After they were inspired by judging a craft beer competition three years ago, a handful of beer enthusiasts decided to find a way to bring craft beer awareness to Gainesville.
Nonprofit home brewing club Hogtown Brewers will host the Hogtown Beer Festival from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at Kanapaha Botanical Gardens.
General admission is $35 and VIP admission is $75. Tickets are available online at www.hogtownbeerfest.com.
All proceeds will go to Alachua Conservation Trust and St. Johns Riverkeeper, two organizations that work to protect North Central Florida’s natural resources.
VIP guests can get into the event an hour early and sample appetizers and beers that aren’t available to general admission guests.
Craft beer typically refers to breweries that don’t produce as much beer volume-wise as national breweries, said Alex Preis, a member of Hogtown Brewers.
“There has been a huge surge of beer awareness in Florida and, in particular, an explosion of craft breweries,” Preis said.
The festival will feature seminars discussing types of beer as well as home brewing demonstrations, a Q&A session with Florida head brewers and beer from 27 local and national breweries. There will also be live music by Gainesville’s Parcel of Rogues and Jacksonville’s Robin Rutenberg and Friends.
“Home brewers are the best ambassadors for craft beer,” said Hogtown Brewers member Mark Tumarkin. “It is our passion. We love brewing, we love craft beer and we love turning people on to it. That is the whole purpose of the event.”
He said he hopes to make the festival an annual event.
“We plan on growing into a truly notable event,” he said. “We want it to be a regional event that people look forward to coming to, and if all goes according to plan, it will be in a couple of years.”
