5 reasons this year's Kentucky Craft Bash was the best yet

5 reasons this year's Kentucky Craft Bash was the best yet.​

The premier Kentucky craft beer festival returned for another year to transform Waterfront Park into the state's largest taproom last weekend on Saturday June 24th. A day of excitement, community, and comradery, Kentucky Craft Bash, is organized by the Kentucky Guild of Brewers serving as an invitation for Guild members to showcase their craft in one shared space. Here are five reasons why this year's festival was the best yet.

1. THE BEER
This one has to be obvious but clearly the beer is the star of the show here. With 150+ offerings this festival offered the opportunity to taste from all over Kentucky not just our backyard of Louisville. Of course the local Louisville Ale Trail stops all brought the heat and our friends from around the state did as well. Some standouts from what we tried (there was A LOT of beer to sample) were; Scout and Scholar Ol' Buddy Lager, Ethereal Brewing Baba Yaga Joyful, Darkness Brewing Mayan Sacrifice, The Brew Bridge Biru, The Void Sake Coconut Sake, and so many others.

2. SO MUCH ROOM FOR ACTIVITIES
The Vendor programming absolutely killed it this year. While savoring your special beers you could have been doing any of the following; Throwing axes with Flying Axes, dancing your ass off with Sam Sneed, Dunking a brewer in a dunk tank, brewing a beer with the LAGERS Homebrew Club, watching the homies from Home Skateshop flip and grind, or even tossing cornhole to win tickets to Jtown Beerfest or Frazier Summer Beer Fest!

3. FOOD GOOD FOOD
One thing that is an absolute must when drinking beer is having that perfect meal mid fest to power through the entire event. Craft Bash nailed all the staple offerings like Ramiro's Cantina for tacos, Hometown Pizza for slices, Red Top Hot Dogs for the most over the top dogs you could ask for, and even sweet treats from Brown Butter Crumble Co. These along with other food vendors went the extra mile to make sure everyone was fed and happy while also offering some vegetarian options. It was so delicious that my phone forgot to eat first. Trust us. 

4. NOT JUST CRAFT BEER
Beer wasn't the only craft option at this festival. Intermingled with the brewery tents was a great group of local artists with their wares to showcase. The Craftist delighted our olfactory with their handcrafted soaps in unique scents like Appletini, Leatherhead, and Rum Runner. Sunblind Fine Art + Wearables wouldn't pierce my ears but they were selling special earrings of all shapes from pints and mugs to flowers and more. There were even options for your furry friends that weren't allowed to attend with Lola D's Dog Treats serving up fresh baked goods for the love of dogs. 

5. A TOAST TO UNDERBERG
Underberg is a special drink amongst us beer lovers. The tiny 20ml bottle adorned with a green wax cap is a digestive blend of herbs from 43 countries and the perfect way to break up hours of a beer festival. A 'Berg Break is essential at a festival so we at the Louisville Ale Trail invited attendees to join us in a toast at 3pm. Organizers, Brewers, and patrons joined together in a glorious Underberg toast leaving us all refreshed and ready for the rest of the fest.
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