Just under 4,000 people ventured to Deer Valley Resort’s Silver Lake lawn over the weekend for the return of the resort’s Mountain Beer Festival. Heavy emphasis on the “mountain” this year thanks to the weather. Saturday festivalgoers drew the short straw: highs in the mid-50s made for c hilly, see-your-breath conditions on the Silverloade lift ride up, then rain for the first hour and even a stint of hail before the mountain weather cleared enough for patches of sun to warm the lawn.   Luckily, the following day was “the most perfect autumn day in Summit County,” said Josh Hockman, the resort’s director of beverage. The best day ever had in the festival’s five years running, Hockman said. Dylan Cotrone was Saturday’s headliner for the Deer Valley Mountain Beer Festival. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park RecordBy the afternoon Saturday, the sun began to warm the Silver Lake lawn for beer festival attendees. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record Over the weekend, tents from 21 Utah breweries ringed the lawn, all repeat participants this time around. Each could bring four brews of their choice, encouraged to bring options the brewers themselves love best.  On Saturday, rising Florida singer-songwriter Dylan Cotrone headlined the live music, with Philadelphia American rock band G. Love Special Sauce performing Sunday. Throughout the festival, Hockman could be seen wearing his traditional felt Bavarian hat, adorned with pins from past beer festivals and his personal favorite, the road sign for M-22, the iconic scenic Michigan drive that originates in his hometown.  Josh Hockman, Deer Valley Resort’s director of beverage, organizes the Mountain Beer Festival each year. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park RecordJosh Hockman’s Bavarian hat is decorated with pins he’s collected from beer festivals around the world, plus other personal souvenirs like an M-22 pin from his hometown in Michigan. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record But Hockman wasn’t the only one sporting traditional beer festival attire. Eric Hitzelberger stood out on Saturday with his own Bavarian cap, decorated with silver souvenir pins and dangling charms from Germany, plus a feather sticking out the back. The real showstoppers were fuzzy edelweiss flowers pinned to either side, grown, dried and preserved by Hitzelberger himself.  He and Sheila Jackson, both longtime Parkites with family ties to the Bavarian region, had originally planned to wear their whole lederhosen outfits, but opted for warmer clothes after seeing the forecast.  The two said they come to the beer festival every year and are happy to see a few of their favorite breweries participating, like Red Rock Brewing and Templin Family Brewing. Eric Hitzelberger, left, and Sheila Jackson were two beer fest attendees who got into the spirit of the event. Hitzelberger had even decorated his Bavarian felt cap with dried edelweiss flowers he grew himself. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record The point of the festival, in addition to trying some of the state’s best beers, was to talk to brewmasters themselves, like Tim Chappell of Chappell Brewing.  Chappell and his wife, Jen Sehones, are the co-founders of the small Salt Lake City-based brewery. Chappell oversees the beer operations, while Sehones, a former Math teacher, handles the books. Deer Valley’s Mountain Beer Festival is one event they always do together.  “We look forward to this festival every year. And being a small business, this is our one date weekend. We come up and work together,” Chappell said. “We’re a skier-focused brewery anyway, and so this is right up our alley.” Want to know how their popular Pie Hole strawberry rhubarb tart ale is made? He’ll tell you. Curious how their Ice Box IPA can be a 5% beer and still maintain the flavor of a heavy 8% equivalent? He’ll happily explain the process. Chappell Brewing founders husband-and-wife Tim Chappell, left, and Jen Sehones serve sample pours of some of their favorite beers. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park RecordTim Chappell, left, and Jen Sehones say the Mountain Beer Festival is their one date weekend together as busy co-owners of the small brewery business. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park RecordCredit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record One way he makes the Ice Box IPA affordable is by using a hop extract for bittering to preserve the IPA flavor without sacrificing ingredients. “When you add the hops in the cold side, they act like a sponge and they soak up a lot of your beer, so you have to sell them for a lot,” Chappell said. “(By using an extract) we can make this beer taste like an 8% double IPA that we’d have to charge $10 for, but make it a 5% beer and keep it at a draft price. Just using science to help us get the quality.” That Ice Box IPA is what Chappell entered for the Best of the Fest crowd vote, rather than the popular Pie Hole, because Chappell is especially proud of it. Chappell said the competition element always provides fun banter between the Utah brewers.  His brewery has made the top five each year they’ve participated, but has yet to bring home the first-place trophy. This year’s was shaped like a Deer Valley deer head on top of a foaming beer cup, designed and 3D-printed by Salt Lake City artist Jesse Draper of Draper Art Fabrication.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t Chappell’s victory year. But out of the 21 entries, the Ice Box IPA still made the top five, coming in fourth. That will again secure the brewery an invitation to next year’s Brewmaster Dinner, held the Friday before the festival. A group of beer festival attendees takes a “beer ski” of Chappell Brewing’s Pie Hole tart ale during the event on Saturday. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record Moab Brewery took home the trophy this year for their Helles O’High Water beer served during the festival as an optional Ratler, a 50/50 blend of light beer with a sparkling citrus soda. Festivalgoers could choose their juice mix-in, from orange or grapefruit sodas to Coca-Cola or pineapple juice.  The win earned Moab Brewery its fourth out of five Deer Valley beer festival trophies, said Hockman. It was a diverse group of winners. In second place was RoHa Brewing Project’s False Prophet Hazy IPA; third place was Roosters Brewing Co.’s Honey Wheat; Chappell’s Ice Box IPA came fourth; then fifth place was Etta Place Cider’s Mango Habanero Mead. Credit: Photo courtesy of Josh Hockman Credit: Photo courtesy of Josh Hockman Left: Brian Funk, center, accepts the first place Best of the Fest trophy on behalf of Moab Brewery at Deer Valley’s fifth annual Mountain Beer Festival. The trophy is 3D-printed and designed by Salt Lake City artist Jesse Draper. 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