14th Annual Southern Brewers Festival

[BahHumBrew]

Twenty-one microbreweries from across the Southeast will descend upon Chattanooga's Riverfront for the 14th Annual Southern Brewers Festival on Saturday, August 23rd from 2pm until midnight! The event will showcase 42 premium ales and lagers in a day of fun, festivities, and plenty of food and drink.

http://www.southernbrewersfestival.com/

[unclejedi]

Doggonit, when someone from CA starts adding festivals in my neck of the woods, it must mean my ass needs kicking to start contributing more of this kind of stuff!

[BahHumBrew]

Doggonit, when someone from CA starts adding festivals in my neck of the woods, it must mean my ass needs kicking to start contributing more of this kind of stuff!

I got a email from Big River.  Had good time while driving through Chattanooga last spring.  Visiting Moccasin Bend was a kick.

[theblackmallard]

Did anyone attend this or any of the previous ones? I'm probably signing up for the Krystal's Qualifier this year and was wondering if it was worth sticking around for or if should make other plans afterwards. The list of brewers so far isn't looking too shabby.

[kp]

I have been to this several scattered years in the past. Although it has grown in space, it has shrunk in terms of brewers. This years list looks like it has added a brewer or two, but also lost one or two.

This is a token based fest where you buy wooden nickles for $2 and redeem them for an 8oz mug of beer. Up until about 3 years ago the tokens were $1 and you could redeem one token for 4oz or two tokens for 8oz.

There is a nice grassy area and hillside where you can setup chairs, etc. This overlooks the band area and is a nice setup. Being that the fest starts early and goes until late, you can setup a spot and camp out all day. Hotels are within walking distance as are restaurants and other family attractions.

Chattanooga is hot in August. Can be very hot. The only shade is the golf umbrella over your chair unless you hava a parasol.

I don't go to this fest anymore. The shrinking brewery list combined with 8oz sample sizes combined with a very long day leads to me drinking more than I prefer, so I stay away. But that's just me. You beer milage may vary.

[theblackmallard]

Thanks for the response. I've never visited anywhere in the south before, but it's hot and humid enough in Michigan so I'm prepared to deal with the heat.

I'll definitely plan on bringing something for shade now(although hopefully they're have a decent stage area), I wouldn't have thought of it otherwise. I'll probably just stick around for a few beers after the contest while my stomach settles and then check out Chattanooga. There's still a bunch of breweries I can't get here and always enjoy listed for this year(Boulevard, Terrapin, Sweetwater, Highland, etc.)

[Chuckee]

If you do go, make sure to visit Beverage World- Ft. Oglethorpe, GA... which is a suburb of Chattanooga.
(BTW, BW will be closed Sunday.)