MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — When the 2024 Hops in the Hangar event takes off on Aug. 24, visitors can expect a day filled with food, fun, and a bevy of brews to whet beer fans’ appetites. Thirty-one different breweries will have more than 120 beers on tap for guests to sample.
“We’re talking IPAs and porters, stouts and sours, ciders, lagers and wheat beers,” said Hops in the Hangar Co-Chair Mica Glaser Jones. “This is a great chance to come and try some beers that you might not have tried before. I didn’t think I liked sours until I tried one, and I’m like, ‘Wow, these are actually pretty good.’”
For those looking for something other than beer, Hops in the Hangar has plenty of tempting offerings. Guests can sample various wines, seltzers, pop and water. When visitors get hungry, they can choose from seven food trucks serving everything from hamburgers and barbecue to ice cream, pastries and pretzels.
Now in its fifth year at the Middletown Regional Airport, Hops in the Hangar started out as a blue-sky dream of Jamie Murphy, a Delta Air Lines flight attendant with 39 years under her wing. Although combining aviation and alcohol may sound unusual, Murphy saw the practical and creative potential of this pairing as a fundraising event for her community.
“I wanted to create an event to help a nonprofit raise money and thought a hangar would be large enough to hold 30 breweries,” Murphy said. “I told a few people at the airport that I wanted to do a beer event, and they were thrilled with the idea. And they all said, ‘What do you need, and what can I do? They are all in!’”
In addition to providing the space needed to accommodate the nearly 1,200 people expected for the annual event, Middletown Municipal Airport also provides the backdrop for a fun-filled day for aviation enthusiasts. Visitors can get an up-close look at vintage airplanes on the tarmac and watch exciting airshows throughout the evening, including a pyrotechnic skydiving show from Middletown-based Team FastTrax.
Volunteer coordinator Missy Lawwill calls these food, drink and entertainment options the secret of Hops in the Hangar’s success.
“The first couple of years, people would come in, look around a little bit, taste a little bit, and leave,” Lawwill said. “Then, people started realizing that there’s so much to offer. Now people come and they stay the entire time. Nobody leaves until the end. They want to experience it all.”
Lawwill said the growing crowds mean her volunteer team continues to grow each year, with this year’s total coming in at around 100 people.
All Hops in the Hangar proceeds will go to the Downtown Middletown, Inc. nonprofit organization.
This story originally appeared on journal-news.com.
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