In the 1970s, there were 176 breweries in the United States. In 2016, almost 5,000 breweries are making a wide range of beer styles and flavors in towns and cities all across the country.

Have you ever tried a black stout aged in premium Kentucky Bourbon barrels? Have you ever been warmed by an amber ale brewed with Serrano and Jalapeno peppers? Ever had a beer, called radler, made with a light lager and grapefruit juice on a hot summer day as a thirst quencher?

It’s no secret that craft and micro-brewed lagers and ales have become a major force in the brewing industry. Today the vast majority of the approximately 5,000 breweries in the US are considered craft. This explosive growth has created a movement in artisanal, traditional and completely new beer styles, flavors and trends as mentioned earlier. The only limitation to what is being produced is the imagination of the brew master and the limits are being pushed, as consumers demand an ever-widening assortment of flavors.

An offshoot of this trend is the growth in beer events, especially beer festivals. A beer festival typically involves a few dozen or maybe even hundreds of different brews provided by the folks that made them. It is a chance to taste small samples of different styles and variations of a beer to learn what suits you. At a typical festival, you will receive a small tasting glass and will then have the chance to try as many different beers as you wish.

If you’ve ever been to a large beer festival, you’ve probably experienced the large crowds and long lines at favorite brewery tents. Beer festivals have also become big business and if you look at websites advertising them, a close look will reveal that some of them are traveling shows held by large corporate entities. Beer has become big business and profit is a major driving force in the decisions about attendee volumes and the type of venue selected for them.

The members of the Tryon Beer Fest, many of whom have been involved with the festival for all of our five years, are craft beer hobbyists. Many of us attend beer festivals, some of us are home brewers, and all of us are big fans of the craft beer movement. We’ve stood in long lines outside on hot summer days for a small taste of a certain brew and when the decision was made to host our own festival, memories of this experience drove what we were going to create and provide to visitors to Tryon, N.C.

We provide a small, intimate venue with amazing views of the Blue Ridge Escarpment and a lot of consideration goes into the food we serve, the breweries we invite and the maximum number of attendees. All of our beer and food is local and this was done by design.

The Tryon Daily Bulletin has graciously published weekly articles over the last six weeks describing the beers, food, games and environment we’ve worked to create.  If you’ve followed them, you have a pretty good idea what we’ll be offering. Online versions of the articles are available too, so check them out if you haven’t already. If you are an UnTappd or Facebook user, check us out there.

Our goal is to give the public an experience they will use to compare the many local and regional beers provided by folks that in some cases are our neighbors. Come see why folks make the Tryon Beer Festival an annual event.

The Tryon Beer Festival, presented by New View Realty, is a 21 and over event.  Please leave your coolers, dogs and guns at home. The festival is held on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016 from 12-6 p.m. at the Tryon Depot, just above Trade Street downtown.

Tickets can be purchased online at tryonbeerfest.wordpress.com/tickets. They are also available at both the Greer and Tryon La Bouteille locations, the Coffee Co-op and at Winding Creek Brewery in Columbus, N.C. We cap ticket sales at 1,200 and will have them available at the gate until they are gone. In the event of a sellout, we will close the gates and no one will be admitted without a previously purchased ticket.