For six hours on Sept. 23, the AgriCultural Museum and Arts Center will celebrate highest and best use of grain since the first seed was planted thousands of years ago: Beer.
The sixth annual Boerne Bierfest features 30 breweries, food vendors and games that mostly involve tossing of things such as bean bags, beer kegs and axes. And if that’s not enough, Texas legend Gary P. Nunn, who has written his fair share of songs featuring beer, takes the stage from 4-6 p.m.
The event was started by the Hill Country Council for the Arts in 2017, took a pandemic hiatus in 2020, and was in full swing last year raising money for an artist gathering area called The Classroom and the council property. Past grant recipients include the Boerne Community Theater and the Boerne Village Band, who will bring their brass to the main entrance to greet Bierfest attendees.
VIP tickets sold out long ago, but general admission tickets are still available for $30 in advance and $35 at the gate.
Attendees will get an official taster glass that they can take to each brewery booth and sample the wares of five Boerne breweries, including the new 28 Songs, and 25 others from around the state.
The other new local to the fest is Hamby’s, the new brewery and smashburger joint on Main from the same folks behind Cibolo Creek Brewing Co.
Missing from the mix this year is Barrelman Brewing, whose beer won second place at Boerne Bierfest last year. The 2 1/2-year-old brewery closed in August. While it had a loyal following, the location on Ranger Drive made it difficult to bring in enough people, including the visitor trade.
The exception to Texas breweries is the presence of Maui Brewing Co., the Hawaiian brewer known for such treats as Pineapple Mana Wheat and Coconut Hiwa Porter, and California- founded Modern Times – now part of the Maui family.
The president of the combined brewers is Scott Metzger, a San Antonio native, University of Texas at San Antonio grad and founder of Freetail Brewing Co. Metzger wasn’t involved in the presence at Bierfest but called it “cool as hell” to know his current breweries are represented on his long-time home turf.
The winner of the annual homebrew competition also will be announced at the festival. Besides bragging rights as the best from nearly 100 entries, the winner will brew a brewpub-sized batch of their brew with the pros at Free Roam Brewing.
Another highlight is the test of willpower and freakish ability to withstand back and arm torture that is the German competition known as Masskrugstemmen.
The test involves brave men and women holding beer-filled, one-liter glasses (masskrug) with an arm straight out from their bodies for as long as possible. Boerne Bierfest is a qualifying venue location for the 2023 Texas Steinholding Championship Tournament, which leads to the U.S. championships in New York.
Travis E. Poling has been writing about Texas beer for 26 years and is co-author of two books on the subject including “San Antonio Beer: Alamo City History by the Pint.” Email him at BeerAcrossTexas@ att.net
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