By Carol McCracken  (Post # 2,158)

New breweries are still being added to the already impressive list of breweries who will be participating in the annual Labor Day Weekend Portland Brew Festival held at the Portland Complex Company, 58 Fore Street on the bottom of Munjoy Hill.  The organizer of the event is Mak Sprague.

The Festival spotlights about 40 established and up and coming breweries with more than 120 brew products from all over New England.  New participants this year include Brewery Ommegang from Cooperstown,New York., In’Finity Brewing and Distillation from Portland; Banded Horn Brewery from Biddeford; Bantam Cider from Somerville, MA; Element Brewing from MA; and Newport Storm from Rhode Island.

In addition to commercial brewing operations, home brewing clubs and retailers will be at the event to introduce attendees to the increasingly popular hobby of home brewing.

On Saturday afternoon, NERAX will present a lecture and discussion about cask ale with an emphasis on taste testing and recognizing the way cask ale looks as it settles and clears.

Local foods vendors will offer lobster rolls from Mainely Bartenders, pizza from pizza-pie-on-the-fly, and Mexican fare from Hella Good Tacos – all of which pair well with beer!

Tickets are on sale now for $40. each at www.portlandbeerfestival.com