Breakfast brews and food trucks at OC beer festival

Ocean City will host its inaugural Shore Craft Beer Festival and it’s going to feature some of the Eastern Shore’s most well-known breweries.

Eleven breweries will convene on Sunset Park with some selected brews. Xtreme Brewing will offer its breakfast porter and harvest ale, which were made specifically for the event by participating brewers at OCtoberfest.

“This is the only beer featured at this event and it’s the only time you’ll get to taste it,” Glenn Irwin, executive director of the Ocean City Development Corp., said. “It’s going to be a nice, cordial event.”

Attendees will be able to buy their favorite beers in cans, bottles and growlers to take home with them.

“This event will bring the breadth and the depth of local breweries as we have world-class beer right here in our backyard,” State Ventures CEO Ann McGinnis Hillyer said. “We’re getting a lot of buzz.”

One of the things both Irwin and McGinnis Hillyer recommend is the purchase of the VIP experience, which grants early admittance and the opportunity to talk with Anthony Russo and other brewers about the history and process of craft brewing. Participants will be given a tasting glass and unlimited tastings, as well as a half-price T-shirt.

Good beer wouldn’t be anything without good food. Rosenfeld’s Jewish Deli and Big Al’s will bring their food trucks loaded with sandwiches, chicken tenders, crab cakes, burgers, Italian sausage, pulled pork and more.

At the event’s end, attendees can take the party to Seacrets, where the admittance wristband will grant no cover and happy hour deals.

“You can make a whole day of it,” McGinnis Hillyer said. “It’s an opportunity to enjoy (Sunset Park) and stand out by the water and have a craft beer.”

Irwin agreed.

“(The beer industry) is a large part of our local economy and (events like these) bring people together,” he said. “There are many reasons to come.”

IF YOU GO

Shore Craft Beer Fest

When: 1:30-4:30 p.m. Oct. 24; VIP at 12:30 p.m.

Where: Sunset Park, Ocean City

Cost: $25 general admittance; $40 VIP

Online: http://www.shorecraftbeerfest.com/