A whole new breed of beer festival

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zgja2

zgja2

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Greetings!

I wanted to give this community a heads up as I am sure many of you will be interested. I am producing a new beer festival that breaks the mold. The best home brewers from around the region serving their creations and competing for $10,000 in cash prizes (plus some other great stuff in the works)

Check out the links below for all the details. I want any and all feedback so please let me know what you think and what makes or breaks a great fest. Cheers!

www.hoppypossum.com
www.facebook.com/hoppypossum
 
Jag75 said:
I think that it sounds cool .
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Thanks! We put a lot of thought and consideration into it and think we came up with something unique. Any feedback is appreciated!
 
Sounds like a great festival and competition, but what does this entail and how much does that cost the homebrewer?

"All brewers must possess proper permit to serve alcohol in Johnson City. Single day permits are available at City Hall."
 
shoreman said:
Sounds like a great festival and competition, but what does this entail and how much does that cost the homebrewer?

"All brewers must possess proper permit to serve alcohol in Johnson City. Single day permits are available at City Hall."
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Good question. If you work in a bar or restaurant, you have one. We call it TIPS in TN. If not the single day permits are free, just need to go get one. The hang up is that you can only get it once. I will be looking to get a pool of permitted servers willing to help out at the event should they be needed.
 
How are you going to verify professional brewers? And what type of positions qualify as "pro brewers"? Very cool idea, would love our local brewclub do something like this.

And if you don't mind me asking, where is the prize money coming from?
 
Numsquat said:
How are you going to verify professional brewers? And what type of positions qualify as "pro brewers"? Very cool idea, would love our local brewclub do something like this.

And if you don't mind me asking, where is the prize money coming from?
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Great questions!

I am working out how I would verify. Realistically will just verify winners. Any insight is appreciated.

Pro brewers are define by rule #4 "Only amateur brewers will be allowed to participate in this competition. Any person who works, or worked previously, within the 12 months prior to submitting their application, for a commercial brewery, and whose job involved/involves the production of sweet wort, moving wort or beer, managing fermentation, pitching yeast, monitoring, measuring, or any other process directly related to the production of beer will not be permitted to enter the competition. Persons who work in other roles at a commercial brewery, such as packaging, serving, janitorial, marketing, sales, etc, will be permitted to enter the competition. If you work in any role not listed and are unsure of you eligibility, please ask. If you are found to be ineligible at any time, you will be immediately disqualified, permanently banned from future competition and required to forfeit any prizes awarded."

email me if you want to discuss budget specifics [email protected]

Cheers!
 
Andrew Hodgson said:
If it were closer I'd be in, so sick of the same old stupid "beer festival", pay 60$ and get two hours of the same breweries beers, hurry up and chug to try and get your money's worth!

This sounds way cooler.
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We feel the same way! So over what most beers fests have become.

May be closer to you in the future. Looking at possibility of having several across the us
 
Andrew Hodgson said:
If it were closer I'd be in, so sick of the same old stupid "beer festival", pay 60$ and get two hours of the same breweries beers, hurry up and chug to try and get your money's worth!

This sounds way cooler.
Click to expand...
Woah! This is a thing? In the UK we pay a small fee, but this is usually just a glass deposit; you either keep the glass or get your money back. And the beers are cheaper than in pubs. It's never the same old breweries either. And they're generally over 2/3 days.

OP: Nice idea for a festival!
 
RustyHorn said:
Woah! This is a thing? In the UK we pay a small fee, but this is usually just a glass deposit; you either keep the glass or get your money back. And the beers are cheaper than in pubs. It's never the same old breweries either. And they're generally over 2/3 days.

OP: Nice idea for a festival!
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Yeah you usually get a taster glass (3oz or something similar) and basically it is a race to get your monies worth, but in the past couple years the popularity of these types of things has blown up (at least in our area) so it turns into long lines waiting for 3oz tastes and general nonsense/amateur drinker stupidity. Good for a person trying to get a feel for the types of beer they like who doesn't experience variety that often, not so great if you know what you like and have already experienced many of the beers offered. That is why OP's seems much more geared toward a homebrew or "professional beer drinker" crowd, and more my speed.
 
I love the idea but... are you sure amateur brewers can pull pouring permits? I could easily be wrong but I’ve never heard of a pouring permit (of any length) for non-registered breweries.

I also don’t know how a non-professional brewery would be able to get an insurance rider for the day. Again... I could be 100% wrong. Just something to make sure you tick off
 
Cape Brewing said:
I love the idea but... are you sure amateur brewers can pull pouring permits? I could easily be wrong but I’ve never heard of a pouring permit (of any length) for non-registered breweries.

I also don’t know how a non-professional brewery would be able to get an insurance rider for the day. Again... I could be 100% wrong. Just something to make sure you tick off
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I don't doubt that the OP did his research, but it amazes me that this will be possible even in a state with very liberal alcohol laws (not to mention general food safety laws related to Health Department permits). It looks like TN limits transporting more than 5gal at a time, so would you have to make 2 trips to get the 10 gallons necessary for this festival?

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/homebrewing-rights/statutes/tennessee/
 
I'm all for new ideas in beer fests. The ones I've attended around here were less than enjoyable. Pay ~$50 gate fee, and run like hell to get in line at the better brewers before they run out. Some even charged $10 or so for an accompanying non-drinker (hey, great way to discourage having a DD!). Ten bucks just to sit on a picnic table while the rest of us drink, yay! And no food except the pretzels-around-the-neck thing, just to protect the sketchy one or two food trucks parked on site. I'd rather take Ubers and pub crawl to some area taprooms.

So, yeah, I'm all for OP's idea and hope it catches on around the country. It might get me interested in fests again. And the chance for homebrewers to show their stuff to people in-person is a great way to generate buzz. Some of those winners could be the next craft brewers. Beer comp meets brew fest--I like the idea.
 
