“ Nice, relaxed beerfest with views of the bay thanks to Faction Brewing as the host. I won a pair of VIP tickets from the Yelp East Bay (@yelpeastbay) Instagram -- WOOOOO! VIPs got in an hour early, and it was totally awesome to get your first beers in, pick up a bunch of sweet stickers and other brewery swag, chat with brewers and hit the more popular food trucks before the beer-thirsty hordes descended. LOL. It wasn't THAT terribly crowded, but a festival without lines is pretty magical. Brewbies benefits the Keep a Breast Foundation, supporting breast health education, so we got a tote bag full of little trinkets that read I heart BOOBIES. Breweries were encouraged to bring a pink beer if they had one, as that was the color of the festival, and many actually brewed special beers for the occasion, with fun names like Tough Titties (heyyyy Woodhouse from Santa Cruz). Lots of local breweries from the East Bay, SF, and quite a SoCal presence as well. It was really fun to try some breweries that we hadn't heard of, like Iron Springs from Fairfax/San Rafael, which made our favorite beer of the day, Not Your Uncle's Dunkel. Onto the food... We tried a "gourmet corn dog" from Sticks -- tasty, definitely, was it worth $6? Well, it was a festival, and I am a sucker for a corn dog. You could actually bring your own food in, which I thought was great. Some dudes showed up with pretzel necklaces. Go on with your prepared selves! We also got a Grilled Cheez Guy sandwich ($9) with "the works" (+ $6 gets you a bunch of stuff, but I just remember avocado, pickled pepper, tomato, and bacon). It was a good sandwich, again, a bit pricey at $15, but I couldn't really taste the cheese. I'm thinking that might have been our fault for getting "the works" but we expected the grilled cheese flavor/texture to be more prominent. I'd try them again, though. Bonus round: Do the Bay had a fun little photostation with cute signs, rainbow balloons, temporary tattoos and stickers. There were skeeball machines which you could pay for using your phone/contactless device. Raffles for skate decks painted by local artists. Fun times! ”

“ Best Beer Fest yet! Ideal location overlooking the bay! So many great brews with a great view! ”

“ First time attending Brewbies but being a seasoned veteran of Ales for ALS at Faction, I kinda knew what's to be expected. Plenty of quality breweries, a whole lotta space, nice views of the bay and all for a good cause. We came in around 1:45ish with short line in front. The event started at 1PM and lasted until 5. Just in case, if four whole hours of unlimited tasting is not enough they also had a VIP option available which provides an extra hour of indulgence before GA ticket holders. Since I still tried (not sure if I succeeded) to keep my wits for myself, I had to carefully pick and choose the beer tasted. There was so much that it would take another brew fest to try it all. The crowd was civilized and behaving for the most part. Compared to the massive brew fests that are becoming a money maker and are not worth the price of the ticket, Brewbies attracted folks who know good beer and are not there just to get hammered. The one thing I noticed, and hopefully this can be improved before 2018 A4A, is that the lines for food were enormous. It will surely help to get more food trucks n there. Besides that, Brewbies was a great success and we will make sure to be back in 2019. ”

“ When Faction Brewing hosts a beer festival, you can bet it's going to be 1 of the best beer festivals you've been to. At least, that's been my experience. For me, it all started a few years ago when I attended the Ales for ALS beer festival here at Faction Brewing (https://www.yelp.com/biz/ales-for-als-alameda). Great charity cause, stellar brewery/ beer lineup, & Faction's sprawling layout on the edge of Alameda with sweeping Bay/ City views made for a memorable brewfest that I try to get back to every year. & then, this year, I heard about Brewbies. What? Another beer festival out at Faction. I definitely needed to check it out. The Brewbies Fest raises funds for the Keep A Breast Foundation (http://keep-a-breast.org/). In addition to being a fundraiser for a good cause, Brewbies is a top-notch beer festival. What's it say about a brewfest when Russian River is pouring Pliny & there's no line for that? Yeah, the participating breweries & the beers they brought were that impressive. Brewbies. Great charity cause, stellar brewery/ beer lineup, & Faction's sprawling layout on the edge of Alameda with sweeping Bay/ City views. Sound familiar? There was already 1 beer festival at Faction on my calendar. & now, without a doubt, I'll be looking to make it back to Brewbies every year, as well ”