Albany Brew Fest in Washington Park

The Third Annual Microbrewery Festival and Contest will be held as part of Lobsterfest '07 on Saturday, June 9, in Albany's Washington Park. The details:

Microbrewery Festival and Contest Schedule:

• 2 - 6 pm: Beer Tasting
• 5 pm: Judging and Presentations

9 to 11 New York State Regional Microbreweries participating

Admission ticket:
Advance Sale $20
Day of Event $25
Click Here to purchase tickets online

Must be 21 years of age. Proof of age required. Limit 1 ticket per person. Ticket entitles holder to a souvenir beer tasting cup and three different samplings from each microbrewery.

Purchase tickets online until Friday, June 8 at 8 pm.

Day of event, limited tickets will be available at Lobster Festival Information Booth (cash, checks with I.D., Visa and MasterCard accepted) Or at Microbrewery Tent (cash only).

Live Entertainment in the Microbrewery Tent 2 - 6 pm

• 2:00 to 3:30 PM: FLAME
• 3:00 to 4:00 PM: Short Circuit
• 4:00 to 5:00 PM: FLAME
• 5:00 to 6:00 PM: Short Circuit

Participating Breweries (Subject to change):

• Adirondack Pub & Brewery
• Brewery Ommegang
• Brown's Brewing Company
• Butternuts Beer and Ale
• C.H.Evans/Albany Pump Station
• Great Adirondack
• Keegan Ales
• Lake Placid Pub & Brewery
• Mendocino Brewing Company
• Saranac/F.X. Matts

Proceeds from the 2007 Washington Park Lobster Festival will benefit the Albany Booster Club and Albany Rotary Foundation.

One thing that strikes us as pretty cool is that all of these breweries are pretty local, and with the exception of a couple are less than an hour's drive away. Oh, and they all make pretty good beer, too. Wouldn't have minded seeing, say, Middle Ages in the mix, but this ain't too shabby. We are tentatively planning to check it out. Here is what some random internet dude from Beer Advocate had to say about last year's festival:

I went to it last year. It was pretty good but there were some disappointments. There were about 15 breweries or so and they each had three beers. They were supposed to have a light, a dark, and one in the middle but they kind of each brought what they had. You get a card when you get there and you can basically try a 3-4 oz sample of each beer once. At the end, you can vote for your favorite.

As, for the disappointments, Ommegang was there but didn't have Three Philosophers with them. Bummer. Also, the setup kind of sucks with a tent outdoors and very little seating or tables. The ground ended up getting kind of nasty too.

I'll probably go again this year though.