Over 1,000 homebrewers and their friends, representing nearly 30 brewclubs – from Alpha Ales of Orange County to Walnut Valley Beer and Gourmet Society of Walnut – descended upon the grounds on May 2, set up camp and erected their serving booths for the opening festivities that evening (including a Belgian ale taste-off, a single malt Scotch whisky tasting and live music), and the day-long party May 3.

With each of the homebrew booths featuring at least five beers on draught, and some close to 20, there were literally more brews than people could get to in a day. And the majority of them were exceptional. Among the most unique beers were the winner in the Belgian taste-off, the Long Beach Homebrewers’ French Oak-aged Belgian Quad from Julian Shrago; the Chamomile American Strong Ale from Pacific Gravity (which won Josh Jensen a Gold Medal in this year’s Mayfaire competition); and “Alexander Rodenbach,” a blend of two beers from the Strand Brewers: Super Sexy Flanders and Flemish Sour Red, which was phenomenally tart, and definitely exceeded the sum of its parts.

Aside from the sun and the suds, the day also featured talks by Firestone Walker Brewing’s head brewer Matt Brynildson and Hop Union’s GM/owner Ralph Olson, and a raffle of brewing equipment and assorted breweriana. Tina Damery of Arcadia won the grand prize: a deluxe brewing system from Beer, Beer & More Beer. There was also live music throughout the day, including a lunchtime performance from Steve Casselman (a bluesman and brewer who has performed at all of the SoCal Homebrew Fests, and the Maltose Falcons’ Brews Band, which closed out the fest with a dance-inducing set of class rock covers –– and proved that homebrewers can make good music too.

All photos by Tomm Carroll