8th Annual OC Brew Ha Ha Recap

This past Saturday, September 23rd, one of my most favorite beer festivals of the year took place, the Brew Ha Ha.  This year was the eighth year the Brew Ha Ha has taken place, which is quite the feat!  Brew Ha Ha once again this year took place in the beautiful Oak Canyon Park.  This is one of my most favorite venues for a beer festival, because it seems as if you are far outside of a major metropolitan area, when you are actually near major freeways.  

This year, unlike in years past, the Brew Ha Ha was held on a day when the weather was amazingly gorgeous.  It was a beautiful day, and it wasn't too hot, which is not usually the case.  This helped to make the Brew Ha Ha even more awesome than usual!

Cheers to awesome beers and weather!

Some of my favorite beers of the day were from both well established as well as newer breweries.  Among my favorite beers of the day were Brewery Rex's Stay Wit, Ritual Brewing Company's Funner IPA, and Tustin Brewing Company's Kentucky Hug.

New for this year's Brew Ha Ha was a Rare Beer Section.  This area had exclusive beers available throughout the event for festival attendees who had selected the Rare Beer option for admission.  Some of the beers in the Rare Beer Section, such as Tustin Brewing Company's Kentucky Hug, were also available to all attendees in the General Admission area of the event, but, it was only available for a select time, whereas in the Rare Beer Section it was available throughout the event with no line.

Rare Beer Section, where everyone was smiling at drinking rare beers!

As usual, there was a wide variety of food options available at Brew Ha Ha provided by local food truck and restaurant booths.  There were also games available throughout Oak Canyon Park for festival attendees to partake in as well as live music.  Having food, games, and music helps to make sure that attendees are able to take breaks from trying all of the tasty beers throughout the event.  

This year's live music entertainment was provided by The Spazmatics, which were awesome!  I had never heard them perform before, and was so excited to hear them play covers of some of my favorite 80s songs.

As usual, the organizers of Brew Ha Ha provided a fun filled afternoon.  I always look forward to attending events put on by Brew Ha Ha Productions.  I can't wait until their next event!

Cheers to another amazing Brew Ha Ha!

5th Annual Brew Ho Ho Holiday Ale Festival Recap

I think having a beer fest in December is a wonderful way to help celebrate the most wonderful time of the year.

A few short weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend the Brew Ho Ho Holiday Ale Festival. While I have attended several other events produced by OC Brew Ha Ha Productions, this was my first time attending their annual event held in December.  

The event was held at the Phoenix Club in Anaheim, which is a fantastic spot for a fest. There was plenty of room for breweries, vendors, food trucks, and festival attendees to spread out throughout the venue. 

One of my favorite beers of the day was Unsung Brewing's St. Nick R. Doodle.  It was like drinking a cookie, a really delicious hop flavored cookie.  I thoroughly enjoyed the OC Brew Ho Ho because of the fantastic variety of beers that were brought by all of the breweries, the live music from Dead Man's Party, as well as all of the festive attire worn by all of the attendees.  I am already looking forward to next year's Brew Ho Ho Holiday Ale Festival!

5th Annual Brew Ho Ho Holiday Ale Festival

Tickets On-Sale Now for the

5th Annual Brew Ho Ho Holiday Ale Festival

Anaheim Phoenix Club Dec. 10

Over 90 craft beers from the finest breweries in Southern California and beyond with seasonal, holiday and winter ale tastings

[Anaheim, CA.] – The producers of the acclaimed Brew Ha Ha Craft Beer Festival proudly present the 5th Annual Brew Ho Ho Holiday Ale Festival at the Anaheim Phoenix Club on Saturday, December 10 from 12-4 p.m. Tickets for Brew Ho Ho annually sell out and are currently available at www.ocbrewhoho.com.  A portion of the proceeds for this year’s Brew Ho Ho will benefit the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Orange County and Inland Empire.

   

The Brew Ho Ho Holiday Ale Festival is one of the largest Holiday Craft Beer Festivals in Southern California and has been deemed the unofficial OC Brewers’ Holiday Party. This year’s event will feature a line-up of over 90 craft beers from the finest breweries in Southern California and beyond. Back by popular demand, the anticipated annual Brewery Merchandise Expo returns offering guests a one-stop shopping experience. Take photos with Santa Claus and test your skills with the Brew Ho Ho’s illustrious interactive games.

