North Texas Beer Festival May 12, 2012

North Texas Beer Festival Makes Debut in Irving

Second year for growing event will feature craft beers, wineries, chef stage and more

From dark stouts to pale ales, it’s bottoms up, as the North Texas Beer Festival makes its return Saturday, May 12, 2012, this year in an all-new location at the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas. The North Texas Beer Festival is North Texas’ premier event dedicated to educating attendees about craft beer culture and brewers – and is the best place to find your new favorite brew.

“Last year’s event was the first of its kind in North Texas. Now that we’ve proven the concept, we have a lot more breweries participating this year and we’re looking forward to great event,” said Darrell Faircloth, the organizer of the festival. “We’ve found that this event attracts people who want to meet the brewers, know more about how their favorite beer is made and choose from more than 200 different styles to sample -- all in one place. We bring all the experts together to make for an amazing tasting experience.”

More than 50 breweries will sponsor the festival, ranging from Samuel Adams and Franconia to New Belgium, Imperial and Magic Hat, and even including new Texas breweries Guadalupe Brewing out of New Braunfels and Revolver Brewing from Granbury. From ales to lagers, well-known brands to newbies on the scene, all styles of beer will be represented at the festival. A full list of sponsoring breweries can be found online at www.northtexasbeerfestival.com.

Wine lovers are not forgotten, as there will be plenty to swirl and taste. Featured wineries will include Landon, Calias, Messina Hof, Brushy Creek and D’Vine Wines of Fort Worth, among others.

This year’s event will also feature the Negra Modelo Culinary Corner, a chef stage with demonstrations on cooking with your favorite beer and pairing dishes with beer. Chef John Franke of The Ranch at Las Colinas will perform a culinary demonstration, as well as other local culinarians.

The 50,000-square-foot main conference hall at the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas and the second floor terrace will play host to a variety of activities, including tastings, home brewing classes and will feature more than 100 exhibitors with everything from beers to home brewing kits, wine sampling, gourmet foods, cigars and more. The Beer Garden on the beautiful, second-floor terrace will feature musical acts Mingo Fishtrap, J.R. Byrd and Leah Marr. Educational sessions will be held in Brewers’ Breakout on the main floor, with notable brewers speaking on a variety of topics related to brewing beer, including Grant Wood, former brewing manager for The Boston Beer Company and brewmaster at the new Revolver Brewing in Granbury. Wood served as team leader of the “High Alcohol Brewing Projects” at Samuel Adams, which produced the World Record-holding Millennium and Utopia beers.

Designated drivers, don’t despair! The North Texas Beer Festival advocates the responsible consumption of alcohol, and is particularly fond of designated drivers. A special ticket price of $20 and a wristband designating that person as a “DD” gets them into the event to not miss out on any of the fun or education. Coca-Cola is sponsoring the designated driver program and will offer the DDs complimentary soft drinks and bottled water.

To officially kick off the North Texas Beer Festival, a VIP event will be held at The Ranch at Las Colinas on Friday, May 11, 2012. Tickets are $129 per person and are available at www.NorthTexasBeerFestival.com for the evening, which will include hors d’oeuvres and a four-course, chef-driven meal with beer pairings for each course from Samuel Adams, the evening’s sponsor, featuring some special brews not available yet to the public. Rachelle Bose, a Cicerone certified representative from Samuel Adams will conduct a short presentation on the flavor profiles of the meal and the beer pairing before each course. Live music by Josh Ingram and a “bag of swag” including a festival shirt, hat and other goodies round out an exciting evening for beer lovers. VIP tickets will include the dinner and admission to the festival.

A key mission of the North Texas Beer Festival is to give back to the community. This year’s event will benefit charities including Honor Flight DFW, the Veteran Falls Memorial and the Veteran Tickets Foundation. Honor Flight DFW (www.HonorFlightDFW.org) veterans will be at the event to offer attendees the opportunity to “Handshake a Hero” and thank them for their service. Honor Flight DFW is presented by Andrews Distributing, and will also benefit from a silent auction of sports memorabilia, one-of-a-kind items from the brewers and local businesses, event tickets and more at the event. Also, tickets for the North Texas Beer Festival will be available free to veterans through www.VetTix.org.

The North Texas Beer Festival is Saturday, May 12, 2012, from 3 to 9 p.m. at the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas at 500 W. Las Colinas Blvd., Irving, TX 75039. Tickets are $30 on EventBrite.com (a link can be found online at www.NorthTexasBeerFestival.com) and $40 at the door. This all-inclusive price includes entry into all home brewing classes, keynote speakers and culinary demonstrations. In addition to entry into the event, each ticket also includes 12 two-ounce samples. Additional samples, as well as 12- and 16-ounce versions of your favorites, can be purchased at the event.

Official Website: http://www.northtexasbeerfestival.com