A lot of crafty people were expected in Olds over the weekend, complete with worts and all.
Representatives from 27 craft breweries, distilleries and meaderies gathered at Big Rack Cow Palace Event Centre Saturday for Olds Beer Festival.
Hosted by Olds Regional Exhibition, the June 22 festival was a premiere sampling event and offered attendees a chance to “talk shop” with some of Alberta’s most winning and progressive craft brewers and distillers.
While all beer starts with wort – malted barley steeped in water – connoisseurs could also learn about the building blocks of mead or distilled spirits from keynote speakers at the event’s craft corner.
And along with sampling, attendees could also participate in a blind taste test in a cask competition to crown this year’s people’s choice winner, play games and enjoy a snack.
Now in its fourth year, Olds Beer Festival attracts hundreds of attendees from around the area, said Tracy Gardner, the events manager for Olds Regional Exhibition.
“We’ve been very, very proud to have growth year over year in that 425 (attendees) to 450 mark. It is a lot of people,” she said. “And it’s interesting because the nature of the event is kind of a come and go. So you’ll have folks come in for the first hour, they’ll try some of their favourite places and then they’ll go.”
Others, she said, “will hunker in and have a super great time for the four hours that we’re open.”
The event has evolved from its origins as the Kegs and Legs 5K run and beer fest, held in conjunction with Olds College.
“That first year wasn’t a huge success from an attendance perspective so we knew we needed to do something different,” she said.
Organizers came up with a condensed version of the Edmonton and Calgary beer festivals adapted for a rural audience and marketplace.
“And it was absolutely awesome because what we did…was we added distilleries, meaderies and wineries because even though craft beer is definitely the focus, there’s no doubt that those other craft industries bring a huge value.”
In a smaller marketplace, she said it allows people who maybe aren’t as enthusiastic about trying craft beer to try something else in the craft industry.
The event caters to a wide audience.
“I think the intention is probably a few things. One is to showcase a premium sampling event as they call it, so that people can be more aware of what craft beer and the craft industry is like if they’re a little timid to try that product,” she said.
The beer festival also provides a venue for people to interact with the vendors and ask questions, she said.
“We do a craft corner and it allows people and encourages people to have that interaction and ask the questions and to see that Hogarth Malt -- that is very, very local -- is doing some pretty cool things to raise ingredients for local distilleries and wineries and distillers and so on. So it’s a really great way to showcase our local guys as well.”
Other local vendors included Fallentimber Meadery, Stoneheart Distillery and Field and Forage.
