CollaBEERation Festival, which takes place at the Powerhouse on Apr. 5, have announced the first round of collab beers that will be poured at the event.

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

The first batch of collab beers include:

  • Southern Tier Brewing – Meet the Bockers Maibock
  • Pod City Beer Labs – Bollywood Wit (It’s our take on a classic Belgian style wit beer, but spiced with traditional Indian spices-including mango, fresh tubers, cardamom and coriander)
  • Eli Fish Brewery – Mr. Pink’s “Fu*k All That Gose” (Gosé brewed with pink Himalyan sea salt, coriander, lemons, raspberries, hibiscus, and pink lemonade powder)
  • Buffalo Olde Brewery – I Remember Mama… (Italian Pilsner brewed with Old Fashioned Lemon Drops, Drop Hops and Lemon Drop Oil)
  • 42 North Brewing – PeeWee’s Beer Adventure (German Dark Lager aged in an Oak Barrel previously holding Tequila. Un-barreled base beer also to be served for comparison)
  • Brewery Ardennes – Arm Candy (Spiced Peach Sour)
  • Mystic Hills Brewing – Miami Weisse (Florida Weisse with papaya, tangerine, and pineapple make up the tropical beach flavor)
  • Queen City Meadery – Crouching Guava Hidden Dragonfruit (Metheglin with wildflower honey, dragonfruit and pink guava)
  • 1927 Brewhouse – Dark Helmet (Schwarzbier)
  • Beer Kind Brewing – Jason Mimosa! (Mimosa Hazy IPA)
  • Johnson’s Landing – 24 Karat Cake Topper (Carrot Cake stout made with real carrot cake, carrots, vanilla beans, cinnamon sticks, cream cheese flavor and lactose)
  • Spotted Octopus – Good Old Fashion Beer (Cream ale with the rich, bourbon-kissed warmth of an Old-Fashioned) & Light and Magic Blue Seltzer

After drinking their fill, festival goers vote for their top collaborations, with the winners taking home the Buffalo Beer Geek Championship Belt. Having won the title the last two years, Bloomfield’s Noble Shepherd Craft Brewery will defend their belt in 2025. The brewery took home the crown for their Pistashio Pudding Sour in 2023 and Spanish Announce Table, a pineapple churro sour, in 2024.

“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.”

Participating breweries include (subject to change) 1927 Brewhouse, Bee Spit Meadery, Beer Kind Brewing, Big Ditch Brewing, Blackbird Cider, Blood Brothers Brewing, Brazen Brewing, Brewery Ardennes, BriarBrothers Brewing, Brickyard Brewing, Buffalo Olde, Butera’s Village Brewhouse, Community Beer Works, Eli Fish Brewing, First Line Brewing, Frequentem Brewing, Griffon Brewing, Hammer & Crown Brewing, Illumination Meadery, Johnson’s Landing, K2 Brothers Brewing, Lilly Belle Meads, Mortalis Brewing, Mystic Hills Brewing, Noble Shepherd Craft Brewery, Old First Ward Brewing, OSB Ciderworks, Pearl Street Brewery, Pod City Beer Labs, Prosper Brewing, Queen City Meadery, Rising Storm Brewing, Sad Boys Brewing, Shalooby Loofer Brewing, Smoldered Society, Solitude Brewing, Southern Tier Brewing, Spotted Octopus, Stoneyard Brewing, Strangebird Brewing, Thin Man, and Wayland Brewing.

There will also be food and artisanal vendors on hand.

This year’s CollaBEERation features a “Hollywood” theme. While not required, guests are more than encouraged to dress up as their favorite Hollywood movie or TV character.

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, includes unlimited pours and commemorative glass) can be purchased here. DD tickets are also available.

***Stay tuned to this story for updates as more collaborative beers are announced.

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 Twitter (@buffbeerleague), Instagram, Threads and Untappd (@buffalobeerleague), and Facebook (@thebuffalobeerleague).