Dallas is a Bit Warmer this Winter – Thanks to Matthew Leff

With this weekend’s Winter Warmer Fest fast approaching, I reached out to event organizer Matthew Leff to get the most updated information about the event, and, most importantly, to ask why a non-Dallasite has chosen our fair city to host a beer festival focusing on some of the biggest brews from local and national breweries.

As the only employee behind Rhizome Productions, Matthew Leff is a one-stop shop with quite a few proven success stories. He’s hosted seven beer festivals in Nashville, including the East Nashville Beer Festival, 12 South Winter Warmer Festival, and Brew at the Zoo-Nashville, and is expanding his reach to Chattanooga, TN; Tupelo, MS; and now, Dallas. Business aside, this Saturday’s Winter Warmer Fest is truly a celebration of local American craft beer – and here’s why you should support it.

What prompted you to start Rhizome Productions and get into the beer festival business?

I officially started Rhizome Productions in January 2011. When I relocated to Nashville, I was very disappointed with the beer scene after coming from Atlanta, where there are lots of places to drink amazing beer and tons of good breweries – Sweetwater was walking distance from my house. Every July, Nashville hosts a Music City Brewer’s Fest. I went on the Internet to see what other events there were, and that was it. About a month after that, I woke up one morning and told my wife that I was going to figure out how to change this. Eight months later, I hosted the East National Beer Festival in April 2011. That blossomed into Rhizome Productions and the other events that we do. The end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013 will be the first time that Rhizome Productions starts hosting events outside of Nashville. We learned our ropes here in Nashville and now, as with any business, we need to grow and that’s how we ended up in Dallas.

The thing I love about working in craft beer and especially hosting events is the instantaneous creation of camaraderie and community. Even though it’s a lot of work and it’s a hard day for the people behind the scenes, it’s just so much fun. When everybody is passionate about one thing, the energy is unstoppable and that’s really what led me to do what I’m doing.

How do your beer festivals differ from other beer festivals around the country – what sets yours apart?

I prefer to call my events “tastings” as opposed to festivals. We find that by keeping the events small – I don’t throw a single event that’s larger than 2,000 people and I never will – more people have time to stay engaged and learn about the beers. Most breweries in attendance will be represented by an actual brewery employee. It’s like going to a bottle share. You’re all there for the same reason – you want to talk about beer, drink beer, and have a good time. I took that concept of a bottle share tasting and made it larger-scale. My goal is to create educational and charitable beer tastings. I want people to see the Dallas Winter Warmer as a community event – we are not just coming in, putting up a tent, tapping beers, and letting you drink until you fall on the floor.

Why Dallas?

I have a friend in Dallas that works with CBS Radio, and he told me that Dallas has an up-and-coming craft beer scene and that the area could use a really high-quality educationally focused craft beer event. I came to visit Dallas for the first time three months ago, where I spent a week visiting breweries, distributors, and beer bars. Obviously, it’s not nearly enough time to truly link up with the community of people that support craft beer. But anybody who is part of a good craft beer community knows that positive and forward momentum will help it grow and that’s what I’m coming to Dallas to do. I’m not a fly-by-night production company and I’m not doing this to get rich by any means – I purely want to help promote craft beer as a whole. I want people to meet me, see who I am, and realize that my intentions are exactly the same as theirs. I love craft beer – that’s it. I want to make the Winter Warmer something that people really look forward to in a time when there aren’t a lot of beer festivals or tastings, especially in the holiday season.

What makes Dallas and its beer culture and community unique?

Dallas is further ahead than Nashville in terms of beer bars and places to go drink really good beer. You guys are really lucky to be home to the Flying Saucer, Meddlesome Moth, the Common Table, Ginger Man…Dallas has had some really high-end beer bars before beer bars really were a “thing.” Dallas also has new, young brewers that are trying to really do things differently. Like Michael Peticolas coming out and opening with a 9% Imperial Red Ale (Velvet Hammer), that’s just not the norm. And I love to see when somebody has the opportunity to do something different and does it rather than second-guessing.

How do the laws governing festival set-up differ in Tennessee and Texas?

Dallas is a bit tougher, legally speaking. We’ve been very lucky since we’ve had people who have been helping us along the way. In Tennessee, we can do unlimited tastings. In Texas, we can only advertise that you’re going to receive 24 oz with your ticket. Obviously we still have to be aware of over-serving and it is our responsibility to control consumption, but there are a few more rights for the drinker and event producer in Tennessee, whereas in Texas they are pretty strict about the amount you serve within the ticket price.

What can people expect at the event?

For me in my position, the first year of doing this event has gotta kick ass. I’m not avoiding any expense to ensure that. The venue – Annette Strauss Square at the AT&T Performing Arts Center – is beautiful and it’s perfectly located. The amphitheater is awesome – it’s got real bathrooms and nice seating. Our goal would be 2,000 total people as that’s our maximum attendance, but even if we don’t achieve that number, that doesn’t mean that this event will be different in any way. We are ordering beer for the full capacity and we are tapping every beer on the list. We’ll also have a mobile website – we’ll have QR codes throughout the venue that will pull up the whole list of breweries and the beers they’re serving as well as other information. We want this event to be amazing and really just blow everybody’s minds.

Some people have mentioned the high prices for the tickets – why is the festival worth attending?

A lot of people have questioned the price of our ticket and part of the reason is that, the beers we are having are a lot more expensive than what you’ll find at a summertime beer festival. We won’t do full pints during the event – its 2 oz pours throughout the day. Although our prices are a little higher, when you want more, it’s only $2 for 12 more samples. So you can very affordably get a lot of samples and really experience a lot of what’s out there. Included in the price, everybody receives a 6-oz glass brandy snifter. It takes it to another level – you’re not getting the plastic cup or another pint glass that you probably have 2,000 of. And with the beers that we’re pouring, you want them in the proper glassware so you can swirl them around and put your nose in it and really experience what you’re tasting.

What are your favorite Dallas brews, or which are you most excited to try?

When I was there last, I got to drink a lot of Velvet Hammer which I love, and I’m very excited to try Wintervention. I also drank Deep Ellum and Franconia, but I didn’t have anything else local so I’m very excited to try Lakewood and FireWheel – there’s a lot of great local stuff that’s going to be there. Rahr & Sons is bringing out some incredible beer. The fact that Dogfish Head sent us a 1/6 barrel of 120 is phenomenal and we’ll probably do a special tap time for that. Boulevard from Kansas City is sending some incredible beers. There are actually a few breweries that we haven’t announced yet that are going to be secret and special.

I know there’s a charitable component to your festival – explain how that works.

One of the things we do, no matter where we are, is partner up with a local charity. In Dallas, we partnered with the Cancer Support Community of North Texas. What we do is we entitle them to maintain and coordinate all of our volunteers and, in turn, we cut them a check as a donation. But we don’t just pick a charity and say we are donating just to do it. We give a young charity that needs to learn a valuable set of tools – volunteer coordination and recruitment – the opportunity to do that.

If people don’t purchase a ticket online, can they still attend the day of?

The day of, if people come and buy tickets, they will pay the normal price – we’re not charging more if you wait. You won’t be able to get the Sigel’s discount ($10 off ticket price), but it will continue to be $45 at the door.

Check Dallas Winter Warmer’s Facebook page for updates on participating breweries and their libations. Matt arrives in town tomorrow, so if you’ve got more questions or want to meet him in person, head to the Common Table Wednesday night for a cold one and give him a warm Dallas welcome!

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