The 17th Annual AC Brewfest and Music Fest

The 17th Annual AC Beer and Music Fest just wrapped up this past weekend (June 3rd and June 4th), and once again – it was an absolute blast. This year was headlined by Dropkick Murphy’s and 311.

My buddy Drew (Knights of Nostalgia) and I went – as we’ve done for the past several years (of course excluding the COVID – 19 / pandemic / coronavirus year of 2020). And once again we had a great time, just as we’ve had every other year we went.

The 7 Best Beers We Had At The AC Beer and Music Fest

Here is the seven best beers we had this weekend at the AC Beer and Music Fest. In a rather loose order of ranking, but with the final beer definitely our 100 percent favorite.

7. Doppelbockalayna by Readington Brewery & Hop Farm

Beer: Doppelbockalayna
Brewery: Readington Brewery & Hop Farm
Style: Bock – Doppelbock
ABV: 8%
IBU: N / A
Untappd Description: Blank
Global Average Untappd Rating: 3.65

Why we chose it: This was a very pleasant surprise. Readington Brewery and Hop Farm (on Sunday when we got to their tent) was tucked in the very wee corner by the acoustic stage, and this was like finding a hidden gem. In a brewfest over flowing with IPAs, sours, kolsches, and other light beers, its fun to get to try a few different darker beers.

6. Juicy Pebbulls by Bolero Snort Brewery

Beer: Juicy Pebbulls
Brewery: Bolero Snort Brewery
Style: IPA – New England / Hazy
ABV: 6%
IBU: 20
Untappd Description: Who’s ready for some breakfast?After a bit of a hiatus waiting on the right hops one of our faves returns! We’ve really been dialing in the process on our hop forward beers since opening our Meadowlands digs for a softer, juicier beer, the result…JUICY PEBBULLS – Brewed with Cashmere, Lotus, Mich Copper and Cryo Citra and finished with freshly zest lime. Fluffy tropical fruit punch.
Global Average Untappd Rating: 3.81

Why we chose it: Returning again this year, a favorite of ours – both the brewery and the beer. This is a delicious, well done New England IPA, hazy, and very tasty. Definitely a full pour (or two) keeper at the brewfest.

5. Blueberry Brunch by Neck of the Woods Brewing Company

Beer: Blueberry Brunch
Brewery: Neck of the Woods Brewing Company
Style: Sour – Fruited Berliner Weisse
ABV: 5%
IBU: 12
Untappd Description: Brunch style sour ale brewed with oats, blueberries, vanilla beans and maple syrup.
Global Average Untappd Rating: 4

Why we chose it: Firstly… why wouldn’t we choose this one? It was absolutely delicious! Like breakfast in a glass (if your breakfast was blueberries smothered in vanilla and maple syrup). This is soft, sweet, tasty, and not much more than tart. A wonderful beer on Sunday when it got a bit warmer.

4. Brux Royale Belgian Chocolate Stout by Ross Brewing Company

Beer: Brux Royale Belgian Chocolate Stout
Brewery: Ross Brewing Company
Style: Stout – Imperial / Double
ABV: 11.7%
IBU: 50
Untappd Description: Rich, Decadent Belgian Chocolate Stout is a unique take on a dark and roasty beer. With actual 70% Belgian Chocolate in the mash, molasses in the boil and more Belgian Chocolate in the tank, Cacao Nibs and Vanilla give this beer a truly complex body and aroma. Belgian Abbey yeast provides a unique finish on this one of a kind stout. Decadence is the word. Treat yourself.
Global Average Untappd Rating: 4.02

Why we chose it: On Sunday at 3 PM Ross Brewing Company did a special bottle tapping of this beauty. This is a wonderful rich, strong, dark chocolate, going somewhat on the bitter side of chocolate. Not very sweet, but very heavy, strong, and a wonderful aroma. This was a definite treat to have right near the end of the brewfest.

3. Doughnut Soles by Departed Soles Brewing Company

Beer: Doughnut Soles
Brewery: Departed Soles Brewing Company
Style: Stout – White / Golden
ABV: 5.8%
IBU: N / A
Untappd Description: Our collaboration with the epic folks at Montclair Bread Company. Brewed to mimic our favorite type of doughtnut, the classic chocolate frosted, this white stout boasts a light, hazy tan body like the brioche baked confection, and is conditioned on milk sugar and Wilderness Poets Sweetened Cocoa Nibs, as well as Modcup coffee co Cold Brew, to elicit memories of sweet chocolate frosting and stouts (while looking nothing like either).
Global Average Untappd Rating: 3.76

Why we chose it: This was just delicious. Was the first one we had after our 5K run to start off the Sunday beer fest session. (We both did the 5K in under 40 minutes, including the 7 beer stops, and the line up at the Chickie Pete’s stop that took up 1 minute, plus the one water stand.) This had a nice doughnut, coffee, morning wake up call taste and flavor. Was a great way to kick off the brewfest on a just before noon Sunday morning.

