Beards & Brews Abound At 2nd Annual Noblesville Festival

Beards & Brews Abound At 2nd Annual Noblesville Festival

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By Writing & Reporting Community Member Mathew Muncy

Beards and beers go together like lamb and tuna fish. Maybe you like spaghetti and meatball? You more comfortable with that analogy?

A dreary, rainy day did not keep beer and beard enthusiasts from attending the 2nd Annual Beards and Brews fest in downtown Noblesville. Five breweries attended the event – Sun King, Fountain Square, Grand Junction, Bier, and Barley Island. There were also a few artists, and of course an incredible array of bearded gentlemen.

Atmosphere

Unfortunately, the weather did not want to fully cooperate for the event. Beards and Brews kicked off around noon, and they were able to make it past the beard competition before the rain fully settled in.

It was a solid crowd and everyone was having a great time. The beer was on point with the weather – good amount of pumpkin and oktoberfest beers – and there was even a band, who got to play for about 30 seconds before the rain came.


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Beards

Beards on beards on beards. Everywhere you looked, you saw beards. So many beards. From nicely trimmed ones to long, scraggly one. They were all beautiful in their own way. But we were there to see the best of the best, and find out who would take home the title of champion.

Preliminary beard contests were held at local breweries last week and the finalists faced off (bearded-off?) in Noblesville. There were four competitions: Beard Length, Beard Thickness, Beard Creativity, and Best Beard in Show. Contestants were asked what their beard secrets were, and a few had some great responses.

“The more you pull it, the more it grows.”

“Drink lots of beer.”

The winners are pictured left to right. Joe won the Beard Length competition, Brian won Beard Thickness, Jonathan won Creative Beard and Nate won Best of Show.

I left the event with the greatest amount of beard envy I’ve ever had. Maybe next year I can join these fine gentlemen on stage.

Brews

As mentioned earlier, five breweries participated in the event. Each brought a couple of their beers they currently have on tap.

Sun King Brewery brought their house lineup: Sunlight Cream Ale, Wee Mac Scottish-Style Ale and Osiris Pale Ale.

Bier Brewery had their PDG (Pretty Damn Good) American Pale Ale and Special K Kolsch.

Grand Junction Brewery tapped Cream Ale, Oktoberfest, Dark Road Porter and Amarillo Sunset.

Barley Island Brewery had Nickle Plate Apricot Wheat and Pumpkin Ale.

Fountain Square Brewery brought Backyard Porter, Workingman’s Pilsner, Soul Ride IPA and Smashing Pumpkin Ale.

You got five samples with your event ticket and then you could purchase a pint from some of the brewvendors for $5. It was a great way to make sure attendees got to try beer from each brewery, but still be able to grab a full pint of their favorite.

Verdict

Beards and Brews is still in its infancy stage, but the event could definitely became a mainstay among beer fests. Hopefully more breweries will join the event in the future, and maybe the beard competition will grow with competitors. But right now, paying $15 to attend Beards and Brews is well worth the price and everyone should try to attend the 3rd Annual event next year.

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