Beer festival season begins in Jacksonville this weekend, Saturday, February 27, with the Third Annual Riverside Craft Beer Festival. As in past years, the festival is being held under the Fuller Warren Bridge on the site of the Riverside Arts Market. In previous years, the event has drawn crowds of more than 4,000 attendees despite bad weather.
The event raises money for local charities. This year’s beneficiaries are Community PedsCare®, a pediatric program of Community Hospice, and the Riverside Rotary Foundation. Community PedsCare® is a palliative and hospice for children with life-threatening conditions. A program of Community Hospice of Northeast Florida in collaboration with Nemours Children’s Specialty Care and the University of Florida – Jacksonville, Community Peds Care offers support, comfort and care to these children.
This year the festival is doing things a bit differently, instead of purchasing beer tickets for samples of brews, the admission price includes all the samples attendees wish to try. Food from food trucks is not included, but there will be several on hand to feed the hungry crowds. This year the festival will feature nearly 100 different beers to sample along with more than 10 food trucks.
Music for the vent will be provided by Firewater Tent Revival and Grandpa’s Cough Medicine.
General admission hours for the festival are from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., VIPs get in an hour earlier at 3:00 p.m. With their ticket, attendees receive a commemorative cup/mug to use for the event. Tickets are available online until Thursday, February 25 at http://riversidecraftbeerfest.com/. Tickets purchased online cost $35 for general admission and $50 for VIP. Tickets at the gate are $40 for general admission and $50 for VIP. In addition to getting in early, VIP guests will have an exclusive VIP area with special beers not available to general admission guests. More information is available at: https://www.facebook.com/riversidecraftbeerfest/.
Brews available to general admission guests include:
- Terrapin Beer Co. High 5 & Liquid Bliss
- Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits Grapefruit Sculpin & Habanero Sculpin
- Lagunitas Brewing Co Brown Shugga & Pilsner…
- Orange Blossom Brewing Co. Toasted Coconut & Back in the Day
- Miami Brewing Company Shark Bait & Little Havana
- Aardwolf Brewery Belgian Pale Ale & Styro Foam Pony
- Zeta Brewing Brown Ale & Twinn Fin Lager
- Intuition Ale Works Easy on the Eyes & SS Minnow
- Veterans United Craft Brewery Grunch & Scout Dog 44
- Green Man Brewery IPA & Porter
- Big Storm Brewing Co. Arcus & Wavemaker
- 21st Amendment Brewery Seasonal & He Said She Said Baltic Porter
- Tomoka Brewing Co Oceanside IPA & Apple Tart Sour
- Bold City Brewery Barrel Aged Dukes
- Green Room Brewing Count Shak-U-La
- First Magnitude Brewing Company Drift English Mild
- Ancient City Brewing Mantanzas Red
- Green Flash Brewing Co. Tangerine Soul Style
- Southern Tier Brewing Company SMaSH IPA
- Goose Island Four Star Pils
- RJ Rockers Brewery Son of a Peach
- 3 Daughters Brewing Stern Line Stout
- Victory Beer Hop Ranch Imperial IPA
- SweetWater Brewing Company Whiplash IPA
- Kona Brewing Company Big Wave
- Central 28 Beer Co. Trekker & Up River Ale
- Coastal Empire Beer Co. Southern Delite & Inshore Slam IPA
- Darwin Brewing Company Circa 1926 Tangerine Wheat & Pirata Pils
- JDub’s Brewing Company & Tap Room Up Top IPA & Poolside Kolsch
- Engine 15 Brewing Company Nut Sack & Old Battle Axe
- Funky Buddha Brewery Floridian & Hop Gun
- Cigar City Brewing Invasion Pale Ale & Tampa Style Lager
- Barley Mow Brewing Company Quackalope IPA & Maven Chocolate Milk Stout
- Highland Brewing Company Gaelic Ale and Saw-Wheat Saison
- Sonoma Cider Anvil Cider & Hatchet Cider
- Ace Cider Pineapple Cider & Perry Cider
- Due South Brewing Hopicana & Caramel Cream 13.2
- Uinta Brewing Pale Ale & Ready Set Gose
- Brew Bus Brewing Last Stop IPA & You’re My Boy Blue
- Proof Brewing Company La La Land & . . .
- Green Bench Brewing Co. Sunshine City IPA & Happy Hermit Pale
- Swamp Head Brewery Stump Knocker & Midnight Oil
- Left Hand Brewing Company Mile Stout & Ambidextrous VIII Old Ale
Brews available to VIP guests include:
- Bell’s Brewery Imperial Red
- Intuition Ale Works a special release CASK
- Dogfish Head Beer Higher Math
- Engine 15 Brewing Company Double Drop
- Engine 15 Brewing Company Mad Max
- Cigar City Brewing Key Lime IPA
- Uinta Brewing Flamingose Pineapple Gose
- Proof Brewing Company Coffee Creatures in the Dark
- Green Bench Brewing Co. Saison de Banc Vert
- Swamp Head Brewery Hoggetown Irish Red
- Funky Buddha Brewery Maple Bacon Coffee Porter
- Funky Buddha Brewery Last Snow Porter
- Coastal Empire Beer Co. Dawn Patrol
- Central 28 Beer Co. El Bulli
- Goose Island Bourbon County Stout
- Goose Island Lolita
- Green Flash Brewing Co. Cellar 3 (style TBD)
- SweetWater Brewing Company Cranberry Brown (CASK)
- SweetWater Brewing Company Happy Ending w/ Peppermint (CASK)
Food trucks scheduled to be on-site include:
- Funkadelic
- Blue Pacific Tacos
- Delish Kebabs
- On The Fly
- Pele’s Wood Fire
- Rockstar Burgers
- Butt Hutt
- Dagwood’s
- Say Cheese
- The Cupcake Truck
- The Loving Cup
One last thing, if you attend the festival and have too much to drink, PLEASE DO NOT DRIVE! Even if you are only slightly tipsy. Read my eight-part series on what could happen if you are stopped and arrested for Driving Under the Influence. Please take a cab or Uber (use code “l2jkr” for $20 off your first Uber trip). Do not take a chance.
