Spring Beer Festivals You Can’t Miss

After multiple winter storms, gloomy days, and a lack of outdoor eating, everyone in Atlanta has got the itch to jump head first into Spring. I don’t know about you, but I’ll take my lungs full of pollen any day over the winter blues. Let’s toast to the 2014 Spring season with beer festivals galore. Here are the ones you won’t want to miss.

2014 Spring Beer Festivals in Atlanta

• Georgia Craft Beer Festival – March 22 – The number of high quality craft beer breweries and brew pubs have dramatically increased over the past few years in Georgia. Celebrate the leaps and bounds made in the craft beer around Georgia at the 1st Annual Georgia Craft Beer Festival. Don’t miss Three Taverns, Burnt Hickory (the IPA is awesome), and Red Hare.
• Hogs and Hops – April 5 – This is basically everything that you’ve been longing for over the past few months. Beer, smoked meat, and live music at an outdoor venue. The Hogs and Hops event is moving this year from SweetWater over to the Masquerade, so you should expect, more spots to lounge around, more beers, and more food options due to the extra space.
• Suwanee American Craft Beer Festival – March 15 – Celebrating their 4th year, the Suwannee American Craft Beer Festival is further proof that North Atlanta’s unique communities are craving craft beer. Enjoy 100+ breweries in the Suwanee Town Center Park. Other than the live music, cold beer, and home brewer contest, there’s also a cornhole competition that you can enter. It’s time to start perfecting your beer in one hand and bean bag in the other stance.
• Beer Carnival – April 5 – Enjoy 100’s of beer, a variety of carnival games, and a recently thawed out Beer Carnival at Atlantic Station. The Beer Carnival decided to (wisely) push back their beer fest this year to avoid the winter chill. The beer list will make a variety of beer drinkers happy, as this festival sprinkles in some mainstream brews with their nice craft beer list. Yes, that means you can bring your bro-ski and start him off with something familiar* before introducing him to some face melting craft beer.

There are quite a few other beer-centric festivities going on this spring and they’re all sure to be fun. Get ready to show some thigh, soak up some sun, and enjoy some good times and great brews with friends. Let’s ring in the 2014 Spring season in Atlanta with a proper welcome.

Cheers!

*Note: I occasionally enjoy a light, mass produced beer, especially after long days in the sun, mowing the lawn, or not acting my age with a good old fashioned game of beer pong.