Brewing up fun in downtown Carson City

Hundreds gathered in downtown Carson City Saturday to enjoy the annual Capitol Brewfest.

More than 20 vendors lined Curry Street offering beer tastings, from porters to IPAs. The Brewfest brought in breweries from all over Nevada, California and even Colorado made an appearance at the event.

“That is what I enjoy about doing these events, the comradery,” said Firkin and Fox owner Jim Phalan. “I like to get to talk with the different breweries, taste their crafts, meeting people, it is just what I enjoy most.”

Phalan was instrumental in helping start the Brewfest tradition with the Rotary Club several years ago.

“It is important to have activities, not just the Brewfest, but bike races or things like that because it draws people to the heart of downtown and people are just starving for something to do,” Phalan said. “This is a young community and people are looking for things to do… it just makes sense to do these things in downtown.”

Beer drinkers from all over came to enjoy the array of choices. For Patty Kreymborg, her first time at Brewfest made her want to come back for more.

“I have friends in Carson City and they said we should try this out because we like beer,” Kreymborg said. “I think it is just great and I want to invite some friends from California next year!”

She said the perfect weather and friendly atmosphere were perks of the event.

“I want to come back next year, the crowds weren’t too bad and it was a nice day out,” Kreymborg said. “It was nice to meet folks and connect with people who have the same interests as you.”

For many, it was nice to have that local feel, where people are friendly and local businesses and people can come out and share their talents.

The T-shirt design this year was done by a local Reno tattoo artist, and attracted many people to the Northern Nevada vibe to match the beer. And though the event is still relatively new, people found it to be well done.

“I attend lots of beer festivals and I think this is great for it being it’s second year,” said Carson resident Bill Rosenthal. “I loved it so much, I even bought the T-shirt this year that was designed by the local artist. (It shows) that Carson is really evolving.”

Next year, the organizers are hoping to have the Brewfest in the newly designed Carson Street instead of on Curry, to showcase the capitol city’s downtown area. All proceeds from the Brewfest went to the Rotary Club.