October 2nd marked the first ever Sand & Suds Beer Festival, and wow did we have a great time! This beerfest was very unique in the sense of where it was located at, Whiskey Joe’s, which is a beach bar/restaurant, complete with beach chairs and access to the water. It was a very unique approach from the typical beerfest scenery of being in an outdoor park, and wearing sandals or flip-flops and feeling the sand in between our toes really made it a very relaxing and casual environment.
The festival began at 6pm and with the sunset fast approaching at around 7:20pm, we knew we wanted to enjoy the limited daylight by taking as many pictures as possible. Once we were situated with our wristbands and sample cups, we hit the sand in search of suds. With the list of breweries attending prior to the event nowhere to be found, we were pleasantly surprised to find that many of our favorite craft breweries were present at the beerfest, as well as many larger corporate owned breweries such as Sam Adams and Warsteiner.
Each of the sampling stations served their beers differently. Many of them had their cans and bottles in a container filled with iced water while others had fashioned a draft system built into a cooler. We found that all of the personnel serving up the samples were very friendly and welcoming. Most of them would ask us if we had heard of or tried any of their beers previously, and even welcomed feedback as we sampled.
Not only did we have a great time experiencing many different beers and conversing with one another about such beverages, we were also able to pick up some swag from many of the stations as well. From coozies and bottle openers, to keychains and sunglasses, we were able to grab a bunch of cool swag. Many of the stations also setup some cool and unique decorations on their tables.
As the sun began to set, we found ourselves spending a bit of time sitting on the beach chairs next to the firepit. This truly heightened our beerfest experience and we could not stop enjoying this relaxation.
For this being the first Sand & Suds Beerfest, we are super excited to attend next years. Seeing as how we had such a great time this year, we can only expect for next year to be just as good, or even better! Were you able to join this year? We’d love to hear how your experience was!
Written and edited by Fernando and Joshua.