BRATTLEBORO — The Brattleboro Brewers Festival will open the spigots on the beer festival season this Saturday at the VABEC fields off Old Guilford Road, beginning at noon and running until 4 p.m.
And on the following Saturday, May 21, in Pownal at the Green Mountain Race Track, the Green Mountain Brewfest will debut, also from noon to 4 p.m.
The Brattleboro Festival will include 27 producers of beer, five of hard cider, and one hard seltzer maker, Truly Spiked & Sparkling.
Along with returning favorites, a few breweries are making their first appearance at the festival, including the new Goodwater Brewery of Williston, the reborn Trout River Brewing Company of Springfield, and the Shmaltz Brewing Company of Clifton Park, N.Y.
Several brewed-just-for-the-Festival concoctions will be available, including a cask ale from Northshire Brewing of Bennington and a Red Bomber Cider from Howler Brewery of Hatfield, Mass., maker of Mocha Joe's Coffee Porter.
And Brattleboro's own Whetstone Station will unveil a collaboration beer made with Otter Creek Brewing, the Fruity Pebbles Tripel, which does indeed contain some Fruity Pebbles cereal in the mix.
A few Vermont brewers not at the Brattleboro festival will pour at Pownal, including J'ville Craft Brewery, Farnham Ale & Lager of South Burlington, 14th Star Brewing Company of St. Albans, and Roaring Brook Brewing of Killington.
Bands and food vendors will embellish both events, but no children or pets (other than service animals) are permitted at either.