Dayton Beer Week

Location & Contact:

Dayton, OH
937-298-4545
Email Us
Visit our website

Description:

The lead-up to this years 13th Annual AleFest Dayton promises to be every bit as thirst-quenching as the event itself.

For the second year, AleFest will be preceded by Dayton Beer Week starting Friday, Aug. 19, and running through Friday, Aug. 26. The week will consist of a wide variety of events at more than two dozen venues, including a Beer Pride Parade, multicourse dinners led by brewery representatives, tastings of specialized draft and cask ale, and a 10-mile bike ride that has a beer-and-cheese sampling at its midpoint.

And the week of warm-up events will culminate in the AleFest beer festival from 2 to 6 p.m. Aug. 27 at Carillon Historical Park. The event will offer samples of more than 300 craft beers from more than 100 breweries. Food will be provided by 5th Street Wine & Deli, Dorothy Lane Market, Chappys Tap Room & Grille and Bellyfire Catering. There also will be live music, a silent auction featuring beer memorabilia and sales of beer-related clothing and glassware.

In short, if youre a beer enthusiast or a budding one the next week or so is your personal paradise.

This is going to be an absolute blast, the events chairman and chief organizer, Joe Waizmann, said. I am ecstatic about how it all has come together.

Other larger cities such as Philadelphia, Seattle, Chicago and Cleveland have established a Beer Week, but this will be Daytons inaugural event. Several breweries are sending representatives to Dayton early in the week to lead and participate in special events, and local and regional beer distributors teamed up with bars, restaurants and beer-and-wine shops to arrange for a multitude of special tastings, Waizmann said.

But Waizmann seems most excited about the Beer Pride parade that will kick off Beer Week at 4:30 p.m. in the parking lot of Thai 9 in Daytons Oregon Historic District.

Dayton Mayor Gary Leitzell will help lead the parade, along with Carillon Historical Parks Model T Draught Truck and a handful of floats. It will be a short parade about four blocks and will culminate with the tapping of a special cask of Bells brewery Two-Hearted Ale and other specialty beers on tap.

You might as well have a sense of humor about it, Waizmann said of the Beer Pride parade designation.

AleFest organizers have taken steps to curb potential alcohol abuse among those attending, Waizmann said. For example, festival attenders are limited to 20 relatively small samples so the event cannot become an all-you-can-drink affair. The beer-sampling at the midpoint of the 10-mile bike ride will consist of no more than five samples, Waizmann said.

Proceeds from the event will benefit a Miami Valley Restaurant Association scholarship fund for students aspiring to culinary careers.

Advance tickets ($35) are available at 47 area bars, wine shops, restaurants, grocers and specialty beer retailers, including nearly all of the businesses that are hosting Beer Week activities (see accompanying list).

For more information, call (937) 298-4545 or email AleFest@earthlink.net or go to www.AleFest.com.