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72 Hours to Go ... Lansdale Beer Fest

Everything's on tap for the second annual Lansdale Beer Tasting Festival Saturday

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Three days to go, and everything’s on tap for a successful second Lansdale Beer Tasting Festival.

Drive around the bend of Richardson Avenue near Madison Parking Lot and you can’t miss the large white tents erected in the open field in preparation for Saturday.

“We’re getting going. It’s coming together,” said organizer Drew Stockmal. “All the tents are up and the tables and chairs will be ready by Saturday. It’s a nicer setting than last year – just in terms of where we have it this year – grass instead of pavement. We’re very excited about it.”

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The event last year was held in the Madison Parking Lot. On Saturday, it’s moved to an adjacent fenced-in area bordered by Richardson Avenue, Second Street and the R5 tracks.

“The location is great,” said organizer Ray Liberto. “Last year, we didn’t have so-called ‘security.’ It was me and another guy walking around. This year, we have four guys: two former Hatfield police officers and two guys who are bouncers at local bars. If we get 1,500, it’s a much bigger crowd to try and control.”

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Liberto found some people rubbernecking the tents as they drove down Richardson Avenue. So, he put up some signs at Third and Richardson to notify of the event.

“We feel a lot are going to use the R5. Drew can see a lot off the R5 line buying tickets,” Liberto said. “So we have Beer Fest signs with arrows to the event. You can almost see the tops of the tents from the tracks.”

A Deck, Neighbors, Beer and an Idea

The idea of a Lansdale Beer Tasting Festival began, coincidentally, with beer.

Stockmal, along with a couple of his neighbors, including Mayor Andy Szekely, were sitting on Stockmal’s deck drinking beer a couple years back.

A discussion came up about the local economy and how local charities are suffering.

They decided to try and do something to raise money for local Lansdale charities.

“At the time, the library had to cut back hours. We thought it was a very good place to start,” said Stockmal. “Andy had this idea of an Oktoberfest and I had an idea of a beer tasting. He did his thing, and I did this. We decided to do it six months apart.”

Since then, both events have raised money for local charities.

“It came out of a love of good, craft beer and wanting to get involved in the community in which we live,” Stockmal said.

 With a new venue, the Lansdale Beer Tasting Fest can accommodate more people – 2,200 to be exact.

“Last year, we had 850. This year we may get 1,500,” Stockmal said. “Who knows? We could get 3,000 next year.”

The inaugural event was “slapped together,” Stockmal said.

“We thought we did pretty well. This year, we know what we’re doing a little bit more,” he said. “We are getting a response and understanding our target market.”

Ticket sales have been excellent, due in part to the higher accommodation.

All in all, about 1,000 tickets have been sold for the event at $35 a piece online. People are coming as far as West Chester and Delaware.

Online ticket sales end at 10 p.m. Friday.

Tickets will be sold up until Saturday at the gate for $40 cash only.

“We’re not sold out by any stretch,” Stockmal said.

Doors will open at 1:15 p.m. Stockmal recommended getting to the event early.

“Our biggest concern is if we get 1,600 people, we can get them in in a timely manner,” he said.

For $70, attendees can get in an hour early as a VIP. The ticket limit for VIP is 300, and about 60 percent of that limit has been sold.

A limited number of VIP tickets may be available at the gate, so a standard ticket can be upgraded for $35.

This year, 50 tickets will be given away to returning war veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq. Each one will be given a special Lansdale Beer Fest camouflage T-shirt to wear at the event.

If you know of a veteran returning home to our area in time for the fest, contact the organizers at lansdalebeerfest@yahoo.com.

“Drew came up with the idea, and it’s kind of compassionate,” Liberto said. “The DJ who will be here, Darrel Asbury, he grew up three or four houses down from me on Fourth Street. He will be doing a toast to the soldiers and we will thank them for their service. Everybody will acknowledge them, and Darrell will play ‘America the Beautiful’ by Ray Charles. It’s kind of cool.”

Very Important Pilsners

With a VIP ticket, you not only get in at 12:15 p.m., but you also get complimentary food, opportunities to talk to brewers, giveaways and access to rare selections of beer.

Three different bands will perform during the event: BURN, Goat Hurdler and The Fredos.

Throughout the regular event, DJ Darrel will spin tunes.

Blue Dog Tavern is providing all the food, including a pig roast.

“There will be some apps and mussels and salmon bites with pineapple glaze and shrimp. It should be a nice part of the event,” Stockmal said. “Blue Dog is doing a great job with it. Those guys really have been the ones putting together the VIP selection as well.”

