GABF 2024 photo recap

The Great American Beer Festival in 2024 was marked by an attempt to reinvent the festival and attract new people into the world of craft beer. The inclusion of canned cocktails this year was an interesting addition that makes sense, considering this is also a fermented beverage that could be produced at any brewery where this manufacture could be covered by their license. These beverages were largely showcased in the Blast Off - a space-themed area that also featured ciders and international brewery offerings - one of the 6 themed areas the festival was split into. Other areas included: Meet the Brewer - which is self-explanatory, Score - which is sports-themed, Prost - for the German Oktoberfest vibes, Fright - for those who like to show up in costume, and Chill - for the backyard patio experience.

Also included this year was the fusion of the National Homebrewer’s Convention (NHC) with GABF. Homebrewers had their own small member area where some select homebrews were available to sample. You may have seen our own Josh Howard in there assisting Julia Herz, who heads up the American Homebrewers Association, with the homebrewing demo for a bit during the Friday session.

We thought the festival was an improvement on last year’s event. There were some initial navigation hurdles that had to be cleared, getting between the different areas, and finding some breweries was challenging, especially in the darkened areas for Fright and Blast Off - but once you had the lay of the land it was an overall positive experience. Saturday’s session was very well attended with the most people of the 3 sessions, but didn’t feel crowded. Some entry challenges on Saturday cut into some attendees’ time to enjoy the festival, we were told.

Photo Recap: