This is THE Northern California fest to go to. And I've been to quite a few but have only returned to this one again and again. We're talking double digit attendance, and we camp at the fairgrounds every time. In fact, we are at a point where the festival is just one small aspect of a jam packed fun 3 night affair! We were especially stoked it finally reprised it self post pandemic. Bummer they didn't invite as many breweries, but it was still fun! Hopefully it draws the #'s it used to, but props to the new owners of avbc for putting it on- in these crazy times we needed this to return for some shenanigans and normalcy! If you're camping, there's a group of 3 sites near the grand stand rodeo area that you need to find! These amazing people have banded together for maybe 5 years of epicness hosting slap the bag, a 90's rock band, a slip n slide, culminating with a smudge pot fire after party (bring your onesies)! Don't drink and drive- stay the night and Join the camper festivities! I will say for $25 a night they need to provide a few more amenities and clean up the cow pies before campers arrive (or lower the price) because actual campgrounds cost significantly less. Higher prices seem like the fairgrounds is encouraging folks to drink and drive. A per vehicle charge would be better, but at least the portopottys are cleaned regularly w/the increase. read more

Boonville Beer Fest - Beer - Beer, Wine & Spirits Near Me - Boonville, California

I've died and gone to beer heaven. I regret not coming to this earlier in years past when my friend told me about it!!! Advance tickets online were $40 (plus a $1.50 handling fee) and they mail you your ticket plus the info flyer with the list of MORE THAN 70 breweries, maybe even more than 80!!! That's an impressive line-up of breweries! You get a tasting glass (it's actually made of plastic, but that's probably wise since there is a correlation between unlimited drinking and people dropping their cups lol) and get to drink as much as you want between 1 and 5PM. I actually thought it was hard to drink a lot though because the lines were pretty long (my friend commented that she thinks a lot more people showed up this year since it was the first time in a few years that it was not on mothers day weekend). But it was probably good pacing to wait in line between beers. It was also a very very hot day, so sunscreen, hat, sunglasses, and water bottle were also essential items. Also, a necklace made of pretzels is very important, so you can snack between beer tastings! Some of the breweries we were able to hit up before the taps were dry: Ninkasi, Ballast Point, Bear Republic, Black Diamond, Iron Springs, Andersen Valley Brewing Co, Uncommon Brewers, Grand Teton, Firestone, Knee Deep, OMG, and Magnolia. It was very fun getting to try the different beers, but because if the sheer quantity, I can't remember everything I tried - though there was a White IPA and a rye beer that I liked. Because it's such a happy event, people are in good spirits and everyone is pretty friendly. Most people opt to camp at the Mendocino County Fairgrounds the night before and the night of the Beer Fest - very smart if you plan to drink a lot and don't feel like driving back home to SF Area on windy 128! Camping cost $15/day per person. Come on Friday if you want to stake a good spot - I arrived at noon on Saturday, an hour before taps opened and it was PACKED. There was literally no space left. Luckily my friends had come up the night before and gotten a good spot and set up the tent and everything. There are bathrooms with flushable toilets and running water - the one that I knew of was close to the building with the giant apple character, near the entrance of where you drive in for the campgrounds. I noticed a lot of campsites that brought their own firepits and grills. There were RVs and there was even a teepee! Music plays very loudly into the wee hours of the night. It's a fun experience! read more

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What I remember of the Boonville Beer Fest was a GREAT time! AND to "Liaty Z" the festival is a fundraiser which makes money for local charities so if people raise the prices of something it's more than likely the price of beef went up for your tri-tip, or the port - o - potties people use get damaged which they don't pay for, the coordinators do. People are loud at the campsite because they're having a good time, if you don't like the noise, book a hotel in Cloverdale. Lastly, the national inflation rate is conservatively about 3% so factor that in as well. I'm sure you got your fair share of FREE samples of excellent craft beer. To everyone else, I'LL SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!!! read more

Boonville Beer Fest - a group of people playing brass instruments - Beer, Wine & Spirits Near Me - Boonville, California

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This event is a blast. The camping is fine, the beer is good, but it's really the people you meet and interact with that make the party. I had so much fun that I've already committed to going next year. I hope I see you there!! read more

The good: 1. The beer. I had about 8 different ones, all of which were excellent. 2. The crowd. Pretty chill and fun. Good, positive vibe. The not so good: The food options. Prices were a bit high, but that was expected. Food quality was disappointing. Overall it is a fun festival. I would recommend going if you live in NorCal. read more

