I am trying to teach myself to like beer....and the best way to do that is to do something like this where there a SO MANY BEERS to try for a relatively low price (and often accidentally generous pours). I love local goods, I love drinking, and I love hanging out with cool people and people watching. This is a great way to do all those things at once! Besides some great beer (can anyone tell me who made the Ginger Saison? Because I LOVED that one....) there was also some awesome food, local wine and yes....even Bourbon! I've been to the event several times and have loved it each time. Keep it up! read more

Louisville Brewfest - Yelp pong! - Festivals Near Me - Louisville, Kentucky

After going for a few years, I think I have this event down. This year (2016) was my favorite by far. This year I decided to skip the food at the event. Yes, there are plenty of local options at the event, but I decided to eat hot chicken before I came. That allowed me to focus all of my funds towards beer samples and full pours. Honestly around 20 or 25 dollars is all you need if you want to have a tipsy fun time. As the night goes on the samples turn into full pours and the full pours turn into bunny rabbits hopping(pun intended) through the forest. Not to mention that as the night gets late and the lines get long... some stands start meeting you in line for a "half-priced" full pour. (They still take tickets). Previous years left me disappointed by not getting to try all of the special tappings that I wanted. Some years it was because they ran out and other years the long cluster of lines can be blamed. I was able to try everything I wanted this year. Part of that was because I planned better. The other part was that for some of the beer they had 2 tappings at different times. I know this is a local beer fest and it is by far my favorite of them all. There are so many beer events in this city now that it's next to impossible to miss all the great local beer here. Wine and bourbon are here, but seriously... this is a beer festival! I think it's time to introduce a few more stands. Maybe have a stand dedicated to California craft beer one year. For the next year, choose a different state. I'm sure there are sales people for all those craft breweries that would love to come spread their beer. Once they see our event and city... it might encourage them to open up a local brewery in our city. The more beer we have here, the better! Right? And finally, to highlight one of the most awesome and random things ever! At the end of the night while with my lady and talking to the R's(of Michael and Matt fame), out of nowhere I hear someone behind me say, "Are you Brad G.?" I turn around to say, "Of course!" Sarah C.(We hadn't met at that point) had recognized me by the back/side of my head! She pointed out my long reviews and how she appreciates them. Sometimes I do ramble on, but I hope when I decide to write that they help people out in some way. I'll never forget that encounter! Awesome! read more

Last year was our first trip to Louisville Brewfest and we loved it! There was so much craft beer, and hosting the event at the baseball field was awesome! Which makes it even more sad that the event won't be happening again. According to the Courier Journal, "After eight years of celebrating the city's craft breweries, the organizers of the annual beer festival are calling it quits." Apparently the decision was made to end this event not due to a lack of success, but rather because of the major success the craft beer industry has had in recent years. Due to the fact that you can find craft beer almost everywhere now, and the fact that there are numerous craft beer festivals in town (including Tailspin Ale Fest and the Jeffersontown Summer Craft Beer Fest), LIBA has decided to end this fest and start new projects instead. I'll definitely miss Louisville Brewfest, though we only attended once. I'll remember the event fondly, and hopefully LIBA will come back with something even bigger and better for the community. read more

Brewfest 2016 was a hit!!!! I had a fantastic time and was pleasantly surprised to not see one employee/volunteer cellphone out. Total attention was paid each and every time I went up to get tickets, beers, or ask for information. YAY! I'm already excited about next year! read more

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I volunteered at the LIBA Brewfest with Louisville Outreach Volunteers. First time attendee, first time volunteer here. My shift started at 7 pm so I got to Slugger Field around 6 to take advantage of my free drink tickets. Managed to find a street spot a couple blocks from Slugger fo freeeeee, but I know there were plenty of $6 paid spaces near the field if you didn't feel like fighting traffic. I couldn't help but sample my local favorites (West Sixth, AtG, and Country Boy) to whet my whistle and cool down. 90 degrees in late September?! What the what. I eventually moved on to new things and fell in love with Tin Man, Monnik, Ethereal Brewing. That's the best part about these events: finding new beers to add to the normal rotation! I manned Indy's Flat 12 Bierworks table and of course HAD to sample their Upside Down Blonde and 1/2 Cycle IPA to be able to accurately describe the beer to the guests... I'm an IPA gal so I had my bias, but the Upside Down Blonde was a mega hit with the crowd. We ran out of both by 8 pm and had to close our booth early, sad day. That just gave me extra time to meander and try more tasty concoctions! [insert heart eyes emoji] I thought the organization of the event was wonderful, the LIBA team is fantabulous and was there all day long (mad props), and loved the location. Such fun! Can't wait until next year. read more

