Months after hosting a successful summer beer festival in Somerville, Boston beer lovers Jeff Wharton and Devon Regan are gearing up for Drink Craft Beer Fall to Winter Fest this Friday and Saturday, their first winter-inspired suds extravaganza, which will offer 85 seasonally-inspired local beers and holiday ales.
“After Summerfest sold out, it was a no brainer,” Wharton said. ” We started looking at what we wanted to do next, but we wanted to put on a festival that showcased more than just pumpkin.”
That’s why Wharton, drinkcraftbeer.com co-founder, spent the last few months bouncing around New England to assemble the perfect collection of craft brews.
The beers will include some of the region’s most notorious holiday flavors, like apple, sweet potatoes, and ginger, and the brews can be paired with food from local vendors.
Suddenly we are seeing everyone pairing beer and chocolate,” Wharton said. “But food and beer pairing in general seems to be growing.”
Summerfest drew a total of 1,200 people, or 400 each session, Wharton said, but to keep guests satiated, this weekend’s festival will have a cut off of 650 people per session.
“We’ve been to plenty of beer fests where we’ve had to wait a long time in line get a sample,” Wharton said. “And that’s all well in good but we really want to introduce some great local breweries in the area, and that’s not going to work if only three beers are sampled.”
