Brew festival taps into Topeka

Attendees posing with a member of Norsemen Brewing Company. Norsemen operates a tap room in NOTO Arts District.

The 5th Annual Tap That Topeka Brew Festival offered 229 craft beers from over 50 breweries across the United States June 24 in downtown Topeka.

Visit Topeka organized this first time event. With 1,850 tickets available, the event sold out within an hour of the general sampling beginning. Attendees came from across the country to the festival.

“We have people from Florida,” said Michaela Saunders, director of brand strategy for Visit Topeka. “We have people from Tennessee, California and all across Kansas. If it wasn’t the reason they came to Topeka, it was a good thing to plan a trip to see.”

Local breweries, The Blind Tiger and Norsemen Brewing Company, served samples at the event.

Additionally, Beer Paws, based in Kansas City, sold beer-themed merchandise for dogs, a number of food trucks made sure attendees didn’t drink on empty stomachs and Kansas native, Bryton Stoll, provided music for the festival.

Tap That Topeka was made possible by the hard work of volunteers.

“We have more than 100 volunteers involved in all of this,” Saunders said. “Every pourer station is a volunteer.”