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Happy Friday, and welcome to another Feel-Good Friday: where Man of Many’s writers showcase some cool and interesting stuff happening each weekend! This week, we’re sharing your chance to vote on the best beer cans of the year, as well as secure your spot at an upcoming exclusive Laphroaig dinner. Plus, we’re highlighting a couple of charity campaigns that we think are worth checking out!
Without further ado, here’s this week’s Feel-Good Friday!
Stomping Ground and Gonketa’s New Beer Celebrates Communication
- What: Auslan-Interpreted Beer Tasting and Beer Launch
- When: Wednesday 24th September, from 6pm
- Where: Stomping Ground Brewery & Beer Hall, 100 Gipps Street, Collingwood
- Tickets: $26.49 via Eventbrite
Melbourne brewing institution Stomping Ground has teamed up with local Deaf artist Gonketa for a first-of-its-kind collaboration. The two creatives are set to launch a new beer, Haze Shapes Mango NEIPA, later this month in support of the International Week of Deaf People (22–29 Sept) and the International Day of Sign Languages (23 Sept).
“Auslan is more than a language, it is art, it is culture, and it is identity,” Gonketa noted. “This collaboration makes that visible in new spaces, and I am proud to share it with Melbourne’s beer community. Most importantly, it leaves a legacy, a reminder that Deaf culture and sign language belong everywhere, from galleries to laneways to breweries.”
To celebrate the launch on Wednesday 24 September, Stomping Ground and Gonketa are hosting a massive party at the label’s Brewery & Beer Hall in Collingwood. The whole event will be Auslan-interpreted, ensuring the Deaf community and Auslan users are front and centre. Guests can expect
- A guided tasting of six beers with Stomping Ground brewers (Auslan interpretation provided)
- The first pour of Haze Shapes Mango NEIPA — juicy, hop-forward, and designed with Gonketa
- Limited-edition can artwork and a Gipps Street mural celebrating Auslan and Melbourne’s creative culture.
Proceeds from the event will support Deaf Youth Australia, continuing Stomping Ground’s ongoing philanthropic efforts. Through its Giving Ground series, the brewery has raised and donated over $400,000 for social impact causes, including the LGBTQIA+ community (via Pride Ale), Movember, Tip Jar, and Scarf Community. According to Stomping Ground co-founder Guy Greenstone, the project blends craft beer, art, and accessibility in ways Melbourne hasn’t seen before.
“Beer is a connector,” Greenstone said. “Working with Gonketa allows us to break down barriers, spark conversations, and celebrate the many ways we communicate.”
Have Your Say for the Best Beer Can Art of 2025
If you haven’t noticed, the art on your can of beer has been getting more and more striking over the past few years: and now you have a chance to have your say in which is the most impressive bit of art you’ve seen this year.
Now in its sixth year, the GABS Can Design Awards aim to showcase and celebrate the impressive work that goes into to decorating your favourite beers. Voting is public (meaning you’re the ones who decide the outcome), and while the brewery with the winning can is given bragging rights and a trophy, the winning designers themselves take home a cool $1,000 cash.
If you want to have your say, all you have to do is head over to the GABS festival website and check out dozens of great designers work—but get in quick: voting ends on Sunday, 7 September.
Laphroaig partner with Kiln for ‘Tales of Fire’ Feast
Now in its third year, the acclaimed ‘Tales of Fire’ dinner series is bringing flame-based cooking to Australian cities this month, with the event hitting Sydney on 16 September. This year, whiskey giant Laphroaig is bringing the heat to Sydney rooftop restaurant Kiln, bringing together peat, salt and fire for one unmistakable evening.
Tickets cost AU$350, and will see diners enjoy a multi-course dinner with paired Laphroaig cocktails, as well as a tasing flight of Laphroaig’s whiskies.
Jack Kellie, a renowned chef from Adelaide’s arkhe will be joining Kiln for the evening, and is keen on delivering something special.
“Laphroaig has always been a whisky that speaks to the bold, and that’s exactly the kind of cooking I love,” he said. “This year’s Tales of Fire series is all about pushing boundaries and collaborating with some of the best chefs around the country to help celebrate the raw power of fire, flavour and that unmistakable Laphroaig smoke.”
You Matter tackling Family Violence in ‘Stand Up’ Campaign
Domestic violence organisation You Matter launched its ‘Stand Up in September’ campaign last week, with the aim of engaging men across Melbourne in the ongoing issue of family violence. The organisation raised $38,000 at the campaign’s launch event, surpassing its target and directly funding the transformation of empty homes into save havens for women and children escaping violence situations.
“This is such a crucial time of year to stand up, speak out, and make a difference,” said You Matter’s CEO Deborah de Rossi, referencing the fact rates of domestic violence spike in the lead up to football finals season, as well as the Christmas holidays.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 55 per cent of recorded assaults, and 43 per cent of recorded murders, were related to family and domestic violence in 2024. 63 per cent of these murders were women, with 81 per cent killed by an intimate partner. Of the men who were murdered in domestic violence situations, 27 per cent were killed by a partner.
Regardless of gender, a 2021 report found that people who suffer domestic violence are 10 times more likely to die by assault, and twice as likely to die by suicide.
Keynote speaker Tarang Chawla urged people to step up, speak out, and commit to change: “Men, let’s be part of the solution, not the problem.”
Planning A Holiday This October? Why not Camp Out for Children’s Cancer Instead?
The NRMA is calling on all campers to help tackle cancer research with the annual ‘Camp Out’ fundraiser. Partnering with Camp Quality, a leading children’s cancer charity, NRMA will donate 50 per cent of all fees from unpowered, powered, and ensuite caravan and campsite stays from the 25 October to the non-profit, sourced from the NRMA’s 45 holiday parks and resorts around the country.
Last year the event raised $180,000, though the brands are looking to smash that record in 2025.
“We’ve made this year’s Camp Out event the biggest ever, so as guests can have a holiday at any one of NRMA’s 45 holiday parks across Australia over the weekend of October 25 and make a real difference,” NRMA Parks and Resorts CEO Paul Davies said.
For the weekend of 25 October, each NRMA holiday park and resort will offer barbeques, games, and evening entertainment, with the aim of making the annual event even more memorable.
If you’re keen to book your spot, or just want to donate to the initiative, check out the link below.
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