On June 29th several people braved the almost triple-digit heat to attend BrewGrass at Packinghouse Brewery in Riverside CA. Nothing proves how dedicated people are to a great event like oppressive heat. The event was from 1pm to 6pm at the brewery and featured fantastic bluegrass bands, cigar pairings, food trucks, and delicious beers.

The event had several breweries in attendance: Bootleggers, Bravery Brewing Co., Craft Brewing Co., Dale Brothers Brewing, Donkey Punch, I and I, Inland Empire Brewing, Iron Fire, Area 51, Noble Brewing, North Coast, Newport Beach Brewing Co., Hanger 24, Ritual, Off the Grid, Sons of Liberty, Thompson Brewing Co., Brew Rebellion, Valiant Brewing, Wicks Brewing Co., Oak Hills, Black Market, and Wiens Brewing Co. One really interesting thing about this event is they also had booths set-up for homebrewing clubs to pour their beers. The homebrew clubs representing were: Riverside Brew Crew, Riverside Brew Punx, BrewLuminatti, and the Long Beach HomeBrew Club to name a few. I really enjoyed all the different styles and interesting flavors like the rosemary beer I tried, for example. I am a little biased and my favorite was the Mini Oats n’ Hoes session from John Holzer who was brewing alongside the Ripperside Brewpunx.

One interesting beer that sticks out in my mind was the Blackberry IPA from Bravery Brewing. It was so drinkable and only had a slight tart/tang flavor from the blackberries. It was a nice counter from the hops. Really impressive and interesting.

I was really impressed by everyone working at the event. The heat was the common enemy and united everyone to fight against it and keep everyone hydrated and as cool as possible. The staff was constantly helping people who were overheated or dehydrated and at one point the cold box became the recovery zone for the most heat affected people. I might have stepped in the for a few minutes, but it was on official “checking on the keg to make sure it was good” business with a beer-pouring volunteer. I could have stayed in the cold box all day but alas, I had to go back to sweaty reality. All things considered, it was a really fun event. I would attend again, hopefully with more favorable weather.