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We bought VIP tickets this year to enjoy the fun even more than the last! Great wine and breweries everywhere. Plus, Brewfest brought in Joella's and Manny + Merle for food! Definitely can't go wrong there. I'm loving the freebies, Old 502 Winery and even won a shot glass at Yelp pong! Lots of fun to be had at this event and plenty of new beers and wine to try. My only criticism for this year is that the pours seem a little more regulated and the VIP section didn't have overly great food. I liked the idea of tamales and Cuban sandwiches but not the execution! Thankfully we haven't had to wait in line, and the Instagram feed on the big screen is so fun! Can't wait to continue socializing, drinking and having an awesome Friday night. Brew on! read more

Louisville Brewfest - Tonight's VIP Pack and other freebies! - Festivals Near Me - Louisville, Kentucky

I had an awesome time at the 7th Annual Brew Fest located at Slugger Fields. Every one hosting a booth was friendly and explained their beers, wines, and bourbons thoroughly and with a lot of passion. The packages were inexpensive and actually made sense. I got the $15.00 package which included admission, ten tickets (that's ten tastings!), and a plastic mug (I did end up getting ten more tickets by the end of the day, still got off cheap to me.). I discovered a lot of awesome new flavors that would have probably taken me years to discover. Who would have thought cream ales were so good, or bourbon barrel wines (502 Winery)? They even had a rotating tap on site, about every thirty minutes they exchanged one tap for another, all local. It was located in a great mingling spot with lots of seats, too! The food offered was amazing, Over the 9, Joella's Hot Chicken, BoomBozz pizza, and more. At an event like this you'd expect the food prices to be outrageous. Nope, three bucks for a big ol' slice of BoomBozz supreme. Everything was perfectly spaced out, most of it was under cover from the drizzle (didn't spoil anyone's fun though!), and had enough brews to go around for hours. All in all, I had a great time, I got to discover an amazing winery, Smith-Berry Winery, which has won countless awards for their stunning sparkling wines and my absolute favorite thing there, their ridiculously delicious blackberry wine. I also thoroughly enjoyed all of the 502 wines that I got to try, along with Goodwood's wine ale. I think I might have a wine problem... I can't wait for next year, rain or shine, I'll be there! read more

This was my first Louisville Brewfest, and I loved it! I'm a beer person, so this was absolutely perfect for me! I ended up winning the Master of Brew package, so thankfully I had a good number of tickets to use. Most of the beers were about 4 tickets each, for a full pour. Tastes were about 1 ticket. I think it was a bit silly to charge for a small taste, but it's not a big deal. The food options were awesome! There were a number of options, all a little different. So overall you had a nice array of options to choose from. Everything from burgers, to BBQ, to Joella's and Comfy Cow. Now there were some things that I hope they improve for next year. The first was the hours. The event started at 4pm and went until 10pm, with last pour being at 9:45pm. Personally I think starting this at 4pm on a Friday was a little silly, as most people are not even home from work. Ending at 10p was also a bit early in my opinion, though they did have some kind of after party event at another location. Now the biggest thing that needs to be improved it communicating last pour. I was in line at 9:44 (not realizing it was that time) and as soon as it turned 9:45, they stopped pouring. So even though I was in line, they weren't having any of it. It was unfortunate to waste tickets seeing as I was there. I wish they had made a loudspeaker announcement at say 9:30pm to let you knew last pour was soon. Other than those issues, I really enjoyed the event. It was a lot of fun, and was a nice way to try new beers, and local food you might not have had yet. I can't wait to go again next year! read more

