A little over a week ago, my husband and I took part in one of our favorite Fall traditions – The Decatur Beer Festival(DBF). Held annually on the Decatur Square in Decatur, Georgia it is the perfect blend of craft beers,  community, and cool weather. It was at this very festival that I had my first beer from Blue Tarp Brewing and fell in love with Creature Comforts’ Tritonia with Cucumber and Lime. If you forget to make a pretzel necklace – the Decatur High School’s booster club sells them. And if you are looking for the best time of year to have a festival – my vote has to be October.

I highly recommend this event for anyone who wants to taste some of the best beers from Georgia as well as other notable  U.S. breweries. The organizers do a wonderful job of keeping the event small and of showcasing predominately small/independent breweries and I applaud them for that. While there are some large brewery beers on tap at DBF, small/craft is king.

I sampled several hits and a few misses this year; but why waste space with negative words? Overall it was a great day and we were able to enjoy old favorites and add some to our “must-buy” list. Here are some I recommend you try if you see them at your favorite bar, growler shop, or liquor store:

• Southbound Brewing‘s Shakedown Street
• Omaha Brewing‘s Oma Hop
• Atwater Brewing‘s Decadent Dark Chocolate
• Anything by the Burial Beer Company
• Spencer Trappist Ale
• Abbey of the Holy Goats‘ Goats in the Garden
• Southern Tier‘s Warlock
• Left Nut Brewing‘s Leaping Lena
• Founders Brewing‘s Dirty Bastard
• Victory Brewing‘s Dirt Wolf
• Bull City Ciderworks‘ Off Main

Here are a few pictures I snapped at the festival. I believe that Next to DragonCon, the best t-shirts sightings happen at beer festivals…

What should be my next beer festival? I’m open to suggestions and we are not afraid to hit the road to get there!