Brewers eye busy festival season, make strategic choices
Beer festivals are back for spring and summer, and once again craft brew drinkers will have their pick of events. Breweries, however, also must decide which to attend, and their choices can have a long financial domino effect.
There's plenty of competition on the festival circuit, and the decisions brewers make on which to attend touch on how well a festival can have a local financial impact to various non-profits that often are the themed beneficiaries of festival donations.
On Saturday, a big crowd will head to the new Burly Beers and Barleywines Festival at the Sierra Nevada brewery in Mills River, North Carolina, about an hour from Greenville. Others will travel to Columbia for the Cream of the Crop Beer Fest.
The season continues well into fall with festivals on many weekends in both states, including the Community Tap Festival on April 25 at the Greenville Downtown Airport.
"It's a busy time in both North and South Carolina," said Brook Bristow, executive director of the S.C. Brewers Guild. "There is a lot of tourism value in (festivals). They are very popular with people and pack out. And for some of the 'beer geek' events, people will travel to them."
Among the festivals that draw big out-of-town crowds is Brewgrass, the September beer festival in Asheville that pulls an annual crowd of 4,000. But when Brewgrass started in 1997, it was a financial flop, losing thousands of dollars for three years before breaking even and finally turning a profit, said producer Jimi Rentz.
Last year, there was strong competition from Sierra Nevada's Beer Camp festival, held about a month before Brewgrass. "It may have had some effect" on attendance, so he's put Brewgrass tickets on sale early this year.
The explosive growth in beer festivals "is crazy," Asheville homebrewer Adam Reinke said. "Everyone is doing them." He's drawn to festivals by the location, the breweries participating and the tradition.
Smaller festivals are more fun for Asheville's Steve Morgan, also a homebrewer. "Attendance of 2,000 or less appeals to me," he said. He loves to chat up the brewers and learn "about their beer and the brewing process."
Many festivals have settled on a niche: The Community Tap Beer Festival is a key event in Greenville Craft Beer Week.
Brew at the Zoo aims to raise money and awareness for the Greenville Zoo.
Asheville's Just Brew It beer festival only features home-brewed beer and it benefits the non-profit Just Economics of Western North Carolina. "We are not trying to promote sale of beers," said Just Brew It producer Mark Hebbard. "We don't have to worry about making things commercially viable."
A showcase for beer
Beer festivals promote craft brands in a competitive market. Thomas Creek Brewing of Greenville does about 40 festivals a year, from Pennsylvania to Florida. "As the craft beer market share continues to rise, the number of beer festivals will also dramatically increase as well," said brewery spokesman Weston Gaskill. .
The festivals are the "ultimate entertainment trade show," he said. Beer drinkers get a chance to connect one-on-one with brewers.
The Community Tap beer store decided to do its own festival "that would be a far superior craft beer experience for all attendees, compared to what any of the nationally run festival promoters were trying to pass off to Greenville as a craft beer festival," said shop co-owner Mike Okupinski. It benefits Safe Harbor and Project Host. Tickets are almost gone, he said.
Swamp Rabbit Brewery in Travelers Rest does about a half dozen festivals a year, including the Community Tap event and the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. It also hosts the Septembrew Fest beer event, which this year will include more breweries, said Swamp Rabbit owner Ben Pierson.
Festivals provide valuable exposure. They can win over new fans to craft drinkers, "and there's a little camaraderie for all of the brewers," he said.
Highland Brewing of Asheville attends about 50 festivals a year and hosts its own event, Ale Share, which benefits the greenways group Friends of Connect Buncombe. Almost all of the festivals it attends are in Highland's nine-state distribution area, including South Carolina.
But with the increasing number of beer festivals, some breweries are thinking about cutting back on attendance. Asheville Brewing will do 11 festivals this year, but is reconsidering its plans for 2016 and will drop some to attend new festivals.
Breweries "are more in demand than ever," said Margo Knight Metzger, director of the North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild. "They have to pick the festivals that are the right fit for them."
