by: @EatDrinkCarolinas

This is a contributor-submitted Voices piece. Want to join the conversation? We invite you to write for us. Learn how to share your voice here.

VIBE (or Very Independent Beer Event) is creating buzz for lovers of rare beer. The Community Tap retired its beloved Annual Craft Beer Festival last year for a simple reason: they wanted to strip it down to a super exclusive event, bring it back to The Tap, and offer ridiculous pours paired with chef-driven food.

It’s gonna be intimate; with just 200 tickets, everyone’s a VIP + 40 breweries are sending rare or private pours to VIBE, including Tilquin, Canton, Alagash, Revelry’s The Hold, Edmond’s Oast, and Grimm, just to name a few. Expect to try some unicorns you’d never get a cup of otherwise.

Chefs Alex George (GB&D), Tobin Simpson (Project Host), Anthony Grey and Jason Calloway (Bacon Bros.), John Makkas (Ji-Roz) and Christian Hansen (Blue Ridge Creamery) will plate to complement craft beer. And though you may have heard that VIBE initially sold out (yep, tickets were snatched up in mere hours), The Tap held onto a batch that you can now buy here.