What you can expect to taste, experience and feel at Saturday’s second-annual Fresh Fest Beer festival at Nova Place.

Fresh Fest is…

The nation’s first craft beer festival that celebrates people of color and their accomplishments in the beer industry. It is on Sat. August 10 and features beer from black-owned breweries and collaborations that celebrate black artists and cultural icons from around the country.

From L to R: Day Bracey, Mike Potter and Ed Bailey – the organizers of Fresh Fest.

The inaugural fresh fest was in Pittsburgh on August 11, 2018. Ticket sales will be capped at 3,000. As of publication, they are available for purchase here.

Chardae Jones x Brew Gentlemen: Garden Party variation

Chardae Jones, interim mayor of Braddock, preparing ingredients at Brew Gentlemen for a collaboration beer that will debut at Fresh Fest. Photo: Brian Conway

Smittox Brewing X Grist House: Work Optional Lifestyle

Kuumba Smith of Smittox Brewing speaking with the team at Grist House during their collaboration brew day in Millvale. Together, the two teams are brewing a kettle sour beer called ‘Work Optional Lifestyle’ that will debut at Fresh Fest. Photo: Brian Conway

Walters Southern Kitchen x Hitchhiker: Hard Corn

Joel Bolden of Walter’s Southern Kitchen adding actual cornbread into a batch of beer at Hitchhiker Brewing. Their collaborative effort – an American Pale Ale called ‘Hard Corn’ – will debut at Fresh Fest. Photo: Brian Conway

Other collaborations to check out…

Nappy Roots x Dancing Gnome: Bluegrass Stain’d

Dancing Gnome’s newsletter snippet discussing their Nappy Roots collaboration beer for Fresh Fest.



Yellow Bridge x Uber: Blerd Future

Our friends at Breweries in PA wrote about the Yellow Bridge collaboration with Uber. The Uber HUE program celebrates and supports people of color by providing a channel that promotes Black diversity, culture, and inclusion for all employees at Uber.

See all of the other Fresh Fest Collaborations here.

Fresh Fest 2019: Bigger, Better, #Fresher

If you’re browsing Fresh Fest 2019’s schedule of events, here are four key takeaways.

1) Fresh Fest Symposium – The State of The Culture, Parts I + II

– Friday, Aug 9: panel discussions at Ace Hotel Pittsburgh, beginning at 11.30 am

2) Meet the Brewer VIP Podcast w/ special guest Garrett Oliver

– Saturday, Aug 10: Brooklyn Brewery Brewmaster Garrett Oliver will record a live podcast session of Drinking Partners at Nova Place, noon to 3 pm

3) Fresh Fest Beer Festival

– Saturday, Aug 10: the actual beer festival including unlimited pours of beer, swag bags, food trucks, bands, DJs, artists; from 5 pm to 9 pm

4) New Belgium Brewing presents Fresh Fest 2019 Brewer’s Brunch

– Sunday, Aug 11: a farewell brunch to celebrate all the collaborators and brewers’ hard work, noon to 3 pm