Why Wait Until October? Summer Brew Fests Abound

Beer is foremost a social beverage. There's nothing like downing a brew with appreciative friends or, better yet, clinking a glass with the brewer who made it. This summer, craft brew festivals across the region offer excellent opportunities to sip on beers from breweries you've scarcely heard of and sample styles you'd hesitate to order by the pint.

June 9 marks the first of three events in the annual Great Eastern Invitational Microbrewery Festival at Stoudt's Brewing in Adamstown, Pa. Stoudt's has been following much the same formula for the past 16 years. A $27 ticket entitles the holder to unlimited pours from 17 guest breweries and a buffet of hearty German sausages and fresh-baked bread. For your designated driver, the Stoudt's complex includes an antiques mall, a bakery and other boutique shops. The brewery runs a shuttle to and from local motels in case you want to spend the night. Call 717-484-4386.

The Bowie Baysox, the Orioles' Class AA affiliate, host a Red, White and Brew beer banquet June 14 in the Diamond View Restaurant behind home plate at Prince George's Stadium in Bowie. For $41, you get a buffet dinner, a lineup of authentic German-style brews from Pittsburgh's Penn Brewery and a bird's-eye view of the game between the Baysox and the Harrisburg Senators, the Nationals' AA team. Call 301-464-4890.

On June 16, you can take Amtrak to the Pennsylvania capital for the Harrisburg Brewers Fest at Locust and Third streets. The outdoor event, a fundraiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, will feature 35 breweries, cheap eats and musical entertainment from ragtime to reggae. Afternoon and evening sessions cost $30 ($35 at the door). For tickets, click on http://www.troegs.com/brewfest/tickets.asp.

Does beer taste better on a battleship? You can find out at the Garden State Craft Brewers Festival, set for June 23 on the Camden, N.J., waterfront. Fifteen of the state's breweries will set up shop beneath a tent on the fantail of the SS New Jersey, a World War II-era fighting ship decommissioned in 1991 and now run as a floating museum. Tickets cost $35; buy them at http://www.ticketweb.com or at 856-966-1652, Ext. 107.

Unfortunately, the Old Dominion Beer Festival , which normally takes place outside the Ashburn brewery the last weekend in June, has been canceled for this year. The field that served as the festival grounds is now a construction site, and the brewery is searching for a new venue for 2008.

Use the weekend to gather your energy for a busy July. On July 14, the Wildernest Inn, a bed-and-breakfast 12 miles south of Petersburg, W.Va., hosts Beerfest, a fundraiser for conservation efforts. The $25 tab allows you to chow down on Philly cheesesteaks and pulled pork, hear a bluegrass band and hobnob with brewers from three of the state's beermakers. Call 304-257-9076.

On July 21, the Brewery Ommegang in Upstate New York hosts Belgium Comes to Cooperstown, an extravaganza featuring 150 Belgian and Belgian-style beers; live music; food including Belgian waffles, mussels and roast pig; and a communal bonfire for overnight campers (who must pay a $30 campsite fee in addition to the $60 admission). Ticket sales are advance online only; go to http://www.ommegang.com and click on their online store to purchase.

On July 28, BrewExpo 2007 at the PennStater Conference Center Hotel in State College, Pa., will offer 150 domestic and imported specialty beers plus a series of Beer 101 seminars for neophytes. Tickets are $40 at http://www.scbrewexpo.com.

Closer to home, several Washington area restaurants liven up the coming weeks with beer tastings and dinners. On June 12, chef Peter Durkin pairs four courses with six beers from Oregon's Rogue Ales at Chadwicks in Old Town, Alexandria ($45; 703-836-4442). In Gaithersburg, the Dogfish Head Alehouse celebrates Father's Day a few days early on June 19, serving a five-course beer dinner featuring wood-grilled fare and Dogfish's latest release, the peach-infused Festina Peche ($50; 301-963-4847). Brickskeller owner Dave Alexander has penciled in a San Diego beer tasting for June 19-20, while Delaware's Dogfish Head Craft Brewery and Quebec's Unibroue team up for a June 26-27 sampling at the Dupont Circle saloon. Call 202-293-1885 for information on either event.

Greg Kitsock's Beer column appears every other week. He can be reached atfood@washpost.com.