Prices jumped this year to $12/day for camping and $40 for the festival. They ran out of beer at least an hour before the festival ended and the Lion's Club upped the price of the tri-tip sandwich because they could. The glasses were made out of plastic, which screwed up the tasting experience for sure. The beer selection was great, but not special. Last year, it rained and the camping grounds were barely acceptable but they were at least all right. This year, the campground bathrooms were flat out disgusting and someone managed to grab the toilet seat from one of the women's stalls. They also shut down many of the more decent bathrooms during the actual festival, which made it difficult for me to get water. Also, the first night of camping was a loud and obnoxious frat party that I was never invited to. Getting woken up at 7am to hear someone's boom box does not sound like my idea of a great weekend. It's too bad that they couldn't maintain an awesome event for craft beers. read more

While.the actual BeerFest was awesome the camping on the fairgrounds not so much. First off the women's restroom was gross by Friday night. Why do women have to trash the restroom? Seriously ladies have some respect. The crowds have grown huge for camping as they now allow camping on the little league field. There is no control and despite the camping rules being no loud music or partying after midnight being strictly enforced it was not enforced at all. It is not the same boonville BeerFest weekend like it used to be. Too many inconsiderate people who don't clean up after themselves and now really only come to part on the fairgrounds rather than to attend the beer festival. Not sure if I will be back but if I do then it will be RV camping all the way. read more

Great event for folks who like craft beer. While I knew many of the breweries at the event, it did introduce me to other great options from the area. You get four hours of unlimited drinking (but remember to pace yourself...), with food trucks and other fun vendors around. Get there early and make sure to have a DD or a place to crash. Eat beforehand or bring snacks, waiting for lunch took 45 minutes out of our afternoon. And I suggest buying tickets online to avoid the purchasing line. read more

Pretty epic beer festival. You just can't beat the number of amazing breweries all in one place for four hours. Also with so many of them being nanobreweries, this really is the only place you can find them. Yes, it gets busier every year, but that is just events. I was very impressed with how organized they were with check-in, bathrooms, and space. Other festivals please take a clue and ID while waiting in line for an hour instead of at the gate. It really helps the flow. Beer didn't run out until the end, impressive. Only thing to improve is they should have dump buckets somewhere. Try to promote safe drinking, instead of throwing it on the ground. But, hey....you can camp. read more

Camping, beer festival, beautiful hills and sunshine. What is there not to love about this situation? This event is huge so just make sure to pace yourself. The festival is wonderfully organized and while the portapotty gets kinda gross on the second day, the bathrooms are well kept. There are some cool unique beers like one with a chili flavor and my favorite this year was a pear beer. It was delicious! Now if I could only remember who brewed it, should have taken a picture. read more

Best beer festival I've been to! It's very well organized, the selection of beers is always awesome, great live music, great vendors, all for the price of ~$45. Did I mention it's unlimited beer?? Many beer festivals will make you pay a price to enter, and then charge per taste... not fun. Not the case here though... so make sure you pace yourself, and don't get too crazy too early! (Or do--walk home or have a sober driver!) This festival is worth the drive, and worth every penny! Make a weekend out of it, and camp or get a hotel nearby! I can't wait to return this weekend! read more

MOST EPIC BEER FEST OF THE YEAR! Every year this event gets larger and larger. More people have gotten wind of how awesome this festival is, and this year was no exception. I can't even tell you how many breweries were there, but it's definitely a place where you can satisfy everyone's taste buds. This year, because it was quite hot (helllllo 90s!), I think that many of the breweries decided to bring much lighter beers. My favorites included a beer called Bitchin' Berry, a jalapeno beer, and acai berry wheat. Delicious! But there's plenty more. I'd say for brewery turnout, half are big names (Sierra Nevada, Drakes, 21st Amendment, Mendocino Brewing Co, Russian River, AVBC, etc) and the other half are much smaller microbreweries that locals would know about (Great Basin Brewing Co, Napa Brewing Co, etc.) Anyway, I suggest camping in the Fairgrounds. It's expensive, but then you don't have to get yourself back your site after the fest is over. Bring stuff for hot and cold weather (some years, it rains, some it's super hot, but it's guaranteed to be cold at night). Also, you can bring your own food and water into the fest, so you don't have worry about buying either of those (water spigots in the ground to fill up water bottles, etc.). And most importantly, HYDRATE, HYDRATE, HYDRATE!!! read more

My husband and I have been making this beerfest an annual weekend getaway for a few years now, and we wouldn't miss it for anything! We do the obligatory night before/after camp-out in the fairgrounds next door. It's half the fun! Beerfest itself is a blast as well. I can't wrap my head around how many breweries show up! This isn't your normal "10 tastes" beerfest either- you get the full 3 (4?) hours to drink, drink, drink from your tasting glass. I really love being able to taste so many new beers without committing to a full six pack. Since I am a picky beer drinker I really appreciate being able to sample to my heart's content so that I know later on what I want to commit a six pack to. Afterwards there is basically a party at the campground. People playing baseball, frisbee, campfires, wandering and meeting other people. It's a blast :) read more

