On a cool, sunny Saturday morning, Fluor Field came to life with tents, taps and a throng of enthusiastic beer lovers. The Greenville Craft Beer Festival‘s second annual run proved a huge success, with a large crowd tackling more than 30 breweries and attending beer classes.

I had a fantastic time pouring and chatting at the Brewery 85 tent; craft beer drinkers are always the nicest! I saw a ton of familiar faces as well as a met a few new craft connoisseurs Thank you to the readers who stopped and said hi!

My favorite part, though, was spending the afternoon with the freshest face on the scene: my brother, who was celebrating his 25th birthday that day (thank for the Catawba Brewing Company glass, Billy!). I was proud to introduce him to the joys of beer fest drinking, and he offered intriguing new perspectives on beers. My favorite of the afternoon was when he took a whiff of an IPA and deduced it “smells like the downstairs while mom is cooking spaghetti.” I was floored by such a unique description.

When it was all said and done, I had the pleasure of heading to Mac’s Speedshop with a Brewery 85 regular and new friends for even more memorable beer drinking.

My sampling total was underwhelming this time—just 29 beers!—but I still found a few new favorites:

1. Sierra Nevada’s Narwhal and Celebration
2. Lagunitas DayTime
3. Natty Greene’s Red Nose Winter
4. Unknown‘s Pregame Session – The festival was this NC brewery’s first visit to Greenville. Hopefully we’ll see more of their beers soon.

I was also more focused on experiencing the festival with my brother than taking photos, so for GCBF images, visit the Facebook page or check out Marv Parker’s photos at HeadforBeer.com.

Did you attend the beer festival? What were your favorite beers?