Tickets on Sale for the Great Austin Beer Festival

Tickets are now on sale for the Great Austin Beer Festival. If you're wondering what exactly it is, then you're not alone. They have a website and a FaceBook page, but further details are scarce. We do know that it's scheduled for June 26th and will apparently take place at the Austin Music Hall, but that's about all the information that has been released. Considering tickets are $30 in advance and $40 at the door, I think most beer drinkers are going to want to at least know what breweries have committed to attending before putting down any cash. The description on the Austin Music Hall ticket information hints at a little more:

The Great Austin Beer Festival is our opportunity to celebrate everything we love about beer. With so many great breweries in Austin and beyond, you will get your chance to sample some the finest local beers and explore beers from our best breweries from all over the world. The event offers multiple opportunities to learn everything you want to know about beer. Join us in downtown at the Austin Music Hall on June 26th. Admission is $30 online and $40 day of event. It includes unlimited 4oz samples. Food will be sold separately.

I'm curious what "our best breweries" means. I've seen other "beer festivals" around the state that have turned out to be nothing more then a showcase of the brands from a particular distributor. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I'd like to know that before hand. I've seen multiple attempts to organize a beer festival in Austin fail over the years. This one has already got a little further by selling tickets. There hasn't been a true craft beer festival in Austin since the very last Texas Craft Beer Festival in 2005. I look forward to learning more about the Great Austin Beer Festival and hopefully it turns out to be everything that everyone is hoping it will be.

*** UPDATE - 04/26/2010 ***

I sent an email message to the organizers requesting additional information about what breweries are attending and their response included the following:

"I know of at least 4-5 larger craft breweries that are expecting to attend. We expect to have a broad range of local and regional offerings, along with most of the major craft breweries that are distributed in Austin."

The email also went on to say that the TABC has been giving them a really tough time lately which has also taken away from time they could have been spending on rounding up more breweries to attend. However, they are continuing to contact breweries about the event and working on trying to bring in beers that are not usually available in Texas. They hope to have a list of breweries that are attending sometime next week.