City’s inaugural Brew Fest boasts more than 60 beers, ales and ciders

Hundreds of people enjoyed Danville’s first Bright Leaf Brew Fest on Saturday — a festival boasting dozens of beers and hard ciders available for sampling, as well as music and food.

One end of the Community Market was set up with tables balancing about 60 kinds of beers, ales and ciders from microbreweries all over the country; there was even ale from Ireland and specialties produced by Budweiser and Michelob.

While there were plenty of basic hops-and-yeast brews, many of the brews had a surprising mix of fruit (blueberry in the Wild Blue Lager from Blue Dog Brewing in Baldwinsville, N.Y.), chocolate (Rogue Brewery, from Newport, Ore., had a chocolate stout) and spices (Harpoon Brewery, in Boston, Mass., offered a cinnamon-tasting Winter Warmer).

Many of the brews are available locally. John Zappa, of Stevens Point Brewery in Stevens Point, Wis., said his brewery’s beers had just started being shipped to Virginia two weeks ago.

“The timing was good for Brew Fest,” Zappa said. “We planned it this way.”

Zappa said Stevens Point is the fourth-oldest brewery in the country, having opened in 1851.

“Only 14 pre-prohibition, continuously-operating breweries are still in existence,” he said.

Foothills Brewing’s Hoppyum IPA, Total Eclipse Stout and Rainbow Trout Extra Special Bitter are not available here yet, but are planned to be soon.

“We’re doing a brewery expansion now,” Scott Smith, sales director for the Winston-Salem, N.C., brewery, said.

The expansion will bring the company’s draft beer into Virginia in 2009, with bottled beers following in 2010, Smith said.

Blue & Gray Brewing Co., in Fredericksburg, has a classic lager, red ale and “Stonewall Stout” — but only in the Washington, D.C.-to-Richmond area at this time.

Thousand Oaks Barrel Co. had a display of barrels for aging liquors and for infusing cigars with liquor.

American Brewmasters had all the ingredients needed to home-brew beer and demonstrated how to make beer for those interested in making their own.

People were able to try nine 4-ounce samples of the different beers, and there were almost as many opinions on what were the best brews as there were brews avaible.

Karen Harris, of Danville, said she like the apricot flavor of Magic Hat No. 9 while Wayne Pickeral, of Danville, said he preferred the sweet taste of Hornsby Hard Cider; Matthew Stafford, of Vernon Hill, said he liked the Starr Hill IPA — and hopes there are more events like this one in Danvillle.

“I wish we’d do more things like this. This is such a beautiful venue; we need to show off the things we have,” Stafford said.

Danville’s assistant director of tourism, Heather Vipperman, said events like Brew Fest showcase the Tobacco Warehouse District.

She also said proceeds from the event will be used by Danville Harvest Jubilee to beautify the city and attract more people to Danville.

Contact Denice Thibodeau at or (434) 791-7985.