It's been a year and a half since Visit Bakersfield launched its local Brewery Trail campaign, which encouraged craft beer lovers to visit and patronize some of Bakersfield's greatest local suds makers.
Five area brewers immediately signed up: Crusader Brewing; Great Change Brewing; all three Lengthwise Brewing Co. locations; Temblor Brewing Co.; and 2nd Phase Brewery.
If imitation is truly the sincerest form of flattery, then Visit Bakersfield and those five original beer makers should be feeling pretty good about themselves, as six more area breweries have recently been added to the beer trail mix.
"We pretty much blew up the internet," David Lyman, manager of Visit Bakersfield, said of the original launch in May 2021.
So many beer buffs signed up to participate, the server couldn't keep up with the demand, he said.
One reason there are new breweries on the list is because their numbers and popularity continue to expand. Another reason is Visit Bakersfield — formerly the Bakersfield Convention & Visitor Bureau — decided it's good business and good karma to invite breweries from outlying communities in Kern County to participate.
The new brewers on the trail are Bakersfield Beer Co.; Black Gold Brewing; Beer Billy's; Kern River Brewing; Local Craft Beer; and Off the Rails.
And should businesses outside of Bakersfield happen to benefit from the brewery trail program, Lyman doesn't view it as a negative.
"I see them as collaborators, not competitors," Lyman said.
Evangelina Medina, who heads up the brewery trail program at Visit Bakersfield, said the ale trail now reaches out to Taft in the west, Tehachapi in the east and Kernville in the mountains northeast of Bakersfield.
"It promotes Bakersfield, but it also promotes our larger area, Kern County," Medina said.
And the new name — Bakersfield Kern County Brewery Trail — reflects that wider sphere of influence.
"It's free," Lyman said. And there’s no app to download.
It offers "a mobile-exclusive passport to a curated collection of brewery locations or local brews on tap offering check-ins to redeem during your visit to win a prize," the website says.
Discounts also may be available for trail participants.
After registering, just use the unique PIN provided to check in each time you visit one of the participating craft breweries or beer pubs.
"It's a point system," Medina said.
"Each check-in equals 100 points — or 200 points in outlying areas," she said.
Participants not only get the chance to sample some great local brews, when they reach 800 points, they win a T-shirt or pint beer glass, each emblazoned with the Brewery Trail logo.
Visit Bakersfield's goal is ultimately to help people spend their money in Bakersfield, Lyman said.
And he hopes craft beer enthusiasts will continue to raise their glasses to that end.
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