Beer Festival Season Is Upon Us.

Some of us lucky folks here in central and southwestern Virginia have gotten a couple of early, sweet tastes of spring weather lately. When temperatures reached into the seventies and eighties for a teasing couple of days recently, my thoughts inevitably turned to the promise of permanent warm weather, plenty of sunshine, and nights mild enough to be able to sit outside well past dark comfortably. (Yes, I do believe I was accompanied by friends and some wonderful beer.) Even though the warmth seems to be on another hiatus, these days are definitely ahead. For beer curious types like myself, and if you’re reading this blog, you too – this also means another season is heating up – the beer festival season. This is wonderful news, of course. As I’ve written before, festivals offer at least one simple opportunity – which is as golden as the summer days we have started to long for – the chance to try good, craft beer that you haven’t had before. Tomorrow, All About Beer Magazine will be holding one of their four annual World Beer Festivals, in Raleigh, NC. In case you hadn’t sensed it yet, yes, my bags are packed.

The chance to constantly try something different is possibly at the center of every craft beer lover’s mind. Even when something new is tasted, and even if it’s an instant personal favorite, months may go by before a return taste to the beer – there’s just so many good, well crafted beers out there. At a festival like this, not tasting something different than what you’ve had before would be nearly impossible – so many styles and variations on each one are available, and often, breweries that might not distribute into your geographic area will be in attendance. On the list for tomorrow’s festival, I counted close to one hundred breweries represented, many with at least two beers to taste, and several with four or more. Festivals like this one represent the chance to see what you may or may not like, stretch your tastes, and broaden your beer curiosities. A new favorite, and something that might just blow your mind, might be right around the corner. Personally, I’m looking forward to the fact that many North Carolina breweries, such as Mother Earth Brewing, will have their brews there, but are ones that currently are hard to find here in my neck of the woods. It looks like there are tickets still available to tomorrow’s festival, so if you live in the area, you may now have a road trip and plans for tomorrow – either way, the beer festival season is starting to heat up. This weekend, I know chances are that I’ll come across at least one new personal favorite. I’ll bet it will be something perfect for sitting outside on those mild summer nights that are coming our way.