Festival Prep

Festival Basics

• Saturday, October 15, 2022
• 1:00 – 5:00 PM
• Boom Island Park, Minneapolis
• Link: Event Website and Tickets
• Link: ABR Facebook Event
• Link: Boom Island Park on Google Maps
• Link: Upload Beers by October 7
• Link: Festival Map for Breweries & Vendors

Festival Weekend Timeline

Friday, October 14
Optional Early Keg Drop Off
12:30-6:30 PM
Reefer Truck Location Map Pin
You can start to set up your booth Friday afternoon, but there will not be overnight security; set up at your own risk!

Member Meeting
6:00-7:00 PM
Please RSVP for your team so we can order enough food, and bring beer to share!

What We Provide, What You Provide

What The Guild Provides

• 10×10 Space*
• One 8ft table and two chairs
• 4 free wristbands and glasses for your working staff
• ONE parking space per brewery/brewpub pouring
• Private Hospitality Tent with food, drinks, and bathrooms
• Ice and water
• Pre-fest radio, social media, and Untappd App promotions

What You Provide

• Product and Staffing (all staff must be 21+ – no exceptions!)
• 10×10 Tent
• Additional tables/chairs if desired
• Quick covers/table cloths
• Booth decor, activities, signage, giveaways
• Hand carts, your own staff for keg delivery/set up/tear down
• Beer list by October 7 – submit your beer here!
  THC/CBD beverages cannot be poured at Autumn Brew Review this year. We are still assessing the legal processes and ramifications for these products at our festivals; we hope to be able to make a change to this policy for future fests.

*Please be mindful of your neighbors and the fest layout: do not expand beyond your 10×10 space!

Click the next tab for To Dos and highlights of what’s new for this year’s ABR.

To Do ASAP

Promote Your Presence
Post about pouring at Autumn Brew Review before October! We’ve included sample posts and images on the Promotions Tab of this page. Or, you can just share our Facebook event. 

Upload Your Beers By October 7
We’re partnering with Untappd to offer more promotion of your business and beers to craft beer fans before, during, and after ABR. Learn more on the Untappd Tab of this page, and submit your beers here. To be featured in the fest app, all beers must be submitted on the form by October 7 – this is a hard technical deadline that we cannot extend.

Note: THC/CBD beverages cannot be poured at Autumn Brew Review this year. We are still assessing the legal processes and ramifications for these products at our festivals; we hope to be able to make a change to this policy for future fests.

Buy Discount Brewery Staff Tickets
Each registered brewery will get 4 free staff wristbands when you arrive at brewery check-in. If you would like to purchase additional tickets for your staff, use your member discount for 50% off.

Discount staff tickets are limited! When we run out, members will have to buy full-price tickets. Please only use the below discount code for your staff!

Buy additional tickets here. Enter promo code ABR22MembTix in the box after clicking the blue “Enter promo code” text at the top of the ticket order form.

New For ABR 2022

Sell Merch at the Fest!
The Guild now allows merchandise sales at our fests. A few things to note:

• NO alcohol or THC sales of any type at the fest
• There will not be an ATM at the fest
• Provide your own hotspots/internet if you plan to accept cards

Revamped Voting
ABR will feature in-person only voting at the MNCBG PAC Tent. Winners of our Best Booth and Best Beer vote get a free Creative Booth at next year’s ABR ($500 value).

Regional Groupings
One of the most common requests we get from members is to group our festival layout by region. We’re testing that idea out at ABR ’22 for the first time; download the fest map to see!

Untappd Partnership
We’re using Untappd for our festival app and beer menu. Check out the Untappd tab on this page for more information.

Click the next tab for Festival Load-In, Out info.

LOAD-IN

• Download the Festival Map for Breweries & Vendors
• Bring your own hand trucks/carts and staff for all load in/out. No vehicles can drive on the park grounds.
•  Saturday load-in opens at 8:30 AM and must be complete by 12:30 PM.
  • You may start setting up your booth Friday afternoon, but there is minimal park security overnight. Set up early at your own risk.
• Get free Metro Transit rides to and from the fest by taking this survey.

Saturday Set Up

• Arrive at the Boom Island Park Lot starting at 8:30 AM.
  • There is room for ONE VEHICLE PER BREWERY in this lot. All other brewery vehicles will need to park in the overflow parking lots across 8th Ave (see lot map here)
• Walk directly to your booth to begin setting up.
  • Need a paper map? Swing by the Brewery Check-In Tent to grab one!
  • Your booth will have a Booth Bag taped to it. Your Booth Bag contains a card with your brewery name on it, 4 wristbands, ice tickets, instructions, and more!
• Glassware: Bring the card with your name on it to the Brewery Check-In Tent (sponsored by Hopsteiner). We’ll give you four glasses in exchange for your card.
  • Bring additional purchased tickets to this table at this time. We will scan additional staff tickets and issue you more wristbands and glassware.
• Ice: Starting at 11:30 AM, volunteers will begin delivering ice to booths in golf carts. Ice can also be picked up directly at the ice truck. You must exchange an ice ticket for a bag of ice at the cart or truck. Ice tickets are in your booth bags.
• Water: Water for booth use is located at the three picnic shelters (blue water drops on map). Please get all needed water from one of these locations BEFORE the festival starts. The water truck taps are for drinking ONLY, and will not be open until the festival starts.
• NA Tent: If you volunteered to bring NA beverages to ABR, please drop them off at our N/A tent on Saturday by 12:30 PM. Please return to the booth at the end of the fest to collect unopened product!

