Side Project Brewing Announces Its First Invitational Festival, Focused on Barrel-Aged Stout

There aren’t many details at the moment, but in a move that is sure to send a shiver through the beer geek stratosphere, St. Louis’ Side Project Brewing has officially announced its first invitational festival. The Side Project Invitational will take place on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020 in Maplewood, MO, on the outskirts of St. Louis proper. According to the brewery:

We will celebrate all things winter by holding a festival focusing on Barrel-Aged Stouts and Barleywines. We are beyond excited to have some of our closest brewing friends from all over the world come to St. Louis and showcase their beers for our incredible beer community. The Side Project Invitational will also kick off Side Project’s annual Stout Week at The Side Project Cellar and Side Project Brewing tasting room. Stout Week will continue Tues., Feb. 4th, through Sun., Feb. 9th, at both locations during their regular open hours.

Tickets are not yet available, but will be sold in-person from Side Project’s Cellar and the Side Project Brewing tasting room, as well as online “on a later date.” That date has not yet been announced, but you can bet there will be a lot of people waiting in line when it comes—especially with names like Toppling Goliath, Hill Farmstead and 3 Floyds attached. The “Invitational” format of a small, curated lineup of stellar breweries, meanwhile, fits right in alongside the evolution of beer festivals we wrote about last year.

Announced breweries for the fest include plenty known for big, barrel-aged stouts, along with a few you might think of more for IPA than stout. It will be interesting to see how closely breweries hew to the barrel-aged stout/barleywine line, or whether an undercurrent of pilsner will well up during the festival, as seems to happen at other barrel-aged festival’s such as Chicago’s FOBAB.

Announced breweries include the following:

– 2nd Shift Brewing
– 3 Floyds Brewing Co.
– 3 Sons Brewing Co.
– 4 Hands Brewing Co.
– Anchorage Brewing Company
– Boulevard Brewing Co.
– Casita Cerveceria
– Creature Comforts Brewing Co.
– Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project
– Cycle Brewing
– Deschutes Brewery
– Evil Twin Brewing
– Firestone Walker Brewing Company
– Goose Island Beer Company
– Half Acre Beer Co.
– Hill Farmstead Brewery
– Holy Mountain Brewing Company
– Mikerphone Brewing
– Mikkeller
– Monkish Brewing Co.
– Narrow Gauge Brewing Company
– Off Color Brewing
– Omnipollo
– Other Half Brewing Co.
– Perennial Artisan Ales
– Pips Meadery
– Private Press Brewing
– Sante Adairius Rustic Ales
– The Bruery
– The Veil Brewing Co.
– Tired Hands Brewing Company
– Toppling Goliath Brewing Co.
– Trillium Brewing Company
– Weldwerks Brewing Co.