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Would you like to attend Virginia’s largest craft beer festival? Then it’s time for you to attend Busch Gardens Bier Fest!
And Busch Gardens Bier Fest is quickly approaching. It takes place every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from August 12, 2022, through September 5, 2022 (which is actually Labor Day, the only Monday you can attend the festival).
And this year should be amazing. You get to select from 125 craft brews! They come from 69 different breweries including 33 Virginia breweries. There are brand new signature cocktails.
But the fun doesn’t end with the drinks. There are also great food concoctions you can enjoy! Since it is a Bier Fest, these are beer-infused foods such as spicy lager wings. And since this is a Bier Fest, you can rest assured that the popular giant pretzel will be there, too!
But the fun doesn’t stop there. There are brewery talks where you can learn a lot about the brewing process. Local bands will be there to perform live music. And you can still enjoy your favorite roller coasters and rides since this is still Busch Gardens after all!
This may sound like a lot to you. And it is. This is a fun-packed festival. But today I’ll go into more event details. And then as always, I’ll tell you how you can save money at Busch Gardens Bier Fest!
Cocktails & Foods
So the main reason to go to a Bier Fest would have to be the drinks. The food is good, too. And luckily, as I mentioned earlier, there is a lot of that here.
You can find it spread throughout the park. I’ll tell you about some of the stations and what you can get there.
I’ll also tell you about participating breweries.
Biergarten Reserve
Cocktails
- Lemon Shandy
- Cocktail infused with lemon & lime
Food
- Spicy Lager Wings
- tossed in Sriracha wing sauce
- Beer Bang Shrimp
- tossed in sweet and spicy chili IPA-infused garlic sauce
- Cheddar Ale Nachos
- tortilla chips topped with spiked cheddar sauce, jalapeños & cilantro lime crema
Cobblestone Ale and Spirits
Cocktails
- Margarita
- with a splash of Sly Clyde SandBar Cider
Food
- Pretzel Bites
- with Welsh rarebit cheese
Grogan’s Pub
Food
- Irish Nachos
- house-made potato chips topped with chili & cheese
- Pub Pretzel
- with Guinness pimento cheese
Brauhaus Craft Bier Room
Cocktail
- Sangria
- white wine infused with grapes, apples, oranges & wheat beer
Food
- German Meatballs
- German-style meatballs in a lemon caper sauce
- Pub Pretzel
- with cheddar ranch beer dip
Pretzel World
Food
- Loaded Pretzel Bites
The Islands
Cocktails
- Frozen Blake’s Hard Cider Co. Triple Jam
- Frosé
- Peach Bellini
- Strawberry Daiquiri
- Bahama Mama
Participating Virginia Breweries
Here is a list of participating breweries from the great state of Virginia:
- 2 Silos Brewing Company from Manassas, Virginia
- Alewerks Brewing Company from Williamsburg, Virginia
- Back Bay Brewing Company from Virginia Beach
- Billsburg Brewery from Williamsburg, Virginia
- Blue Mountain Brewery from Afton, Virginia
- Bold Rock Hard Cider from Nellysford, Virginia
- Bull Island Brewing Company from Hampton, Virginia
- Buskey Hard Cider from Richmond, Virginia
- Caiseal Beer & Spirits Company from Hampton, Virginia
- Cannon & Draw Brewing Company from Richmond, Virginia
- Cape Charles Brewing Company from Cape Charles, Virginia
- Center of the Universe Brewing Company from Ashland, Virginia
- Devils Backbone Brewing Company from Roseland, Virginia
- The Original Larry’s Hard Lemonade Brewing Company from Yorktown, Virginia
- Hardywood Park Craft Brewery from Richmond, Virginia
- James River Brewery from Scottsville, Virginia
- Legend Brewing Company from Richmond, Virginia
- Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery from Goochland, Virginia
- Midnight Brewery from Rockville, Virginia
- Nost Brewing Project from Fort Monroe, Virginia
- O’Connor Brewing Company from Norfolk, Virginia
- Old Bust Head Brewing Company from Vint Hill, Virginia
- Port City Brewing from Alexandria, Virginia
- Sly Clyde Ciderworks from Hampton, Virginia
- Smartmouth Brewing Company from Norfolk, Virginia
- Starr Hill Brewery from Richmond, Virginia
