Live Review & Photos: CityBeat Festival of Beers 2016

CityBeat Festival of Beers
Photos by Alex Matthews

The 9th annual CityBeat Festival of Beers was held on Saturday, April 23 on El Cajon Blvd in front of the historic Lafayette Hotel.

The event is held each year to celebrate the large and diverse community of breweries and local music in San Diego. This year’s festivities included over 50 breweries both large and small. It provided an excellent chance to try unique, one-of-a-kind flavors and hear some great music as well.

Standouts of the brews this year included the hoppy and refreshing Scrimshaw Pilsner from North Coast Brewing Company, a delicious America’s Finest Pale Ale from Council Brewing Co., and a unique Great Ape Nectar Stout from Monkey Paw Brewing that was full of hazelnut and chocolate flavoring.

A fine group of local music acts was also on hand to entertain the crowd. Bands included openers Oh, Spirit, a fun, upbeat group from San Diego with a mix of pop/rock that was a perfect warm-up for the day.

Hills Like Elephants, another talented San Diego rock group, was up next. The band’s modern rock sound was infectious, and singer/keyboardist San Davenport poured out energy and emotion all afternoon. Drummer Mike Hams was on point and grooved strong the whole way through the band’s set.

Finishing the day were folk rockers Mayfield. This band, led powerfully by lead singer/acoustic guitarist Ben Bartel, mixed folk and rock influences to great effect and was a great closer for the day.

Photos: CityBeat Festival of Beers 2016

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