Hops on the Mon beer festival to charm Morgantown

The inaugural Hops on the Mon beer and food festival will take place September 23 at the indoor Event Center in the Morgantown Marriott at Waterfront Place, announced organizer Top Tier Beer Group. Here are the details we learned.

Top Tier Beer Group consists of four Morgantown residents, including the Grace Hutchens, Jason Coleman, Andrew Walker, and Jay Redmond. Hutchens and Coleman are the owners of the Apothecary Ale House and Cafe, their area’s premier craft beer outlet.

Grace Hutchens said they came together because they wanted to create a festival that focused on beer as a whole. At Hops on the Mon, attendees will have the chance to sample more than 150 offerings from 50-plus local, national and international breweries. All beers served will be rigorously selected based on product quality and style distinctiveness.

“We want good local craft, good American craft, and good European craft,” she said. “It’s basically what we do here at the (Apothecary), and we want to do in festival form.”

Hutchens said they decided on an indoor venue for the fist year event to remove the possibility of bad weather impact.

“We wanted to skip those uncertainties for a first year festival.”

The Event Center’s 23,000 sq. ft. Grand Exhibit Hall will give the festival a spacious area in which to spread its wings. The building sits just above the bank of Monongahela River and opens onto the popular Caperton Trail. Holding the event at the Marriott also provided the festival an event promotion partner.

Great Grilled Cheese Challenge

In addition to beer, Hops on the Mon will feature a food competition and sampling based on a theme and with food provided by the area’s best local restaurants. This year’s competition is titled The Great Grilled Cheese Challenge and offers a $1,000 prize to the restaurant wining the people’s choice award.

Around 8-10 restaurants will be selected to compete for the title. When you come into the festival, you’ll receive a token that you use to vote for your favorite food. The food theme will change each year.

Hops on the Mon ticket information

Tickets for the event are $60 for VIP with early entry, $45 general admission. Admission includes beer samples and a souvenir tasting glass. Food samples will be available at extra cost. Tickets go on sale July 7.

Because the event is indoors, they’ll be able to have a real glass tasting glass, rather than the plastic ones normally required at outdoor events.

More information at the festival website.