(Courtesy Neighborhood Restaurant Group)

After taking a hiatus in 2020 thanks to COVID-19, one of our favorite craft beer festivals returns to the nation’s capital this weekend.

And if you’ve never attended this thing you’re 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 monster of a festival and one of the region’s most anticipated events.

You see, 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 more upscale beer festivals.

(Courtesy Neighborhood Restaurant Group)

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

On Saturday, October 9, Snallygaster 2021 is ON….200+ brewers and 450 artisan beverage offerings, cool food trucks, music and beer-fueled fun.

As always Engert is overseeing the all the breweries attending…some of brightest and most interesting in the nation. This year’s rollout will feature classic seasonal brews alongside little-known imports, rare exotic ales, artisan ciders, and even traditional, naturally carbonated cask ales.

And like the craft beer industry, Snallygaster has been evolving.

When it first debuted near Nationals Ball Park back in 2011, it was big, but not nearly the all-encompassing presentation it is today.

In 2018 the festival moved from that Navy Yards location to Pennsylvania Avenue, where it continued to add new breweries, food options, bands, and other activities.

Snallygaster has also moved away from its original ‘snallybucks’ concept, where the entrance to the event came with a certain  amount of tickets you could use for beer, to the unlimited pour concept.

The $60 Kraken Pass allows for unlimited pours of beer and wine from 2-6pm.

And Snallygaster isn’t just good drinking…It’s drinking for good.

Snallygaster serves as the largest annual fundraiser for the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a more equitable and sustainable local food system in the DC area.

During the pandemic, Arcadia sprung to action to help the local community – since March 2020, the organization has distributed 16,000 lbs. of free food to residents in low-food access neighborhoods, donated 40,000 servings of freshly harvested crops to local food pantries, and provided over 10,000 7-day meal boxes to COVID patients and their families.

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 (All image credits: Neighborhood Restaurant Group)