Beer festivals.
So many beer festivals.
Too many beer festivals.
Leave it to Half Acre Beer Co. to bring a fresh twist to a tired motif.
Widely considered one of the city’s finest breweries, Half Acre announced a new festival Thursday called Far & Away, which will bring a hand-picked crop of about 60 breweries — many of which are among the nation’s most heralded — to Chicago on Oct. 13.
The location of Far & Away will be just as ambitious as the beer being poured: the Harris Theater rooftop terrace, which overlooks Millennium Park.
The inspiration for the festival was multifold, Half Acre founder Gabriel Magliaro said, one being the invitational festivals Half Acre has been invited to on both coasts and abroad; Chicago was ready for one of its own, he said.
But Chicago’s bruised reputation also played a role.
“Chicago has this terrible place in the news cycle right now, and not a lot of the good stuff has made it out,” he said. “We want to bring all the people we see out there pouring at beer festivals and expose them to the good things associated with being here.”
While showcasing Chicago, Magliaro wanted Far & Away to be in the heart of the city. Half Acre had to submit a proposal to stage the event at Millennium Park.
“It’s ground zero for Chicago, and there’s a pretty impressive 360-degree view of the lifeblood of this place — or one version of it,” he said.
And then, of course, there’s the beer. Magliaro and Half Acre’s head of brewing operations, Matt Gallagher, assembled the list of the breweries they’d most want to host. Very few declined the invite, Magliaro said. All come from out of state.
“There’s a commonality in their stances: uncompromisingly good beer, they want to be great employers and they want to connect with their communities in the right way,” Magliaro said. “I think their conceptual beings are tied to something bigger than just, ‘We’re going to grow this as big as we can.’”
Many of the breweries taking part are fairly small, but a handful of larger breweries have been invited, such as Founders, Firestone Walker, New Belgium, Sierra Nevada, Three Floyds and Allagash.
“There’s a way about all of them that we identify with,” Magliaro said.
The majority of brewers on hand are far smaller and largely (or completely) unavailable in Chicago, including Arizona Wilderness (of Gilbert, Ariz.), Jester King (Austin, Texas), Burial (Asheville, N.C.), Casey (Glenwood Springs, Colo.), Tired Hands (Ardmore, Pa.), Fremont (Seattle), Highland Park (Los Angeles), Modern Times (San Diego), Weldwerks (Greely, Colo.), Sante Adairius (Capitola, Calif.), Side Project (St. Louis) and Crooked Stave (Denver).
Each brewery will pour two beers, Magliaro said. Two wineries will also be on hand.
Far & Away will be staged over two sessions, between noon and 3:30 p.m. and 5 and 8:30 p.m. Tickets, which go on sale Monday, cost $80 plus taxes and fees.
Magliaro said he envisions Far & Away as an annual event — provided it can survive the first year.
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“Let’s get through year one and make sure it’s what we want it to be,” he said with a laugh.
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