Some of the booths at the Workhouse Brewfest, which featured 35 craft distilleries and artisan breweries from across the region. Photo by Steve Hibbard.
About 2,000 people attended the third-annual Workhouse Brewfest on Saturday, Aug. 4, 2018, at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton. The event featured beers and wine from 35 craft distilleries and artisan breweries from across the region as well as a dozen booth exhibitors. Several bands also performed under the Pavilion on the newly renovated Quad, including Sub-Radio, Lovely Rita, and That ‘80s Band.
The event coincided with two Brewfest-specific art shows focusing on beer-related art: “I’d Tap That” and the “Brew Vessels Invitational.”
Visitors could cast their votes on their favorite beers. Winning the “Best Spirit” award for their Belle Isle Honey Habanero were Grayson Wallace and Micah Davenport. Winning the “Best Brew” award for the Honor Line of Sight was Dave Keuhner from the Honor Brewing Co. in Chantilly.
According to Frank Pappas, managing director of Workhouse Arts Center: “With Workhouse Brewfest, as with all our big public events, whether it’s our fireworks event at the Fourth of July or our Haunted Trail in October, we really try to reach out into the community and have fun activities that can bring people to our campus and sort of combine the mission of serving the public with fun activities along with introducing them to all the arts programming we do here at Workhouse. We are on the site of the former Lorton Workhouse Prison; we’re on the National Register for Historic Places and we have 85 artists on our campus – 65 who work in studios here and another 25 who share a gallery for exhibits.”
The event was produced in partnership with Celebrate Fairfax, Visit Fairfax, and Fairfax County Government. And all proceeds benefit the arts and education programs at the Workhouse Arts Center. Some of the sponsors included Insight Property Group, Christopher Cos., Coleman Power Sports, Burke & Herbert Bank, T-Mobile, INOVA Health Systems, and Outback Steakhouse.