The holiday ale fest will offer an intimate experience for attendees with tasty food trucks, music, big beards, ugly Christmas sweaters, and of course, plenty of craft beer.  Award winning breweries including Bottle Logic, Barley Forge, Left Coast Brewery, Good Beer Company, Mike Hess, Wicks Brewing, and many more will bring their best of the season to HoHo. The Brew Ha Ha Productions team is excited to welcome OC’s newest brewery to Brew Ho Ho with samples from Placentia’s own STERO Brewing. Another new addition to the beer line-up this year is UNSUNG Brewing Company, who has been turning heads since their debut at the Anaheim Packing District in spring of 2016.

The fifth annual OC Brew Ho Ho Holiday Ale Festival is a rain or shine event.  Since it’s inception in 2012, the Brew Ho Ho has sold out and judging by their record breaking sales of their Early Bird Tickets, this year will sell out as well. Tickets are currently available for $55 online and pending availability, will be available the day of for $65 online or at the door.  Designated driver tickets will be available for $20 at the door only for those accompanying a paid guest. Unlimited 2 oz. tastings will be provided in a complimentary commemorative tasting glass. Tastings will take place from 12 – 4 p.m. with the Brewery Merchandise Expo, music and food open until 5 p.m.  For more information and to purchase tickets visit www.brewhoho.com.

2nd Annual OC Brew Hee Haw

"Brew Hee Haw" Craft Beer Roundup July 18-19 at the OC Fair

Costa Mesa, CA--Brew Ha Ha Productions, creator of the most award winning craft beer festivals in Orange County, along with the OC Fair are pleased to present the 2nd Annual Brew Hee Haw Craft Beer Roundup on July 18-19 opening weekend of the OC Fair.  The Brew Hee Haw offers day and evening tasting sessions and includes free admission to the OC Fair, a commemorative festival glass and special presentations by "Dr." Bill Sysak.

Brew Ha Ha Productions puts on some of my favorite events, such as the Sabroso Craft Beer and Taco Festival and the OC Brew Ha Ha.

New this year, the OCBG (Orange County Brewers Guild) is presenting an exclusive VIP hour prior to the General Admission sessions featuring rare and limited release beers as well as a unique VIP tasting glass.  Some of the breweries participating include:

• Bottle Logic
• Noble Ale Works
• Bootlegger's Brewery 
• The Good Beer Co.
• Barley Forge
• Beach City Brewery

Additional new features at this 2nd annual event are unlimited 2 oz. pours, more than 80 craft beer selections from some of the best breweries in the county, and no ticket fees when you buy the print at home tickets!  

• Two VIP sessions are offered on Saturday July 18th (12-4 p.m.) & (5-9 p.m.) and one Sunday, July 19th (1-5 p.m.).  
• Two GA sessions are offered on Saturday July 18th (1-4 p.m.) & (6-9 p.m.) and one on Sunday, July 19th (2-5 p.m.).  

Arrive before your session of choice to ensure you have the most fun with a day at the OC Fair plus a great beer event!

General Admission tickets are $50 in advance and $60 the day of the event.  

VIP tickets are $65 in advance and $75 the day of the event.  

A portion of the proceeds from Brew Hee Haw will benefit Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Orange County.  

For more information or to purchase tickets visit http://www.ocbrewheehaw.com/

For more information on the OC Fair visit http://www.ocfair.com/2015/

5th Annual San Clemente Micro-Brew Festival

This past Saturday, I had the opportunity to visit a brewery for the first time and also to attend an event for the first time!  For the past five years, Left Coast Brewing Company has hosted the San Clemente Micro-Brew Festival.  This event supports a fantastic cause, Welcome Home Military Events which are put on by the San Clemente Chamber of Commerce.  The event was held in the parking lot of Left Cost Brewing Company and had a great variety of beers to sample.  There were two tickets available for festival attendees, VIP allowed guests to enter the festival one hour early, which is a great idea.  Being able to enter the event an hour early made it easy to sample both new beers as well as old favorites.  Admission to the Micro-Brew Festival included 12 four ounce pours, which was more than enough.  The festival was five hours for VIP ticket holders and four hours for general admission ticket holders.  This was an ample amount of time to sample beers as well as to have time to chat with friends.  I like events where I don't feel rushed to try super popular beers which may result in a huge line.

