From The Brewers Association:
Boulder, CO • September 9, 2014—Presented by the Brewers Association, the 33rd annual Great American Beer Festival (GABF) brings together beer beginners, enthusiasts and geeks to bond over their common love of beer. As the festival beer offerings continue to grow, this year’s GABF provides novice and seasoned beer lovers even more opportunities to learn about what they are imbibing, including support from the new Beer Geeks program.
This new tier of beer educators—comprising 50 committed beer lovers from throughout the country—will support and mentor the myriad of volunteer servers about the 3,500 beers being poured from more than 700 breweries during the festival. The biggest request from volunteers in past years has been to have more information on the beers they are pouring and simultaneously, the brewers continually request educated volunteer pourers. The new program was created to help bridge this gap. While the brewers are at their booth talking to people, the geeks will supplement by providing insight and information that attendees are thirsty to hear. Overall, this will ensure that the 49,000 festivalgoers can further enjoy their GABF tasting experience, with access to more details on what they’re sampling, and where it fits among the 90 beer style categories in the event’s beer competition.
“This year’s GABF will be better than ever, with 14 percent more breweries participating in the festival (over last year) and more beers to choose from. The festival hall is expansive; coming in with a game plan for navigating the hall will make for a fun fan experience. Our fantastic volunteer servers play an integral role in assisting the brewers bring the experience to life for attendees,” said Nancy Johnson, event director, Brewers Association. “The Beer Geek program is an opportunity to further educate the volunteers, and by extension, festivalgoers, who have come to Denver to sample and learn about the wide variety of great beers being made across the country.”
Held from October 2-4, GABF represents the largest collection of U.S. beer ever served in a public tasting event, alongside one of the most prestigious beer competitions and judging panels in the world.
A number of additional educational opportunities are returning to this year’s festival as well, including:
Support Your Local Brewery Pavilion: Organized, active state brewers guilds are one of the most important means of protecting and promoting a state’s or region’s breweries. Enjoy craft beers from participating guilds as they showcase regionally specific beers not available elsewhere in the festival hall. Learn about the beer culture of these various states, member breweries and the guild’s activities and goals.
Brewpub Pavilion: More than 40 percent of today’s 3,000+ U.S. breweries are considered brewpubs. Help celebrate restaurant breweries by sampling these small batch beers.
Farm to Table Pavilion: Created to provide an opportunity to showcase how well craft brewed beer from small and independent producers pairs with food, attendees will sample pairings designed and prepared by chefs from around the country. Engage in meaningful discussions with chefs and the brewers of the brands served. (Separate ticket required.)
Tickets for GABF sold out in 32 minutes during the public ticket sale. For more information and a complete list of sponsors, visit the GABF website.
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