AleFest Columbus, now in its 6th year, is a craft beer festival featuring over 180 great beers including rare draughts and casks from nearly 100 world class breweries. The fest this year features live entertainment from Nick Mitchell, retail sales of your favorite beer merch, silent auction, raffle, food concession and a lil’ bit o’ assorted swag for showin’ up.

When: Saturday, February 5, 2011 from 2-6pm
Where: Aladdin Shrine Center Ballroom
How much: $35.00 – Admission includes 20 samples of craft beer, commemorative tasting glass, and tasting guide. Buy online or at the door. Designated driver/non-drinker tickets are available for $10 and include a bottle of water and an AleFest glass.

Wondering what your tastebuds are in for? Here’s the current beer selection:

What beer are you most looking forward to trying?

No, the quarter in “quarter beer” here doesn’t refer to the quantity in the kegs, but rather the location – The Old Worthington Quarter will once again host its annual Beer Festival. Located at High Street and New England Avenue, the Quarter houses event organizers House Wine and Rivage Atlantique, as well as The Candle Lab, Elli Nail, Spa, Little Tree Studios and Graeter’s Ice Cream.

This year the beer festival has been moved to fall with an Octoberfest theme, featuring fall beers from American craft breweries. Here’s the current beer lineup (subject to change):

Creative Commons Photo Credit: swanksalot

Your next chance to sample a wide variety of beers from breweries around the world is just around the corner.

And if you were at this past weekend’s Winter Beerfest at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, you’ll probably be pleased to learn that with AleFest’s slightly smaller variety of beer and fanfare comes significantly smaller crowds and chaos.

The 7th Annual Columbus AleFest takes place Saturday, February 4 at the Aladdin Shrine Center from 2-6pm. AleFest Columbus features over 180 beers, including rare draught & cask varieties, from more than 70 breweries. A wide range of popular breweries will be present, including Bell’s, Dogfish Head, Founder’s, Goose Island, Rogue, Southern Tier, Troëgs and Victory. Ohio breweries Brewkettle, CBC, Rockmill, Weasel Boy and Wooden Shoe will be representing the Buckeye state. A full list of breweries and beers can be found here.

$40 admission includes 20 tasting tickets and a tasting glass. You can get your tickets online or at the door. Designated driver/non-drinker tickets are also available for $10 and include a bottle of water and an AleFest glass.

One of my favorite beer events in Columbus is back May 12 at Barley’s Smokehouse and Brewpub: Mini Real Ale Fest!

The event exclusively features firkins of “Real Ale”, or cask ale — unfiltered and unpasteurised beer served directly from the cask it is conditioned in, without added CO2.

I’ve been two of the last three years, and the only reason I didn’t make it last year was because I accidentally scheduled my wedding on the same day. Though I did consider sneaking over before the ceremony for a couple pints in my wedding dress.

Participating breweries at this year’s fest include, from Ohio: Barley’s Brewing Company, Barley’s Smokehouse & Brewpub (yes, they are different breweries), Columbus Brewing Company, Gordon Biersch Brewery, Elevator Brewery, Weasel Boy Brewing Company, The Brew Kettle and Lagerheads Brewing Company. Non-Ohio breweries represented are Bell’s Brewery, Green Flash Brewing Company, Southern Tier Brewing Company, Flying Dog Brewery, Clipper City Brewing Company and Harviestoun Brewery.

Tickets are $35 (which includes a pint glass and eight drinks tickets) and can be purchased online or by stopping into Barley’s Smokehouse. The fest will take place from 1-4pm on May 12.

And drink a pint or five for me at the event. I won’t be able to make it again this year, because we’ve already booked our anniversary trip. This marriage is tearing my ale affair apart.

Brews Cafe in Granville – admittedly one of my favorite beer bars – is hosting a beer tasting event featuring solely Ohio breweries.

Participating breweries include Four String Brewing, Zauber Brewing and Spruce Campbell Brewing from Columbus, as well as Blank State Brewing (Cincinnati), Dayton Beer Company (Dayton), Ohio Brewing Company (Akron), Main Street Brewing (Garretsville), Jackie O’s (Athens), Buckeye Lake Brewing (Buckeye Lake) and Granville Brewing (Granville).

The event will take place Saturday, August 18 from 5-9pm. Tickets are $35 per person and include a glass, 14 beer samples and appetizers. Call (740) 587-0249 for reservations.

