(Courtesy NRG Group)

One of our favorite craft beer festivals returns to the nation’s capital this weekend. And if you’ve never attended Snallygaster you’ve been making a beastly mistake.

Named after a mythical dragon-like beast, rumored to have once inhabited the mid-Atlantic’s backwoods around the turn of the century, Snallygaster is a monstrous festival and one of the region’s most anticipated beer events.

Now in its thirteenth year, Snallygaster is presented annually by The Neighborhood Restaurant Group (NRG) an award winning collection of idiosyncratic independent businesses devoted to the culinary arts in Metro Washington DC that under the tutelage of beer director and partner Greg Engert has become a force in the craft beer biz.

Unlike so many craft beer festivals that offer a predictable roster of standards, (along with an occasional seasonal thrown in) this popular beer fest takes a road less travelled.

Snallygaster is all about showcasing the unique and less common… beers not normally offered at even the most upscale beer festivals, and here is a partial compendium of most of the breweries that will be serving up their best in Washington DC on October 11^th…

US Breweries

• 3 Sons Brewery – Dania Beach, Florida
• Absolem Cider – Winthrop, Maine
• Alesong Brewing & Blending – Petersburg, Virginia
• Allagash Brewing Company – Portland, Maine
• Alma Mader Brewing – Washington, D.C.
• Alternate Ending Beer Co. – Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Ardent Craft Ales – Richmond, Virginia
• Anxo Cider – Washington, D.C.
• Aslin Beer Co. – Herndon, Virginia
• Aval Cider Co. – Ergué-Gabéric, Brittany, France
• Barreled Souls Brewing Co. – Baltimore, Maryland
• Barrique Brewing Co. – Columbus, Ohio
• Belleflower Brewing Co. – Portland, Maine
• Benchtop Brewing Co. – Norfolk, Virginia
• Bierstadt Lagerhaus – Denver, Colorado
• Bissell Brothers Brewing Co. – Portland, Maine
• Blindhouse Brewing Co. – Washington, D.C.
• Bluejacket Brewery – Washington, D.C.
• Bond Brothers Beer Co. – Cary, North Carolina
• Bottle Logic Brewing – Anaheim, California
• Burley Oak Brewing Co. – Berlin, Maryland
• Cushwa Brewing Co. – Hagerstown, Maryland
• DC Brau Brewing Co. – Washington, D.C.
• De Garde Brewing – Tillamook, Oregon
• De La Senne Brewery – Brussels, Belgium
• De Ranke Brewery – Dottignies, Belgium
• Drekker Brewing Co. – Fargo, North Dakota
• Dupont Brewery – Tourpes, Belgium
• Equilibrium Brewery – Middletown, New York
• Evil Twin Brewing NYC – Brooklyn, New York
• Finback Brewery – Queens, New York
• Foam Brewers – Burlington, Vermont
• Fonta Flora Brewery – Morganton, North Carolina
• Freigeist Bierkultur – Bendorf, Germany
• Garden Path Fermentation – Burlington, Washington
• Good Word Brewing & Public House – Duluth, Georgia
• Halfway Crooks Beer Co. – Atlanta, Georgia
• Hill Farmstead Brewery – Greensboro Bend, Vermont
• Holy Mountain Brewing – Seattle, Washington
• Hudson Valley Brewery – Beacon, New York
• Ill Will Brewing – Des Moines, Iowa
• KCBC (Kings County Brewers Collective) – Brooklyn, New York
• Lambiek Fabriek – Roeselare, Belgium
• Lost Boy Cider – Alexandria, Virginia
• Magnify Brewing Co. – Fairfield, New Jersey
• Maine Beer Co. – Freeport, Maine
• Mast Landing Brewing Co. – Westbrook, Maine
• Mikerphone Brewing – Elk Grove Village, Illinois
• Mindful Brewing Co. – Denver, Colorado
• Modestman Brewing Co. – Keene, New Hampshire
• Monkish Brewing Co. – Torrance, California
• Mortalis Brewing Co. – Avon, New York
• North Park Beer Co. – San Diego, California
• Ocelot Brewing Co. – Dulles, Virginia
• Off Color Brewing – Chicago, Illinois
• Olfactory Brewing – Kansas City, Missouri
• Ology Brewing Co. – Tallahassee, Florida
• Other Half Brewing Co. – Brooklyn, New York
• Outer Range Brewing Co. – Frisco, Colorado
• Oxbow Brewing Co. – Newcastle, Maine
• Parish Brewing Co. – Broussard, Louisiana
• Parleaux Beer Lab – New Orleans, Louisiana
• Pen Druid Brewing – Sperryville, Virginia
• Perennial Artisan Ales – St. Louis, Missouri
• Phase Three Brewing Co. – Lake Zurich, Illinois
• Port City Brewing Co. – Alexandria, Virginia
• Potter’s Craft Cider – Free Union, Virginia
• Rar Brewing – Cambridge, Maryland
• Resident Culture Brewing Co. – Charlotte, North Carolina
• Right Proper Brewing Co. – Washington, D.C.
• Sapwood Cellars – Columbia, Maryland
• Schilling Cider House – Littleton, New Hampshire
• Side Project Brewing – Maplewood, Missouri
• Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. – Chico, California
• Southern Grist Brewing Co. – Nashville, Tennessee
• Stillwater Artisanal Ales – Baltimore, Maryland
• The Answer Brewpub – Richmond, Virginia
• The Brewer’s Art – Baltimore, Maryland
• The Veil Brewing Co. – Richmond, Virginia
• Thin Man Brewery – Buffalo, New York
• Trillium Brewing Co. – Canton, Massachusetts
• Triple Crossing Beer Co. – Richmond, Virginia
• Tripping Animals Brewing Co. – Doral, Florida
• Underberg AG – Rheinberg, Germany
• Upweller Brewing Co. – Washington, D.C.
• Vitamin Sea Brewing – Weymouth, Massachusetts
• Wayward Lane Brewing Co. – Washington, D.C.
• Wheatland Spring Farm + Brewery – Waterford, Virginia
• Widowmaker Brewing – Braintree, Massachusetts
• Wild East Brewing Co. – Brooklyn, New York
• Wooden Robot Brewery – Charlotte, North Carolina

• International Breweries

• 3 Fonteinen Brewery – Beersel, Belgium
• Andechs Brewery – Andechs, Bavaria, Germany
• Augustiner-Bräu – Munich, Germany
• Blaugies Brewery – Frasnes-lez-Anvaing, Belgium
• Cantillon Brewery – Brussels, Belgium
• Cloudwater Brew Co. – Manchester, United Kingdom
• Coniston Brewing Co. – Coniston, England
• Freigeist Bierkultur – Bendorf, Germany
• Lambiek Fabriek – Roeselare, Belgium
• Mönchsambacher Brewery – Mönchsambach, Germany
• Põhjala Brewery – Tallinn, Estonia
• Rodenbach Brewery – Roeselare, Belgium
• Schönram Brewery – Schönram, Bavaria, Germany
• Thiriez Brewery – Esquelbecq, France
• Tilquin Brewery – Rebecq, Belgium
• Verhaeghe Brewery – Vichte, Belgium
• Xül Brewery – Location unclear; possibly European
• Young Master Brewery – Hong Kong