Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Ogden Beer Fest

SHANE OSGUTHORPE:
Welcome out to the Ogden Wire. We are joined this week by Chase Burch. Chase. You are the original founder of the Ogden Beer Fest. Is that correct?

CHASE BURCH:
It's 50% correct.

SHANE:
50%. So you are the co-founder?

CHASE:
Actually, maybe it's more like 25.

SHANE:
But you’re the one keeping it alive.

CHASE:
Yeah. This event really was started by Ogden Downtown Alliance, okay, however, long ago, but it was never called the Ogden Beer Fest.

SHANE:
It was called Peculiar Pours, or something, right?

CHASE:
Spring Beer Fest was one iteration, and then Peculiar Pours was the fall version. But a few years ago, they decided they were done with it. And I was like, Yeah, we can't let this die so myself and Brandy from the Monarch. We're like, "All right, we'll take it from here, okay?" And, yeah, we've been continuing like that since. So this is, I guess, year three or four. Year three or four, we've done it now as the Ogden Beer Fest, which, I think it has a nice ring to it. Ogden needs a Beer Fest. And this is, this is the beer fest.

SHANE:
And based on the previous year's success, you guys seem to have sold out all previous years. Is that right?

CHASE:
Yeah, every year we’ve sold out.

SHANE:
But I'm told, you do still have a few tickets left for this this year's, and it's on April 18. So next Saturday, April 18, from 4pm to 10pm at The Monarch.

CHASE:
That’s right.

SHANE: And you guys have 20 breweries…it's not just breweries. You're called the Beer Fest, but I see there are cideries, there's wineries, there's distilleries…it's kind of just kind of an
Ogden type celebration.

CHASE:
Yeah, definitely. We… I mean, it is primarily beer, but really what Ogden Beer Fest is, and how we see it, it's like a celebration of craft and community, and that I think, I think beer matches well with with cider, and, you know, that quickly crosses over into wine and distilling. And so we're like, Yeah, let's have a party. Why not?

SHANE:
And I've been to beer fests. I won't mention the names of the communities…which ones I've been to, but like, sometimes, you got Anheuser-Busch and Coors and Miller as big, giant hospitality tents. And theirs was a really just kind of drunken fest where people are there to drink cheap Bud Light.

This one really has a unique flavor. Because as I look at the list of the breweries, cideries, wineries and distilleries you've got, they're all quite local. And, in fact, a lot of our Ogden Favorites will be there. Like Talisman looks like it's gonna be there. Ogden's Own Distillery, Roosters, which kind of got this whole thing going here in town, as far as the beer scene goes, is going to be there. Ogden Beer Company out by the river. Salt and Hops, is going to be there. Purple Sky Winery, maybe something a lot of people don't realize. We have a winery in Weber County. And of course, our friends at UTOG just right here by the studio. So, and those are just the Ogden ones, and you've got several others. So walk us through kind of how this works when you buy a ticket, I know it includes entry and sample tokens and cups. And so walk us through how the how the whole Beer Fest works.

CHASE:
Yeah, so all of these breweries are gonna have a tent set up, and they're each gonna bring three different beers of choice, or ciders or wine, whatever it is. And yeah, when you get a ticket, that gets you event entry, plus, each year, we make a little commemorative five ounce glass that you get to take home. So you get that, plus you get five sample tokens to start. And you trade those tokens for samples. Obviously, that's what you get with your ticket. And then once you're in the event, you can also buy more tokens as you wish. And that typically starts happening pretty fast, you know, there, when you get in a room with, you know, almost 100 options to try. You want some you want some tokens in your pocket. So, but, yeah, there's, there's a lot of great beer to try. And it's, it's really good time. We also have live music. We'll have food there. The cool thing about The Monarch too is they have all the artist studios, right? So a lot of those will be open for the Beer Fest. So in between your sampling and your eating and your listening to music, you can go and check out a lot of local artists too. So it's good situation.

SHANE:
Well, as a musician, I have to ask, who's the live music? What bands do you guys have booked up there?

CHASE:
That's a great question. We've got, Caleb. Caleb is gonna play. We've also got… Brandy is actually the music Booker, so she's the one to ask, and she's not here.

SHANE:
Well, find it online or just show up and be surprised. You know it’s gonna be good music, right?

CHASE:
We have three acts, I’ll tell you that.

SHANE:
Right on. So, 4 to 10pm. You got any favorites that you've sampled that we should be looking out for?

CHASE:
You know, I, if I have to pick some some standouts from years past, I'm a really big fan of...I really, like Uinta Brewing because of the beer, but also the people there. I have a great connection with them.

Big fan of…really, big fan of Bohemian’s pilsner specifically. I’m kind of in a pilsner stage of life. Their Czech Pilsner is really, really good. I also really like Second Summit Cider.

SHANE:
Tell me a little about Second Summit. I'm not familiar with them. Where are they?

CHASE:
Yeah, they're based out of Salt Lake. Couple guys my age who are just like, “We're gonna start making cider.” And they're making really, really good cider. They also have a pickleball court…I think one or two pickleball courts at their cidery, which is kind of fun, you know?

SHANE:
Correct me, if I'm wrong, I recall you making some wicked good cider a couple years ago.

CHASE:
Did we share?

SHANE:
You shared a bottle of that cider while we were recording a Banyan Collective podcast up at The Monarch, and you brought some in for us to try.

CHASE:
Yeah, I made some cider a few years ago.

SHANE:
Yeah, with your grandpa's press and all that.

CHASE:
Exactly, yeah, it's a great memory. Yeah, my grandpa had an apple press that I, that I found in his garage, and, yeah, we made some. We made some cider one year. But that's, that was my only foray into that, into that arena. I still have a couple bottles left. They're just aging.

SHANE:
Oh yeah, they'll be perfect, dude. They were pretty good when I tried. Okay, so Saturday, April 18, 4pm to 10pm to get tickets. Where can people go look and find out more about this?

CHASE:
Super easy: ogdenbeerfest.com

SHANE:
All one word. Ogdenbeerfest.com.

Tickets available still for the fest on the April 18, we look forward to seeing you guys there, 20-plus breweries, cideries, wineries, distilleries. We hope to see you. There anything else that we're missing?

CHASE:
No, I think that's, that's the basics. Yeah, we're really looking forward to it this event, you know, aside from being Ogden Beer Fest, in our eyes, kind of is like the kickoff to event season in Ogden, you know, spring is springing, and the weather's nice, even though it's been pretty nice the past six months, here we go. You know, I think Ogden Beer Fest will kick it off, and then there's a lot of great things that are going to start happening. Going to start happening, and Ogden's really going to come to life, so this is a good way to get it going.

SHANE:
Yeah. Here comes event season. Ready or not, here we come!

CHASE:
No doubt.

SHANE:
Cool. Well, thank you!

CHASE:
Thanks for having me.