I had a great time at the Magic City Brewfest on Friday night and I'm so glad that they went back to two nights instead of one. This particular Friday night the crowds were low which made it easier to get around and you could actually stop and talk to the brewers. Also, there was a nice breeze. I highly recommend attending this event. This is the 12th year and it is run by Free The Hops a group of people who are passionate about good craft beer. In fact, a lot of them are homebrewers themselves. They are also the people who helped change the legislation in Alabama to allow breweries and homebrewing to be legal. Before this, there were no craft beers being brewed legally in Alabama! This event used to be held at Sloss Furnace and has moved to Avondale Park. I really like the new location. It seems to have a more laid-back feel, and everything is in one area which makes it easier to find the beers you like. Before you go, make sure you look at the beer list. You can access it on their website https://magiccitybrewfest.com/list/. Some of my favorites beers that were served were Back Forty's Paw Paw's Imperial Peach Wheat, Black Warrior's Sipsey Strawberry Blonde, Goat Island's Blood-Orange Berliner-Weisse, all of Interstellar's ginger beers and Straight to Ale's Big Beautiful Bear. read more

Magic City Brewfest - Tons of beer and a small crowd! Awesome! - Festivals Near Me - Birmingham, Alabama

Once a year Free the Hops puts on the Magic City Brewfest. This was the eleventh year. They had so many brewers come to Birmingham to share their beers that it would be impossible to sample all of them in 4 hours. If you plan to go to one of these events download the beer list. Research the breweries and select the ones you want to try. You don't want to waste any time on something you do not like. They not only had beer but also ciders and meads. They had several food trucks for eats. This is an event I will not miss. They also do one In Huntsville. read more

Magic City Brewfest - Festivals Near Me - Birmingham, Alabama

This year was my first time at Brewfest, and I had an awesome time. I came with a group of friends and kept running into more familiar faces. It's definitely a nice social event. There were so many beer tents, a few food trucks, and plenty of merchants mainly selling Brewery T-shirts. I'm not a beer drinker, and I had a great time! This year, they offered Designated Driver tickets or non-drink tickets for only $10, so you can enjoy the festival even if you don't like beer. If you get a drink ticket, you do get a commemorative pour glass which you use to taste the beers at the festival. I actually tried about 4 or 5, and found a sour I could actually tolerate. Tolerate lol.....It was the Sweet Tart Sour from Avondale Brewing Co. Something I could probably get again if I find myself in a place with only beer options. Can't wait for next year! read more

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Over 200 beers from over 70 breweries...and you've got four hours. Held at the historic Sloss Furnaces, you're guaranteed a cool backdrop. As you walk in, you're handed a small glass with a cool MCBF logo on the side. At first it seems almost too small. You quickly realize that it will do the trick as you get to sample some of the best beers around. Bottled water is free and you never have to wait long for a sample. Plus, your entry fee goes to support the uber cool 'Free The Hops'. read more

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This has to be one of Birmingham's best festivals...we have several, but this is one of my favs! Tickets seems to go up in price each year, but if you're worried about getting your monies worth, worry no more. It's worth it! Huge selection and something for everybody. You get a souvenir glass (try not to drop it, although you can replace it free if so). Each vendor fills your glass with 2oz for your drinking pleasure. You have plenty of time to indulge (or over indulge for some..tisk, tisk). Food options are available, one dollar equals one token. Cards/cash are excepted at the token table...no cash exchanges are excepted at food vendors...only tokens. Good things: DD tickets are sold for non-drinking friends to enjoy, yellow cabs are basking at the opportunity to safely drive you home. Be smart and take a cab if you've had too much! Oh and thanks to Piggly Wiggly for the FREE water. I greatly appreciate it. Not so good things: damn porter potty. Yuck! Lastly, pretzel necklaces are VERY popular at this event. Stop by the yelp table (2015) and check-in to MAKE a free necklace. Happy(safe) SIPS! read more

