From world-renowned quilters to wheelers and dealers in global oil and gas, the George R. Brown Convention Center brings remarkable people to downtown every year.

More Information Big Brew Organizers join Mayor Annise Parker on Tuesday to announce a major new beer festival coming downtown. What: Three-day beer festival, highlighted by a sampling hall with 1,000 brews. Where: George R. Brown Convention Center. When: The main tasting will be Oct. 25, preceded by a beer and food pairing involving 40 local restaurants Oct. 23 and a smaller tasting session featuring Texas breweries exclusively Oct. 24. Costs: Events are separately priced, from $45 for general admission to the Big Brew tasting to $100 for the food pairing. Tickets: On sale Feb. 17.

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Now make way for the brewers.

For three days in October, the convention center will host Big Brew, a major new festival that aims to tap into the region's burgeoning craft-beer scene by putting 1,000 beers out for public sampling, along with seminars on what you're drinking and where it comes from.

To satisfy Houstonians' growing passion for pairing food with beer, some of the biggest chefs in town are lining up 40 local restaurants for an evening of culinary improvisation.

"We really do think we can make this a beer-tourist destination," said Big Brew organizer Clifton McDerby of Food & Vine Time Productions.

McDerby will formally announce the Houston event in a joint appearance Tuesday with Mayor Annise Parker and Luther Villagomez, general manager of the Brown center and chief operating officer of Houston First Corp., the quasi-public agency that runs the city's convention business.

Big Brew will run Oct. 23-25, highlighted by two sampling sessions on the final day, each of which is expected to draw thousands.

Food & Vine Time produces a number of themed events, including wine and food truck festivals and, each Labor Day weekend since 2010, the Brewmasters Craft Beer Festival in Galveston.

The latter drew about 2,500 people to the island last year with a variety of events, including a main tasting that featured 390 beers, McDerby said. He predicts Big Brew could attract a crowd four times the size.

"It's been the training ground for doing this one," said McDerby, who has wanted to host a big Houston event for at least two years.

He said the Galveston event will be held this year, though he wasn't sure how it would be affected by having Big Brew less than two months later.

Convention center first

Villagomez said Big Brew will be a first-of-its-kind event at the convention center, which hosts everything from bridal shows to the energy industry's NAPE Winter Conference, from National Rifle Association conventions to an upcoming expo for model train enthusiasts.

Its best-known event might be the International Quilt Festival, which draws upward of 50,000 people annually.

"We're excited about this opportunity," Villagomez said of Big Brew.

Of craft beer's popularity, he said, "It looks like it has the staying power that the wine business has."

An industry report last month estimated craft brewing's impact in Texas to be more than $2 billion. In the Houston area, the number of craft breweries has exploded, to at least a dozen from just one at the beginning of 2008.

McDerby said the sampling hall during Big Brew will feature 1,000 craft beers. A selection that large would rank among the larger ones in beer festivals nationally, said Julia Herz, craft beer program director for the Brewers Association industry group.

"It's a goal, but it's a goal that we will reach," McDerby said.

The main tastings will be preceded by two smaller events, a food-and-beer pairing and an exclusively Texas tasting, on the evenings of Oct. 23 and 24, respectively. All will be inside the Brown Convention Center.

McDerby said there also will be a downtown pub crawl, and additional events in the vicinity are likely to be added.

The pairing event will feature food selections from 40 Houston restaurants, 29 of which have signed up.

McDerby said a culinary committee led by noted restaurateurs Robert Del Grande of RDG & Bar Annie, Michael Cordúa (Américas , Artista) and Randy Evans (Haven) is developing the list.

The Texas tasting will feature 40 in-state breweries exclusively.

McDerby said he is taking his cues from such major events as the Great American Beer Festival, which last year attracted 49,000 visitors to Denver over a three-day period, and the Savor food and beer-pairing event in Washington, D.C. Both are produced by the Brewers Association.

Noting that GABF routinely sells out on the first day tickets are available, McDerby said he is confident there is a market for a beer event that allows people to learn about craft beer while sampling a variety of styles in a comfortable environment.

Limited ticket sales

"We're not a come-to-get-drunk-and-listen-to-music festival," McDerby said.

He said he plans to limit ticket sales to no more than 11,000 for the main tastings and to 750 for each of the other main events.

Villagomez, more conservatively, estimated total first-year attendance would be in the range of 4,000 to 5,000 people and grow into an ongoing event that attracts 10,000 or more.

McDerby also estimated Moody Gardens sold about 640 rooms that otherwise would have gone unused, and he is eager to replicate the Galveston festival's success on a bigger scale.

Herz, of the Brewers Association, said there are beer festivals nationally that attract more people. But she agreed that a growing number of festivals are popping up as people's interest in beer from the smaller craft brewers continues unabated.

"There's a demand out there that's not being filled," McDerby said. "We're going to fill it with a dynamic Houston event."