The third annual Columbus Winter Beerfest will take place Friday, January 11 and Saturday, January 12 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

The festival boasts over 300 craft beers, including brews from around the corner and across the country.

$35 admission is good for 25 tasting tickets, each good for a 5oz sample. Doors will open at 7:30 pm, but VIP Early Entry tickets are available for 6:30pm admission for $45, and are on sale for $35 through 12/25 with the code “CD1025″ at checkout. Designated driver tickets are also available for $15. Tickets are available online at beerfesttickets.com

Barley’s Smokehouse and Brewpub will host their tenth annual Mini Real Ale Fest on Saturday, May 4.

The event exclusively features firkins of “real ale”, or cask ale — unfiltered and unpasteurised beer served directly from the cask it is conditioned in, without added CO2.

Participating at this year’s fest are several beloved breweries from across the country like Bell’s, Flying Dog, Four String, Lagunitas, Oskar Blues and Southern Tier, and a few locals like Four String and of course Barley’s. A full list of partiicpating breweries and their cask-conditioned beer is available on the Smokehouse website.

Tickets are $35 and include a pint glass plus twelve tasting tickets. Tickets can be purchased online or by stopping into Barley’s Smokehouse. The fest will take place from noon-3pm on May 4.

In my opinion this is possibly the best beer event in Columbus so don’t miss it!

The 2nd Annual Grove City Lions Club Spring Craft Beer Fest will take place April 27 at Beulah Park in Grove City from 2-6pm.

The event will feature over 120 beers from local distributors Cavalier, Columbus Distributing, Premium Beverage, Superior, Glazer’s and Heidelberg. The list of beers will be available online soon.

Funds raised by the event will be used to purchase a Guide Dog for a local sight impaired individual through the Pilot Dog organization.

Tickets are $35 presale, $40 day of event and include a souvenir tasting glass and 20 tasting tickets. $5 Designated Driver tickets include a souvenir tasting glass, free non-alcoholic beverages and a food voucher. Volunteers are also being accepted to pour and take tickets.

You can find more information at http://springcraftbeerfest.com

The 8th Annual North Market Microbrew Festival will take place September 13-15 in the lot outside the North Market. The first event in 2006 featured a modest six local breweries (because that’s all there were eight years ago); this year, the event has grown to a dozen Central Ohio breweries, plus seven more from around the state.

Participating Central Ohio microbreweries are Barley’s Brewing Company, Barley’s Smokehouse & Brewpub, Buckeye Lake Brewery, Columbus Brewing Company, Elevator Brewing Company, Four String Brewing Company, Gordon Biersch Brewery, Homestead Beer Company, Hoof Hearted Brewing, North High Brewing and Seventh Son Brewing. Other Ohio breweries that will be pouring include Great Black Swamp Brewing Company (Toledo), Great Lakes Brewing Company (Cleveland), Lagerheads Brewing Company (Medina), Mt. Carmel Brewing Company (Cincinnati), Ohio Brewing Company (Akron), Thirsty Dog Brewing Company (Akron) and Weasel Boy Brewing Company (Zanesville).

Beer tasting admission is $20 and includes a pint glass, ten tasting tickets and a $5 North Market food certificate. Discount coupons good for $2 off admission will be available at Heartland Bank branches in September. Additional tasting tickets will be available for $1 each. Tickets will be available in advance online starting September 1st, at the North Market business office and at the door on the days of the event.

The tastings will take place from 5-10pm on Friday, 12-10pm on Saturday, and 12-5pm on Sunday. Live music is scheduled all three days with performances by local musicians including Ian Humel, Collin Gawel, The Shaw Brothers, Molly Winters, Cowboy Hillbilly Hippie Folk, Joey Hebdo and Willie Phoenix. See the North Market event page for a full performance lineup.

One of my favorite beer events in Columbus is back June 7 at the recently re-branded Smokehouse Brewing: Mini Real Ale Fest!

The event exclusively features firkins of “real ale”, or cask ale — unfiltered and unpasteurised beer served directly from the cask it is conditioned in, without added CO2.

