NEW YORK, March 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Get Real NY announced today several highlights from the beer and food lineup at its upcoming Craft Beer & Food Festival taking place at the Altman Building in NYC on Saturday, March 19, 2011 and Sunday, March 20, 2011.  The centerpiece of the festival will be the Cask Bar, which will showcase 80+ cask ales from some of the nation's best craft breweries and homebrewers. Attendees can expect rare cask finds like Sierra Nevada Harvest, Green Flash Double Stout, Lagunitas Brown Shugga, Blue Point 10th Anniversary IPA, Ballast Point Sculpin IPA and Sixpoint Diesel.  The full beer lineup will be available on the Get Real NY website here later today.

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The Craft Beer & Food Festival will also have a "Locals Only" section featuring local beers from Brewery Ommegang, Brooklyn Brewery, Greenport Harbor Brewing, Kelso of Brooklyn, Empire Brewing Company & Sixpoint Craft Ales.  Joining the mix will be several NYC beer-focused bars like Rattle N Hum, Jimmy's No. 43, The Stag's Head, Brickyard Gastropub, Idle Hands Bar and Manchester Pub, who will be at the festival serving up specialty beers and some bites.

Get Real NY has greatly expanded its food pairing program at this year's event.  Attendees can expect food tastings from some of NYC's top restaurants, bars, food trucks and food artisans, including:

Anfora, Luke's Lobster, Fatty Crab, Cascabel Taqueria, Cafe D'Alsace, Brother Jimmy's, Loreley Williamsburg, Mexicue, Murray's Cheese, L'asso Pizza, South Houston Restaurant, The Delta Grill, Frites n' Meats, Lucy's Whey Cheese Shop, Orwasher's Bakery, Rick's Picks, My Friend's Mustard, Kings County Jerky Co., Meze Grill, MexiQ, Frites 'n' Meats, Grandaisy Bakery, La Bella Torte and more.  

Mary Izett and Chris Cuzme of the New York City Degustation Advisory Team will be working with local beer sommeliers, including Gianni Cavicchi of Cafe D'Alsace, to expertly pair the food tastings with the craft beer selections.  For example, festival-goers will be enjoying their Luke's Lobster shrimp rolls alongside an Allagash White from Maine and Naked Cowboy Oysters from Blue Island Shellfish Farms will be paired with a Sixpoint Oyster Stout.

Several local renowned homebrewers, including Bierkraft, Stephen Durley and Beer Sommelier Hayley Jensen, Chris Weik (winner of Homebrew Hero), Fritz Fernow (Former Brewers Choice winner of Homebrew Alley), Peter Kennedy of SimplyBeer.com and Get Real NY's own Patrick Donagher and Chris Cuzme, will be on-hand pouring their hand-crafted cask ales for all to taste.  

Get Real NY has teamed up with Flying Dog Brewery to create Growlers for the festival allowing guests the opportunity to take some of their favorite craft beer home. Empty Growlers will be available for purchase at the event.

The all-you-care-to-taste event takes place during two sessions each day: 12-3 P.M. and 5-8 P.M. Each $65 general admission ticket comes with a souvenir glass and also includes unlimited food sampling, admission to brewery discussion panels and live music entertainment. $80 VIP tickets are available and will include everything above in addition to one-hour early access to the festival, admission to a special VIP tasting room with some rare and hard-to-find beers and access brewery tasting panels and discussions.  

Tickets are available through Eventbrite and BeerMenus.com at the following links:

http://getrealny2.eventbrite.com/

http://www.beermenus.com/events/39-ticket-to-get-real-ny/tickets

Tickets are limited and are selling out fast. The Saturday VIP session has already sold out and both Saturday General Sessions are filling up quickly.  

Get Real NY is excited to announce a partnership with The New York City Coalition Against Hunger (NYCCAH) and will be donating a portion of ticket proceeds to assist NYCCAH in its mission to meet the immediate food needs of low-income New Yorkers.

Lead Sponsors of Get Real NY's Craft Beer & Food Festival include Wandering Star Craft Brewery, GreatBrewers.com, Flying Dog Brewery, Greenport Harbor Brewing Co., Sixpoint Craft Ales, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Brewery Ommegang, Scoutmob New York, Yelp, ImNotatWork.com, Hoptopia, Scoop St., Brother Jimmy's and Murray's Cheese.

About Get Real NY

Get Real NY is a NYC-based festival production company focusing on the celebration of the best craft beer and food available. In addition to the Get Real NY Craft Beer & Food Experience, Get Real NY has plans for a Belgian Beer Festival and an All-American Beer Festival later this year.

About NYC Coalition Against Hunger

The New York City Coalition Against Hunger (NYCCAH) was established in 1983 and represents the more than 1,200 charitable soup kitchens and food pantries that exist in New York City, as well as the 1.4 million low-income New Yorkers who don't have enough food.  The Coalition is committed to meeting the immediate food needs of low-income New Yorkers while enacting innovative solutions to help them move "beyond the soup kitchen" towards greater economic self-sufficiency."

SOURCE Get Real NY