Love Craft Beer? Don't Miss These Events

The temperature is dropping (well kinda), the leaves are falling, and people are fear-mongering about a monster snow storm on the way. The temptation now is to pack it in: stock up on beer and warm clothes and hibernate for the upcoming winter; but I say there's fun left to be had!

Taking a look ahead I've picked out three events that will warm your chill-bitten bones, and help you see that winter may not be that bad after all.

There are two Halloween events that I want to spotlight first. On October 26th (this Friday!) the CT Beer Trail's famous "Bikes and Beers" event is haunting New Haven. This will be the last "Bikes and Beers" ride of the season so, if you've been putting it off, then it's time to get off the fence and do it! This one is also a costume contest, so bring your craziest, most awesome costume to try for a prize. The Halloween ride will be hosted by Devil's Gear (New Haven's oldest bike shop) and will meet at the flagpole on the New Haven green at 5:30 pm.

A hour long, laid bike ride will then ensue, making sure everyone sticks together and enjoys what promises to be one of the last few nice riding days of the year. As soon as the ride is done, everyone will head out O'Toole's Irish Pub (located conveniently next door to the bike shop) for a killer after party. Everyone who does the ride will get a 10 percent discount during the party and will be able to enjoy local beer from Hooker Brewing and New England Brewing Co. for $4 a pint. O'Toole's is also planning on having a live band and prizes to give away to the best costume!

The next Halloween-centered event that should be on all your radars is the Inaugural Half Full Halloween Bash. Half Full Brewery is a fast up-and-coming brewery centered in Stamford, Connecticut and has been taking the surrounding area by storm. Half Full wants to impress you with with not only their great beer, Oktoberfest inspired cuisine, and Pumpkin Beer-Floats, but also a live band and a costume contest complete with tempting prizes!

If you've never tried Half Full's stuff before, than this is a great opportunity to go out, drink great beer, eat great food, and have a devilishly good time. The tickets are capped, so make sure you get out and book your ticket ASAP.

The last upcoming event that will be a real treat to home-brewers is the upcoming 2nd Annual Cambridge House Homebrewing Competition, sponsored by Cambridge House Brew Pub,   Zok's Homebrewing Supplies, and the CT Beer Trail. If you make unbelievable homemade beer and want to show it off, this is the event for you! For a $7.00 entry fee you can have the chance for your beer to be featured at the Brew Pub and to get serious beer brewing bragging rights.

You can enter as many of your own beers as you want and the deadline for entries is October 27th, so step on it! For all the rules and information, head over to the featured page on the CT Beer Trail.

These are a just a few of the local-beer-centered events that are being created, and posted up on the CT Beer Trail website. To beat the winter blues and avoid becoming a mumbling, cabin-fever addled psychopath, stay on top of all the local events going down by checking out CT Beer Trail, and following me on Blogger, Facebook, and Twitter. I'll work to make sure that you get out of the house more often and enjoy great beer. And there's nothing better than that!