THE FEST

Sampling

• ABR will have ~2,700 attendees, plan your samples accordingly.
• The legal beer sampling size is 2oz. DO NOT OVERPOUR.
• NO THC products can be sampled or sold at ABR.
• DD/Sober ticket holders will be wearing a [ pink wristband ]. DO NOT SERVE these attendees alcohol.
• We will announce “Last Call” at 4:45 PM. Pouring must stop at 5:00 PM SHARP. Please set an alarm on your phones!!

Merchandise Sales
Merchandise sales are now allowed at Guild festivals. Reminder: NO THC or alcohol sales of any type (vouchers, coupons, etc.). There will not be an ATM at the festival; please provide your own hotspots/internet if you plan to accept cards.

Plan to Win: Voting and Awards

• Voting for Best Beer and Best Brewery Booth will occur IN PERSON. Guests can vote at the PAC booth (marked on map) and get an “I Voted” sticker. Encourage attendees to vote for you!
• You are only eligible to participate if you upload your beers!
• Winners will be announced at 4:45 PM at the event and on MNCBG social media. Winners are given a free Creative Booth at next year’s fest ($500 value).

Brewery Food and Hospitality Tent

• Prairie Malt will be providing Brewery Happy Hour snacks during set-up.
• Catered food will be available in the Hospitality Tent starting at 12:00. The Hospitality Tent will also have water, coolers for shared beer, and private bathrooms. Please bring beer to share!
• Only people with a brewer/vendor wristband will be allowed to enter the Hospitality Tent.

AFTER THE FEST

Clean Up

• Please dispose of any trash/recycling in the containers provided throughout the fest.
• All breweries must be loaded out by 6:00 PM. Plan to cart your equipment/kegs back to your vehicle: you cannot drive onto the park grass for load-out.
• Vehicles CANNOT be left overnight in any nearby parking lots. Please plan safe transportation for your staff, gear, and vehicles after the fest.

Afterparties

• More information coming soon.

Click the next tab for Promotion and Untappd Information

ABR Can Help You Promote!

Sign Up for a Ticket Giveaway
The first two breweries who email us about doing a giveaway will get 2 tickets to ABR for a fan contest/raffle.

Submit Your Beers Early
We are partnering with Untappd to provide the ABR beer menu directly in the app! The sooner you share your fest beers with us, the sooner attendees will be able to see you. Untappd gets 20,000 users each month in the metro alone, and we’re promoting our fest to all of them! Learn more on the following tab, and submit your beers here.

Note: THC/CBD beverages cannot be poured at Autumn Brew Review this year. We are still assessing the legal processes and ramifications for these products at our festivals; we hope to be able to make a change to this policy for future fests.

Post About the Fest
Let your fans know where to find you! If you post about ABR and tag us, we will share it with our fans too. You can find media assets and sample posts below, or you can just share the Facebook event. 

Sample Social Posts

These are just a few ideas of posts you could share to your followers. Feel free to be creative and make your own! Promote your beers or your booth activities, and be sure to tag the Guild so we can share your post to our followers as well.

• Will we see you at Autumn Brew Review? Stop by our tent at ABR on October 15 in Minneapolis for some of our favorite fall selections. Tickets are limited! Get yours at  www.mncraftbrew.org/ABR! #AutumnBrewReview
• We’re looking forward to the #AutumnBrewReview fest on October 15! We’ll be bringing [beer list]. Stop by to try them out! Tickets are limited; get yours at  www.mncraftbrew.org/ABR!
• We have a blast at #AutumnBrewReview every year! Will you be joining us? Stop by our tent at ABR on October 15 in Minneapolis for some of our favorite fall selections. Tickets here:  www.mncraftbrew.org/ABR

New This Fest: We’re Partnering with Untappd!

See the ABR Festival page here. The first round of beer submissions are already up! Submit your beers before October 7 to be included.

Why Are We Partnering with Untappd?
One of the most common requests we get at our festivals is to connect the app to Untappd so attendees can rate fest beers. This year at ABR, attendees will be able to do just that!

