These are the next 19 Rochester Real Beer Expo participants

My wife is gonna be so proud of me. I am so organized right now and so far ahead of schedule. (There will be a few more stragglers.)

I turn 40 in 17 days and I am freaking out just a wee bit. It’s only a number and it surely doesn’t mean much. But it is still a bit jarring. It’s gonna be cool and it’s gonna be ok, promise.

(Thanks for letting me share a bit of my anxiety with you.)

More importantly (at least for those who come to this space frequently), we had a fully booked Rochester Real Beer Expo. (Hey distributors, please read the note below before you pepper me with texts and emails.)

Here are the next 19 confirmed participants. This is a list that I’m particularly proud of, because it took a lot of effort and communication and follow-through to convince and collect these breweries. We’ve got a bigger selection of Ontario breweries this year, as well as an ever-growing list of new-to-Rochester spots. Ten of the 19 here have never poured in Rochester.

Photo: Here’s a can of Wayward Lane’s Czech amber lager. I am beyond elated that the reigning NYS brewery of the year is coming to Rochester in June to share their incredible beer with us for the first time ever.

I am keeping the focus more regional this year (there is a lot of incredible beer within 5-6 hours of Rochester). I have three outstanding invites right now (fingers crossed and then crossed again).

If you want to kick it VIP style, I suggest you move quickly. Those tickets are flying right now and will surely sell out long before the festival. (VIP tickets sold out by April last year.) I am also particularly proud of the fact that the ticket prices haven’t increased at all this year. More details here: https://www.ticketreturn.com/prod2new/BuyNew.asp?EventID=343454.

Here they are!

1. Third Moon Brewing, Milton, Ontario, Canada

2. Old Thunder Brewing, Blawnox, PA

3. Badlands Brewing, Caledon, Ontario, Canada

4. Matron Fine Beer, Bloomfield, Ontario, Canada

5. True History Brewing, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

6. Bellwoods Brewery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

7. Masthead Brewing, Cleveland, OH

8. Wayward Lane Brewing, Schoharie

9. Grimm Artisanal Ales, Brooklyn

10. Heavy Reel Brewing, Seaside Heights, NJ

11. Imprint Beer, Hatfield, PA

12. Arkane Aleworks, Largo, FL

13. Blood Brothers Brewing, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

14. Celestial Beerworks, Dallas, TX

15. Finback Brewery, Queens

16. Magnanimous Brewing, Tampa, FL

17. Brewlihan Mead, Oakland Park, FL

18. 903 Brewers, Sherman, TX

19. Dewey Beer, Dewey Beach, DE

Note: Before you bombard with me with emails (I’m looking at you local distributors), don’t. We’ve got a bit more flexibility and will have some talks this coming week about adding some of the brands you feel strongly about. And I know we will ultimately add some of those breweries, especially as some of these already-confirmed spots drop out due to unforeseen circumstances.

So yeah, please come hang with us on Saturday, June 8. I don’t think there will be a better collection of breweries assembled for a local beer festival this year. (Though you know August’s Flower City Brewers Fest at the Rochester Public Market will again be awesome.)

Get your tickets to the Expo soon, I recommend it. And stay turned for a series of Prost Profile introductions to some of the newcomers, as well as a future announcement of beers we will feature for the event.