AIWF's First Annual Summer Brewpub Festival

Hosted by the American Institute of Food and Wine, the first annual Summer Brewpub Festival, held in New York City on August 8th, showcased a wide variety of local talent, with offerings from twenty-five brewpubs and microbreweries predominantly from New York State, including many of the major Manhattan brewpubs such as The Heartland Brewery, Hansen's Times Square Brewery, The West Side Brewing Co., and Typhoon Brewery. (take a look at our exit links page)

Highlights from among the more than fifty craft brewed beers featured included the rich and hearty Ruffian Porter, gold medal winner at the 1994 Great American Beer Festival, and available commercially in NYC in September, the South Hampton Publick House's tangy Black Raspberry Wheat, and from New Jersey, Triumph Brewing Company's refreshing Hefe Weisse.

Though predominantly made up young twenty- and thirty-somethings, beer drinkers of all ages were enjoying themselves as they mulled around in groups sampling brews and munching on the mountains of complementary hors d'oeuvres and freshly baked bread, and chatting it up with local brewers. The festival's atmosphere was unexpectedly more like a nightclub with its dim lighting, and blaring live fusion and salsa, made it difficult to talk without shouting, than a beer tasting event. Somewhat inappropriately, the emphasis here was clearly not on the beers, but instead the scene, the event itself. Nonetheless, as the stand room only crowd on the main floor attested to, the festival was quite successful.

Founded in 1981, the AIWF is devoted to improving the understanding, appreciation and accessibility of food and drink through its publications and a variety of conferences, programs and tastings. Proceeds from this event helped establish the Michael Jackson Scholarship Fund, an educational grant for a brewer that provides a stipend of $1,000 annually.