The Eighth-Annual Grovetoberfest Returns With More Than 500 Beer Choices

You can sample Tallahassee-based Proof Brewing's 2018 Hunahpu award-winning Blue Raspberry Evil Kiss, Triple Crossing's Waxing Poetic passionfruit-and-guava Berliner, and Southern Prohibition's All My Joy coconut, almond, and chocolate stout when Grovetoberfest returns to Miami this weekend.

This Saturday, October 13, South Florida's largest beer festival is set to return to Peacock Park, where more than three dozen national and local breweries will pour some of their best suds for the eighth year running. According to Grovertoberfest founder Tony Albelo, this year's event is shaping up to be the most exciting yet, with 128 participating breweries pouring 500-plus selections for more than 5,000 guests.

"Every year, our focus is getting the hottest and newest breweries in Florida — and across the country — to Miami," Albelo says. "I'm excited for this year's event. The caliber of the beer and the breweries attending are unmatched, from new spots like South Beach Brewing to nationally recognized names like RAR, Southern Prohibition, Finback, and Triple Crossing."

Grovetoberfest debuted in 2011, when South Florida's beer scene was almost nonexistent, with no breweries in Miami-Dade County. Albelo, who got into craft beer in early 2010, says the idea to launch Miami's first craft beer festival was born out of necessity.

"I wanted to start attending more beer festivals, but the closest one at the time was in Fort Pierce," Albelo says. "When Grovetoberfest started, there were just a handful of local breweries, so it's been awesome to see the growth of the industry along with our own growth."

This year, craft beer aficionados can sample some extremely rare beers during timed tappings throughout the day, including Hidden Springs' I'm a Crepe I'm a Weirdough (berliner with oranges, caramel, vanilla, and lactose); Calusa Brewing's Batch 200 (imperial stout with cocoa nibs, cinnamon, vanilla, and chili peppers); MIA Beer Company's Encanto De Amor (berliner with passionfruit); and J. Wakefield's BluebRacker (coconut and blueberry sour); and 7th Sun's Coffee Run (milk stout aged on Made Coffee).

Notable breweries pouring at this year's event include big names in the craft-beer world, such as Aslin, Angry Chair, Proof, Hidden Springs, Calusa, Crooked Run, Ocelot, Triple Crossing, and Voodoo Brewing.

The festival offers three ticket categories, each with a different price and entrance time, ranging from VIP at 2 p.m. to general admission at 4 p.m.

Grovetoberfest. 2 to 7 p.m. Saturday, October 13, at Peacock Park, 2820 McFarlane Rd., Coconut Grove; grovetoberfest.com. Tickets cost $35 to $89 via eventbrite.com.