Among the biggest beer festivals in the Carolinas is Sierra Nevada's Beer Camp, which last year pulled a sold out crowd of 5,600 with strong attendance from Greenville, Atlanta and Knoxville, company spokesman Bill Manley said. Beer Camp will return this year, but the date has not yet been announced.
Festivals require a lot of planning and work to produce. "It takes months," said Rentz, who organizes both Brewgrass and Beer City. "There's a lot of infrastructure involved," including pulling city permits, reaching out to breweries, purchasing insurance, ordering portable restrooms, hiring bands and more.
Nonprofits benefit
Beer festivals can provide solid financial support to area nonprofits. Last year, the Greenville Zoo's Brew in the Zoo event, supported by the RJ Rockers brewery in Spartanburg and Greenco Beverage, generated $15-20,000, said zoo director Jeff Bullock. "It's our second biggest fundraiser."
It also raises awareness of the zoo, especially with young professionals "who might not think about the zoo as entertainment," he said. The 2015 event is May 29.
The Septemberfest beer festival, produced by Swamp Rabbit Brewery in Travelers Rest, supported Carry the Fallen and its work with military veterans and their families.
In Asheville, Big Brothers and Big Sisters of WNC has received $155,000 from Brewgrass since 2001, executive director Robin Myer said. It also receives funding from the Beer City Festival.
"It's a major boost for us," he said. The organization also sends 60-70 adult volunteers to the festival.
The North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild will get all the proceeds from Sierra Nevada's Burly Beers and Barleywines Festival. It also received $10,000 from last year's Beer Camp. "We think they're doing important things to promote beer in North Carolina," said Manley. "If we can help them in any way, then all beer lovers in North Carolina will benefit."
The pull on breweries
Breweries often donate beer to the festivals and they often send paid employees to represent their brand. With so many festivals, breweries are sometimes strained to participate.
Thomas Creek tends to "shy away from festivals that require donated product," said Gaskill. Attendance is also considered when deciding to do a festival.
"The bigger stage allows for more reach and therefore you'll make more impressions," he said. "On the other hand, Thomas Creek participates in plenty of smaller, nonprofit events. We have participated in beer-centered events with Greenville Humane Society, Euphoria, Hands on Greenville, and many more as a way to help our community in the Upstate and South Carolina."
Breweries are "giving away a lot of beer" at festivals, said Bobby Bush, who organizes in the Hickory Hops festival in Hickory, North Carolina, which depends on donated brew.
"We have had several breweries decline to come because we weren't buying the beer," he said. Still, the demand to take part in Hickory Hops is high, and breweries continue to seek out the festival.
Carolina Beer Festivals
Burly Beers and Barleywines, March 28, Sierra Nevada Brewery, Mills River, North Carolina. $65, $30 designated driver. www.sierranevada.com/burlybeers
Cream of the Crop Beer Fest, March 28, City Roots Farm, Columbia. $35, $10 designated driver. sodacitysudsweek.com
Community Tap Craft Beer Festival, April 25, Greenville Downtown Airport. $55. fest.thecommunitytap.com
Myrtle Beach Beer Fest, May 9, TicketReturn.com Stadium, Myrtle Beach. $25-$35. www.myrtlebeachbeerfest.com
Brew at the Zoo, May 29, Greenville Zoo. Tickets on sale May 1. www.greenvillezoo.com
Beer City Festival, May 30, Roger McGuire Green, Pack Square Park, Asheville. $45 locally starting April 15, $50 online beginning May 1. beercityfestival.com
Oskar Blues Burning CAN festival, July 17-18, REEB Ranch near Brevard, North Carolina. Tickets not yet on sale. www.oskarblues.com
Septembrew Fest, Sept. 5, Swamp Rabbit Brewery, Traveler Rest. Tickets not yet on sale. theswamprabbitbrewery.com
Brewgrass, Sept. 19, Memorial Stadium, Asheville. $55 general admission. brewgrassfestival.com
Carolina Brew Ha Ha, Sept. 26, Anderson County Recycling Center, Anderson. Tickets not yet on sale. www.carolinabrewhaha.com
Greenville Craft Beer Festival, Fluor Field, Greenville, no festival information yet announced.