Looking for an Atlanta beer fest over the next few months, recommendations? anything specific to Georgia with laws such as limited samples, etc.
Do yourself a favor and get a ticket to wrecking bar's sour beer festival on May 2nd when tickets go on sale.
Avoid any beer festival from http://atlantabeerfestivals.com/. They tend not to have anything poured that you can't find in any store, and even then, the selection is pretty exceedingly mediocre. I would agree with @HopDawg03 , that Sour beer fest sounds promising.
Yes, don't go to these events unless you want to relive or go to a frat party. Huge pours, many drunks, lots of non-BAs looking for a social evening. I went to one bc I won tickets.
While I agree, a lot of beer festivals turn into drunken orgies no matter who puts it on. Dunwoody, Roswell, Suwanee, Sandy Springs, and other cities have done their own festivals and by the end of them are a shitshow of wasted people falling down much like anything else. The main thing to consider is how much you aim to drink vs. what you want to try, vs. what kind of crowd you can handle. Higher end festivals may wade out some of the riffraff, but they bring in the douchey elitists too, so you're still left with people being pricks. I've been to them all over the years and find bits of enjoyment in all of them, but overall there's always going to be something that irritates me at each one. I wouldn't dismiss a festival I've never attended if there's a solid lineup, good food (or at least enough food), and a fair entry price. $40 buys way more beer at a festival than any bar you can go to.
In Atlanta, Cask Ale Tasting, Secret Stash Bash, WB Sour Beer Fest, WB Strong Beer Fest and Hotoberfest is coming back in June supposedly. In Athens, Classic City Brewfest in April. Don't bother with the rest.
Thanks, any info on Hoptoberfest in June? Already figured that atlanta beer festivals was a loser, but thanks for confirmation
The Secret Stash Bash in March and Strong Beer Fest in December represent the twin towers of ATL beer festivals, for me at least. The Sweetwater Brew Your Cask Off event is worth a mention. There do seem to be a LOT more beer festivals than there were, say, five years ago. Most of them are simply local fests put on for the benefit of a given suburb/town. In most cases, they're just okay. But some have done a decent job of showcasing a specific brewery, such as Burnt Hickory Brewing at the Kennesaw and Acworth festivals. But I tend to avoid these things. I like quiet.
