World Beer Festival headed to Columbia

The World Beer Festival offers an educational taste of hundreds beers under one roof.

All About Beer Magazine and Green's Discount Beverages will host the 2009 World Beer Festival on Saturday, Jan. 24, at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center. The day is a celebration of the world beer culture, providing attendees a broad sampling of hundreds of beers from over 100 breweries, food from local restaurants, educational sessions by industry experts and entertainment by local musicians.

"We are excited to bring our World Beer Festival to Columbia, where there is a burgeoning beer culture," said Daniel Bradford, publisher of All About Beer Magazine. "Columbia has an excited beer community that is eager to share the new beer experiences our World Beer Festival provides."

All About Beer Magazine's World Beer Festival mission is to educate the public in beer appreciation and beer quality and build the local beer community.

The World Beer Festival is the largest celebration of national and international craft beers in the Southeast featuring more than 100 world-class breweries and attracting more than 5,000 beer lovers. In addition, it is an educational experience, where each participant chooses two-ounce samples from a wide selection of beer styles, as well as a benefit for charity - partial proceeds benefit the River Alliance and Columbia Opportunity Recourse (COR). To date, the World Beer Festival has donated more than $90,000 to local charities.

The festival offers two four-hour sessions. Standard admission to a single session is $40, which includes beer samples, music by local bands, educational sessions by industry experts and a festival tasting glass. Tickets may be purchased online at www.allaboutbeer.com/wbfcolumbia/tickets.html. The first session will be from noon to 4 p.m., and the second session will be from 6 to 10 p.m.