Although UF College of Medicine Assistant Professor Terrie Vasilopoulos has a doctorate in psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience, some would say she also has a master’s in mixology.
Sip on Vasilopoulos’ very own hand-brewed Hefeweizen, along with your choice of about 360 other craft brews at the seventh annual Hogtown Craft Beer Festival from 1 to 5 p.m. April 21 at the Alachua County Fairgrounds.
That is, if you were one of the 1,700 people to buy a festival ticket online before it sold out around 8 p.m. Monday.
Hogtown Brewers homebrew club, established in 1985, is a volunteer-run, nonprofit social club with a dual mission: to organize events celebrating home-brewed craft beer for its members and the Gainesville community, but also to raise money for local charities year-round during these events.
Vasilopoulos joined Hogtown Brewers four years ago after moving from Illinois with her husband, Jonathon Freedman, who has been homebrewing for about 10 years, she said.
But when they left Illinois, they also left their homebrew club in Chicago.
“One of the first things we did when we moved to Gainesville was Google if there was a homebrew club so we could join it,” she said.
Soon finding Hogtown Brewers, the couple quickly joined. Now Vasilopoulos is serving as the lead organizer for the 2018 festival.
Muffling a giggle, she said, “What we like to call it is that I’m the ‘head disorganizer’ for the beer festival.”
However, there are a lot of moving parts outside of communicating with the more than 100 breweries and six other homebrew clubs attending, she said. There’s pitching tents, grabbing water, securing a site, ensuring food and booking live music.
“We organize everything from top to bottom, even though we’re an all-volunteer organization,” she said.
In fact, Hogtown Brewers is setting up at the event, and six of its own members are serving its hand-crafted beer, including Vasilopoulos’ Hefeweizen and Hard Cider and Freedman’s India Red Ale and India Red Saison on Saturday.
She said between the two of them, they have already brewed more than 35 gallons in the last month for the festival.
Vasilopoulos said to look out for all nine of the Hogtown brews Saturday: El Jefe, a wheat hefeweizen; Hunt for Red India Pale Ale, a hoppy India Red Ale; Hunt for Red India Pale Saison, a Belgian India Red Saison; Manha Manha, a sour guanábana gose; Old Kentucky, a sessionable Kentucky Common; Patience is a Virtue, a cider; Professor Kauph E. Dunkel, a specialty Coffee Dunkel and two others, according to the event’s mobile phone application.
For a live feed on festival favorites and a complete list of the 360 offered brews, guests are encouraged to download the ‘Hogtown Craft Beer Festival’ application, available on both the Apple Store and the Google Play Store.
Although other members have organized the festival in the past, Vasilopoulos said throughout the years she has witnessed how the original beer and food-pairing event has grown into a festival of its own.
Tickets sales, at around 1,300 to 1,500 in years past, have grown to a record high of 1,700 this year, Vasilopoulos said.
Although the event has always had live music, this year she said, “We have a little bit bigger names, especially for Gainesville.”
Scuttered the Bruce and Whale Feral will be rotating on the main beer pavilion, while The Dozenaires will roam and play throughout the venue at the event.
Celebrating craft beer brings Gainesville residents from all walks of life to share a drink and cheers to life.
And Christine Denny, UF alumna and full-time president of First Magnitude Brewing Company, couldn’t agree more.
She said the brewery has been honored to contribute to the event for the past three years, but the local brewery has recently worked closely with Vasilopoulos outside of the event as well.
In fact, Vasilopoulos’ award-winning English Mild homebrew, “She’s A Mild One,” was brewed on the First Magnitude brewing system and is still on tap today.
This Saturday, she’s excited to bring seven of First Magnitude’s innovative selection, from a seasonal Papaya Saltwater Intrusion Gose to a hoppy pineapple IPA.
“It’s a great day trying fantastic beers from across Florida,” Denny said.
Those still looking for tickets may be able to find a seller on the 2018 Hogtown Craft Beer Festival Facebook page.
The seventh annual Hogtown Craft Beer Festival from 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Alachua County Fairgrounds
