It’s Festival Season

 With all the recent talk of the Marzen, autumn ale and Oktoberfest, one might have noticed that it is beer fest season. It is fall and of course this time of year and beer festivals just goes hand in hand. Be it the weather, cooler days and chilly nights, or the beginning of autumn sports that beg for gatherings and grilling, many of the best beer fests are happening right now.
Such celebrations seem to pop up all over the place, and there are more and more brew parties every year. The popularity speaks to the continued interest and appeal of craft and micro-brewed beer. Of course, the great Oktoberfest in Germany is just now about to begin, yet American beer festival season, whether Oktoberfest or other, has also just begun.
A few years ago, a group of my friends attended the biggest of them all (in our country, at least), The Great American Beer Fest (GABF) in Denver, Colo. I’ve been to many a beer fest, but this is the granddaddy of them all. I had the chance to go again last year and it is even more overwhelming than before. I definitely recommend GABF for its sheer size and number of possibilities, and it’s only weeks away.
But you don’t need to fly half way across the country to attend a festival. With interest in craft beer at a fever pitch in this country, this year there are more opportunities to drink beer with several thousand of your closest beer nerds than ever.
One of the greatest festivals around takes place in Durham, North Carolina in early October. Generally sunny and breezy days that time of year in the Triangle of NC, the annual World Beer Festival, sponsored by All About Beer Magazine is an extravaganza of sights, sounds, smells, and most importantly, tastes.
Although the Charleston beer week just past, there are numerous options in the Carolinas to attend a fantastic event. Sept. 20 brings the annual Brewgrass Festival to Asheville, NC. A great event mixing acoustic music with some of the southeast’s finest breweries, Brewgrass should not be missed.
The same weekend, the Charlotte Beerfest is held at BB&T Park in Charlotte, NC. Years ago, I would have told you to avoid ‘fake/bank town, USA.’ However, with top notch breweries like NoDa and Triple C, the city is beer crazy. A week later, Charlotte holds its yearly Oktoberfest, and things in the queen city are looking up. Numerous other festivals are slated for October across the southeast.
I have learned at festivals like these, with tons of new flavors, possibly even styles, available for the trying, there is NO possible way to try them all. But around every corner there is something different.
Some fests can seem overwhelming, as beer fans race to try the next delicious concoction, but our group took our time meandering through the various tents. In any case, beer festivals can be a wonderful way to gather great folks and try samples of many different styles and examples of beer. It’s fall y’all, get out to the festivals and enjoy the brews … Cheers.
Gene’s Haufbrau has at more than 200 beers in bottles or on tap. Gene’s is located at 817 Savannah Hwy. 225-GENE. E-mail the Beer Snob at publisher@westof.net.