History of Our Beer Festival

The Emerald Coast Beer Festival was “born” in the late 80's as “Chan's Beer and Sausage Festival.” Back in the day, Chan's was a popular hangout with locations in Pensacola and Pensacola Beach. The beach location is now “Crab's We Got 'Em” where the festival was originally held. The Escambia Bay Homebrew Club attended and helped organize a beer judging in October 1990. The following year the weather was cool and attendance suffered so Chan's management switched the date to the Friday after Labor Day. It has been held on that date ever since.

In 1992, Chan's moved the festival to the Casino Beach parking lot and hired bands to entertain. It was a financial bust and they gave up on the festival. At the time, the Florida Brewers Guild (FBG) was looking to sponsor regional beer festivals throughout Florida. The FBG sponsored our panhandle festival for two years but in 1994 we were hit with a tropical storm. It was another financial bust and the FBG withdrew its sponsorship. Enter the Escambia Bay Homebrew Club and a close partnership with Seville Quarter. We all wanted to keep it alive. It has been a 26 year run since then and a very successful one. The Emerald Coast Beer Festival is the longest running beerfest on the Gulf Coast and, in our opinion, the best. Enjoy.