Microbreweries, the small craft beer suppliers, have been the benefactor of an increase in popularity across the country over the last several years. Hipsters, hippies and professionals, young and old, urban and suburban alike have undertaken a noticeable respect for the independent companies, trending away from the more large scale operations. 

 

A reason for this increase in popularity is through tastings: pit a Bud Lite up against a full bodied, rich and frothy beer made from local grains by a of couple bearded dudes in a small warehouse in your own neighborhood and the outcome is no surprise. 

 

The Barnstable County Fairgrounds on Saturday, September 29 is soon to be home to one of these tastings: the inaugural Cape Cod Brew Fest. For $45, guests can enjoy sampling of over 100 different styles of craft beer for three full hours. Local breweries such as Offshore Ale Company, Cape Cod Brewery, Cisco Brewers and over thirty other local and national microbrews like Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and Magic Hat Brewing Company will be on hand pouring the fruits of their labor to potential fans. 

 

A local microbrew at the fest is Blue Hills Brewery. “The reason we want to do things like the Brew Fest is that we are a small company,” Says Falmouth Resident and Blue Hills sales representative, Christy Corcoran. “It’s all about exposure. We’re not going to put ads on TV, but we believe strongly in our product and if we can get people to try it, we know they’ll like it.”

 

Blue Hills, a microbrewery in Canton, Massachusetts, represents the model of the fresh craft beer industry. In its fourth year, the company believes in staying small, buying local ingredients, and keeping their beer local and fresh. After 4 months of sitting on a shelf of a bar or beer store, Blue Hills will replace their beers free of charge, a way of creating a bond of trust between local bar fly and brewery.

 

At the festival, Blue Hills will have their Pumpkin Lager, a German style, pumpkin mash; OktoBrau a German style lager; Stingy Jack Pumpkin Lager; the Blue Hills masterpiece, Black Hops, a year round IPA; Dunkelweisen, a previously unreleased and hard hitting wheat beer due out in October; and a limited edition Bunkerbuster, a super hoppy IPA.  

 

The Brew Fest will have a connection to Barnstable Country Harvest Festival, held on Saturday and Sunday of that weekend. A festival celebrating all things autumn, there will be plenty of kid activities including pony rides, a pumpkin slingshot event and hay rides. Brew Fest participants will be admitted free into the Harvest Festival.

 

“Brew Fest gives local breweries a chance for patrons to see what [microbrews] are like up against the bigger breweries,” says event organizer, Matt Gray, a regular visitor of Orleans. Mr. Gray, who runs an event management company called Graymatter, wanted to create a different event his company normally pulls together. “I’m a craft beer fan,” he says. “I’ve been to brew fests before and I thought I could do that probably just as good if not better.” 

 

With the wide range of tasty microbrews to be on hand at the festival, it is easy to believe Mr. Gray. It begs the question: will three hours be enough to satisfy the pallet.

 

The event will begin at 1 PM with two, three-hour sessions, the second session beginning at 5 PM. For a complete list of beers, visit capecodbrewfest.com.