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Beautiful weather, tons of craft beer to taste, awesome food trucks, and great music. That should be all I need to say to justify a five star review. When we got there a little early to set up a booth, we realized they were already letting people in. As it turns out, they went ahead and checked tickets and let people inside the gate. But they were still holding people away from the beer until start time with caution tape. A smart move on their part. The selection of beer seems endless. There are great beers from all over the country represented. You are given a small sample glass when you walk through the gate. There is water at each station where you wash your glass in between tastes. At first, I thought the sample was just a little too small. But when I saw how it affected people just a couple of hours in, I was glad they were small. So it didn't get out of hand. Friday night is definitely the party crowd that comes out to "pre-game". It gets a little rowdy by the end. And the little sample glasses are getting dropped all over the place. If you are looking for some relaxed beer tasting with a level headed crowd, Saturday is probably your day to come out. Just like with every festival, the food is a little pricey. You have to buy food tokens ($1 per token) in order to buy food. But the bottled water is free, so that definitely helps. Parking is $5 when you get there. Well worth it rather than finding a place to park and walk who knows how far. The parking process is pretty easy getting there. But the egress plan really needs some work. There is no organization on getting the various "roads" around the parking area cleared out in a orderly fashion. We sat for at least 20 minutes in the same spot before even moving an inch towards the exit. But overall a great experience. I will be going back for years to come. read more

Magic City Brewfest - Working those pretzel necklaces! - Festivals Near Me - Birmingham, Alabama

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This year's brewfest was a blast! I loved every minute of it. The brews, the workers, the patrons, the food, man it had everything! It's a shame that it's over but I can't wait for next year! The weather was awesome and it was great as beer on a baseball field is always a home run in my book. If you missed this year's MCB, I implore you to come next year! There is a brew you'd like, even if you're not a beer drinker. Maybe even a Cider, perhaps? I am glad to be apart of this year's event and I can't wait for next year! #FreeTheHops! read more

Magic City Brewfest is always a blast. For some reason, I felt like it was less crowded this year, which I'm not complaining about. The beer selection leaves everyone feeling happy, and the food is great. My favorite this year was the Pork belly and grits from Johns City Diner (love that place). Kudos to yelp for setting up a station to make pretzel and cookie necklaces. Nothing pairs better with good beer than pretzels. My only complaint is the same every year: I wish it was longer. I suppose that could allow people to have time to overindulge and potentially get into trouble, but, with so many beers, it's almost impossible to make it to every station, nevermind try each one. read more

Brewfest is one of those key Birmingham events I recommend attending on a 1- to 2-yr basis. Again, having full 2-day access as a Yelp Elite is hard to beat! Working an hour at the Yelp tent for 2 days' admission is a great deal, so I recommend if you're not Elite yet to get to work! read more

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Was a great time for a great cause!! Lots of beer I mean a lot any flavor you want from ginger to watermelon to peanut butter jelly sandwhich or if no jelly is your thing peanut butter porter. Had a blast!! Saw yelp friends, elites, new prospects for elites and old friends from the govt days. Will have to watch for next event. Oh and to the vendors bring more stickers!!! Lol read more

This is the 3rd or 4th brewfest I have been at Sloss Furnace and it's great every time. I have been to these things across the Southeast including Southhaven, MS, Huntsville, AL, Memphis, TN and Birmingham has the best vibe being set in Historic Sloss Furnace with beautiful view. They always have a great band playing inside throughout the event and endless choices of samples to choose from. On top of all of this there is plenty of parking for $6.00 and now thanks to Uber and easy responsible ride home at an affordable price! read more

This was another great brewfest. This year's addition of a "cask garden" was a great upgrade. More beer here than you could drink, lots of food tents from reputable local restaurants, plenty of beer geeks on hand to answer any questions you would have, and even though I have tasted over 1,000 beers, they had plenty of stuff I had never had before and stuff I was eager to try again. If you are just getting into drinking craft beer or if you have been a craft beer fan for a while, MCBF is a good event. It is no Dark Lord day or Hunahpu Day but it is good for what is attempting to be. read more

This. Was. So. Cool. Walking in all you could see was beer stands, beautiful fountains, and tons of people having a great time. I was astonished at the amount of beer you could try and the variety was so great. It's a perfect experience to really find out what brands of beer you like without spending a ton of money. Would definitely recommend Ghost Train brewing and Sweetwater. A bunch of my friends and I went and it was a blast. I would recommend it to everyone, it's an experience you don't want to miss. read more

Magic City Brewfest - Festivals Near Me - Birmingham, Alabama

Magic City Brewfest... can't say quite enough! I've been attending for 5, 6, 7... not sure... however many years this has been a local event to the city of Bham, I've been every single year thus far. If you're a fan of beer (one of those newfangled out of nowhere beer snobs or you've been into discovering brews for quite some time) this is an event for you. Over 200 beers in one place! Please don't attempt to try them all, just make sure to attend the following year ;) You can buy food if you'd like, but save that for afterwards lol. Sometimes, local breweries will even have big reveals of new seasonal or experimental brews they've been working on... stuff like that can be exciting as well. Always a great event, never gone and not had a blast. Each year my group of friends who attends gets larger and larger... join us!! read more

