“Oh, it’s absolutely not anything personal. It’s a horrible position to be in,” NRG Beverage Director and Partner Greg Engert told us earlier in the month when asked about which breweries get invited to Snallygaster. “Can you imagine… it’s hard. We do rotate… Snallygaster is not a local beer fest, and never is gonna be, never should be. And if it comes down to making room for beers like from Franconia you’ve never had before, we have to do that.”
Keeping a beer festival fresh means rotating breweries in and out from year to year. “How do we improve Snallygaster every year… how do we evolve it,” Engert asked last year. “There’s always a request for more new breweries.” The turnover gives us an opportunity; let’s meet the new kids on the block of Snallygaster 2024!
We’re not going to spend too much time on the locals: Silver Branch and Crooked Crab are back, and need no introduction. Atlas and Dynasty are out this year–the former will probably have to console themselves with some Great American Beer Festival hardware, which takes place the same weekend. Atlas has medaled the last two years, for Bullpen Pilsner and Silent Neighbor Stout.
We’ve written about Dovetail and Wayfinder; both breweries send beer to DC and Virginia with some regularity. You can, and should, find De Cam, Dupont, and Orval, at better beer shops and The Sovereign. Heck, you can buy the latter two at Whole Foods. We’ll probably drink beer from all three of these Belgian breweries at the festival. Dutchess is back at Snally, and they make some very good beers, available in the DMV. But here we’re going to discuss what’s new for 2024. The first timers. The ones who we haven’t seen in a few years. Let’s go!
3 Sons, Florida. Last seen in DC pouring Single Barrel Select: Cali Gold, a massive beast of a barleywine, at the final SAVOR at The Anthem, this Fort Lauderdale brewery does a little bit of everything, from lagers to haze to fruited sours.
Barreled Souls, Maine. There’s a good chance they’ll bring hazy IPAs and fruited sours, but maybe one of their barleywines will make an early appearance for the VIPs. If so, try to swing by.
CLAG, Ohio. Intermittently available in Virginia, and possibly Downtown Crown in Maryland, this brewery is run by Kha Bui, the brother of An Bui, who you may know from Richmond’s The Answer. You’re going to get haze.
Cloudwater, United Kingdom. Andy rizzed them up last month. Haze from the UK is the name of the game here.
Fair Isle, Washington. Fair Isle is now available in DC and VA, and they make some of the best saisons and mixed fermentation ales you’ve never heard of. We recommend!
Heater Allen, Oregon. Heck yeah, lagers!
Holy Mountain, Washington. Maybe 6ish years ago you could buy Holy Mountain beers in DC, which was nice because they make some very good mixed fermentation ales. We’re curious what they’ve been up to since.
Ill Will, Ohio. An extremely hypey brewery specializing in fruited sours, which means when we do our power rankings it will not fare well. But if you’re into froot you should be pleased with this one.
Japas, Brazil. Available in DC, Japas has a cool story and cool beer; they’re a Japanese-Brazilian woman-owned brewery and it shows in their beer. Stop by. Also, we know Wardman Wines has their beer in stock.
King State, Florida. My brother used to go to Sanibel Island every November with friends and he’d rave about Green Dart Pilsner. Here’s hoping they bring it.
Mahr’s Bräu, California. That’s right, California and not Germany, though they do also brew in Bamberg. They’re back, and hopefully the gravity kegs of lager are, too!
Messorem, Canada. This Montreal brewery does a lot of things well. Interesting lagers, mixed ferm Belgian styles like grissettes, and credible IPAs. Here’s hoping they bring some of everything.
Moor, United Kingdom. The first image on their website last I checked featured cans of smoked lager, so we’re in!
Nøgne Ø, Norway. Once one of the more popular imports among DC-area beer geeks, Nøgne Ø vanished from DC for a few years. Nice to see them back.
Notch, Massachusetts. They always have a pils, a helles, and a Kolsch on. If they bring any two of those we’ll be thrilled. One of the better lager producers anywhere. having them and Heater Allen here makes us very happy.
Odd Colony, Florida. A lot of Florida breweries lean towards IPAs and fruited sours. This one is more interested in lagers and saisons, which is good because we’re also more interested in those styles.
Olfactory, California. This Bay Area brewery decocts every lager they make, and they know their way around a saison as well. Sign us up!
Parish, Louisiana. Yes, you will absolutely see Ghost in the Machine at Snallygaster. You will probably also see them brew a collab IPA with Other Half the week before. Broccoli in the Machine? Maybe!
Põhjala, Estonia. If you’re a beer nerd you’ve probably had a porter or stout from the largest craft brewer in the Baltics. We assume nothing they pour at Snally will be under 9% alcohol by volume.
Ridgeway, United Kingdom. You might know them as the brewers of the Bad Elf series of beers. Fingers crossed that they send fresh ale Stateside for Snally. Maybe a firkin? A boy can dream!
Side Project, Missouri. You can find these beers at ChurchKey and The Sovereign. There will still be a line for them at Snally, and it’ll be worth it.
Track, United Kingdom. Like Cloudwater, best known for their hazies.
Wayward Lane, New York. This upstate NY farm brewery is based in a former hop house. Halfway between Albany and Cooperstown, they won brewery of the year at the 2023 New York State Craft Beer Competition. We are interested.
Please remember that all of this is for a good cause, and that the festival is looking for volunteers. More on Snally coming soon!
