annual invitation to the region’s craft breweries has gone out and several breweries have already accepted the MarchFest challenge.

The theme for this year’s Craft beer and music event is “Special Ingredient”. The organisers of MarchFest have asked brewers to temporarily throw the famous Bavarian Beer Purity Law* out of the window, by choosing a secret added ingredient for their Marchfest brew. The brewers have also been asked to choose a name for the new beer that cryptically gives a clue to that ingredient.

MarchFest attendees will be able to enter a competition to guess the secret ingredients to win cool prizes on the day.

Already in the mash for the 2012 MarchFest are Upper Moutere’s Townshends Brewery with an ale called ‘Wynne Fall’, Onekaka’s The Mussel Inn with a breakfast beer called ‘Paddington Bear’, Riwaka’s Monkey Wizard with ‘Soma’ and Upper Moutere cider maker Peckham’s with ‘Aphrodite's Choice’ a brand new cider created, like all the new brews, especially for Marchfest.

* The Reinheitsgebot, sometimes called the "Bavarian Beer Purity Law", was a law that originated in Bavaria in 1516, concerning standards for the sale and composition of beer in Germany. The law says the only ingredients that could be used in the production of beer are water, barley, yeast and hops. The law has since been repealed but many craft brewers all over the world continue to claim to abide by the rule.