Winter Beer Carnival promises frosty fun

Now in it’s fourth year, the beer-tasting festival with a carnival twist was the brainchild of Rob Frazer, one of the founding partners of Premier Events. The Atlanta event production company also helps put on the Dogwood Festival, Taste of Atlanta, Music Midtown and many other metro area art, food and music festivals.

While weather is always a big factor in the success of any outdoor event, last year’s Winter Beer Carnival lived up to its name with frosty temps and blustery winds that found Frazier fretting as attendees struggled to stay bundled up.

“It was the coldest day of the year, by far,” Frazer said. “This year, we’re looking for temperatures in the 50s, which is more normal, and perfect for winter games. It was actually in the 70s the second year, which was nice, if not exactly winterlike.”

Though he knows he can’t hope to control the weather, Frazer said he’s been fine-tuning all other aspects of the carnival.

“We’ve tried to evolve the games and the beer,” Frazer said. “We’ve certainly had to add more beer to the list as our attendance has grown. We’re up from a 100 last year to 140 this year, and the list is still growing.

“It’s an eclectic mix. We have some great American craft beer, some imports and some mainstream beers, plus ciders and even gluten-free beers. We’re trying to appeal to people who are there for the carnival atmosphere and people who really care about tasting good beer and the educational aspect.”

Of course, winter seasonal beers will be featured, too. And VIP ticket holders will have a special tasting area with a selection of limited- and large-format beers, including offerings from Bell’s Dogfish Head, Great Divide, Lagunitas, New Belgium, Port, Red Brick, Sierra Nevada, Sweetwater, Terrapin and Weyerbacher.

In addition to carnival concessions, such as funnel cakes and corn dogs, WOW!, Happy Belly and Mighty Meatballs food trucks will be on site this year.

And look for several new games connected to concessions, including Frozen Pints Craft Beer Ice Cream, which is sponsoring Milk Can Madness, with a scoop of Malted Milk Chocolate Stout as the prize.

Nick Purdy, president of Atlanta’s Wild Heaven Craft Beers, attended his first Winter Beer Carnival last year and quickly became a fan of the fun and games.

“It’s all things you can do while holding a beer in your hand,” Purdy said. “We enjoyed being there because it’s one the rare festivals where people have something fun to do in addition to drinking good beer.”

Wild Heaven will feature all four of its year-round beers during the tasting, plus its bourbon-aged seasonal, Ode to Mercy Special Winter Ale.

“If the weather is anything like last year, we’ll need that one,” a joking Purdy said. “But, seriously, I was really impressed with the crowd and how everyone had such a good time in spite of the cold weather.”