Mild temperatures and sunny skies made for the perfect afternoon Sept. 17 to spend time outdoors with friends, family members—and nearly 20 craft breweries at the Downtown Morgan Hill Brew Crawl.
The annual event—sponsored by the Morgan Hill Downtown Association—allowed ticket holders to sample beers from 18 different breweries from the Bay Area and beyond. With each brewery set up with a pouring station inside or on the patios of 18 different downtown merchants, Beer Crawl patrons also got a chance to shop at or learn about local businesses they might not have been familiar with before the Sept. 17 event.
That included Morgan Hill Barber Shop, where local sisters Jane Martin and Suzanne Ericson poured samples from East Brother Beer Co., which is based in Richmond. Around the corner at Maison A boutique, sisters Jackie and Monica Guido and their friend, Stephanie Wooten, sipped on samples from Buena Vista Brewing Co. while browsing the store’s gifts and other items.
Some of the Brew Crawl attendees are longtime event patrons. That goes for local friends Ken and Dennis, who met over beer at a downtown Morgan Hill establishment years ago and quickly became friends.
“We’ve been best friends for eight years,” said Ken, who declined to provide his last name. “We do all the beer crawls.”
MHDA Secretary Kerry Wallace said the association sold about 700 tickets for the Saturday afternoon event. The event featured three live bands that played at downtown establishments: Endless Summer Trio at Rosy’s; Tony John’s and the Street Lucy Project at Kelly’s Brewery on Fourth Street; and Elima at Bubbles on Monterey Road.
Wallace noted that events like the Brew Crawl help to showcase downtown Morgan Hill businesses while offering something fun for residents and visitors. She added that hundreds of visitors to the city’s downtown on Sept. 17 were not there to participate in the Brew Crawl, but rather to enjoy an evening or night out at local restaurants.
“People came early and stayed late,” Wallace said. “We were very happy with it.”
The Sept. 17 Brew Crawl was also a fundraiser. A portion of proceeds from ticket sales is going to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a nonprofit that provides housing assistance for veterans and their families.
Sales from the event also help support ongoing activities in downtown Morgan Hill that are sponsored by the MHDA, including the upcoming Safe Trick or Treat on Oct. 31; as well as a variety of events and decorations for the winter holiday season.
