Brookhaven Beer Fest - Brookhaven - Atlanta Georgia

You can find the Brookhaven Beer Fest in Brookhaven Park, right in the heart of the new city of Brookhaven north of Atlanta but still inside the perimeter and part of the Atlanta Metropolitan area. This annual event has run for the past 8 years starting in 2000 (prior to 2017 it was held in a different location) - I first attended in 2016 and volunteered to pour for the event organizers in 2018. My review will reflect both years. The park is only a few blocks from the Brookhaven MARTA station - I would recommend taking the train, especially with alcohol involved.

The event is organized by Spiral Entertainment, which also does Oysterfest in February and Luckyfest in June (St Paddy's Day) at the Park Tavern. The Brookhaven Beer Fest is held in June. I found the organization as a volunteer to be fairly well done - these are nice people trying to create fun adult events with a variety of food, drink and entertainment. For 2018 the event had 150 beers from nearly 50 vendors (this number is mixed between beer, wine and food providers - there was also a Vendor Expo that showcased items that don't fit into the food/drink category). There's also music and a food truck or two.

When I attended in 2016 the crowd was quite thick and a bit rowdy - it was extremely hot and I probably drank too much. For 2018 the scheduling was a bit different with the hours a bit later in the day but still extremely hot - the park setting is also much more spacious so you aren't stepping all over people. As a volunteer I worked the first shift for Left Nut Brewing up in Suwanee - we had four different beers (all in cans) available for a good mix of styles: The Lappland Blonde (Blonde Ale), American Obsession (Pale Ale), The Bridge to Nowhere (IPA and the Mighty Banyan (DIPA) - all are quite good.

 

 At the end of my volunteer shift I was allowed to wonder the remainder of the event with a sample cup (this is a perk of volunteering) - I enjoyed Green Man, Southern, Southern Tier, Wild Leap, Catawba, Gate City, Southbound, Cedar Creek, Session, and Blue Point - basically the end where I was working - that's when the beer started to run out. I think the event was a bit under-provided when it comes to beer as there was still a couple of hours worth of event schedule left. In 2016 I tasted about three times as much beer (I basically was incapacitated before I could finish trying everything). For drinking events I recommend that you only do about an inch of beer (or less) and taste what looks interesting before committing to any more - you get pretty messed up before you realize it and then start forgetting what you had.

In all the crowd was better managed than when I attended in 2016 but I don't believe there were as many beer vendors - it troubles me that it started running out so early. If you're thinking about going make sure you get there early or you may not have the greatest variety available to you (this is a good general-rule for all beer festivals but this one in particular). I hope to attend as a volunteer again in 2019 as I had a great time - always good to meet the distributors and staff that are on hand from each of the regional breweries.

(also posted to Yelp)

Tap One Beer Festival - 2016.05.21 - Dunwoody Atlanta Georgia

You can find the Tap One Beer Festival at the Brookrun Park located at 4770 N Peachtree Rd, Dunwoody, Georgia 30338. This park is known for their dog-runs and pet friendly acceptance to locals in Dunwoody. There's some limited parking for the festival but you'll more than likely need to park along side streets. This review is for the event from 2016 (yeah it's older but I didn't want it to get lost). I've heard that the event in 2017 was a bit weaker than my own experience in 2016.

This is a smaller beer festival that's just outside the northern arc of the I285 perimeter. I met a couple of friends here and it was the amount of fun that I encountered attending that convinced me to start volunteering at festivals - that way that works is that you work a shift and then you're allowed to sample the second shift. You also get an event shirt (usually) and the mug or cup for sampling.

But I digress, as with most festivals the theme here is to try the various breweries that attends current beer or spirit offerings. On this day there were quite a few breweries and frankly I got pretty hammered. I learned from this to sample everything that I found interesting first, then go back for any exceptional brews so you can actually remember them. Also, if you're using the Untapped App, you should rate what you try as you go along - it will provide you notes of what you liked and why, plus give you a break from getting so sloppy drunk.

This festival was in a half-shady area of the park with a grandstand sort of in the middle - there's live music plus a few food vendors. I eventually had a burger from one of them and it was decent for park food. Many of the vendors also hand out stickers and other swag if you're inclined.

In all, this festival was lightly attended compared to others I've experienced - this is actually a good thing from the perspective of the attendee, if not for the vendors. Everything is really awesome in the vendor tents - these are mostly volunteers pouring and there's usually people from the various breweries on hand to answer questions. I rate this festival 4/5 stars for 2016 (but as I indicated earlier I've heard it the 2017 event wasn't as good).