• Alexis Dickie
• On January 16, 2025
• http://adventuresandales.com
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The Rare & Vintage Beer Tasting returns for its 13th year on Saturday, January 25. A 100% not-for-profit event, the proceeds this year are all going to the Michael James Jackson Foundation for Brewing & Distilling (MJF).

NC Rare Beer takes place at the Historic Durham Athletic Park in Downtown Durham. This was built in 1926 and home to the Durham Bulls minor league baseball team until 1994. The main event takes place from 3-6pm on Saturday, January 25, with a VIP session from 2-3pm.

Tickets are going fast and can be purchased here. General Admission Tasting Tickets are $110.96 with taxes and fees, VIP Imperial Tasting Tickets are $145.37 with taxes and fees. VIP tickets include a t-shirt and an hour early entry. Both tickets include tastings from 50+ breweries, appetizers provided by Wooden Nickel Farms, bottled water, sodas and specialty glassware.

A Different Kind of Beer Event

Dean James, event co-organizer, says NC Rare Beer is different. “No offense to beer fests; they can be amazing, but we just aren’t interested in hosting a massive pile of people trying to jam as much fluids into their bodies as possible before the bell rings. Rare and Vintage celebrates the communal excitement of sampling rare craft beers, and to us that means modeling it essentially as the biggest bottle share you’ve ever attended.”

The Rare & Vintage Beer Tasting benefits The Michael James Jackson Foundation for Brewing & Distilling (MJF). This is a fantastic organization founded by Garrett Oliver that bestows scholarship awards to Black, Indigenous and People of Color within the brewing/distilling industries. This festival has raised $145,000 and counting for its charity partners over the years. They expect to raise $10,000-$15,000 for the MJF this year.

The Beers

This fest is designed as a more intimate environment than your average beer festival. Tickets are capped at 500 attendees and beverage and food offerings are intentionally curated. Check out the evolving beer list here. There will be 50+ breweries from North Carolina and across the country including the following:

• Bond Brothers Beer Co
• Notch Brewing
• E9 Brewing
• Atomic Clock
• DSSOLVR
• Ben’s American Sake
• Southern Pines
• Good Word
• Bottle Logic
• Postdoc Brewing
• The Veil
• HopFly Brewing
• Appalachian Mountain Brewery
• Odd Colony
• Forgotten Road Ales
• Pinthouse
• NoDa Brewing
• Fair Isle
• Wicked Weed
• Goose Island Beer Co
• Phase Three
• Cellarest Beer Project
• Allagash
• Eno River Brewing
• Finback
• Trophy Brewing
• Fonta Flora
• The CommUNITY
• Cantillon
• Blackbird Brewery
• Barrique Brewing & Blending
• Vīdl Cellars
• Resident Culture
• Human Robot
• Burial Beer Company
• Põhjala
• Triple Crossing
• Glass Jug Beer Lab
• Jester King
• Divine Barrel
• Trillium, Unseen Creatures
• 3 Fonteinen
• Bluejacket
• Diatribe Brewing
• Schilling
• The Drowned Lands
• Pilot Brewing
• Cohesion
• Edmund’s Oast
• Fox Farm
• The Seed: A Living Beer Project
• Firestone Walker
• Other Half
• Birdsong Brewing
• KCBC
• Tripping Animals
• Hardywood
• Bissell Brothers
• Drekker Brewing
• Benchtop
• Hi-Wire Brewery.

Satellite Events

The Rare & Vintage Tasting will also continue to expand retail sponsorships as it maintains a series of satellite events with local craft beer venues. By committing donations to the MJF, retail partners get access to exclusive beers from breweries involved in the event, and a built-in, beer-drinking audience as people gather in Durham for the weekend. The schedule is as follows:

• Rare + Vintage Takeover at Beer Study Durham on Thursday, January 23 (all day) featuring beers from Schilling, Bluejacket, Barrique, Finback, Fox Farm and The Seed
• Rare + Vintage Beer Release at Glass Jug Downtown on Thursday, January 23
• Trophy Takeover at Glass Jug RTP on Thursday, January 23
• Wooden Nickel Pre-Party on Thursday, January 23 at 5pm
• Rare + Vintage Brewers Forum on Friday, January 24 from 1-4pm at Atomic Clock Brewing
• Rare + Vintage Brewers Reception on Friday, January 24 from 6:30-11pm at Beer Study Durham
• Rare + Vintage After-Party on Saturday, January 25 from 6-10pm at DSSOLVR Durham for a Retro Rewind featuring 90’s nostalgia
• Sunday Brunch on January 26 from 9am-1pm at Atomic Clock Brewing

James says “We work diligently not only to host our event, but to connect out-of-state breweries with local wholesalers. They in turn help bring epic amounts of limited release beer into our market each January, so that craft beer bars in Durham & beyond can have access to breweries that sometimes only hit NC once a year.”

We look forward to our first ever Rare and Vintage tasting next weekend. Join us and get your tickets today!