It's August, which always makes me more than a little sad. I hate cold weather and spend winter literally counting down the days until April.
But this August, at least for a few hours, I can forget all about winter. Instead, I can enjoy the only craft beer festival sanctioned by the Virginia Craft Brewers Guild.
The Virginia Craft Brewers Festival takes place in downtown Charlottesville, August 19th at IX Art Park from 2 p.m.-8 p.m. Hosted by Three Notch'd Brewing Company from Harrisonburg, there will be just under 100 breweries in attendance.
You can check out the list of participating breweries here.
That's a lot of Virginia craft beer!
I figure it's a great way to spend an afternoon, sampling other great Virginia beers, hanging out, and having some fun with my friends.
Oh! I almost forgot about the food! You can forget the typical "festival food." Good craft beer deserves good "farm-to-table" type cuisine.
And you'll get exactly that. Food trucks will be there with everything from Maryland crab cakes, gourmet food infused with local beer, to Mexican tacos.
There will also be snacks like kettle corn, salsas, and award-winning hot sauces made with no preservatives.
But here's what's really cool...
The festival is a celebration of our skilled beer craftsmen. But, it's also a celebration of just how popular Virginia has become for growing the craft beer industry.
What do I mean?
Virginia has hit the big time with beer. Yes, we've now made the national cut. Several West Coast breweries have chosen our fair state as part of their East Coast expansion.
Deschutes Brewing Company opened a brewery in Roanoke. Green Flash Brewing chose Virginia Beach for their expansion, and Stone Brewing hails in Richmond.
If that doesn't tell you how good our Virginia beer is, I don't know what does.