Liberto said Blue Dog “went crazy with the VIP.”

“People are really going to enjoy that first hour,” he said.

This marks the first year for VIP tickets.

“Part of why we did VIP was to get people that really enjoy beer to meet some brewers on an intimate level. You don’t have to fight crowds to get a certain selection,” Stockmal said. “We can provide a better tasting experience. The whole idea behind the VIP is it’s built around a true beer tasting.”

He said the food is meant to be paired with different types of beer.

Either ticket – standard or VIP – gets you unlimited tastings with a 5-ounce sample cup.

There will be 70 different brewers to sample.

“When someone comes up, we hand them a cup. It allows people to go back for seconds for things they like,” Stockmal said. “We don’t want to give a big beer at each station. We try to have people sample as many beers as they can. There is such a variety of beer and it’s pretty spectacular in terms of selection.”

Last year, there were 30 beer vendors. The number has more than doubled this year.

“Most brewers bring two to three beers, and there will be well over 150 beers,” Stockmal said. “There will also be home brewers. There is literally something for everyone.”

VIPs, he said, will get to taste very rare, limited beers. A lot of brewers make a brewer reserve, for instance, or a specialty seasonal beer.

“You’ll see some beer you can get at a bar or mainstream stuff, and there’s a lot you probably haven’t had or seen before,” Stockmal said.

Liberto said the brewers are “out of this world.”

“I was talking to one guy who is a home brewer, and he said the lineup at Lansdale is better than the Philly Beer Fest, the amount of brewers and the quality of beer they are bringing is a lot better. So that’s really nice,” he said.

Special Stock

Here are a listing of some beers that will be poured at the VIP session:

Rogue Chatoe Orgasmic
Ithaca Dark Humor
Boaks Monster Mash
Lancaster Rumspringa
Lagunitas Lucky 13
Flying Fish Exit 11
Yards Chocolate Love Stoudt
Stone Brew Master Reserve (BMR)
Brooklyn BMR Main Engine Start
Stoudt's Old Abominable
Ballast Point Sculpin
Cigar City Tocobaga Red
Dark Horse Uber Boober (Originally brewed for Extreme Beer Fest, made with baby formula)
Williamsburg Bourbon Barrel-Aged Amber
Sixpoint Harbinger
Boulder Hoopla Pale Ale
Coronado Coffee Stout
Central Waters Illumination
Troegs Flying Mouflan
River Horse Farmhouse Saison
Appalachian Outta Focus 2X IPA
Anchor Brekle's Brown Ale

 

Beer Me

Want to know the beer vendors making an appearance at the Lansdale Beer Tasting Festival? Here you go, with links:

 Feed Me

 

Aside from Blue Dog, other vendors at the event include , Smoke Daddy’s BBQ, Goomba’s Pizzeria, Big Chill Ice Cream and Righteous Pretzel.

No Jukebox Here

While you drink the day away, DJ Darrell will play the tunes as the soundtrack to the event.

Here is his Beer Fest Mix 2011, a sampling of the music for Saturday.

Beer Beneficiaries

Proceeds from the Lansdale Beer Fest will be split among Lansdale Library, Manna on Main Street, the Wounded Warrior Fund and the family of Skyler Kauffman.

The library will get about 80 percent of proceeds, Stockmal said. Sponsorship money and T-shirt sales will go to the other charities.

Parking Plans

As far as where to park, Stockmal said the best bet is Madison Parking Lot. He encouraged attendees to use SEPTA or other public transportation.

“We reached out to local cab companies, and we will have their numbers available to people,” Stockmal said. “We don’t want anyone getting behind the wheel, unless they are a non-drinker.”

Non-drinker tickets to the fest are $10.

72 Hours to Go ...

Over the next three days, the organizers will continue prepping the site and gathering vendors’ stuff together.

“Hopefully, we’ll have a good day weather-wise and hope for a mass of people that are going to show up,” Stockmal said. “Our hope is, after this year, people are blown away and it’s one of the best beer events they’ve been to and it becomes a yearly tradition.”

As a member of the Lansdale Planning Commission, Stockmal is about finding ways to bring people to downtown Lansdale.

The idea is for people to stick around after the festival and go to Molly Maguire’s or Montella’s, or for people to come before the festival and grab breakfast at Not Just Sandwiches.

“Lansdale is slowly, but surely, getting its act together,” he said. “This will provide some exposure to Lansdale.”

Liberto said everything is turning out well.

“Lansdale did a great job with getting the field together,” he said. “It will be a special event this year for sure.”

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