Confirmed breweries include Actual Brewing, The Brew Kettle, Columbus Brewing Company, Fat Heads, Four String, Great Lakes, Hoppin’ Frog, Jackie O’s, Mad Tree, Rivertown Brewing, Seventh Son, Thirsty Dog, Weasel Boy and, of course, Smokehouse. As breweries are added and beers are finalized, they will be added to Smokehouse’s website. Included in that lineup will be Fat Head’s Zest for Breasts, an American Wheat loaded with hops and hand-zested lemon, tangerine and clementine, sales of which benefit the Stephanie Spielman Fund to support breast cancer research.

Mini Real Ale Fest will take place Saturday, June 7 from 12-3pm. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased online or at the brewpub.

The Grandview Craft Beer Alliance, the force behind February’s High Gravity Hullabaloo, is taking the ABV down a notch for their second event, The Summer Session, which will feature low gravity, sessionable brews.

Participating breweries include Actual Brewing, Four String Brewing, Homestead Beer, Hoof Hearted Brewing, North High Brewing, Rhinegeist Brewing, Seventh Son Brewing, Wolf’s Ridge Brewing and Zauber Brewing.

Food will be provided by Kenny’s Meat Wagon, ManBQue and Matt the Miller’s Tavern. The event will also feature live comedy, music and demonstrations.

In addition to an afternoon of day drinking, The Summer Session will be offering local homebrewers the chance to can their homebrew through Buckeye Canning. There are only 20 slots available for canning, so if you want the chance to can your creations, you need to sign up ASAP. Canning will be $25 per homebrewer in addition to the cost of entrance to the event, and will produce two cases of cans to take home. Canning tickets can be purchased here: summersession.bpt.me.

The Summer Session will take place from 3-7pm on August 23. Tickets for The Summer Session are $25 and can be purchased online.

Columbus Craft Beer week is wrapping up this Saturday with Six One Pour, a big beer fest in the heart of the Brewery District featuring all Ohio-made beer.

Thirty Ohio craft breweries will be pouring local beer at the event, including Actual, Barley’s, Brew Kettle, Buckeye Lake, Christian Moerlein, Columbus Brewing, Fat Head’s, Four String, Great Lakes, Homestead, Jackie O’s, Land-Grant, Lineage, MadTree, North High, Phoenix, Pigskin, Rhinegheist, Sam Adams, Seventh Son, Sideswipe, Smokehouse, Thirsty Dog, Warped Wing, Weasel Boy, Willoughby, Wolf’s Ridge, Yellow Springs, Zaftig and Zauber.

In addition, all seven collaborative beers brewed as part Columbus Craft Beer Week will be available at the event. If you haven’t had a chance to try them yet, some really cool stuff came out of these collaborations. My favorites the Four String/Land-Grant/Sideswipe Ghidorah Peach Saison; the Wolf’s Ridge/Elevator Hoppy Kolsch; the Seventh Son/Homestead “Gatekeeper” and “Keymaster” set (I preferred the Gatekeeper, but by a narrow margin); and the Smokehouse/Zaftig Oak Skyhopper pale ale.

There will also be live music from The Lovebenders and Matt Monta, and a special menu created by Chipotle, who also worked with Columbus Brewing to feature a habanero-and-citrus infused Bodhi. In addition, local breweries were tasked with creating the tallest, still-functional tap handles, and the Tallest Tap Handle judging will take place at the event.

Six One Pour will take place this Saturday, May 9 from 5-9pm inside the historic Brewmaster’s Gate, once part of August Wagner’s brewery. Tickets are $40 advance or $50 at the door.

Dare to have a hauntingly fun time at the Columbus Zoo’s Boos and Brews Costume Concert on October 28.

The first-time event will serve up craft beer, food and live entertainment from Taylor Shannon, David Adam Byrnes and Grammy nominated country artist Keith Anderson. The event will feature costume contest with a $500 prize — categories include Best Individual Costume, Best Couples Costume, Best Group, Best Jack Hanna Costume and Best Country Music Star Costume.

Tickets, which include two 16-ounce beer tickets and all-day zoo admission, are $30 per person through October 9 or $40 per person after. VIP tickets, which include extra drink tickets, a private beer station and food from Average Joe’s, are available for $60 per person through October 9 or $70 per person after. Designated driver tickets are also available for $15. All tickets can be purchased online.

Boos and Brews will take place Friday, October 28 from 6-11pm at the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium, located at 4850 Powell Road.

full disclosure: the Columbus Zoo is an advertiser