- Steam Bell Beer Works from Chesterfield, Virginia
- That Damn Mary Brewing Company from Hayes, Virginia
- The St. George Brewing Company from Hampton, Virginia
- The Virginia Beer Company from Williamsburg, Virginia
- Three Notch’d Brewing from Charlottesville, Virginia
- Tradition Brewing Company from Newport News, Virginia
- Wasserhund Brewing Company from Virginia Beach
Domestic Breweries
Here is a list of other participating breweries that are outside of Virginia but are from the United States:
- ACE Cider from Sebastopol, California
- Angry Orchard Brewing Company from Walden, New York
- Anheuser-Busch from St. Louis, Missouri
- Bell’s Brewery from Comstock, Michigan
- Blake’s Hard Cider Company from Armada, Michigan
- Blue Moon Brewing Company from Denver, Colorado
- Blue Point Brewing Company from Patchogue, New York
- Breckenridge Brewery from Littleton, Colorado
- Cigar City Brewing from Tampa, Florida
- Coors Brewing Company from Golden, Colorado
- Dogfish Head Craft Brewery from Milton, Delaware
- Flying Dog Brewery from Frederick, Maryland
- Golden Road Brewing from Los Angeles, California
- Goose Island Beer Company from Chicago, Illinois
- Heavy Seas Beer from Baltimore, Maryland
- Lagunitas Brewing Company from Petaluma, California
- McKenzie’s Hard Cider from West Seneca, New York
- New Belgium Brewing from Fort Collins, Colorado
- New Realm Brewing Company from Atlanta, Georgia
- Pabst Brewing Company from San Antonio, Texas
- Samuel Adams from Boston, Massachusetts
- Sierra Nevada Brewing Company from Chico, California
- Southern Tier Brewing Company from Lakewood, New York
- Terrapin Beer Company from Athens, Georgia
- The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery from Farmville, North Carolina
- Twisted Tea Brewing Company from Cincinnati, Ohio
- Victory Brewing Company from Downingtown, Pennsylvania
- Yuengling from Pottsville, Pennsylvania
International Breweries
But that’s not all! There are also international breweries participating in Bier Fest, which is fitting since Busch Gardens has international theming!
- Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma from Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
- Guinness from Saint James Gate, Ireland
- Hoegaarden from Hoegaarden, Belgium
- Hofbräuhaus München from Munich, Germany
- Paulaner Brauerei from Munich, Germany
- Radeberger Gruppe from Frankfurt, Germany
- Sapporo Breweries from Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan
- Spaten-Franziskaner from Munich, Germany
Local Bands
There are a number of local bands who will perform on the Oktoberfest Outdoor Stage outside Das Festhaus throughout the festival. It takes place at 1:00 PM, 3:00 PM, 5:00 PM, and 7:00 PM.
Here are the local bands who will be performing:
- Cornbread
- Country music act
- Performs August 12th through 14th
- Kevin Mac & The Homies
- “Southern Swag” country artist
- Performs August 19th through 21st
- Forest Hill
- Modern folk rock with a vintage funk twist
- Performs on August 26th
- Morgan Lyndsey Band
- Energetic country/pop and rock ‘n roll
- August 27th through 28th
- Martin and Kelly
- Crossover country music act
- September 2nd through 5th
Brewery Talks
Brewery talks take place at two different places.
Brauhaus Craft Bier Room
Brewery talks take place here at the following times:
- Friday: 1:30 PM, 2:30 PM & 3:30 PM
- Saturday & Sunday: 1:00 PM, 2:00 PM & 3:00 PM
Grogan’s Pub
Brewery talks place on Saturday and Sunday here at 2:00 PM, 3:00 PM, and 4:00 PM.
How to Save Money
So there are a few ways to save money at Bier Fest at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. First of all, there is a good way to save money on drinks. You’ll save over 10% on drinks with a Bier Fest sampler. The Bier Fest Sampler gets you ten drinks. You have your choice of a 6-ounce draft brew or 7-ounce cocktail sample. This is a great way to drink your favorites and/or try new drinks. You can buy your Bier Fest Sampler here.
The other way you can save money is with tickets. You see, admission to Bier Fest is included in general admission to Busch Gardens Williamsburg. And you can find out how to save money on tickets to Busch Gardens here.
