North Miami BrewFest is back for its 14th year on Saturday, Nov. 14, with about 100 beers from 40 South Florida breweries, bites from nearly two dozen local eateries, and a ticket that covers all of it. The festival runs from 4 to 8 p.m. at NoMi Village, 12351 NW 7th Ave., and it lands in the year North Miami turns 100.

A beer festival run by a hospitality school

Most beer festivals are put on by promoters. This one is produced by students and alumni of the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at FIU, which bills it as the only beer festival produced by a hospitality school. Students helped shape this year's event from the concept stage and are now part of producing it. Proceeds support the school and its brewing science program. The festival itself started more than a decade ago on FIU's Biscayne Bay Campus, the university's waterfront campus in North Miami, and has since moved off campus into the city's neighborhoods.

The City of North Miami has sponsored the festival for 10 years now, and the BrewFest name is a registered mark shared by the university and the city. That partnership carries extra weight this fall. The city was incorporated on Feb. 5, 1926, and it has spent 2026 celebrating its Centennial with events that started with a carnival on MOCA Plaza in February. An afternoon of local beer in November makes a fitting late chapter.

What is in the ticket

The festival site lists two ticket levels. General admission is $85 and gets you in at 4:30 p.m. with unlimited sampling of every beer, food tastes from the participating restaurants, live music and beer education sessions. Early access is $100 and opens the gates at 4 p.m., which in practice means first crack at the food and the most talked-about pours before the lines build. Everyone must be 21 or older.

The food matters here. North Miami BrewFest pairs its brews with dishes from local kitchens and folds them into the ticket price, so there is no second line for food tokens. FIU says nearly two dozen eateries are signed on for 2026, and a majority of this year's vendors are FIU alumni.

The names worth seeking out

Attendees vote on the festival's best brewery, best eatery and best dessert, and the 2025 results show how much of the talent comes out of FIU's own classrooms. Last November, the top brewery prize went to the FIU Bartender's Guild, a student club whose beer cocktails beat every professional brewer in the field. It was the first year students took two of the three top categories, with a hospitality junior's cafecito brownies winning best dessert. La Birra Bar won best eatery for the third straight year with its burgers.

One name to look for is Rocketeer Beer & Liquid Provisions, the alumni-owned brewery that took first place for best craft brewery two years ago and third last year. Rocketeer opened its taproom at 12960 SW 89th Ave. about a year ago, and it now brews the Sunblazer, FIU's official beer. Temple Street Eatery, run by FIU alumnus Diego Ng, is also part of this year's lineup.

The full 2026 brewery and restaurant lists had not been posted when this story was written, but past years give a sense of the range. The 2025 festival drew more than 30 breweries, from Funky Buddha and La Tropical to Tripping Animals, Unseen Creature and Biscayne Bay Brewing, plus student-made beers from Brew FIU, the university's brewing science club. This year's count of 40 breweries would make it a bigger field than last year's.

More than a tasting line

What separates this festival from a bar crawl is the teaching. Students run booths on brewing science, cocktail making and sustainability, and the beer education sessions are part of the general admission ticket. In past years the lineup has also included a DJ and interactive games, including a bowling setup, which helps the four hours move at a comfortable pace instead of turning into a race to the next pour.

For the students, it is a working classroom. The Chaplin School offers a bachelor's degree in beverage management, and BrewFest is where its students get to test a recipe on a crowd of strangers who vote with their cups. A few of the brewers pouring next to them were in the same seats not long ago.

How to go

North Miami BrewFest is Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026, at NoMi Village, 12351 NW 7th Ave., North Miami at NW 123rd Street. Early access starts at 4 p.m. and general admission at 4:30 p.m., with the festival closing at 8 p.m. Tickets are $100 and $85 at northmiamibrewfest.com, which also lists the bag policy, parking details and the code of conduct. Bring an ID, eat lightly beforehand since the food is included, and plan a ride home: four hours of unlimited sampling makes for a long afternoon.