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Overcast skies and a few raindrops could not dampen the spirit of the third annual Common John Beer Fest hosted at the Manchester brewery Saturday, Sept. 14.

The event welcomed 40 commercial breweries and 21 home brewers to share nearly 150 different brews with a crowd of more than 700 people.

Common John Brewing Co. Founder LeBron Haggard said it is great to welcome so many from the craft brewing scene to Manchester.

“Independent craft brewing, it is a small group, and our share of the pie is very small so most of us, we don’t consider each other competitors,” he said. “We are hometown breweries, and we are very supportive of each other.”

Haggard said he does not see it so much as different craft breweries competing against each other, but the craft brewers competing against the large brewing companies.

The notion that a craft beer has to be dark or hoppy is something Haggard also wants to dispel for the folks that enjoy popular domestic light beers.

“We have light beer, we have beer for everybody to drink…,” he said. “It is made here, we employ people who make it here in town. It is about as domestic as you can get.”

Greg Power of the Backwoods Carboys Southern Middle Tennessee Brew Club said the club has been attending the Common John Beer Fest for the past few years.

“I think this is great,” Power said. “The whole brewing scene is a collaborative effort. It is nice that they have other breweries here and they were home brewers and so they celebrate the home brewers and bring us in.”

Powers said the club has members in Tullahoma, Manchester and Coffee County and has existed for nearly 15 years.

“We brew beer, we meet once a month and kind of share our experiences and share brews with each other,” he said.

Amongst the 40 commercial breweries on site for the event included Hi-Wire Brewing.

“All the liquid is brewed in Ashville North Carolina, but we also have taprooms in Nashville and in Knoxville,” Jonathan Myers said.

Myers said he wanted to represent Hi-Wire at the Common John event because not only is he friends with the owners, he believes the best beer fests are the ones hosted by actual breweries.

“They know what we want to do and they always make it fun and we all get to hang out and it is all of our friends,” he said.

Mike Causey of Broadcast Brewing in Nashville also joined in on the fun Saturday.

“I have been a homebrewer for about 20 years,” Causey said. “I was going to open up in Nashville in about 2012, but it didn’t work out right at the time.”

After taking some time off to raise his family, Causey got back into the game with a. one-man operation.

“I am the brewer and bartender and all that,” he said. “We are just a simple brewery trying to focus on the beer and making a lot of different varieties and making it a fun place to hang out.” 

Brandon Bingman and Mike Hein of Middle Ground Brewing said they opened up on Old Fort Parkway just about a year ago.

“We thought we needed some more in Murfreesboro based on the population,” Bingman said. “We have got some great beers, we try to brew stuff that is really approachable, stuff you want to order more than one of.”

For James and Rebecca Morgan of Normandy, the Common John Brewing Co. Beer Fest served as a fun date.

“I don’t even like beer, but he does and it is a nice day, it is a good day-date,” Rebecca Morgan said. “We usually do date night and I drag him to plays and musicals so this is the trade-off.”

Morgan said that while she is no beer aficionado herself, she can still come to Common John and have a great time in a fun atmosphere.