Pouring beer at the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) offers breweries numerous benefits, including:
Exposure and visibility. GABF is the largest and most prestigious beer festival in the United States, attracting thousands of attendees, including beer enthusiasts, industry professionals, and media representatives. Pouring beer at GABF provides invaluable exposure and visibility to a diverse and engaged audience.
Connect with the 21–34-year-old demographic. Did you know? GABF’s largest ticket purchaser group (nearly 38%) is 21-34-year-olds. And nearly 68% of GABF ticket purchasers are under 44. Get your products in front of this audience and grow your customer base!
Networking opportunities. GABF brings together brewers, brewery owners, distributors, suppliers, and other bev-alc professionals nationwide. Pouring beer and other NA and bev-alc beverages at the festival provides amazing network opportunities with fellow brewers, potential distributors, and industry influencers. It’s COMMUNITY!
Brand recognition. Participating in GABF enhances a brewery’s brand recognition and reputation within the craft community. By showcasing your beverages, breweries can increase awareness of their brands and attract new fans and customers.
Feedback and validation. At GABF, breweries receive valuable feedback and validation from judges, peers, and attendees. Participating in the GABF competition allows breweries to have their beers evaluated by expert judges and potentially win prestigious awards, which can boost marketability.
Market expansion. Pouring at GABF exposes your products to a wider market beyond the local region. Attendees from across the country make the trek to GABF. It’s a bucket list trip for many! Make this the year to introduce your beers to new markets, establish distribution channels, and expand your customer base.
Promotion and marketing. GABF promotes participating breweries through various channels, including social media, press releases, event marketing materials, and earned broadcast media leading up to and during the festival. Breweries confirming GABF booth participation during the early registration window will be promoted in regional and national media from June to October. They will also be first on the “call list” to do media spots before and during the event.
Stress-free Participation. From your brewery to the festival floor, we make it easy and cost-effective for you to participate every step of the way. No cost inline booth, free keg shipping service, volunteer servers (if desired), plus our amazing cellar and beer service team are here for you! (No charge for a fest booth). The draft lines are set up when you arrive, or if you bring the packaged product, your beers will be delivered to your booth out of a reefer trailer on the ice an hour before the doors.
Minimize Your Costs
Microstar keg program. We’ve streamlined the process to ensure hassle-free access to kegs for your festival beers. Through our partnership with MicroStar Keg Management, kegs are shipped directly to your brewery at no cost to you. Fill them with your festival beers, label them with the assigned GABF keg tags, and drop them off at your chosen location. We’ll take care of the rest, meeting you at the festival to handle the logistics. Plus, we offer over 25 festival beer drop-off points to consolidate your shipments, saving you shipping costs and simplifying the process. With the Microstar Keg Program, participating in GABF has never been easier!
Let us pour for you. Want a booth presence at GABF but can’t afford to take time away from the brewery? No worries, we’ve got you covered! Our 4,000+ happy, friendly, beer-loving volunteers are ready to pour at your booth! Want a more nuanced representation? Request our SUPER VOLUNTEER CAPTAINS, send sell sheets, and hop on a call with them to learn your product inside and out! OR… have friends and family that want to be your “brewery representative” at the fest? Send them to pour at your booth. OR… hold a contest and award your GABF brewery rep badges to best and trusted customers and have them be your brewery representative at the festival…
Can’t commit this year? Send beer. Not able to commit to a pouring booth at the festival this year? There are many other ways to promote your brewery and have your beer featured at the festival. Our Taprooms showcase innovative small and independent craft brewers and their incredible beer, all poured by volunteers. The 2024 taprooms returning by popular demand, include Gluten-Free Garden, Heavy Medal, International, National Black Brewers Association (NB2A), United in Beer Guild area, and Wish We Were Here.