Wednesday, August 12, 2009

San Juan Brewfest set for Aug. 30

Durango's annual beer festival, the San Juan Brewfest, is set for Sun., Aug. 30.

This year it will be held on Main Avenue between 12th and 13th streets.

Soggy Coaster has attended this excellent little event twice. The first time, in 2006 or 2007, ticket-holders were given a nice pint glass with a cool San Juan Brewfest logo. The following year, he was crestfallen to find the organizers had switched to tiny, plastic mug-shaped cups.

Sure, there are logistical and safety concerns to handing out pint glasses. But their elimination killed one thing that made San Juan Brewfest better than most fests.

Fortunately, according to the event's website, attendees this year will get a "collectors edition beer tasting glass" with their $20 admission. This is wonderful news. I was concerned they would downgrade to sippy cups.

Does anybody know when the Brewfest moved from Purgatory to downtown? This is news to me.

The website lists the following breweries as pouring at the Brewfest:

Carver Brewing Company
Durango Brewing Company
Ska Brewing Company
Steamworks Brewing Company
Alaskan Brewing Company
Big Sky Brewing Company
Blue Moon Brewing Company
Bristol Brewery
Boulder Beer Company
Eske’s Brew Pub
Herman Joseph’s Private Reserve
Leinenkugel Brewing Company
Palisade Brewery
Silverton Brewery

Update: Check out the comments section for more info from Tim Walsworth, who is organizing the event.

8 comments:

  1. I know for sure it was downtown last year...before that, I couldnt say.

    As far as the brewfest, I am a big fan of any beer tasting, but when all of these beers are readily available at most local stores, why pay the premium?

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  2. Thanks for the heads up on this beer fest. I'll add it to my beer fest calendar. Sunday Aug 30th right? (Not Saturday?)

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  3. @ Chipper Dave: Yes, it is Sunday, Aug. 30. Thanks for the correction, and I've corrected the original post.

    @ Anon.: I agree. Any beer tasting is a good thing, but I wish they'd round up more out-of-state breweries.

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  4. SC- yea, some brewers from out of region would be nice, but oh well. I thought it was $25 last year, but it looks like it's $20 this year....still not a bad deal for 4 hours of "all you can drink"!

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  5. Thanks for the posting on the San Juan Brewfest. My name is Tim and I run the charity that benefits from this event, United Way of SW Colorado. Here are some answers to your questions.

    First, three more breweries have been added to the event, which is Sunday August 30, 2 to 6 pm on Main Ave between 12th and 13th Streets. Moab Brewery, New Belgium, and Breckenridge Brewery have all confirmed this week. That brings us to 17 breweries attending, and each will have two to four beers they are pouring for you to taste. $20 to enter this year and you are right about it being $25 last year.

    This the 11th year of the event. It was at Purgatory for the first 9 years, but in year 10 Purg wanted to move it downtown because they did not like sending people all the way down the mountain after drinking all day. They needed a charity to secure the permits for downtown, hence my involvement.

    To clarify about the glass/or small mug, it is a 5 oz tasling mug again this year. When a charity is involved in a beer oriented event, safety becomes even more important. The 5 oz mug is the main way we minimize people over indulding and drinking more than their limits. Not ideal for those that do know their limits but I hope that makes sense.

    Great ideas on more out of state breweries. This event will get bigger and better each year, so watch next year for more breweries from farther away.

    Hope to see you all there at this year's Brewfest. I'll give a free entry to the first person to e-mail me at timw@unitedway-swco.org as a small thanks for talking this event up.

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  6. Just added the 18th brewery today ... Three Rivers Brewery from Farmington. Stil offering the free entry to the event to the first person on this blog who sends an e-mail to timw@unitedway-swco.org. Offer ends by midnite Tuesday August 18.

    Tim, United Way

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