SLO Craft Beer Festival brings beer lovers together
The SLO Craft Beer Festival, held on Feb. 24, brought people together at the Madonna Inn over a shared love of a favorite college drink — beer.
It was a record year for the festival, with more than 2,000 tickets sold, according to Event Organizer Austin Gasbarra. He said the event has gotten bigger every year since his father started it more than 12 years ago, with more ticket sales, vendors and beverage options.
“There’s always a little something for everything, you know, it used to be strictly beer, but now we have like some whiskey drinks, different ciders,” Gasbarra said. “So it’s like really trying to encompass that you’ll have something for everybody.”
About 40 breweries and distributors set up booths alongside multiple food vendors, including Insomnia Cookies and Auntie Anne’s, offering samples to taste test. George Peterson, the owner of Central Coast Brewing, has been a vendor at the festival since it began. He said that it brings many people together.
“We get the parents, we get the beer lovers, we get our demographics,” Peterson said. “Our demographic is, you know, 21 to 80.”
Additionally, attendees could listen to live music and play games, which included riding a mechanical bull. And if they were curious, they could even take a breathalyzer test for fun.
Though a large number of attendees were current Cal Poly students, many were alumni who came with their old college friends. Alumni Mackey Peek’s friend group dresses on theme every year at the festival. This year, they wore athleisure tracksuits.
“Yeah, and this is our sixth, seventh annual Beer Fest,” Peek said. “Each one since we were 21, every single one we’ve been to, and just having the best time.”
Jaden Husser, another alumni, said the festival works almost as an unofficial Cal Poly reunion with beer as a backdrop.
“I feel like every year you’re seeing so many people that you haven’t seen in a while,” Husser said. “Everybody’s coming from different cities. So kind of treat it as like a time to get to see everybody again.”
Next year’s beer festival is already scheduled for the same weekend next year at the Madonna Inn.
