More than 60 brewers poured samples of their finest for about 2,000 attendees as the Electric City Craft Brew Fest served up a successful second session on Sunday.
The region's premier beer festival took over all four floors of the historic Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple. Turnout was about the same as 2012, but the crowd for the event hosted by Times-Shamrock Communications was better distributed.
"We got to spend more time with each person and speak individually to them," said Mark Lehman, co-owner of Breaker Brewing Co. of Wilkes-Barre Twp., who was among the brewers. "It's great exposure."
Bob Charles of Wilkes-Barre said the second Electric City Craft Brew Fest was his first, but not his last.
"I loved every second of it, and I won't miss another," Mr. Charles said as he made his way through the rows of brewers and distributors.
In Brew Fest's inaugural year, event organizers planned for 1,000 people and 2,000 turned out, making for tight accommodations. This year, organizers avoided deep discounting of tickets, included food samples in the ticket price and rolled the event out into more space.
The new space made for better flow and less congestion at the taps, said Timothy L. Holmes, regional director of marketing and special events for Times-Shamrock Communications, and event coordinator.
"People appreciate having more room and having food from Cooper's Seafood House, Stirna's Restaurant and the Alpine included," Mr. Holmes said.
The event also brought in some big name breweries well-known among the hops hungry, including Bell's, Sierra Nevada and Founders, who were participating for the first time.
Cameron Saunders, of Emmaus-based distributor Shangy's, poured samples of Sierra Nevada's Belgian Abbey inspired beer, Olivia.
"The crowd here is very knowledgeable and interested in what you have to say," Mr. Saunders said. "It's just another example of how craft beer is going crazy."
During the fest Lee Burke and other members of the Scranton-based Waldorf Beer Club hosted in-depth seminars on beer appreciation, including the "Pre-Prohibition History of Brewing in Scranton" and "Are You A Hop Head or Malt Maniac?"
"The beer fest makes us part of the beer community," Mr. Burke said.
The next step for the Brew Fest, which Mr. Holmes said went "remarkably well," will be to make it a two-day event, with a full-day session on Saturday and an abbreviated session Sunday.
That will bring at least a little satisfaction to Chris Zielinski of Avoca, who said the layout and crowd control was much better on the fest's sophomore outing and he appreciates seeing local breweries featured alongside big national names.
"I wish they had the Brew Fest every month rather than every year," he added.
Contact the writer: dfalchek@timesshamrock.com