We’ll build a festival-specific page on Untappd that hosts the beer menu, map, etc. So, if you’re pouring at ABR, attendees will be able to share drinks, ratings, and photos in real-time with their friends in the app, increasing your brand awareness much further than just the attendees of the festival. We are the only Guild and festival in the region partnering with Untappd, and we are very excited to try this new tool to promote your breweries and beers more than ever before!

Note: THC/CBD beverages cannot be poured at Autumn Brew Review this year. We are still assessing the legal processes and ramifications for these products at our festivals; we hope to be able to make a change to this policy for future fests.

How Does It Work? 
Use this link to tell us which beers you’ll be bringing to ABR. We’ll load your beers into our Untappd Festival Event Beer Menu. Anyone visiting our Untappd page will be able to see what you’re bringing to ABR, and when they try your beers, they’ll be able to rate them right in the app.

The beers you submit to us will be visible on the app starting in late September; the sooner you tell us your beers, the more promotion you get! It takes a little more than a week to set up the beer menu, so you must submit your beers by October 7! 

Should We Submit Our NA Product Too?
Yes! If you plan to bring NA product to ABR, even if you’re donating it to our NA tent, please plan to also pour it at your booth. If you do that, load your NA beverage into our form just like you are with your beers. This way, attendees can try your NA product at our booth AND at your booth, for maximum reach!

All Our Beers Are Already in Untappd. Do We Need To Use the Form?
Yes! Our form is the only way to get your beers on our festival app.

Will Attendees Have to Download Untappd for This to Work?
No. Our festival page will be viewable in a browser. Attendees will not need to download an app or have an account to use it. (An account will be needed if they want to rate/review your beers in the app.)

What if My Brewery Doesn’t Have an Untappd Account? 
No problem! If you don’t use Untappd, we can still load-in your beers to the festival’s beer menu, and attendees can still rate them and share that they’ve tried your beers with their friends and the public. Your business won’t be obligated to use the platform in any way. If you have any concerns, please email us.

What if We Have Special Releases, Timed Releases, etc?
The Untappd app allows us to schedule your special release as an event at our festival, with a push notification to all of the fest’s Untappd users. Use this link to tell us which beers you’ll be bringing to ABR and if they’re special/timed.

I Have Another Question!
Please email the Guild Events Coordinator Lindsey. This is our first experiment with partnering with Untappd for our festival app. While we may not have all the answers right away, we are hopeful that this new experience will provide a much better promotional experience for you!

Answers to FAQs

Can we still register?
We cannot accept late registrations at this time; we are at capacity at the festival, and maps have been finalized.

When will we get more details?
All planning info we usually provide via emails to fest main contacts will live on this page. Click through each tab on this page to learn more. Each time we add more details, we will email your festival main contact with a notification.  Timing for new updates is as follows:
1) Initial Planning Details – early September
2) Full Fest Details – late September
3) Final Reminder – week before fest

How much beer should we plan to bring to ABR?
There will be between 2,500-3,000 people at ABR. We suggest bringing 3-5 half-barrels worth, depending on style, ABV, etc. If you are bringing many styles, we recommend 1/6 bbl kegs. Package is okay.

Will there be help unloading my kegs/prepping my booth on Friday and Saturday?
No. Your staff is responsible for loading/unloading your kegs from the Reefer Truck and setting up your booth. Please bring all people/carts/gear needed.

Can we pull our van up on the grass to unload our booth materials/kegs?
No. Driving on the park grass is strictly prohibited by the park; vehicle weight can damage the in-ground sprinkler system, resulting in a large fine and potential loss of the venue for the Guild in the future. You must park in the Boom Island lot (there is only room for one vehicle per brewery) and unload using your own gear. Additional parking is available in the overflow lots indicated here.

How do we know where to set-up when we get to the fest?
Check the festival map for your placement. Maps can also be picked up at the Brewery Check-In tent before you begin setting up. Your booth table will contain a bag that shows your business name and booth number (and also contains all your day-of info, ice tickets, wristbands, etc.).

How much space will we have?
Unless you are a Creative Booth, you have a 10×10 designated space at the festival. You can set up within this space however you like, but please do not bring additional 10×10 tents or other decor/materials that impact your neighboring tents. Creative Booths have a 20×20 space.

How do attendees find us/our beer?
The festival map will be available in the fest program at entry, via the QR code placed throughout the fest, and in the ABR Untappd app. The beer list will be within the ABR Untappd app, which will be linked in the QR code throughout the fest. You must submit your beers on our form by October 7 to have your beers included in our Untappd beer list.

Are there any staff-only perks?
Set-Up: During set-up, ice cream, coffee, and coffee cake will be provided by Prairie Malt. Brewery entry gifts will be provided by Hopsteiner.
VIP Hospitality Tent: Free food, beer to share, seating, and bathrooms are available in this tent for brewery, vendor, and sponsor staff. The Hospitality Tent is supported by Country Malt.
Brewery Afterparty: Details TBD. If you are interested in hosting the Brewery-Only Afterparty, please contact Lindsey.