Grass below, trees above, music floating on the breeze, and the air slightly tinted with the smell of hops. To me, that’s summertime. The Wellington Brewfest & Wine Tasting walks the line between old-fashioned beer fest and new-fangled fun.
Let me explain.
Beer festivals of old, say 2012, would not serve wine. However, they would feature beer brewers/brewery owners pouring their beer. The actual beer brewer started to disappear from beer festivals, but not from this one. They go to the Wellington Brewfest because it’s a little old-fashioned like that.
However, it also features wine because the world has changed. It’s not changing, it has changed. And while I have been one of the voices loudly championing beer, beer, beer, I get it, today, people want more than beer at a beer festival.
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Wellington Brewfest & Wine Tasting has six attendees that fall under the wine category: Wander & Ivy, OBC Wine Project, Hunters Moon Meadery, Meadkriegar Meadery, Sweet Heart Winery and Blendings Winery.
For those unaware, and many are, mead falls in the wine category. My first experience with mead was in Wales in 2003, drinking a thick, sugary substance out of little wooden shot glasses. Fast forward to around 2012, and a trip to visit Kim and Greg changed my thoughts on mead. They are the owners of Hunters Moon Meadery in Severence, Colorado, and I tasted all sorts of delicious mead that was not too sweet for me. I credit them with introducing me to a style of mead that was oh so drinkable. Be sure to try their Earl Greg Mead at the festival.
Let’s face it, most of us are going to this festival for the beer, and Wellington Brewfest has a lineup of 14 breweries, including one from Cheyenne, Windsor, Evans, and from Loveland, along with several from Wellington and the rest from Fort Collins.
By the way, this is the festival that introduced us to Mythmakers Brewing (in the lineup again this year). The brewery is located in northwest Fort Collins, and we’re in east Loveland, so we don’t frequently get there; however, their taps are dynamic, and we now look forward to going to their taproom occasionally.
Recently, for Collaboration Fest, they made a Rach Heller Bock (smoked Maibock) with Zwei Brewing. The beer was fantastic! Zwei, the brewery with my favorite hefeweizen, will be at Wellington Brewfest & Wine Tasting.
The Bourbon Brass Band & The Instigators will provide live music and entertainment again this year. They are the best kind of merrymakers! In attendance will be Lila’s Lemonade, because sometimes you just want fresh lemonade, Lulu’s Tators, because if you’re like me, you always want potatoes, and MAKO Street Food, because yum. At last year’s brewfest, I had some Yakisoba deliciousness from MAKO’s food truck.
I got to experience this festival last year when Wellington Brewfest & Wine Tasting became a HeidiTown client. I can honestly say that it’s a good one! After the fest, spread the love by dining at one of Wellington’s fine restaurants.
Wellington Brewfest & Wine Tasting
Centennial Park, Downtown Wellington
June 7, 2025
VIP 1 to 5 pm
GA 2 to 5 pm
Profits from the Wellington Brewfest will benefit the Wellington Main Street Program, and a portion of Sponsorship dollars will benefit Wellington Veterans Garden.
Welllington Brewfest & Wine Tasting is a HeidiTown client. All opinions expressed herein are my own.
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Learned something today. Mead is in the wine category!
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It’s odd, because with Colorado’s weird liquor laws, a brewery can’t serve mead or wine but can serve hard cider and visa versa. Unless a place has a restaurant license, a brewery here can’t serve liquor, wine or mead. And a meadery can’t serve beer or liquor but can serve wine. And a winery can serve mead but not beer or liquor. Now a distillery can’t serve beer, wine or mead. Only liquor (unless they are also a restaurant). We have some crazy weird liquor laws.
When I first moved here, it was years before we could buy any alcohol on a Sunday. And just recently beer and wine sales are allowed in grocery stores (which has been bad for the craft beer scene). It’s real messy here.