2. Vanilla Scoop by Southern Tier Brewing Company

Beer: Vanilla Scoop
Brewery: Southern Tier Brewing Company
Style: Strong Ale – American
ABV: 8.6%
IBU: N / A
Untappd Description: Southern Tier is proud to partner with our Western NY neighbor, Perry’s Ice Cream. We used their delicious signature vanilla and milk sugar to deliver a creamy, full-bodied beer unlike anything else.
Global Average Untappd Rating: 3.94

Why we chose it: Ever had a vanilla scoop of ice cream? But… it was really beer? Then you had this beer didn’t you?! Because thats exactly what this is. This would probably mix perfectly with a root beer, to give you a root beer float. (Drew was told to skip Sixpoint Brewery’s tent and go here instead, so we did, and definitely don’t regret it.)

1. PB & Cookies by Three 3’s Brewing Co.

Beer: PB & Cookies
Brewery: Three 3’s Brewing Co.
Style: ‘Other’
ABV: 4.8%
IBU: N / A
Untappd Description: Yippie skippy! This outlandish take on a Vienna ale is dry nutted with an absurd amount of roasted peanuts and conditioned on that chocolate sandwich cookie from our childhood. Smooth and creamy with all that nutty goodness.
Global Average Untappd Rating: 4.1

Why we chose it: Where the other six beers could be moved around a bit, this one is a guaranteed lock at number one. (Though Drew argues this and the Vanilla Scoop could co host as ties for first.) Either way, this is an absolutely banger of a beer. It tastes exactly like what its describing. And that right there is always a plus. At 4.8% its also not going to be knocking you on your ass, making it great to have a pint of… or two. (Hell, maybe even three!)

The Atlantic City Beer and Music Festival

Once again, just want to say how great of a time we had. There were some complaints about longer than usual wait times on Saturday, and port – a – pot related issues, but it kind of happens every year. This year was a sell out (first I remember that happening in a while), they did have Dropkick Murphy’s performing after all.

All in all, it was a blast, just like every other year. Thanks for reading, and thanks for checking out our other AC Beerfest articles.

Thanks For Reading

If you like this article, please check out our other many articles, including AC Beerfest recaps, and much much more. We greatly appreciate everyone visiting the site!

Cheers.

-B. Kline

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Got word from Drew this morning, as well as some updates from him while at the brewfest for day two (Session 2 of 3). Everything went smoothly he said Friday night. Him, David, and A. Parys (thesugarfoot) got to AC Friday, and enjoyed Ocean’s Casino and Resort before going to the brewfest itself at the Bader Field Ballpark.

He sent me some messages last night around 8 – 9PM (Session 1 of the brewfest was 8PM – 12 Midnight – Friday, June 4th). He said they made a beeline for Kelsey Grammer’s tent and brewery (Faith American Brewing Company). He said he was nice and talked a little and then they moved on.

By 10:30 PM or so, when messaging him, I asked him if there were any good beers or brews at the event and he said there was but he was “too drunk to remember which ones or where”. I expected nothing less from my faithful and diligent correspondent, doing his research thoroughly.

I asked Drew how the layout was with the event moving to the outdoors – at the Bader Field Ballpark – rather than the inside at the Atlantic City Convention Center; and he said it feels much more spaced out, he’s not sure if there’s less breweries this year, but that it almost feels that way. He said the area looks like an old airport runway and is nice for the event. The stage area was nice and everything looked good and spaced out.

Drew, Dave, and Andrew all had a blast from day one. They are doing the “HopTrot 5K” tomorrow before Session 2 of the brewfest (12 Noon – 4PM). I’ll have an update, with pictures from the event for tomorrow’s post.

You can see the first article of the series here: “The Atlantic City Beer and Music Festival 2021“.

Cheers!

-B. Kline
Correspondent: D. Scott

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

It has been a long crazy road to get back to this point – brewfests again! Live, interaction, with other human beings, in public, in person. ……and I wish so badly I could go. But sadly, this year has been a giant monkeywrench unforeseen, just like last year, and I will be sadly missing out on the AC Brewfest this year.

Last year’s event was cancelled due to COVID-19 / coronavirus, as was most of everything else last year. Typically the AC Brewfest is in April (usually the first weekend), and so it was hit right at the time COVID-19 really hit America, and was postponed to August of 2020, but as the summer came and we all realized that in – person events were not a good idea, it was cancelled / postponed until now.

