CHARLEMONT — Love it or hate it, one beer generated a lot of buzz at Saturday’s Franklin County on Tap beer festival.

“Our Pink Lemonade Blonde Ale is one of our best sellers,” said Kyle Hume, head brewer at Brew Practitioners in Florence, one of 19 local brewers at the festival sponsored by the Greenfield Recorder, Ryan & Casey Liquors and Berkshire East, where the event was held.

“It really took off here at the festival,” he said at the second annual event, which was attended by more than 500 people. “People kept coming back, using all their drink tickets for more.”

Hume said he’s hopeful that the concoction will become a regular for the brewery, which features six year-round brews and several special or seasonal beers.

While Pink Lemonade was popular on the 80-something-degree day, it wasn’t a hit with everyone. But perhaps that’s the beauty of craft beer — there are so many different tastes, and so many different local breweries putting them out.

“I didn’t like the Pink Lemonade,” said Rick Brown, of West Springfield.

Brown seemed to be in the minority Saturday at the beer tasting event that featured live music, sunny skies and beer-lovers from the Pioneer Valley and beyond.

“It was too fruity for me — but I’m an IPA guy,” Brown continued.

Still, Brown did stray from his comfort zone. Iron Duke’s Eviction Notive IPA was a pleasant surprise for Brown.

“It’s a dark IPA,” Brown explained. “I was unsure about it at first — it looked like a porter. But it was really good. Dark, with a smokey finish.”

While not everything Brown tried made his personal hit parade, there was nothing he found un-drinkable.

“There wasn’t a single one I’d pour out,” he said.

Brown said he usually goes to four beer tastings each year, and loves the environment they provide.

“You go to a bar, and you’re apt to run into some kind of trouble, like at any typical bar,” he said. Though people are imbibing at beer tastings, he said the crowd is more calm and laid-back.

Brown and his girlfriend decided to make a weekend out of the festival after reading about it in The Valley Advocate. They staked out a campsite at the Mohawk Trail State Forest, and enlisted the help of a designated driver to make it back to the campground.

While Brown preferred the hop-forward IPAs, others leaned more toward the dark side of beer.

“My favorite was BBC’s Bourbon-Barrel-Aged Brown Ale,” said Susan Lasier, of Turners Falls.

Her fiancée, Rachel Tyler, liked the Local Libation ginger-beer put out by Greenfield’s Artisan Beverage Co-Op.

Tyler said her only complaint with the festival was that there wasn’t enough outdoor space.

“For next year, I’d suggest more space outside to move,” she said.

At the risk of sounding biased, this reporter’s favorite beer at the festival was also Berkshire Brewing Co.’s Bourbon-Barrel-Aged Brown Ale. It’s only available on draft at the moment, but brewery crew member Jeffrey Ryan said he’s hoping it will show up in cans at package stores soon.

Other unique beers at the festival included Ludlow’s Iron Duke’s Juneau Spruce Tip Ale. It uses flowers from spruce trees from the Alaskan city, rather than hops, as a bittering agent.

“It was super-clean, and didn’t have too much spruce,” said Lyle Augusto. “I usually go for juicy IPAs.”

If you missed Saturday’s beer tasting, fret not. The Greenfield Recorder’s Sharon Cross said the event will enjoy its third year next summer. With the tasting expanding in just one year from 13 Franklin County producers to 19 in a broader region stretching from North Adams to Everett and back to Sheffield, the third incarnation could be even bigger.

This story has been updated.

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