BEER FESTIVALS ARE COMING!

February 29, 2024

A cold and dreary winter is still upon us, but take heart – fun beer-related events are on tap!

We’re talking festivals, people. Right here in Astoria.

Buoy Beer Co.’s Lager Fest and Fort George Brewery’s Lupulin Ecstasy are scheduled for weekends in May, and that’s a wonderful thing to look forward to.

Lager Fest will be held on the waterfront beside Buoy’s brewery on May 10-11. Tickets are now on sale.

Buoy will be toasting its 10^th anniversary with a special tasting glass marking the milestone, according to marketing director Jessyka Dart-Mclean.

“We’ll probably have a cake and stuff like that,” she says. “And, you know, music and dancing.”

A pair having fun at last year’s Lager Fest.

There will also be the usual assortment of beers representing what the brewery calls “the wonderful world of lagers.” Several of those brews will be special releases from Buoy.

More than a dozen other West Coast breweries will be represented, including: Obelisk Beer Co. and Astoria Brewing of Astoria; North Jetty Brewing (Seaview); Public Coast Brewing (Cannon Beach); Foreland Beer (McMinnville); Ferment Brewing (Hood River); Hetty Alice Beers (Portland); Chuckanut Brewery (Burlington, Wash.); Moonlight Brewing (Santa Rosa, Calif.); and Fire On The Mountain Brewing (Portland).

The all-ages festival runs Friday, May 10 from 3-8 p.m. and Saturday, May 11 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. There will be live music both days. Food trucks will be available.

On Saturday, the festival is timed to coincide with the 10^th annual Run on the River, a Buoy-sponsored fundraiser for the Astoria Parks, Recreation and Community Foundation.

Festival-goers are encouraged to get their ticket, souvenir mug and six-ounce tasting tokens early to avoid entry lines and save a few dollars. Advance purchase of a mug and 10 tokens (one of many options) is $30, Dart-Mclean says.

Lupulin Ecstasy, which celebrates hop-rich IPAs, will be held on the grounds of the historic Flavel House on Saturday, May 25 (Memorial Day weekend).

Crowd having fun in the sun at least year’s Lupulin Ecstasy.

Fort George will be bringing in food trucks, towering inflatable creatures and a number of bands to entertain the crowd. Last year’s festival featured dozens of IPAs and other unique summer beers.

One highlight is the unveiling of the latest 3-Way IPA, a coveted special brew that Fort George creates in collaboration with two other breweries. The all-ages event helps raise funds for the Clatsop County Historical Society.

Tickets for Lupulin go on sale April 1. Stay tuned for further details.

Q/A WITH ANDREW BROWN OF ASTORIA BREWING

Andrew Brown deserves much of the credit for Astoria Brewing’s revival. His arrival as head brewer in March 2022 signaled a major transformation for the city’s oldest craft brewery.

Recipes that had grown stale were updated. New beers appealing to modern tastes were introduced. The inventive side of brewing, long neglected, was also unleashed, with Brown experimenting and collaborating with other North Coast breweries.

CIDERY STARTS BREWING IN ILWACO

This week, Vinessa and Jarrod Karnofski started brewing their first hard ciders in Ilwaco on the scenic Long Beach peninsula.

Vinessa, the head cider maker, could have played it safe, starting with a few basic fruit flavors. Instead, she went bold with a wide-ranging initial foursome that showcases her culinary training.

suds with your buds

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