Searching for what just may be the best beer fest on Florida’s Emerald Coast, that curving slice of sand that carpets the fringes of Florida’s panhandle? Set your GPS to the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort Oct. 19 – 20, where you’ll find the fifth annual Baytowne Beer Festival, an aggregation of some of the hottest names in craft- and micro-brews.
Things really start to rock Saturday the 20th. That’s when you can set a spell and sip some 200 international and domestic brews from an array of 40 on-site craft brewers. This is the time of year seasonal beers abound. Find out how they’re made from the folks who know. Brewery representatives are happy to talk hops.
You’ve got an abundant menu from which to choose. Order up an Abita, Anchor, Bells’s, Boulder, Carlsberg, Chimay, Dogfish, Harpoon, a brew from Florida Beer Co., Harpoon, Highland, Labatt, Lazy Magnolia, Miller, Blue Moon, Henry Weinhard’s, Redd’s Leinkenkugal, Crispin Cider, Magic Hat, Moosehead, Murphy’s, Nola, Oskar Blues, Paulaner, Rogue Ales, Boston Beer, Sam Adams, Angry Orchard, Ayinger, Samuel Smoth, Lindemans’, Orval, Westmalle, Shiner, Sierra Nevada, Spaten, Stone, Sweetwater, Terrapin, Young’s, Well’s or Yuengling.
As we said, things heat up on Saturday. But if you’re a hard-core hops aficionado, someone who cares passionately about how people render malt and hops into something sublime, register for the Friday-night doings. The highlight is Three Decades of Craft Beer: A Taste of History and Today. Journalist and beer expert John Holl holds court. Following the seminar it’s time to taste. You can imbibe from Marlin Grill’s Beer From Around Here walkabout
The weekend’s festivities are centered on the Village of Baytowne Warf.
(Image: aturkus)
