Anyone who likes beer must not miss this, the largest festival of its kind in Brazil and one of the largest in Latin America. The Brazilian Beer Festival takes place this year between 9 and 12 March in the city of Blumenau (State of Santa Catarina), and there you shall be able to sip 600 different beers from the most important brewers of the country, while also appreciating good music and delicious food.
This event shall have the presence of beer masters, specialists, and beer lovers, who also take advantage of the artistic and cultural programme, lectures, and several gastronomic options, with bars and restaurants serving ready meals to be tasted with the country’s best beers. Tickets may be acquired through the website of the event (www.festivaldacerveja.com/ingressos) for BRL 12.00 (9 and 10 March) or BRL 25.00 (11 and 12 March).
At the same time as the festival, there is also the Brazilian Beer Trade Fair, that brings together breweries from different parts of the country, to do business during the Festival. The trade fair shall be open to the public between 9 and 11 March (Wednesday to Friday), between 2 and 9 p.m.
Event shall give awards to the best beers
There shall also be the Brazilian Beer Competition, which shall give awards to the best beers, based on the following criteria: colour and appearance; carbonation; scent; flavour; sensation in the mouth; style; balance; drinkability; and the general impression. The most recent edition of the event had over 874 labels and 117 different types of beer registered to participate, including lagers, ales and hybrid/mixed. For 2016, there was the introduction of the special category of Brazilian Beers, which shall give a special award to beers that use ingredients and/or processing techniques that are typically Brazilian.
The schedule of lectures includes several different technical issues which are sure to attract anyone who wants to know more about different aspects of beer. The issues range from “Introduction to the Beer Market for Home Brewers” and “Government Policies for the Beer Market”, through to more specific issues such as “Sensorial Analysis in Beers”, “Slovene Hops” and “Enzymes in Microbreweries: support for growth, quality and creativity”. The price for signing up for these lectures range from zero up to BRL 35.00, and some of the lectures shall be given in English or German.
However, the most awaited event in the Festival should be the Technical Seminar which shall take place on the afternoon of 10 March, at the Beer and Malt University. The themes of the lectures shall be “Fermentation with Brettanomyces – the beauty of the funky” by Marcelo Barga (Bio 4), “A New Approach for the interpretation and analysis of parameters and characteristics of the yeasts most commonly used, and how these have an effect on beers”, by Mercelo Cerdán (WE Consultancy); and “Processes of Beer Production” by Gustavo Henrique Palhares de Miranda (GHPM Treinamento e Gestão). Participation in this event shall cost BRL 100.00.