The Cincy Beerfest Friday and Saturday at the Duke Energy Convention Center features craft beers from around the region, the country and the world. It also will feature an award-winning beer first brewed in a kitchen in College Hill.
Will Magnuszewski's Ellzebelle Belgian Tripel Stout won the local Oktobersbest contest for homebrewers, which included 200 home brewers from all over the region. Part of his prize was that his beer would be professionally brewed by local beermaker Rivertown.
Magnuszeski's next stop: Denver. The ultimate home brewer contest is the Pro/Am contest at the Great American Beer Festival, one of the biggest and most prestigious beer festivals. Last year, 75 brewers entered beers devised by home brewers and commercial brewers.
The Great American Beer Fest almost five years ago was where Magnuszewski's hobby as a home brewer began. He was on a plane to the festival, and for in-flight reading, he took along a book about how to brew beer.
"By the time I came back, I was committed to start brewing beer," he said. "Since then, I've since brewed about 80 batches of different kind of beers."
Inspiration for the Elzebelle was a trip he took to Belgium recently, visiting breweries and drinking as many of the country's top-notch beers as he could. "Belgian beers don't really fall into categories. They're more free spirits."
His Ellzebelle is an unusual combination of a porter style with Belgian yeasts. It's dark brown, with lots of chocolate, coffee, roasted grains and dark fruits, light in body even though its alcohol content is 8 percent.
"I'm not a dark-beer person, but that is a very good beer," said Craig Johnson, manager of the Cincy Beerfest. "It's not heavy."
The Beerfest has grown from 750 people attending at Downtown's Radisson at the first one four years ago to the Duke Energy Convention Center this year. Organizers expect to sell 5,00 tickets.
Every local brewery will be represented.
"The renewal of interest in craft beer in Cincinnati really has so much to do with having local brewers," Johnson said. "People support their local labels, because they're unique, they're independent. Locals include Moerlein, with four beers, and Hudepohl-Schoenling (their beer is not yet all brewed in Cincinnati, but the company is based here).
Listermann's, the brewing supply company in Evanston, is now making beer, and will have five to taste at Beerfest, including Friar Bacon smoked bock. Rivertown will be there with lagers, stouts, bocks, hefeweizens and more.
Party Source's Quaff Bros. Brewing Co will offer two brews; Mt. Carmel will offer several ales, and there's a nice variety of beers brewed at the local Rock Bottom, including a Cincinnati Chili Beer.
Samuel Adams, based in Boston but brewed here, will also be included, and several brewers from Kentucky and other parts of Ohio will be represented.
Get there early if you want to taste Magnuszewski's Ellzebelle. All beers are poured until their gone, and Rivertown made only five barrels of his.