JOHN COFFELT Contributor

To celebrate Common John Brewing Company’s (CJBC) fourth year in business, the brewery will hold its third annual Beer Fest from noon to 5 p.m. on Sept. 14 which will feature 39 commercial breweries over 10 home brewers, local craft vendors and an assortment of food trucks.

This year instead of live music during the event, famed Nashville’s Black Abby Brewery owner Carl Meier will DJ the event.  Following the exclusively ticketed event, CJBC will open again to the public and close out the evening with free-admission shows from Stagger Moon and the Huffer Brothers.

CJBC Chief Festival Officer Jon Pritt said there will be a lot of fine beer on tap. Guests will be given a small sampling cup and the door for unlimited pours. Starting at noon VIP ticketholders will be admitted for a first taste of exclusive beers. At 1 p.m. general admission guests can join in.

“They bring their best stuff,” Pritt said. “This year a lot of people are honing in and bringing some really good items.”  

“I feel like every year we find a few things we want to change,” Pritt said. “The brewers know what to expect for this beer fest and every time we go to … anywhere in the beer community everyone talks about how this is a brewer’s fest.”

CJBC founder LeBron Haggard said all of the brewers featured are independent brewers local to their hometowns. Like Haggard and his family at CJBC, these brewers share a passion for brewing. It’s a community working toward a common goal of making good beer.

“They’re here so the people can talk to the brewers and get to know them,” Haggard said. “We aren’t necessarily unique when it comes to brewing beer; our big push is getting people introduced and getting to know those people.”

Haggard said he’s surprised to hear how many customers talk about taking road trips to the breweries they’ve learned about at the beer fest.

“We feel like if we can take care of the brewers and make them have a good experience then the experience for the customers is even better,” Haggard said.

Home brewers hold a special place in the hearts of the Common John family. CJBC got its start from several friends home brewing.

Pritt said the festival offers local home brewers a chance for people beyond their hometowns or a circle of friends to try these unique beers.

Haggard said the inclusion of home brewers pays respect to where CJBC came from.

“Home brewers are maybe a little more flexible about trying new things than commercial brewers are,” Haggard said. “You get to try some very unique beers that the home brewers make. We’ve been shocked at the quality of the beer that they have.”

During each Beer Fest CJBC has a homebrew competition. The winning beer is brewed at Common John and sold on tap.

“This year the prize is we’re going to brew their beer and work with them to design a can,” Haggard said. “They get a chance to be involved in the manufacturing process from the commercial side and all the steps.”

The most popular commercial brewery is also crowned.

“We like to show people that not all craft beer is hoppy or dark,” Haggard said. “You can have light beer – try new things and get exposure to these local businesses that are brewing beer like what we do.” 

This year will include an expanded selection of ciders for those who don’t prefer beer. With altogether over 40 venders, the price of admission is well worth the cost. 

“We will have well above 100 different things that you can try,” Haggard said. “You’re talking $60 for a GA ticket and you get to listen to music, see craft vendors and sample some food at a food truck (at an additional cost) and sample whatever you want.”

Haggard said CJBC will unveil several new special edition collaborative beers developed with other breweries around the state. 

“Craft beer is a pretty small industry,” Haggard said. “It’s like a family. The sharing of knowledge…when it comes to beer there’s wrong ways to do it, but there’s a lot of right ways to do it. The community is so open.”

He said brewers are open with recipes and love to share their techniques. He added they are a community of competition not with each other but with the larger national microbreweries.

“There’s a family thing to the independent breweries,” Haggard said. “We all kind of lift each other up.”    

Tickets to the Beer Fest are available at www.commonjohnbc.com.