A third-annual fundraiser of 'Hops for Hope' is set to return to the Bright Brewery on Sunday 27 September, to raise funds for prostate cancer research and support, while also raising a glass with their monthly Karma Keg.

The brewery is one of a number of independent Victorian breweries to dedicate a keg to raise funds in a coordinated campaign which runs through September for Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.

Hops for Hope includes a major raffle, a 79-spot prize board where every number wins, a spinning wheel, live music and a dedicated Karma Keg pouring throughout the day.

The Karma Keg campaign asks breweries to put one keg behind the cause and send what it raises to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA).

The day runs alongside the brewery's normal trade and entry is free.

One in five Australian men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point in their lives and around 79 are diagnosed every day.

Men living in regional or rural Australia have an approximately 24 per cent higher rate of dying from the disease than men in cities, according to PCFA figures.

The campaign was started by Myrtleford's Alan Blair, who was diagnosed with stage three prostate cancer in June 2024.

"I got my diagnosis in a regional town and the numbers say that made it more likely to kill me," Mr Blair said.

"But every brewery and pub in this campaign has blokes drinking in it who'll get the same news I got and it makes no difference whether the bar's in Mitta Mitta or Seaford."

Mr Blair said there was not a very good awareness amongst men about when they should be tested and how testing works.

"It's a blood test, but especially in my case, I saw there were a lot of GPs who don't understand when their patients should be tested," he said.

"[This event will] help get rid of some of the myths about the rubber glove being the only way to check for prostate cancer.

"I was diagnosed at 53, but I could have been diagnosed at 50, except my GP said; 'Oh no, we don't need to worry about that right now'.

"If your doctor says that, insist.

"Say 'No, you know what? I want to do the test anyway'.

"PCFA was instrumental in creating the new guidelines for GPs and gave them advice about how to diagnose and use the PSA blood tests."

Mr Blair was treated with eight weeks of radiation therapy in early 2025 and relied on PCFA support services throughout.

"Breweries are where blokes talk to each other," he said.

"Nobody has to sit through a fundraising pitch: they order a beer, they read the tap tag and they find out something they didn't know."

Every dollar each keg raises reaches PCFA in full and the campaign carries no costs.

Tap tags and promotional material have been donated by Supersigns in Seaford, artwork was donated and nobody involved is paid from any funds gathered.

Mr Blair's fundraising events have raised $15,723 across the first two years.

Every prize has been donated by a business in the region.

"The prize table is the whole North East in one room," Mr Blair said.

"Accommodation, wine, gin, produce...all of it donated by people who mostly did not need to be asked twice."

Mountain Monk Brewers in Mount Beauty, Mitta Mitta Brewing in the Mitta Valley, Banks Brewing at Seaford, Blackman's Brewery at Grovedale in Geelong and the Park Hotel Abbotsford are also participating with fundraising kegs this September.

Donations can be made at: fundraise.pcfa.org.au/fundraisers/alanblair/the-karma-keg-campaign