This fest rocks... I agree that there should be more porta potty's at the campgrounds. Expect noise at the campgrounds - it is a beer festival - enjoy yourself! I also think the fest should run more like 12 noon to 7pm. 1pm - 5pm is waaaay to short. If you want an epic festival to attend - this one runs 4 days, July 26th - 29th BEST FEST IN THE WEST!!!!!! http://www.oregonbrewfest.com/index.php Thurs through Sat, taps are open from Noon to 9 p.m. Sun, taps are open from Noon to 7 p.m. read more

Alright folks here it is. THis is a BEERFEST, loud and crazy!...bring earplugs, water and TP....its a damn shame people didnt come prepared. I and my crew of 18 had a great time. Ohhhh! and it will be louder next year! read more

just got back from an AWESOME weekend in boonville for the 18th annual boonville beer festival. my friends drove up early on friday to reserve us a campsite for our party of 15. i'd definitely recommend coming early as a lot of people camp and the best spots get snagged up quickly. although i'm not a camper, we had so much fun. there are port-a-potties all over as well as bathrooms for those who prefer a real toilet. there were so many great breweries who participated in the beer festival (and you get unlimited pours!) and lot's of good food to buy during the festival. if you do decide to camp, definitely bring a fire pit..the temperature drops significantly at night. read more

Boonville Beer Fest is far better than the San Francisco Beer Festival, in part because the entrance fee for last year (2006) was $25, in comparison to San Francisco Beer Fest which was $50. The Boonville Beer Fest is outside, and while the food is not free you do get these nifty little glasses to sample the beers with.. Camping afterward on the Mendocino County Fairgrounds is definitely a must, but I swear what makes this festival is not only the beer but the people rock! read more

Best Festival Ever. Amazing roster of breweries, great setup, impressive food and a really, really good crowd of people out to have a good time without causing any trouble. All set in one of the most beautiful wooded areas of NorCal, I can't wait for next year. read more

Great! There were beers that I had never seen out of their native habitat (Dunsmuir, Dempsey's--both excellent), brews on the shelf at Safeway and BevMo and everything in between. What a nice way to spend the day. I was pretty critical of the camping situation last year, and since my wife, who dislikes camping anyway, wanted to go this year, we stayed at the Boonville Hotel. I have no idea whether the portapotty situation improved, but I also heard no complaints. See you next year! read more

This was our first Boonville Beer Festival - and won't be our last. We were about 10th in line to get in - and met some wonderful people in line as we waited. Well worth it to get there early. Once the gates opened the crowd was orderly and remained well mannered for the duration. We experienced no pushing or shoving. At one point my spouse commented that. "at that moment, the Beer Festival was the happiest place on earth!" A large number of people having an absolutely glorious time! The selection of brews was amazing. The only downside - it should start a bit earlier in the day - say, noon. And run until 6. read more

Boonville Beer Fest - a group of people posing for a picture - Beer, Wine & Spirits Near Me - Boonville, California

I have been making the annual trip to the boonville beer festival for 5 years now, and each year, it gets a little.... worse. That's right. it gets worse. However it used to be really something special Therefore I am basing this review on the early years. First of all, when we first starting coming on friday nights, it was a ghost town. We got our pick of campsites, and it would be really chill the first night. On Saturday, the crowd would pick up a little, but there was still way more beer than we could ever finish, and I would get to try everything, pick up plenty of free swag..etc...for one low entrance price of $25 + $7 a night to camp. That is all the beer you can drink (yep. no tasting tickets. all you can handle...or not as the case may be) and a place to crawl back to so you can pass out. As the years passed, the prices jumped ($10 per night + $35 in advance, $50 at the gate...still good in the long run for all you can drink), so did the # of attendees. This meant less space to camp, less beer to drink, and more drunk assholes running around. It used to be fun and good feelings. Now there are too many frat boy types from the yay area running around...meh....and as I said, worst of all, less beer!!! The brews now run dry long before the 6 pm tap shut off time...booooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's still awesome, and I continue to attend in the hopes of it returning to it's once former glory....I really think they should cap the number of attendees @ 2,000. Good for me, I always buy my tickets way in advance...too bad for last minute laggers! read more

Had no idea what I was in for! Great event with a huge selection of beers. Looking forward to next year!

This is an amazing gathering of the finest Craft Brewers around! There were more brewers present than advertized! The crowd was fun to be with. The lines moved quickly. Much thought and great planning has gone into making this work for all. I am just sorry I waited this long to experience such a grand Beer Fest! read more

other than the camping being expensive and the potter potty over flowing by the end of the day! every beer fest experience has been epic! if you havent tried it, its a must!!! did i mention lots of ale and ale!? need a say more?!!!! i cant wait for boonville beer fesr 2013!!! lets do this! read more