Breweries that attended this year included:

Artifex Brewing

Bagby Beer Company

Ballast Point

Beach City Brewery

Beachwood BBQ & Brewing

Cismontane Brewing Company

Coronado Brewing Company

Green Flash Brewing Co

Left Coast Brewing Co

Legacy Brewing Co

Lucky Buddha

Ninkasi Brewing Company

Oggi's Pizza & Brewing Co

Pizza Port Brewing Company, San Clemente

Saint Archer Brewing Co

Along with delicious beers, three food trucks also brought yummy food for attendees to sample throughout the event.  Food trucks that attended included:

Bacon Mania

The Buffalo Truck

Classic Tacos

The San Clemente Micro-Brew Festival was very well organized, the check in process was very smooth and I loved how they included a list of the breweries along with their beers they would be pouring as you entered.  Although the weather was overcast, and actually started to rain a short while after general admission ticket holders were admitted, I'd rather have a cloudy day for a beer fest than a super hot day!

I had a fantastic time at the San Clemente Micro-Brew Festival.  I loved that there were breweries that I had sampled before as well as ones that I hadn't tried yet.  Everyone was very happy and eager to talk about their beers.  I also enjoyed that the crowd was super mellow. 

Epic Beer Weekend...the Main Event, Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Fest

Gorgeous summer day for beer!

Arriving in Paso Robles Friday afternoon, we were looking forward to partaking in some bottle shares with friends, but the super comfy bed at the Adelaide Inn was far too welcoming.  This made getting up bright and early on Saturday for the Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Fest that much easier.  Waking up early without a hangover on the day of a beer event is always a bonus!  After a quick carb-filled breakfast, we headed over to the Paso Robles Fair Grounds which were a short walk from our hotel.  A nice crowd had already started to line up just outside the gates before noon, with the even set to begin at 1 p.m..  We were rewarded by standing next to a bbq smoker which smelled amazing.  About thirty minutes prior to the even start time, we were ushered inside to get wrist bands and pick up our tasting glasses.  We were surprised to also receive a plate, which had a cut-out for our tasting glasses, a small booklet with information about all of the breweries and beer that was scheduled to be poured at the event along with a handy dandy small golf pencil.  The sun was bright and making it's presence known as we eagerly awaited our time to enter the fest.  The Paso Robles Fair Grounds are not your run of the mill fair grounds.  They reminded me of both Knott's Berry Farm and Disneyland with quaint old-fashioned buildings.

Cheers!

When the clock struck one, a majority of the people lined up hustled over to the 3 Floyds to have a chance to taste Dark Lord.  Instead of following the crowd, we chose to visit Sun King Brewing first which had no line.  While they had two beers on tap, they also had brought some of their cans of beer so they had a nice variety to choose from.  I started my day out with their Osiris Pale Ale which was both tasty and refreshing.  We ran into some friends who luckily are smart and had already grabbed a barrel to claim as our home base for the day.  This was an excellent system as one of us (actually, one for most of the day, she deserves a medal) would stay behind while the others ventured out to get  samples of all of the glorious beer.  Walking throughout the different tents and tables was relaxing as most of the lines moved quickly.  

Quick moving lines at beer events always makes for happy beer drinkers!  

Mellow, happy crowd

While I sampled many delightful beers throughout the day, I definitely had some favorites.  Gatlin Damnosous by Anderson Valley Brewing Company was the first beer of the day that made my heart happy.  A Sour Ale at 8.8% it was not only unique but had a fantastic taste.  The longest line I waited in all day was for my second favorite beer of the day, Stone Brewing Company's Ruination Tenth Anniversary IPA.  The wait to try their hoppy 10.8 % Imperial/Double IPA was definitely worth it, even though it is a beer I can easily find here in Southern California.  Altered Beast by Bear Republic Brewing Company not only has a name that makes you want to try the beer but also has an outstanding taste.  At 9.2%, this Imperial/Double IPA was another one that I would definitely like to try again.  My final favorite beer of the day, was Nebraska Brewing Company's Melange A Trois (Reserve Series, Chardonnay Barrel Aged) Belgain Strong Pale Ale.  This 10% beer was a nice surprise and makes me want to drive out to Nebraska for a visit to their brewery.

Not only were all of the beer selections at the Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Fest top notch, the food we all had to choose from was also amazingly delicious.  From wood-fired pizza, pulled pork bbq sliders, to bratwurst sausage sandwiches, there was something for everyone to enjoy.  I was surprised to see some of the food booths were still serving food up until the end!

The Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Fest was a wonderfully well-organized event.  I know I am already counting down the days until next years event!

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