• Competition will be BJCP sanctioned
• Judging of the beer categories will be conducted as per the BJCP guidelines
• Competition will be open to all BJCP Beer categories (not meads and ciders)
• Competition will be limited to 200 entries
• Entry fee $10 (All proceeds go to Kingdom Kids)
• All entries will receive a $5 Brew Depot Bucks coupon redeemable at Brew Depot
• All Brewer’s score sheets available for pickup at the festival
• Best of Show judging will be conducted at the festival by Certified and National Beer Judges
• Winners of each category and the best of show will be announced at the festival
• Great prizes and ribbons awarded to winning beers (1st, 2nd & 3rd place)

Online registration begins January 30th!
Go to http://brewvan.com/ for online entry form.

The Day of the Beer Fest, Suwanee Town Center Park will remain open to the public.  In keeping with GA State Law, a large section of the park will be fenced off for the Festival and no Beer will be permitted outside of this area.  This area includes the majority of the lawn and the entire stage area.  While this area is to remain accessable to anyone, only Beer Fest Ticket Holders will be issued Wrist Bands that will allow them to participate in the Beer Sampling.  (No beer will be served to anyone unless they are a ticketed participant in the event).

Bring Everyone!  With the park and event staying open to public that day, this creates a great opportunity for our event goers to bring a Designated Driver with them and for beer samplers and any others to come enjoy the park, bands, food, and other excitement in the park that day!

General Schedule

• 8:00 -11:00am – Vendor set up
• 9:30 am – On site Beer Fest Ticket Sales Open
• 12:00 -Stage Opens -First Band Takes The Stage  - Music & Entertainment will continue consistently throughout the day until 5:00 pm.   – More entertainment updates coming daily so check often
• - VIP Ticket Holders Beer Sampling Begins
• - Vendors Open (Select Vendors may open early)
• 12:00  - Beer Fest Sampling Opens for all Ticketed Participants
• 5:00  - Beer Fest Beer Sampling Closes to all participants

See you at the Fest!

Avoid the ticket line, save time and money!  Get your advanced tickets online.

1. 2 massive tents
2. over 40 beer serving stations
3. over 40 breweries represented -Over 120 different beers for you to sample for one low ticket price from 1pm until 5pm (noon till 5 with a VIP Ticket)
4. 1 stage with three bands – Music starts at Noon and goes till 8pm..that’s right this party is just getting started when the kegs go dry.
5. Over 20 vendors and sponsors
6. Tons of food!
7. Free water available for event gowers!
8. Plenty of shade and ways to keep cool!
9. Tons of Beer free beer swag to be given away!
10. Journalists from popular beer websites and magazines on hand covering the event!
11. Plus much much more!

Looking for a good excuse to tip back a beer?

You don’t have to wait for St. Patrick’s Day. That’s because a decade’s worth of health research shows that regular, moderate beer intake–one to two 12 ounce glasses per day for men and one for women–can be good for you, especially if you’re facing some of the most common diseases related to aging.

Experts say wine tends to get most of the attention when it comes to the health benefits of alcohol primarily because of the French paradox, a reference to the relatively low rate of heart disease in France in spite of a diet high in saturated fat. The idea is that daily sips of Merlot make the difference, but a number of studies are showing that moderate consumption of alcohol, including beer, can have similar heart healthy effects, including making men 30 to 35% less likely to have a heart attack than those who abstain.

“Wine is still on moral high ground,” says Charlie Bamforth, chair and professor of the department of food science and technology at the University of California, Davis, “but beer deserves just the same acclamation.”

Interest in the health effects of beer has been growing over the past eight to 10 years in tandem with a rise in the popularity of craft beers–usually defined as products of brewers who make fewer than 2 million barrels a year, says Nancy Tringali Piho, a spokeswoman for the National Beer Wholesalers Association.

Unlike many mass-produced beers, craft beers tend to be brewed with a particular focus on flavor, appearance and aroma. Their appeal has attracted an upscale audience that’s curious about the beverage and how it compares with wine health-wise.

The news is good, particularly for baby boomers, many of whom are dealing with obesity and high blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke.

Alcohol, including beer, in moderation raises high-density lipoprotein or HDL, known as good cholesterol, says Dr. R. Curtis Ellison, chief of the section of preventive medicine and epidemiology and professor of medicine and public health at the Boston University School of Medicine. It also appears to have a favorable effect on the lining of blood vessels, making them less likely to form a clot or for a clot to rupture and plug an artery, and may help protect against Type 2 diabetes.

“People should realize that a little bit of alcohol on a regular basis decreases the risks of aging,” says Ellison, who specializes in researching, among other things, the relationship between moderate alcohol consumption and chronic diseases, and earlier this month researchers at the National Institutes of Health released a study showing that frequent drinking in moderation may protect men from death due to cardiovascular disease. Men who reported drinking 120 to 365 days a year had a 20% lower cardiovascular death rate than those who drank one to 36 days a year. Overdoing it, however, can have the opposite effect. Men who knocked back five or more drinks when they did indulge had a 30% greater risk for death via heart disease.