I just read the pouring permit application for Johnson City.

If you haven’t already, you should probably call them before going too much further.

“Applicants must be qualified holders of an on or off premises beer license or charities as set forth below”.
 
Just found the specific code for Johnson City...according to the code pouring permits are only issued to registered charities or licensed businesses (I would have been shocked if it wasn’t that way).

Section 8-217 of the code:
IMG_1849.JPG
 
kevin58 said:
Just curious. How are you getting around the fact that it is illegal to sell home brewed beer?
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They aren't selling it.....selling tickets to get into an event which then gives away beer is pretty much how most festivals operate. I would think there are many other legal issues here related to it being homebrew.
 
Doesn’t matter if you sell it or not... it can’t be served without a pouring permit.

Most states allow breweries to pour free “samples”... which is why, when you go to a fest, you can only get 2 oz (or similar) pours. The fest organizers operate under that framework... as they sell tickets to a space where licensed breweries will be legally giving “free samples”.

Homebrewers aren’t licensed to serve their beer “publicly”.

For events like this, breweries are also required to obtain an insurance rider for the day... which a homebrewer won’t be able to get.
 
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You could get around the licence problem by not charging admission, but then how would the bills of the festival be paid?
Answer: Don't call it a "festival", just say its a homebrew competition. Make the entry fee high enough to cover the expenses, forget about the $10,000 prize, also open the competition to all, both homebrewers and "pros". Perhaps the prize could be the winner brews with a local brewery for the day.
See if you can get some sponsors. Getting local breweries involved will be a plus.
Note: You couldn't make entry in to the competition a requirement to enter the grounds. It would have to be free to all.
I won't be attending, I'm actually a government slave until I retire, but maybe then I'd consider a road trip.....
 
madscientist451 said:
You could get around the licence problem by not charging admission, but then how would the bills of the festival be paid?
Answer: Don't call it a "festival", just say its a homebrew competition. Make the entry fee high enough to cover the expenses, forget about the $10,000 prize, also open the competition to all, both homebrewers and "pros". Perhaps the prize could be the winner brews with a local brewery for the day.
See if you can get some sponsors. Getting local breweries involved will be a plus.
Note: You couldn't make entry in to the competition a requirement to enter the grounds. It would have to be free to all.
I won't be attending, I'm actually a government slave until I retire, but maybe then I'd consider a road trip.....
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As my link noted “(b) It shall be inferred that transportation of more than five (5) gallons is for the purpose of resale or redistribution“

so you would have to make two trips to even get 10 gallons to the festival (the amount they are requiring)
 
madscientist451 said:
You could get around the licence problem by not charging admission,
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... I’m fairly sure that wouldn’t get around the problem. Like I was saying, selling it or not selling it, it’s illegal to serve alcohol publicly (which this would be) without a pouring permit... and given the section of code I posted a couple posts ago, homebrewers won’t be able to pull the pouring permits the fest is requiring them to pull
 
Section 4 of the above would make it sound like you could only pour commercial beer if you were able to obtain a permit.

Hopefully, they have already reached out to the city or state and worked all this out. It's an interesting idea as long as all the legal issues are taken care of.
 
I think it’s a fantastic idea... and would love to see it happen... I just have never heard of a pouring permit being issued for anyone without TTB and state licenses.... which is why this idea hasn’t been done before.

Actually... I DO know of one fest like this and the organizers have admitted it’s super illegal. It is also dramatically lower profile than this would be.

Not to mention the potential liability
 
Yeah, there used to be one in AZ that was set up the same way. Went on for a couple years but has since stopped. The organizers were the same way, knew it was illegal but just hoped that no one would enforce it. When their legit business got bigger, I think they stopped taking the risk.
 
Lots of great questions and I will try to answer all. As for a beer permit. I am co-hosting with the venue (a minor league stadium) who has a beer license. We operate under that.

We are not selling beer and the great state of TN has some good homebrewing laws. Like "c) The use of homemade beer made in compliance with the limitations specified in subdivision (b)(1) is allowed for purposes of exhibition, demonstration, judging, tasting, or sampling or as part of a contest or competition, if the exhibition, demonstration, judging, tasting, sampling, contest, or competition is held at a private residence or on a licensed premises. Homemade beer used for purposes described in this subsection (c), including the submission or consumption of such beer, shall not be considered sold or offered for sale, and any prize awarded at a contest or competition or as a result of an exhibition, demonstration, judging, tasting, or sampling shall not be considered compensation. No fee may be charged for consumption of the homemade beer at the exhibition, demonstration, judging, tasting, sampling, contest, or competition; provided, however, an entrance fee may be charged to persons attending an exhibition, contest, or competition.

So we get around the selling hang up by charging admission which is allowed.

Now our city does require servers to go through a class and get a server permit. We will be working with the city manager to hopefully streamline the temporary permits needed.
 
For the skeptics, yes, it can be done, no matter how sketchy it sounds. Our local club here in PA does an event or two a year, with some similar "hoops" to jump through. Completely legal, as long as you follow the rules, some of which may seem odd, but are generally not difficult to accommodate. I suggest all the doubters to get with your own local clubs, and find appropriate contacts to guide you through setting up your own events in your area. They can be a great source of revenue for the club, or a great way to generate charitable donations for worthy causes in your area.
 
I attended something similar to this in Connecticut last year. It was a regular beer fest on the surface, except that it was open to amateur brewers as well. The amateurs were in the same tent as the pros, and poured right along side of them. But the amateurs were part of a competition, which is why they were allowed to serve. It was still a s*** show, however. Having only homebrewers would be really nice.
 
Tri-Cities is a nice area and that should be a good time of year.
 

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