Omaha Beer Fest

****2016****This is certainly not my first foray into the great world that is Craft Beer. This staple of my year makes the journey to Stinson Park like a Hajj to to Mecca for me. This year it was a bit sparse in terms of brewers. I did not see Blind Tiger, for instance, but Defiance was there.The Friday evening setup was really just OK. I even left a bit early. I handed out a bunch of swag and everybody I talked to was in good spirits. Friday has the Homebrew Expo and that is always solid. Saturday always has the VIP access and some one off specials for them.See you there!

Worth the $35? You bet. So many things to try! A smattering of food options, as well, although an extra truck or two might have been appreciated due to some long lines.Great to see so many homebrews - that was probably my favorite part about the whole thing.My only disappointment was there were not many black ales to sip on (my favorite), unless you were a VIP.Music was okay if you like country. Supposedly many Nebraskans do...I hope I have the opportunity to go next year, because I definitely will!

*2018* This beer festival was a joke. No serious craft beer drinker would enjoy themselves here. Everything here was run of the mill, less than $1 a can/bottle "beer". Beson beer fest was so much better. Honestly, if you truly love beer, you shouldn't waste your time.

Music by Blue House was fantastic and fun. I really appreciated the opportunity to try so many wonderful beers. I may have found a new favorite beer (the Purple Haze from Abita.) In fact, we went across the street to Spirit World and picked up a 6-pack for later. The only thing that keeps the Beerfest from getting a 5-star is the lack of shaded seating for proletarians who don't have a VIP badge.

Omaha Beer Fest has moved to Horseman's Park. I loved the new venue! Everything was laid out very well and we really had a great time this year. We didn't try any of the food options but I did see pulled pork sandwiches and pizza which all looked good. There were plenty of water stations and seating to take breaks. We wore our pretzels necklaces and were good to go! Many of the vendors had run out of beer by 5:00 on Saturday, leaving 2 hours to stumble around trying to look for tents that were still up and serving. If you know your beer and there are certain brewers you want to make sure and get to, go early! We were able to hit up all the brewers before anyone ran out and then spent the last 2 hours wandering around just looking for anyone that had anything left or hitting up our favorites again. As usual, we had a great time, everyone was very friendly and there were no jerks even when there was a couple minutes wait at some tents. Cheers!!

I loved adding the food trucks this year, however, only having a few of them...didn't seem to even warrant calling the event "Beer Fest and Street Eats." If you are going to do this again next year, I would definitely add a few more trucks.Additionally, the process of entering the event seemed confusing to some. Additional signs noting "Please have ID out" or "Purchase ticket before entering line" would be helpful in making the process of entering the event run smoothly.

A beer fest that offers an experience for those who may just be getting into craft beer, but not much beyond that. There were several great breweries represented, but there were no surprises as far as the beer that was being poured. To make things worse a lot of the beers were either way under serving temp or were old and skunky. Several of the beers I had were ones I had before and were obviously old bottles/cans being sampled. For someone starting out in craft beer I can see the value in attending this fest, but for those who've been into craft beer for some time there's nothing here to really recommend it. The only saving grace for me in not rating the event lower is that it's well organized and some of the smaller breweries/up and coming breweries brought some tasty brews. Lastly, the "Street Eats" aspect seems kind of dumb to me. It's nice to have the food trucks there to help people get some food in their system, but as I understand it those were always there before, so why not have something out to sample? Maybe a small complaint, but just something I was thinking while I was there.

Wow!!! I'm so glad I found out about Omaha Beer Fest!!! We decided to go to the Friday night session as the weather forecast for tomorrow looks like scattered thunderstorms. While it was a teensy bit hot, we got really lucky with the weather....not one cloud in the sky. I loved that it was at Stinson Park at Aksarben Village. It made for such a great venue. In terms of beer, there were over 60 booths of beer and cider (as well as Cupcake Winery and Moonstruck Meadery). They also had about 5 food trucks. In addition to breweries from Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska, there were also several home brewers. While there were tons of good beers from all of the breweries (basically every beer you could think of and a Vanilla Coffee Stout that I loved), almost all of my favorite beers were from the home brewers. I tried a watermelon ale, an apple pie ipa, a pb & j stout, a lemon wine, and quite a few great coffee stouts from various home brewers. I was just so shocked to find that all of the best beers were from individuals brewing in their basements. It also left me feeling pretty sad as I won't have the opportunity to try these beers until next year's beer fest. I know some of them are looking to open their own breweries....and I'm crossing my fingers that they do!!While there were tons of people at beer fast (which resulted in a 15 minute wait just to enter), it didn't feel overwhelming. I never waited more than 5 minutes in any line for a beer tasting....nor did I ever wait more than 10-15 minutes to use the restroom (and yes, it was a REAL restroom!). I'd say the only downside to beer fest was the price. I only had about 4-5 beers, which worked out to be about $7-$9 a beer (normally more than I would spend). With that said, I think it is well worth the price in order to sample a ton of different beers, particularly the beers from the home brewers.

I enjoyed this event very much but I think Brew Ha Ha offering food makes this beer festival a close second. I'm still coming to it this year though

This is my second time attending the Omaha Beer Fest and each time it has not disappointed! This year food trucks were added which was a plus... I tend to get the munchies when I drink so being able to grab something yummy is great! The assortment of beer that the fest brought this year was terrific, something for everyone! The entertainment was great and the added beard contest was fabulous! I highly suggest you make it out to this event, you will not be sorry! Can't wait to see how the fest grows next year.