FuzzyBrew

The 3rd annual Memphis Brewfest drew a capacity crowd to AutoZone Park on Saturday, selling out all 2,200 tickets and drawing an additional 150 volunteers.

It was a perfect spring day to be in Downtown Memphis. We actually started the day at the Southern Hot Wing Festival, filling up on chicken before walking to AutoZone Park for the 4 p.m. start of the beer festival.

Over 190 beers were poured at the event, ranging from craft beers like Nebraska’s Lucky Bucket IPA and Atlanta’s Sweetwater 15th Anniversary Ale to international beers like Mythos from Greece. In addition, the Bluff City Brewers & Connoisseurs had tables at both ends of the concourse, serving homebrews that included a summer ale, a watermelon wheat beer and some great IPAs.

I had so much fun Saturday that I didn’t get to take many photos. But here are a few!

The courtyard area of AutoZone park had beer stations, a stage for a band, and was a great spot to warm up in the sun.
There were 26 beer stations in all, with most lining the concourse area of the park.

A necklace made out of pretzels, like the one worn here by Grant, came in handy when sampling lots of beers.

I didn’t drink any Dos Equis, but I did make sure to take my picture with the “The Most Interesting Man In the World.” Also, check out the sweet Sun Studio-inspired shirt made for the festival by Yazoo Brewing Company.

Music was provided by The Brit Stokes Band from Nashville.

What beers did you try for the first time at the festival, and what were your favorites? Leave a comment below.

The spring beer festival season in Memphis continues this month with the 3rd annual Memphis Brewfest, which will be held Saturday, April 21, in Downtown Memphis.

The festival is one of the premier beer tasting events in the Mid-South and features hard-to-find craft beers, international beers and homebrews.

The event, which takes place outdoors in the courtyard of AutoZone Park, starts at 4 p.m. and ends at 7:3o.

Advance tickets are $36 and can be purchased online. After April 15, tickets go up to $39. A maximum of 2,000 tickets will be sold. Net proceeds from the festival benefit Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy and the Memphis Redbirds Foundation.

So what’s new this year?

Joe’s Wines & Liquors has stepped up and will be a Tier I sponsor. In addition, there will be an auction for a New Belgium Fat Tire Cruiser bicycle, with proceeds benefiting the festival’s two charities.

On April 17, there will be a special Sports 56 WHBQ remote broadcast at the Downtown location of the Flying Saucer, with beer specials.

And on the day of the festival, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., there will be a brewers/distributors brunch, which is open to the public. The pre-beerfest gathering at the Flying Saucer will feature a buffet that includes breakfast tacos, shrimp & grits and plenty of fresh fruit.

For a recap of last year’s event, go here.

We’ll share more details about this year’s event as we hear about them.

Tickets go on sale today at 10 a.m. for the third-annual Memphis Brewfest, which takes place Sat., April 21.

The festival is one of the premier beer events in Memphis and is held Downtown at AutoZone Park. The festival will celebrate “great American craft beer, and the finest, most exotic beers in the world,” according to the festival’s website.

Advance tickets are $36. After April 15, tickets will be $39. As with last year, a maximum of 1,900 tickets will be sold.

Tickets will be sold online, by phone at 901-721-6000 or at the AutoZone Park ticket office.

All net proceeds will benefit Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy and the Memphis Redbirds Foundation.

We’ll have more details about the event, including a list of breweries, closer to the festival date.

I didn’t quite have it together last year and missed the Memphis Brewfest at AutoZone Park. That I’m still recovering today is a good measure of the enormity of that mistake.

Our friends Jon and Bridget were in town from Madison, Wis., which made it all the more fun. We cooked up some burgers and cowboy caviar to fill everyone’s bellies beforehand, which is probably the best idea we’ve ever had.

The festival had 24 serving stations with more brews than are probably possible to sample in just three and a half hours. That doesn’t mean we didn’t try, though. There were many varieties of beer, and the servers kept the lines moving quickly, with generally generous pours. I tried to focus on the hoppy beers, but I had some great crisp and refreshing brews, too, like the Magic Hat Wacko and New Belgium’s Somersault.

I also really enjoyed sampling all of the Bluff City Brewers‘ homebrews. The club had a great showing and very tasty beers.

Don’t miss this festival next year.