CLEVELAND, Ohio - The fifth annual Cleveland Beerfest is this weekend, with 400-plus beers available for tasting from more than 125 breweries.

The fest - Friday and Saturday, Jan. 26-27 - is at Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland. It's a massive beer-tasting soiree, and the venue allows for ample leg and elbow room. Regular admission for each session begins at 8 p.m. It ends at 11:30 p.m.

Last year, attendance was 11,000, and the year before it hit 11,500, said organizer Craig Johnson, who added he anticipates 12,000 this weekend. He said ticket sales are "exceptionally strong," up 30 percent. Half the sales in Cleveland, Johnson said, come in the final 10 days leading to the fest.

WHAT TO KNOW

Admission includes 25 sampling tickets for five-ounce pours in a plastic souvenir mug. Ticket options:

Regular: $45 advance, $55 day of.

Early Admission: 7 p.m. admission, $55 advance, $65 day of.

Connoisseur's Reception Ticket: $90, includes special glass, exclusive beers and food from a dozen local restaurants 7-9 p.m.

Designated driver: Includes $5 food voucher plus soft drinks.

Connoisseur Designated Driver: $35, includes the same access and benefits as Connoisseur tickets without alcohol).

(Check out the site's website to buy tickets or go here to see the brewery list.)

Last call is 11 p.m.

This year, for the first time, a Beerfest Beer App is available to track and rate beers you sample, and will include a booth-location map. It is scheduled to be ready for download Wednesday, Jan. 24, Johnson said.

The fest is a good opportunity to sample beers from all over, but Ohio will have an especially strong presence, with more than 160 beers lined up from breweries throughout the state.

Local food-truck vendors will be in attendance along with party band The Lava Game. A silent disco will be set up.

Proceeds will go to the Music Education Society, a non-profit organization that supports music programs in elementary and junior high schools in Cleveland.

Presenting sponsors include a pair of Cleveland breweries, Saucy Brew Works and Platform Beer Co., along with Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. of Chico, California, and Gahanna, Ohio-based Kahiki Foods.

Johnson's fest schedule kicks off in January, focusing on five cities. It started in Philadelphia on Jan. 12-13, then moved to Columbus on Jan. 19-20 and now Cleveland this weekend. It then shifts to Cincinnati on Feb. 2-3 and Pittsburgh on Feb. 24-25.

The one-day summer fest in Cleveland will be Saturday, June 16, at Jacobs Pavilion.