Beer may also give your brain a boost. Adults over age 65 who drank one to six alcoholic beverages over the course of the week turned out to have a lower risk of dementia than non-drinkers or heavier drinkers, according to a 2003 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Likewise, a 2006 report that appeared in an American Heart Association journal showed that a drink or two a day might be linked to better cognitive function in women.

Consume With Caution.  Of course, beer isn’t good for everyone. Other studies have shown that consuming two or more glasses of alcohol a day may increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer, and few medical experts will suggest that a non-drinker take up the habit just for the health benefits, when exercise and a good diet can produce similar benefits, and Bamforth says he’s not so sure that the growing selection of organic beers, those that don’t contain sulfites, chemical preservatives and are made with mostly, if not all, organic ingredients, or beers flavored with antioxidant-laden super-fruits will have much of a health impact. It’s the alcohol content, as well as vitamins and minerals, in beer that has proved to make a difference.

More important, he doesn’t recommend that people think of beer as medicine. Beer is something to enjoy, he says. Just don’t feel guilty about indulging.”In moderation,” Bamforth says, “it’s part of a wholesome diet.”

1. iBeer

iBeer is one of those fun apps that doesn’t really do anything but entertain. It simulates a pint of beer that you can jostle and drink. With five different beers to choose from, the visual of tipping the glass (iPhone) back and seeing the liquid disappear is strikingly real. The loud burp at the end is an added bonus. No beer-related apps list would be complete without this popular one.

Cost: $0.99

2. Gallagher’s Beer Guide

This app is a fantastic resource for a beer novice or one who wants to learn more about different brews. Divided into 12 categories, including brown ales, stouts and porters, and IPAs, Gallagher’s Beer Guide provides you with information on taste characteristics, popular choices within each category, and related styles.

Cost: $0.99

3. Guinness Pub Finder

There’s something unmistakably refreshing about a nice, cold Guinness. The dark, chocolaty and rich beer has its devout following, enough to spawn an iPhone app dedicated to finding exactly where this draught is served. Another fun feature of this app is its “Six Steps to Creating the Perfect Pint” lesson.

Note: Unfortunately, residents in AK, AZ, GA, HI, IN, KT, MO, OH, PA, TX and WV will find that this app does not work due to specific state laws related to alcohol advertising.

Cost: $1.99

4. iBeers Pro

With more than 2,700 varieties listed in this app, iBeers Pro is like a who’s who of beer. Each beer lists the country of origin, brewer, type of beer and bottle size, as well as user ratings and an ability to add it to your favorites list. This is a good app to have for adventurous beer drinkers who like to go beyond the brews they’re familiar with. This app also comes in a Lite version for $1.99 and the regular iBeers version for $2.99.

Cost: $3.99

5. BeerCloud

If $3.99 is a little too steep and you’d rather get the information for free, BeerCloud is a good alternative. Although not as comprehensive as iBeers Pro, BeerCloud does offer the ability to search for beers, as well as determine where, via GPS tracking, a particular beer of choice is available near you.

Cost: FREE

6. Beer Match: Beer, Food & Cheese Pairings

Do you know what kind of beer goes best with Cajun food? How about lamb chops? If not, Beer Match can help you. By pairing 31 styles of beer with more than 500 different kinds of foods (including cheeses), you can instantly find out if the pale ale or the stout is the better choice when planning your menu.

Cost: $0.99

7. Drink Fit

They don’t call it a beer belly for nothing. As tasty as it is, you can quickly pack on the pounds if beer is consumed in excess. Drink Fit is a great app that provides users with full nutritional information for more than 1,600 drinks (including beer, cocktails, wine) and also offers a “My Night” feature where users can tally their caloric consumption for one evening of drinking. It’s a great app for anyone who is conscious about their dietary intake.

Cost: $1.99

8. Find Craft Beer

If big name beers don’t do it for you and you seek more of an off-the-beaten path microbrew, then this is a perfect app. Find Craft Beer uses GPS tracking to locate brew pubs, breweries, beer bars, beer stores and homebrew stores near you. The settings function enables you to select from any or all of these types of locations to identify the nearest locale to get a tasty microbrew.

Cost: $0.99

9. iBrewMaster

For more ambitious beer drinkers who like to make their own brews, iBrewMaster is a comprehensive app that takes home brewers through the whole process. The app comes with 50 recipes and also enables users to keep thorough track of multiple batches that are being brewed at the same time.

Cost: $4.99

10. Happy Houred

Who doesn’t like a good Happy Hour? This app scours local bars in your area to find any happy hour specials near you. Happy Houred currently offers search functionality in approximately 700 cities in the U.S. but is predominantly user-generated, so new bars and happy hour specials are constantly being added.