Last year, the event was cancelled, the year before that, Drew and I went, and the year before that, Drew, Rory, and I went. Both of those times, we did two sessions – the Friday night 8PM – 12 Midnight session, and then the Saturday session, which both times was also the earlier session. So its certainly a ‘hard on the liver weekend’. Unfortunately, this year, I am unable to go, due to events from earlier in the year, but Drew as a correspondent here of The Beer Thrillers will be going.

In the past, we stayed at Baily’s and went to the Convention Center (by walking) to go to the brewfest. This year, however, the event has been moved to an outdoor venue – the Bader Field Ballpark. Would have been interesting to see it in it’s new venue. Hopefully this will keep some social distancing and help alleviate some of the issues with COVID-19 and everything.

This was also going to be the first year that we were going to do the 5K on Saturday. They host an annual 5K as part of the brewfest, where doing the 5K gets you a little bit of extra time inside the brewfest to start your drinking early….. assuming 1) you survive the 5K, and 2) you get done in a timely manner. Let’s see how Drew does this year.

This is a two day event, with live music, events, games, podcasts, a beard and hair barber; and much more. In the past there were Wipeout like obstacle courses, mazes, hatchet throwing, food trucks, silent raves / discos, and much more.

Of course, live music is a big feature of the event. In past years they’ve had some big band names; one of which was the Mighty Mighty Boss Tones that we got to see in 2018. Last year’s event was supposed to have New Found Glory, but they did not return for this year’s event after last year’s was cancelled.

For more information, you can check out the Facebook Events page here: Atlantic City Beer and Music Festival Events Page. Jon Henderson does an amazing job running this event and puts so much effort and time into it, so its so great to see it up and running again, as this year’s events start to come back to life and breweries can get back out to doing brewfests, beer events, and tap takeovers again.

The information listed on the events page reads:

“Here are the dates for 15th Atlantic City Beer & Music Festival. Session 1 Friday, June 4th – The Early November / Knuckle Puck
Session 2 Saturday, June 5th 12pm – 4pm – Less Than Jake
Session 3 Saturday, June 5th 6pm – 10p – Face To FaceWow, what a crazy year it’s been full of unwanted postponements and cancelations. Good Time Tricycle Productions is excited to announce a fun and necessary changes to the 2021 festival initially slated for April 9th and 10th at the Atlantic City Convention Center.
The Festival team has been working closely with Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small, the City of Atlantic City, Meet AC, Spectra, and the CRDA to bring you the first outdoor Atlantic City Beer & Music Festival to be held on Bader Field June 4th and 5th 2021. We are excited about the opportunity to host our festival on the 142-acre piece of property, allowing for producers to create a fun interactive celebration while also enabling the festivities to be spread out for an open-air experience. As a productions company, we are confident that we can maintain attendee safety while delivering the experience that some have come to expect from The Atlantic City Beer and Music Festival. Here are a few things you need to know (or answers to questions you may have)
• All tickets purchased for the 2020 festival will be honored for the June 2021 dates.
• Tickets on sale January 15th
• Refunds are available until March 9th. Head to your Ticketmaster account and request your refund.
• New Musical acts will be announced on March 22nd. (all headliners for 2020 are unavailable for the 2021 date)
• HOPS Trot 5k June 5th
• Ticket prices will increase to $65 plus fees on May 1st.This, like all things related to Covid is a fluid situation. We are optimistically moving forward with all the fun and shenanigans the festival holds. To be candid we are #hellbentonbeerfest! We will keep you updated as we progress. For more information on the festival, including Covid processes and procedure, please visit www.acbeerfest.com Stay awesome and be excellent to each other. 100 brewers and thousands of friends stay tuned for updates.
Tix: linktr.ee/acbeerfest or at JOE CANAL’S DISCOUNT LIQUOR – EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP locations on Fire Rd or Black Horse Pike.”

Atlantic City Beer and Music Festival Facebook

According to the events page, 4K are listed as ‘going’ and 13.2K are listed as ‘interested’ in the event. (In the twenty minutes of writing this article, its actually gone up to 4.1K listed as ‘going’ now.)

Drew is leaving today at noon-ish with Rome, possibly A. Parys and maybe a few others. Hopefully, next year I’ll be able to rejoin the fun and festivities. Drew will be sending pictures and comments and videos back, both for here on the blog, and his video game streaming page – Knights of Nostalgia – so be on the lookout for those updates. Next Saturday (June 12th) is the Renaissance Faire brewfest, which I will also be missing, but Drew will be attending, and will give us updates on as well. So be on the lookout for these articles.

So be sure to check tomorrow morning for Day 1 comments / correspondence / clips / pics of the AC Brewfest, and then Sunday for Day 2 of the event.

As always, make sure to check out our social media pages to stay up to date on everything going on with The Beer Thrillers.

Summer is here and events are starting to happen, what are some cool events you all know of? What all events are everyone going to? Let us know in the comments!

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Thanks for reading!

-B. Kline