CollaBEERation Festival, which takes place at the Powerhouse on Apr. 25, have begun announcing an ever-growing list of collab brews that will be poured at this year’s event.

The event features craft beer, cider and mead created by members of the Buffalo Beer Geeks community, who teamed up with more than 50 participating Western New York craft venues to create small batch beverages, many exclusively for this event. They were involved in every step of the creative process, from recipe creation to brewing, and everything in-between.

Collab brews include:

  • Mountain Roads Brewing – Double Jump Juice (Double Dry Hopped IPA)
  • Strangebird – Ocarina of Time (Thyme Infused Barrel Aged Saison)
  • Pearl Street – Rumbana Rampage (Banana and Rum Oak Aged Dark Lager)
  • Mystic Hills – Finish Him! (Cherry Lime Sour)
  • 1927 Brew House – Dunkle-Kong (German Dunkleweizen)
  • Brewery Ardennes – Wumpa Fruit Sour (Tropical Fruit Sour)
  • Bones & Barely Brewing – Boom Shockalacka (NBA Jam Sour)
  • Bee Spit Meadery – Galaxy Gumball (Lychee, Marshmallow & Bubblegum carbonated mead)
  • Brazen Brewing – Ms. Pacman Sour (Fruited & Pretzel Sour)
  • Buffalo Olde – Qbert Quencher (Saison/Belgian Table Beer with orange peel)
  • Shalooby Loofer – Mana Potion (Magical Color-Changing Blueberry Cream Ale)
  • Rising Storm – Banana Slamma  (Cream Ale with banana, caramel, molasses and cinnamon)
  • Queen City Meadery – Power Up Potion (Honey Wine with wildflower honey and loganberry)
  • Pod City Beer Labs – Beer Pong Pils (German Style Lager)

I will continue to update this list as more collaborative beers are announced in the coming weeks.

After drinking their fill, festival goers can vote for their top collaborations, with the winners taking home the coveted Buffalo Beer Geek Championship Belt. Last year, Frequentem Brewing dethroned reigning and defending back-to-back champions, Bloomfield’s Noble Shepherd Craft Brewery, thanks to their excellent Miami Vice, a fruited sour modeled after the popular tiki bar drink.

The event will also feature a number of craft vendors, including WNY Beer Trail, Beer Coaster Clocks, Infinite 3D Creations, White Eagle Workshop, Creations by ARK and WiseKrakz.
Food will be provided by Britesmith Food Truck, Pizza Plant, Brisket Love BBQ, RationAles, Jenny Cats Candy, Fat Daddy’s 716 and Nic’s Nacks.
“CollaBEERation was created to bring together local beer enthusiasts and local breweries to create one off beers, ciders and meads that you’ll never be able to taste anywhere besides the event,” event organizer Joe Yager from the Buffalo Beer Geeks said. “You will get unlimited 4oz. pours from over 50 Buffalo and Rochester breweries. We will also have many beer and non-beer related vendors for shopping and multiple food options. The event is at The Powerhouse in Buffalo, a beautiful spot with plenty of parking and space inside.”

This year’s CollaBEERation features a video games theme. While not required, guests are more than encouraged to dress up as their favorite video games character from throughout the years.

Erik Coleman, proprietor of Beer By Coleman Beer Concierge, says CollaBEERation is an event by the brewing community that’s for the community.

“CollaBEERation is a unique festival because you have a chance come and taste some unique, one-off specialty beers that you can’t get anywhere else and aren’t out of tap yet, brewed exclusive for this event,” he said. “You also get a chance to meet the actual people who are brewing the beer. The people behind the taps are the brewers, the owners and the people who can tell the story of the brewing company, the meadery, the cidery, as well as the product that they are pouring for you.”

General admission tickets ($70, including unlimited pours and a commemorative glass) can be purchased here. Designated driver tickets are also available. VIP tickets are sold out for the event.

Brian Campbell is co-founder and Brand Manager of the Buffalo Beer League, and writes the weekly Buffalo Beer Buzz column. If you have beer news that should be included in the Beer Buzz, Brian can be reached at brian@buffalobeerleague.com, on X (@buffbeerleague), Instagram, Threads and Untappd (@buffalobeerleague), and Facebook (@thebuffalobeerleague).