There are many things more important than beer out there, but this is a beer site, so that’s our angle. Two newsworthy events are affecting the availability of your favorites at Snallygaster this year.
A strike from port workers ended overnight as negotiations progressed, but the work stoppage has complicated beer imports, including some destined for the biggest beer festival on the East Coast. “Unfortunately, we will not be receiving German gravity kegs as they are stuck in port; so no Knoblach this year at Snallygaster,” Neighborhood Restaurant Group Managing Partner and Beer Director Greg Engert tells us. “Some other international brewers are air-shipping kegs or we were able to find alternate offerings stateside,” he adds. Though many dock workers returned to ports on the East and Gulf Coasts this morning, kegs are probably not as high a priority as many other goods. We’ll make due with the 470 other choices at Snally, and should gravity kegs from Knoblauch somehow appear either at the festival or a week after, all the better.
The more serious of the two events is Hurricane Helene, which at time of publication had killed 220 people, with hundreds more still missing. About half of these deaths occurred in North Carolina, with the western side of the state particularly hard hit, so Burial and Cellarest will not be attending Snallygaster. Burial canceled its Burnpile festival, offering ticket holders the choice of a refund or donation to area relief efforts. If you’re willing and able to help the affected communities The North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild has some suggestions. “This is going to be a marathon, and we’re going to need everyone’s endurance to rebuild. But, NC craft beer is resilient, and together, brewery by brewery, we can provide critical relief to our WNC community,” Lisa Parker, executive director of the NC Craft Brewers Guild, told WRAL
Sierra Nevada had planned to send beer from their Mills River, NC brewery closer to next weekend, but will now use beer already at their local DC-area distributor. Their non-alcoholic Trail Pass series will be the unofficial NA option of Snally, and their Hop Splash seltzer will also be available.
- Trail Pass Brewveza – Non-Alcoholic Blond Ale w/ Lime
- Trail Pass Golden – Non-Alcoholic Golden Ale
- Trail Pass Hazy IPA – Non-Alcoholic Hazy IPA w/ Mosaic & El Dorado Hops
- Trail Pass IPA – Non-Alcoholic West Coast IPA w/ Amarillo & CTZ Hops
“All told, we are seeing less of an impact on the festival than expected. Huge kudos to our beer team, Tim Liu and Bruno Simoes, for getting ahead of shipping and procurement so we saw less effect than we would have otherwise,” adds Engert. Snallygaster itself is for a good cause, and tickets are still available.
