Batavia Park District to hold Pints by the Pond Sept. 23

The hometown craft beer festival is back in Batavia.

The second annual Pints by the Pond Craft Beer Festival, hosted by the Batavia Park District, returns to the Peg Bond Center on Saturday, Sept. 23, for an afternoon of tastings of unique small-batch beers from 15 local breweries, including an IPA specially made for festivalgoers, according to a news release from the park district.

“There are not many options for an event like this in the area, so this is a great opportunity to sample beer from 15 diverse breweries in one location,” said Nathaniel Jarosz, Batavia Park District athletic supervisor and event organizer. “You can try beer from Art History in Geneva, Golden Fox in Decatur, Around the Bend Beer Co. in Chicago or Batavia’s own Energy City Brewery.”

It’s also a great way for festivalgoers to find breweries not even on their radar, he said in the release.

“Last year, people didn’t know that some of these places existed,” Jarosz said.

A limited number of tickets are available, Jarosz said. If the event sells out, tickets will not be sold at the festival.

“The advantage of a smaller event is that it’s a more relaxed atmosphere,” Jarosz said. “You’re not constantly waiting in line to sample beer. You can enjoy it at a leisurely pace and there’s even time to talk to the brewers and like-minded beer lovers about the samplings.”

Returning this year are 93 Octane Brewery, Around the Bend Beer Co., Art History Brewing, Brother Chimp Brewing, BubbleHouse Brewing, Energy City Brewing, Golden Fox Brewing, Obscurity Brewing, Penrose Brewing Co., Sew Hop’d Brewery and Sturdy Shelter Brewing. New breweries are Grainology Brewstillery, LaGrow Beer Co., Maplewood Brewing and Second City Meadery.

Attendees can try a special collaboration brew made just for the fest. Shumway and Flinn, a Session West Coast IPA, is the creation of two Batavia breweries that joined forces. Grainology is new to Batavia but isn’t yet set up for production, Jarosz said, so it teamed with Sturdy Shelter.

“They wanted to be involved in the fest to get their name out to the community. Sturdy Shelter offered to team up with them to present this new offering,” Jarosz said.

Food will be available to buy from GVS Italian Street Food, Fernando’s Street Kitchen and Gindo’s.

For more information on Batavia Park District programs and events, call 630-879-5235 or visit bataviaparks.org.