HOOKSETT – Saturday's Southern New Hampshire Brewers Fest seeks to create a community between the people who make craft beer and the people who brew it, the event's organizer said.

“Instead of focusing on the idea that I'm trying to make my income for the year, which quite often is a lot of what a festivals out there do, I just want to show people how awesome the state of beer is these days,” said White Birch Brewing Company founder Bill Herlicka.

Besides White Birch, the festival will feature 18 other breweries, serving a total of 76 varieties of beers. New Hampshire's Candia Road Brewery, Woodstock Inn Brewery, Martha's Exchange Brewing Company, Portsmouth Brewery, Tuckerman Brewing Company, Throwback Brewery, Seven Barrels Brewery, Smuttynose Brewing Company and The Prodigal Brewery all plan to attend.

Herlicka said that many other festivals focus on marketing and selling beer rather than encouraging the enjoyment of quality products. Brewers are often charged high table fees, with additional charges for bringing along extra staff.

At the Southern New Hampshire Beer Fest, Herlicka said, brewers are allocated spots for four pourers and one more person who can engage in conversation with customers.

“When the brewers have a good time, they're having fun pouring and the people have a good time,” he said.

The festival takes place outside at White Birch Brewing's Hooksett Road headquarters, under three tents—a main event space for the brewers showcase, a cigar tent and a dining area with food from Burrito Me in Laconia and Plymouth, Manchester's Firefly American Bistro and cupcakes from the Tilton-based BEERkery, made using White Birch Brewing's Hooksett Ale.

Last year's festival saw around 500 guests, and this year Herlicka expects around 700.

A new addition this year, the second Herlicka has held the festival, will be Border Brew Supply from Salem, offering homemade orange soda, cola, birch beer and root beer.

“It's the real stuff,” Herlicka said. “It's not that chemical name with 33 letters that you're not sure how to pronounce nor would you want to try. It's tasty.”

Although the sodas will be available to all festivalgoers, the non-alcoholic beverages were brought in to appeal to designated drivers. The festival offers discounted tickets for designated drivers, who receive a special glass and are prohibited from drinking the beer.

“We understand it's a challenge, but hopefully the sodas and everything else will make their time worth it,” Herlicka said. “We don't kid around. If you're a designated driver and you're drinking beer, you and your party are gone.”

Out of the 100 available designated driver tickets, Herlicka said 37 were sold as of Friday afternoon, an increase in demand from last year.

The festival runs from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Tickets cost $45 and will be available at White Birch Brewing, 1339 Hooksett Road, during the day.CLICK TO VIEW THE SOURCE MATERIAL