Brew fans turn out for Brew Bern Beer Fest

Combine cold beer and a good cause and a willing army lines up.

New Bern Riverfront Convention Center was filling fast Saturday afternoon for the second annual Brew Bern Beer Fest that this year will donate part of its profits to the Museum of the Marine in Jacksonville. The N.C. Brewers Guild will also be assisted by proceeds.

V.I.P. ticket holders got in from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. but those sweating in line for the main show were ready when some of the nearly 200 volunteers started passing out the glasses.

“Let’s start drinking, shall we,” said Dustin Canestorp, as the doors opened. He is a Marine and founder and general of Beer Army, which organized the event.

In a welcome to patrons in the event brochure, “A beer revolution has started in Eastern North Carolina,” said Canestorp, which he hopes will rival the “Beer City USA” title now held for the third year by Asheville.

“There are 44 different microbrews,” said Sandy Weiss, a volunteer whose husband Dick Weiss runs the Home Brew Haus on U.S. 70 East. “Anyone paying the entry fee gets a glass” marked at two ounces for the sample taste.

Dick Weiss said his “son got me started in home brewing about 20 years ago. He went on to brew professionally in Overland Park, Kan., and Denver, Colo.” and is now the chef at the Harvey Mansion.

Weiss said the New Bern Brew Club was sharing a 55 gallon barrel of Russian imperial style brew that took second place in a recent Atlanta competition.

“Micro brewing is one of the fastest growing industries there is,” said Weiss. In Eastern North Carolina, Mother Earth Brewery in Kinston and Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery in Farmville are the closest to New Bern.

As testament to its popularity, he said, Beer Town Market downtown has about three dozen microbrews on tap and just got approved for a beer garden to expand available seating.

Patrons were happy quickly and included some who sell microbrews at area bars and restaurants.

Joe Stewart of James City is the bar and kitchen manager at Captain Ratty’s in New Bern where about 50 beers are offered including about two dozen microbrews.

“I touched bases with the Brooklyn Brewery” from the city of that name, the Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery of Farmville, and the SweetWater Brewing Company of Atlanta, Ga. “I was definitely impressed,” Stewart said. “I was interested in SweetWater’s 420 and IPA that just hit our market.”

Many of those tasting, however, were chilling and willing to try more than two ounces.

Jerry Steber said he’d soaked three t-shirts by 2 p.m. and was ready to cool off with Robert Jordan, “a friend who travels all over the world and knows his beer.”

Jordan said his favorite beers are IPAs, or India Pale Ales, but he also likes some wheat beers.

Chris Miller tossed back a dark ale and said he may not be the most knowledgeable participant but definitely had “the best attitude.”

He is an ECU student, like his college friend Matt Peler of Winston-Salem, who had taste buds tuned to what he considered the best beer in house.

Peler said, “It’s the Brooklyn Brewery’s Dark Matter, a stout beer aged in bourbon barrels, smooth and high on alcohol — 7 percent.”

Sue Book can be reached at 252-635-5665 or sbook@freedomenc.com.