At a beer festival, guests may sample craft brews, many of which are available only at the event.
They can be organized around a specific subject, such as a specific beer style or location where many local brewers reside.
The biggest beer festivals in the US often bring brewers and brands closer to the customer (both old and new).
The USA Beer Ratings Team has selected a few of the biggest beer festivals in the US.
1. Snallygaster Beer Festival
- Location: Washington, D.C.
- Month: October
More than simply a mythical flying reptile-chicken crossbreed, the Snallygaster is the mascot and poster child for one of the biggest beer festivals in the US.
For the past nine years, the Snallygaster D.C. beer festival has served some of the best regional and national craft beers.
It also has roughly 450 beers on draft from more than 200 breweries.
It’s hard to missSnallygaster since it’s located right in the middle of the action, at Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, with the Capitol Building as its background.
The Neighborhood Restaurant Group, which has established several award-winning restaurants in the DMV (for Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia), is behind this venture.
In addition, the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture, a local food non-profit, holds annual fundraising for the event.
In addition to beer, they also provide wine, seltzers, local delicacies, and live music to keep you occupied, not to mention the opportunity to see some interesting people.
2. Philly Beer Week
- Location: Philadephia, USA
- Month: June
Founded in 2007, Philly Beer Week is a 10-day series of beer activities in Philadelphia. Over 200 local restaurants, breweries, and beer retailers participate in Philadelphia Beer Week.
This includes festivals, pub crawls, dinners, tours, tastings, and meet-the-brewer events. In 2017, the event celebrated its 10th anniversary.
A ten-day celebration of Philadelphia’s status as America’s best beer-drinking city will begin on the Friday after Memorial Day.
Traditional and new media will be used to spread the word about the activities during this period.
3. SAVOR: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience
- Location: Washington, D.C.
- Month: June
This isn’t a typical beer festival where hundreds of beers appear to blend; it’s a craft beer and culinary experience. The Brewer’s Association uses this festival to match craft beer with over 60 food pairings.
They create an almost wine-like tasting and savoring experience with over 100 craft breweries offering 200 beers.
At SAVOR, a food and beer pairing event is in Washington, DC’s waterfront Wharf neighborhood.
Guests can interact with some of the beer industry’s most significant figures in an informal setting.
Additionally, VIP club members can sample limited-edition beers that aren’t otherwise available to the general public.
An award-winning culinary team from throughout the country devised the food pairings.
They include charcuterie, vegetarian meals, and a variety of other mouth-watering selections. This is one of the biggest beer festivals in the US.
4. Fresh Hop Ale Festival
- Location: Yakima, Washington
To qualify for the “fresh hop ale” category at the festival, a brew must be made with hops harvested no more than 24 hours before brewing.
Fresh Hop Ale is brewed during September, depending on the development of the hop harvest for the next year’s crop.
After that, brewers send their newly produced kegs of beer to the festival, where judges pick the top three Fresh Hop Ales.
The “Most Pours Award” is given to the festival guest who receives the most votes from their taste senses.
5. Great American Beer Festival
- Location: Denver, Colorado
- Month: October
This beer festival is a cultural phenomenon and a celebration of craft beer.
Thousands of beer lovers make the annual journey to Colorado’s capital for the awe-inspiring, borderline-intimidating beer variety on tap.
Great American Beer Festival (GABF), a three-day event hosted by the Brewers Association, features the greatest selection of American beers available at a tasting in Denver’s downtown area.
During the first event in Boulder, Colorado, there were just 47 beers on tap and 800 people in attendance.
Throughout the event, GABF attracts roughly 60,000 people, with 4,000 beers from breweries worldwide available for sampling.
The Great American Beer Festival, the biggest beer festival in the US, features over 300 medals in over 175 beer varieties and 97 beer categories.
You can purchase tickets, which allow limitless brews and food pairings with craft beer.
6. Classic City Brewfest
- Location: Athens, GA
This year’s Classic City Brew-Fest has a wide range of beers worldwide, including some of the best gourmet beers on the planet.
There is no better opportunity to sample and learn about these new beers than during this year’s festival.
The event focuses on responsible drinking and specifics on beer making and types.
Also, at the Athens Steam Company Pub booth, guests can enjoy live music, non-alcoholic beverages, and delicious cuisine.
7. Beers With(out) Beards
- Location: Portland, Maine
When Grace Weitz was a graduate student at New York University, she wrote her master’s thesis on the notion of a celebration of women in beer called Beers With(out) Beards (BWOB).
Working in the craft beer market, Weitz concluded that most of those in charge were lumberjacks or people who looked like them.
Beers With(out) Beards was developed out of this woman’s desire to provide something fresh and unique.
Beer Without Beards celebrates the achievements of female and female-identifying brewers.
More than 35 breweries owned or run by women and femme-identified people have been featured by BWOB since 2018.
Included in this group are the brewers Allagash (Dogfish Head), New Belgium (New Belgium), and Nonesuch River (Nonesuch River).
BWOB also features live performances from Maine-based female artists and eateries, in addition to beer.
Beer should be accessible to everyone; thus, events like BWOB must offer a welcoming environment where everyone can feel at home.
8. Annual Nashville Oktoberfest
- Location: Nashville, US
- Month: October
In the Germantown neighborhood of Nashville, the Nashville Oktoberfest is stretched out over many city blocks. Visitors may attend Oktoberfest for free.
Crafters and food trucks will sell their wares, so bring some cash to spend on them if you’re interested in sampling their offerings.
This event welcomes families with children, authentic German fare, and a wide range of additional entertainment options.
9. Oregon Brewers Festival
- Location: Portland, Oregon
- Month: July
Even in 1988, the craft beer market wasn’t quite as fashionable or overpowering as it is now.
Art Larrance wanted to exhibit just the small brewers in Oregon, not the glitz and glamour of the craft beer industry.
As the craft beer sector has developed and prospered, the event has evolved into one of the biggest beer festivals in the US.
The Oregon Brewers Festival normally attracts more than 50,000 guests each year.
It also attracts more than 80 regional and international brewers, with Mt. Hood and the Willamette River serving as the festival’s magnificent backdrop.
Activities during the event include exhibitors selling beer-related products, demonstrations of home brewing, a dunk tank and games, food vendors, a brewer’s breakfast, and a parade.
Craft beer history is being made here, with the microbrews of some of the top brewers in the state bringing an Oktoberfest-like intensity to the event.