Louisville Brewfest - Festivals Near Me - Louisville, Kentucky

I like this festival for what it is: A showcase for local beers, with a lot of locals getting together and enjoying some fall weather at beautiful Slugger Field. But as a craft beer nerd, I don't rank this too highly in terms of beer festivals (of which I've gone to far too many). Almost every beer at this event can be found at any decent restaurant or liquor store in town and would be considered basic offerings at a good craft beer bar in the city. I mean, if you haven't had a West Sixth IPA, a Country Boy Cougar Bait or a Goodwood Bourbon Barrel Ale by now, you're probably not really into beer. So I guess this festival is for you and it gives you a way to expand your palate. They did have some more limited-release beers at the festival, but those had their own areas that had long lines, and even most of those beers weren't exactly very rare. I used the occasion to try beers from Akasha and Monnik, two new breweries on the scene whose doors hadn't opened yet, and Eight Ball and Tin Man. For $1 4-oz pours (plus $5 admission), it wasn't bad at all. There were several good food vendors there as well, though most of them had pretty long waits. It's all pleasant enough, though, as you run into many friends and enjoy the outdoor atmosphere (well, most of the time; it was pouring rain this year). All in all, this isn't an event that I plan my calendar around, but if I'm free, I'll probably go. I really like having a showcase for the growing local beer scene around here, and the selection is probably good enough for most people. I just wish there were some more interesting choices. read more

Amazing event! I attended Brew at the Zoo last year and really enjoyed sampling all the beers, but between the price of the ticket and the heat outside that day, it was something I'd prefer not to repeat. Louisville Brewfest gets it all right. Great venue (we could even huddle inside when it started pouring!), good price (if you're still thirsty, just buy more tickets!), and great representation of breweries and food alike. I'll definitely be back next year, preferring this event over some of the other local beer events. read more

I always love going to events where I can try beers I have never had before. And...even if I have had them before it is still fun to drink it again! :) Slugger Field has a nice set up for events like this, using both the outside parts around the field as well as the inside area. I also enjoyed the food vendors that were set up around the place too. I am ready for next year's Brewfest! read more

I really enjoyed the brew fest. It was a sunny warm day in Louisville and all the craft beer guys came out to show off there wares. A 3 oz taste was just a dollar while a 12 oz pour was 4. This made it possible to try a few with out getting plastered. It's a long cab ride home to Lawrenceburg. After a couple however it is hard to distinguish too much. The craft guys seem to compete on who can cram the most hops into there beer. Lots of food choices. I had a pork belly with kimchi taco. Not bad. Would have liked the pork cooked a little harder. The sauce kind of overwhelmed everything. All in all a nice late afternoon at the ballpark. I look forward to next year. read more

How can you go wrong when you put brewery's all around a ballpark then pack in a few thousand fellow beer drinkers and start making the rounds? Its like the ultimate Americana experience. Had some really good times at Brewfest and looking forward to more. Highly recommend a visit to this truly unique experience read more

I love beer festivals when you get to try lots of new beers in a short amount of time. The thing is, every beer here is easily and readily available at area bars. I love the beers in Louisville and this region, but i can and do drink them all the time. If I'm going to pay $5 to get into a beer festival, give me something special, something I cant easily find at a bar or store here, IE, from a different part of the country/world. On top of an unimpressive collection, the lines for beer were long. When you got one beer you had to drink it while waiting inline for your next beer. read more

This is one of my favorite events in this town (and believe me, there are A LOT)! It's always fun people and great brews. Hope to see you there! read more

Great venue. Lessons learned from previous years. It's very walkable and very enjoyable. Lots of beer, wine, bourbon and food selections.

Brewfest is an event my wife and I shall attend every year. We buy tickets as soon as they are on sale and have a wonderful time. 2015 was no different we had a wonderful time and will be back again! read more

I really enjoy this event every year. It gives people the ability to try a bunch of different local beers in a cool atmosphere. The only reason I do not get this a 5 star review is because I really dislike the rotating taps. There is plenty of space that is not utilized in the ballpark that they can easily set up more booths to serve all the beers the whole time and this would make areas less cluttered. One area I think can help grow this event is to expand their bourbon selections. Heaven Hill had a few bourbons to sample (Elijah Craig and Larceny) but they could easily get Woodford Reserve, Angel's Envy, etc. to participate. They could even section out part of the inside to dedicate to bourbon tastings. One surprise was that the food this year was exceptional. I had the Manny and Merle's pork nachos and Joelle's Hot Chicken. They were both really fast and ready to serve which can sometimes not be the case in a bigger event like this. I have made this a yearly event I attend. It is a very laid back event that lets you explore many different beer and food options and I would recommend everyone to experience this event next year. read more