Final two local brew fests of 2023 happen this weekend | Around the Brew Bend

When all is said and done, 2023 will go down as a record year for local beer festivals.

The Tallahassee Beer Festival, Big Bend Brewfest, Panacea Craft Beer and Oyster Festival, Cleaver & Cork, and even events like the TLH Beer Society's 6th Anniversary Party saw bigger turnouts and more money raised for their respective charities than ever before.

And this weekend it's time to close the 2023 local beer festival calendar with a BANG with the final two events of the calendar year planned between Saturday and Sunday.

One of them is a brand new event in its first year — the Inaugural St. Mark's Brew Fest Crafts & Drafts — while the other is the longest-running beer party in Tallahassee: 25th Annual Elder Care Oktoberfest!

So let's break 'em down, shall we?

Inaugural St. Mark's Brew Fest

On Saturday, Oct. 28, the Inaugural St. Mark's Brew Fest Crafts & Drafts will be held just south of Tallahassee in Wakulla County in beautiful St. Marks. The event is part craft show with local businesses and craft vendors setting up booths along the St. Marks waterfront, and part craft beer showcase with over 15 local and regional breweries participating.

The craft showcase is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and is free to enter and walk around. However, the beerfest portion will begin at 1 p.m. and last until 4 p.m., and it requires a ticket, which are $30 each with the proceeds benefitting the St. Marks Waterfronts Florida Partnership.

The Waterfronts Florida Partnership Program was created by the Florida Coastal Management Program in 1997 to address the physical and economic decline of traditional working waterfront areas. Since 1997, a total of 24 communities have received designation as Waterfronts Florida Partnership Communities, including most recently St. Marks.

In addition to craft vendors, food trucks, live music and activities for kids, the event has some great breweries committed to pouring, including: Eastpoint Beer Company, Lake Tribe Brewing, Civic Brewing, Oyster City Brewing, Armed Forces Brewing, Proof Brewing, Ology Brewing, Georgia Beer Company, Destin Brewing, Florida Keys Brewing, Hammerhead Brewing, North Florida Brewers League and Brady Brewing.

We think it's great to have another beer fest late in the year, and the TLH Beer Society will be on hand to support it with a table showcasing both Drink Tallahassee Beer merchandise AND the return of Drink Wakulla Beer shirts just for this event. The latter shirts were produced in collaboration with Wakulla's only brewery, Civic Brewing, and all the proceeds from the shirts will be donated to the Gulf Specimen Aquarium and Marine Lab in Panacea.

But we only printed 50 of them, so if you were one of those who begged us to make them again earlier this year at the Panacea Craft Beer & Oyster Festival, you better rush to our table to grab yours Saturday!

25th Annual Elder Care Oktoberfest

One day later, we turn our attention back to Tallahassee and the 25th Annual Elder Care Oktoberfest, which is (we believe) Tallahassee's longest-running event outside of Springtime Tallahassee.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been raised over the years for Elder Care Services and Meals On Wheels, and this Sunday's event marks the third straight year it's being held at picturesque Cascades Park in Downtown Tallahassee.

The event runs from 2-6 p.m. with VIP entry at 2 p.m. and General Admission at 3 p.m. VIP ticket holders not only get in an hour early, but they have access to the VIP beer tent and delicious German food from the Wheels On Wheels kitchen. And trust us, the chefs with Meals on Wheels have refined these German recipes over the years; and the food is phenomenal.

But if you're saying to yourself right now, "I may go to one of these events, but not both. The beer is probably going to be all the same."

Well, guess again!

The lineup Sunday features a few of the same breweries, but several different ones, too. The breweries attending the Oktoberfest are: Halpatter Brewing (Lake City), Southern Fields (Campbellton), T'Velo Brewing (Thomasville), Southern Philosophy (Bainbridge), Amicus Brewing Ventures, Proof, Deep, Ology, Oyster City, Lake Tribe, Georgia Beer, and Hammerhead.

Talk about some GREAT local variety.

We're super excited for each of these events and will be on hand at both to support them. And if you plan on going to one or either, don't wait to buy tickets. As of the writing of this column Wednesday, both were getting close to selling out!

We can't wait to close the 2023 beer fest schedule with these two festivals this weekend.

Danny Aller is the co-founder, along with Matthew Crumbaker, of the TLH Beer Society. Reach the Beer Society on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or email: tlhbeersociety@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Final two brew festivals of the year getting flowing this weekend