People came from out of state Saturday afternoon for the annual Beerfest in Haines.
The Great Alaska Craft Beer & Home Brew Festival, held each year on Memorial Day weekend, drew 1,700 people. The Friday dinner sold another 200 tickets.
There were 26 beer booths and five food vendors at the event. Each beer vendor had an average of three beers available — although some had six or seven offerings, and others had only two, so there were at least 80 different beer varieties available, said Amanda Randles, executive director of the fair.
This fair was a good year, noting that sometimes the event was held in “pouring-down rain years and howling wind years.” And yet, everyone always seems to have a great time, Randles said.
“There were a few things that we were concerned could be bumpy, but weren’t. So I thought that was a good thing,” Randles said,
The beverage that won People’s Choice was a hard soda called Mojito, from Haines’ Three Northmen meadery.
This is the 29th Beerfest. However, the celebration had to be suspended two years because of COVID-19, so it goes back to 1993.
Brewers came from as far south as Ketchikan and as far north as Fairbanks. Also, four brewers came from Whitehorse, Yukon, making Beerfest a truly international event.