CREDIT: KERRA SEAY
On Sept. 29 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., the FSU will be hosting its first ever craft beer festival. So come out and enjoy a local brew.

You’ve heard it right, the Fanshawe Student Union (FSU) is bringing a craft beer festival to the school for the first time ever.

“We thought instead of just carrying at the bar, why don’t we try to showcase it and that’s what we decided to do,” said Ismael Viegas, FSU’s Hospitality Services Manager.

The event will take place on Sept. 29 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Forwell hall with eight to 10 breweries attending the festival, each bringing two to three beers of their choice.

So far FSU has five confirmed breweries: Railway City, Forked River, Anderson Craft Ales, Saw Dust City and Steamwhistle.

“We’ve asked them to taper their portfolio that day to something we would like to see in our area, [regarding taste and price],” Viegas said.

Viegas said that these beers will have more similarities to the beers found in the mainstream market, as opposed to jumping right into a hoppy IPA.

“We have gateway beers to craft beer,” Viegas said. “We have beers that are similar to the ones that the regular folk would drink at home, but they have a tiny bit of that extra flavor they are not accustomed to.”

With that being said, however, the event will have dark stouts, honey stouts and some other darks as well, appealing to any beer lover.

This event is 19-plus and has free admission, though actually tasting the beers costs a bit of money.

Students can purchase five sample tickets for $12, or 10 sample tickets for $20. The event will also have live music and will be catered by Fanshawe’s culinary arts students.

According to Viegas, the culinary students will be making appetizers using craft beer as an ingredient.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity at a very low cost to come in and sample what’s local, what’s new, what’s innovative and frankly at the price [students pay], you really can’t go wrong.”

When asking around Fanshawe, students seem excited to attend the event and taste a cold brew.

“I would definitively attend the event,” said Ken McDonald, a fourth year Fanshawe student working to get his bachelor of commerce-digital marketing degree. “With the craft beer market being so saturated, it is hard to try out all the [different] kinds and brands in order to find the one you like.”

According to McDonald, bringing this many craft breweries to the school and giving the students easy access will allow them to explore and try local flavours.

“Having them all in one location close to home will [make it easier to find one you like],” McDonald said. “This should be a fun time.”