Beer festival on tap for this weekend
MARQUETTE — A popular beer festival is on tap for this weekend.
The 7th Annual U.P. Fall Beer Festival is set for this Saturday at Mattson Lower Harbor Park. Over 400 different locally crafted beers from more than 60 Michigan breweries will be featured at this highly anticipated event. Each of the breweries look at this as an opportunity to switch it up and share something unique.
“All of the beers that we will be bringing down won’t be beers that you’ll find on the chalkboard here on a regular basis at Ore Dock,” said Ore Dock Brewery Liaison Adam Robarge, “so they’re primarily barrel–aged beers and we theme them after Superior Watershed basically, we named each beer after a stream in the Superior Watershed and we’ll be looking to promote clean water and support Lake Superior while pouring some beer.”
Even thought there are beer festivals all over, there are several reason that this one brings in close to 5,000 people per year.
“I go to all of the festivals in the winter and the summer,” added Robarge, “we hear it from everyone down there they just can’t wait to get up to Marquette to do the U.P. Fall Fest, it’s their favorite fest. It’s a bit smaller than all of the others, but I think people like that. The setting is just fantastic down at Lower Harbor. You really can’t ask for anything more than that.”
“It’s just great to have that enthusiasm and that excitement towards Michigan beer, and Marquette in general,” said Blackrocks Co–Founder and Brewsician Andy Langlois, “for us it’s really a celebration at the end of the summer to go down there and re–kindle some old relationships with some other breweries that we’ve met downstate and the beer fans out there who love to try new beers. It’s usually really nice to meet new people and be able to share what we work so hard on.”
Click here for a complete list of what to expect for this year.
The Ore Dock Brewing Company will be featuring some of their Fall–inspired beers. The Blackrocks brewery has been working with Rockford Brewery on a new Trenary Toast beer.
“It should be pretty interesting,” added Langlois, “they’re probably going to be pretty similar but when it’s two different breweries doing it, even the same recipe tends to turn out a little different.”
Pre–sale tickets are available at local businesses and will be offered at the entrance gate as well.