This year, Rudd House Brewing is one of the more than 70 vendors selling their products at the festival.
Mr Rudd won the home brew award at last year’s festival, an achievement he described as "very pleasing".
"I had got close the year before, so it just comes down to the judges’ tastes. There were several really good beers last year."
The part-time forklift driver began brewing for himself and friends nearly a decade ago, but started doing it more seriously about three years ago, when he studied at the Otago Brew School in Cromwell.
"I discovered I had a bit of a knack for it.
"It’s been the plan for a few years, so it’s great to get it up and running at this festival."
He brewed a variety of "classic" styles aimed at the traditional craft beer market, Mr Rudd said.
"I don’t tend to go for the wild, funky more recent stuff."
He had spent over $12,000 to get the operation off the ground, he said.
"It’s run fairly smoothly. Of course, you’re going to get hiccups along the way."
"It’s about getting the fundamentals right, trying to test it out with other people and learning from your mistakes."
He hoped the lead-in to the holidays would be a good indicator as to whether brewing commercially would be viable for him.
"I’m hoping the timing is right for me. The secret has been perseverance, and doing as good a job as possible."
Festival director Jason Schroeder said Mr Rudd establishing his own brewery was a "pretty amazing" story.
"It shows what talent there is in the brewing community," Mr Schroeder said.
"We’ve had previous competition winners who have gone to work for the commercial brewers, but to have someone turn around and be a stall-holder within a year shows the competition is important. It’s very validating."
More than 12,000 tickets had been sold for the two-day event at Forsyth Barr Stadium, Mr Schroeder said.
The festival is set to finish late today.
"It’s the sort of event that welcomes in the summer here. We’ve got it down to a fine art."
Mr Schroeder urged patrons to "pace themselves", as it was likely to have been a long couple of days.
