As you read this, the inaugural Hotoberfest's Barrel Aged Ball and Bottle Splurge may be sold out.
The event, which will be held at the Georgia Railroad Freight Depot in downtown Atlanta Aug. 16 is limited to just 350 tickets at $85 each.
For the price, attendees will be able to spend six hours among a relatively small crowd, sample a unique selection of Georgia-brewed, barrel-aged beers tapped directly from wooden casks, and explore a curated “splurge” from a collection of rare bottled beers.
The ball is the creation of Alan Raines and Tryon Rosser, who helped start the East Atlanta Beer Festival in 2003, and co-founded the original Hotoberfest in 2008 — which they pitched as a tasting event that would appeal to serious beer drinkers and collectors.
Hotoberfest was a hit with beer geeks, many of whom declared it the best beer festival in Atlanta. But after the October 2013 edition, Raines and Rosser decided to take a break, citing the sheer number of beer festivals cropping up around the metro area. The idea of a smaller event based on the VIP portion of Hotoberfest evolved into the Barrel Aged Ball.
“This is pretty different from what anyone else is doing now,” Raines said during a recent phone conversation. “And as the tickets went on sale, we got a little blow-back online and on social media. People were saying things about the $85 ticket price and the Sunday date.
“But we named it a ball because we didn’t want it to be known just as a festival or a tasting. It’s more like a beer celebration. And, again, the reason for pulling it back from 3,000 to 350 was to focus on a small number of barrel-aged beers and rare and collectible bottled beers.”
Of course, beginning with the Great American Beer Festival, which debuted in Colorado in 1982, beer festivals have been synonymous with craft brewing. And, certainly, the growth of craft beer has tracked the growth of beer festivals.
Whether the success of craft beer, and with it the greater sophistication of craft beer drinkers, will lead to many more smaller and exclusive events like the Barrel Aged Ball is an interesting question. But I would bet that the answer is yes.
“We’re calling out to the people that don’t normally attend the big beer festivals, because they don’t like the crowds, and they don’t often find anything that they can’t find anywhere else,” Raines said. “As far as festivals go, though, it’s just like beer. There’s a beer for everybody and there’s a festival for everybody. This one is for the people that want to drink rare and barrel-aged beers.”
Summer Beer Fests
If you didn’t get a ticket to the Barrel Aged Ball, look for these other beer events on tap this summer.
Atlanta Summer Beer Fest, June 20 — At the Masquerade Music Park, with over 200 beers, live music on several stages, and a DJ dance party. $45 advance; $55 day of event.atlantasummerbeerfest.com.
Red, White & Brew, July 4 — In the Oceans Ballroom at the Georgia Aquarium, dinner, live music, unlimited beer samples, and a rooftop view of the Centennial Olympic Park fireworks. $45-$55 in advance. georgiaaquarium.org.
German Bierfest, Aug. 22 — In Woodruff Park, a celebration of German food, music and culture, with some 50 German beers to sample. $35 advance; $40 day of event. germanbierfest.com.
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