The 2016 Asbury Park Beerfest is expected to draw thousands to Asbury Park's Convention Hall on Saturday and Sunday.
ASBURY PARK - Every winter thousands of beer lovers descend on Convention Hall for the annual Asbury Park Beerfest.
But this year will be different.
With the rising number of craft breweries in the state, including several within a short of the city, event organizers say they will continue to try to up their game in terms of the amount and variety of brews available during the festival.
"I think we have a little bigger selection every year than what we had the previous years, and with that the excitement level goes up," said James Douglas, one of the event's organizers and the general manager of The Beach Bar and The Anchor's Bend located at Convention Hall. "This year, there will be more of a presence from New Jersey craft breweries, including on from right here Asbury Park, Dark City, which will be a first for us."
The beer festival - which fills the first floor of Convention Hall and The Grand Arcade - kicks off with two sold-out sessions on Saturday and then a third session on Sunday afternoon, which still has some tickets available but organizers say those are going fast.
"I think people are really starting to become more educated about craft beers, so our audience is widening every year as more and more people out there are looking for opportunities, such as beerfests, to taste beers they haven't experienced before," said Douglas, adding some of the this year's participating brewers are planning to bring specialty, limited-run and higher-end brews, as well as brews that are not typically available this time of year.
"People also have the opportunity to meet some of the brewers in person and learn some of the background of the beers that they wouldn't get through trying a beer at a bar or randomly picking something up at the liquor store," Douglas said.
The Asbury Park Beerfest also features contests like the popular "Masskrugstemme" - a beer-stein holding competition that challenges participants to show their beer muscles.
In addition to the diverse collection of brewers that will be featured during the event, Douglas said the event would also bring some off-season business to some of Asbury Park's newest businesses that were not open during previous beerfests, including the Asbury Festhalle & Biergarten, Asbury Ale House and Dark City Brewing Company.
"As Asbury Park continues with its redevelopment, this is really a perfect place to have an event like this," Douglas said. "There is already a built-in audience in this town because a lot of the restaurants here offer a variety of craft beers and spirits, so the people here are knowledgeable about beer. So after they're done at the beerfest, people do head over to check out the restaurants, bars and shopping. A lot of people make an entire day or weekend out of it."
--For more information or to purchase tickets to the 2016 Asbury Park Beerfest, click here.
Rob Spahr may be reached at rspahr@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheRobSpahr. Find NJ.com on Facebook.