Southern California Homebrewers Festival returns, 1,000 brewers gather in Temecula
More than 1,000 brewers and fans will turn Vail Lake into a two-day homebrew campout, with 40-plus clubs, seminars and a Friday pro pour.
More than 1,000 homebrewers and beer enthusiasts will take over Vail Lake KOA Resort in Temecula for the 33rd Southern California Homebrewers Festival, a gathering that has grown into a 35-year-old institution instead of a one-off tasting. The point of the weekend is not just to drink, but to step into the culture that makes homebrewing run: club competition, recipe sharing, judging, camping, and the kind of face-to-face feedback that can change a brewer’s next batch.
The California Homebrewers Association has built the 2026 event around a full campout schedule for May 1 and 2, with a Thursday night social setting the tone before the main sessions begin. Friday’s Pro Pour starts at 4 p.m. and brings in local professional breweries, while the weekend’s Saturday tastings put more than 40 California homebrew clubs on tap. That mix is what gives the festival its pull. Attendees can move from commercial examples to club pours, compare classic styles with wild experiments, and taste beers that have already earned points or medals in competition.
The 2026 edition is themed “Island of Brewers,” and the schedule stretches well beyond pouring tables. Live music, educational seminars, raffle prizes and a campground “Trick or Treat” crawl after the Pro Pour are all part of the weekend. The California Homebrewers Association says ticket bundles include 2026 membership, reinforcing that this is a membership-driven gathering as much as it is a festival. Camping and RV sites at Vail Lake fill up fast, which helps explain why so many attendees treat the event like a full immersion rather than a single afternoon stop.
The competitive side still matters just as much as the social one. The association’s Club of the Year title is decided by points earned through recognized homebrew competitions over the course of the season, with the winner honored at the festival. That season-long race gives the weekend extra weight for clubs that bring their best beers to Temecula. It also helps explain why the festival has lasted through decades of changing beer trends: in 2022, the 29th festival returned after a three-year gap since the last gathering on May 4, 2019, and the event has continued annually ever since, with the 30th, 31st and 32nd editions following in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
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