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There are two Brew Fests coming up on March 3rd, both in the Philadelphia area.  I’ve only ever been to the State College BrewExpo which I visited for the first time back in July.  That was a great time, so I’m definitely looking forward to hitting one of these ones. 

The first is the Philly Craft Beer Fest, the first annual, inconviently located at the Philadelphia Cruise Terminal at the south end of Broad Street.  It’s a good mile walk from Pattison Ave. and there’s no signs of them running a shuttle.  They are claiming that they have 50 brewers signed on, but they have yet to post the list on their site (or any other information for that matter), with the event only a month away.  They are running two sessions, from 12-4 and 6-10 PM, and it’s $35 for advance tickets.  So as you can tell, I’m kind of disappointed in these guys.  I was excited at first but they gotta throw me a bone here…

On the same day, the Desmond Hotel in Malvern is hosting their 2007 BREW FEST.  The info on their site is scarce, but I called the hotel and they were very eager to tell me about the event.  The woman said they have 16 brewers booked so far, mostly local… Appalachian, Legacy, Victory, Weyerbacher, Dogfish Head… some German brewers like Spaten, and Woodchuck Ciders.  They are supposed to have lots of food, plus cooking demonstrations and tutored beer tastings.  Also they are running a shuttle from Paoli station to the hotel, which is fantastically convienent.

It sounds like it’s going to be a lot smaller than the Philly Craft Beer Fest, but I think it will also be a lot nicer… they have been doing this for nine years so they know what they are doing.  Plus, a smaller event means shorter lines to get your three ounces of beer.  Anyway, the woman at the Desmond said she will post more info on their site this weekend, so keep an eye out for a brewer list.