Magic City Brewfest, a festival dedicated to learning about craft beer and sampling the best Alabama has to offer, will return to Birmingham this weekend for its eighth consecutive year.
“We are a grassroots, non-profit organization whose mission is to help bring the highest quality beers in the world to Alabama,” said Gabe Harris, president of Free the Hops, the organization responsible for Magic City Brewfest.
This year’s brewfest will include more than 200 types of beer from over 70 breweries, including Tuscaloosa’s Druid City Brewing Company.
Alabama state law and beverage control regulations prevent unlimited free samples, so the festival uses a “Penny a Pour” system, which Harris describes as a reasonable and charitable method of working within the law without overburdening the attendees.
“The gate price gets you admission to the festival,” Harris said. “Once inside, you will be charged $0.01 for each beer sample, which we donate to charity. In 2011, we raised $298.33 for tornado relief in Alabama.”
An honor system is in place so patrons can leave a quarter in one bucket and enjoy 25 samples.
Tokens will be sold and used to exchange for food from local restaurants including Carrigan’s Pub, Greg’s Hot Dogs, Cantina on Wheels, John’s City Diner, Melt, Saw’s Street Kitchen, Shindig’s Catering, Steel City Pops and The J. Clyde. Several live bands will also be performing.
Magic City Brewfest is an outdoor event, but Harris said the festival will go on, rain or shine.
“The beer will continue to flow,” Harris said. “The only likely weather event to affect [the festival] is lightning – if that happens, we’ll need everyone to get under cover until the storm passes for safety. But it’s only happened once so far, and we haven’t closed yet.”
George Rowen, a senior majoring in anthropology, said he recommends the Magic City Brewfest to anyone who is still in town or lives in the Birmingham area.
“I went to last year’s Magic City Brewfest and had a blast,” Rowen said. “The vendors were friendly and informative, and no matter what style of beer you prefer, it’s nice to be able to sample a variety for great brews from around the country and the state of Alabama.”
The festival will be held Friday from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. and Saturday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Sloss Furnaces. Tickets will cost $34.50 per person for advance purchase, $40 per person at the gate and $10 for designated drivers. No one under the age of 21 will be admitted without a parent or legal guardian.
Tickets to the Magic City Brewfest can be purchased at magiccitybrewfest.com.
(See also “Tuscaloosa hosts inaugural brewfest“)