This is the 3rd year in a row that i have been to the Magic City Briefest. I enjoyed it very much, but maybe i am getting old and jaded but the majority of the beers you can taste you can buy at your local beer retailer. There seemed to be a lot more newer breweries in the past few festivals, but maybe Alabama just has all the breweries? The day was great, not too hot, not extremely crowded. This festival would get 5 stars if they could get the breweries to come prepared with new, off shoots or special releases that i can't buy here locally. read more

Went to brewfest a couple of weeks ago and had a great time. It's a great birmingham event and look forward to every year. Love the selection of beers and found a couple of new favs. Crowds can be a bit much but only because it's so popular. Can't wait for next year! read more

This is one of the best beer festivals in the Southeast. Featuring over 200 craft beers from all over the country and 12 different Alabama based breweries. There are plenty of food trucks and vendor sampling some of the best foods in Birmingham. The festival runs 2 days and I of course recommend going both days to maximize the experience. Of course with any event of this type the people watching is half the fun. read more

Free the Hops does a great job putting on this annual summer brewfest, and it has only gotten better over the years as Alabama's beer laws have improved (thanks to Free the Hops) and new in-state breweries have popped up and mastered their craft. Join Free the Hops and you can sign up as a volunteer for one session and attend the brewfest for free the other session. Cheers, and hooray beer! read more

Once again an amazing outdoor event. Great event for groups of friend. Will be back again next year. They provide water to prevent dehydration as well as plenty of bathroom options. read more

I went to Magic City Brewfest this year and had a great time. There were over 200 beers from a variety of breweries available for four hours at Sloss Funaces. Whatever your preferences, there were about 60 available beers you would like. I preferred the ciders, fruity beers, and chocolate-peanut butter one, which tasted like Cocoa Puffs! There was a live band under the pavilion and cornhole outside. All in all, it was a great time. I'll be back next year! read more

Magic City Brewfest is a great way to expand your palate when it comes to beer! Sample hundreds of different beers while enjoying local Birmingham restaurants with Sloss Furnace as the backdrop. While you're there you can buy all the beer paraphernalia that you could possible want: pint glasses, koozies, t shirts, stickers, bottle openers, etc. For ~$40 you get a commemorative sampling glass and all the beer you can get your hands on during the festival hours. Definitely a fun time, scheduled at late afternoon-night so that you don't have to worry about being bombarded by the hot Alabama sun! read more

We came we sold Cahabones we sampled many beers we rode bikes we sampled beer we had a great time!

The Magic City Brewfest is honestly one of my favorite annual Birmingham festivals for many reasons! It boasts a limitless selection of local, regional, national, and international beers for visitors to sample for a penny a pour. More than 200 beers are usually featured and the pours are more than generous. You will need to keep your festival beer list handy to keep track of everything you sample over the course of a couple of hours. The fest also typically has good live bands, delicious local food trucks, and offers plenty of opportunity to mingle with local folks and tourists visiting the city. In addition, the location at Sloss Furnaces gives it a cool vibe that pairs well with the crazy beer selections and eccentric happenings that occur during the two day event. I've been to the brewfest the last two years and have tried everything from sour beer, foreign cask beer, peanut butter porter, Belgian quads, espresso beer, and so much more from local breweries and beyond. Overall, the Magic City Brewfest is a must stop for beer enthusiasts and people curious about expanding their brew palate. read more

One of my favorite outdoor events in Bham. This was my third year going, and it just keeps getting better each year. For the past two years I went on Friday night, but this year I decided to try out Saturday. Friday night's is from 7-11pm so it's not as hot outside. But Friday night seems to be a little more packed than Saturday. On Saturday the event is from 4-8pm. I liked this better because we had time to get dinner afterward and it wasn't super late. It rained on us, but they have the big shed thing at sloss that you can get under. We just kept hopping from tent to tent and didn't get too wet. You get a great souvenir glass to take home. My favorite brewery there was Cascade. They have this sour blueberry wild ale that is to die for. Make sure you go to this tent early though because they always run out. And I wouldn't recommend pre gaming this event. You will be feeling good when you leave, I can promise that. There are several food trucks there so that you can get your grub on. My only complaint is that you have to purchase tokens in order to buy food. It's a pain in the butt. That's why this event is getting 4 stars instead of 5. read more