Philly Bierfest highlights Pennsylvania’s best German-style brews

February is set to be a good month for German-style beer lovers, thanks to the return of Philly Bierfest on Feb. 25.

The sixth annual Bierfest takes over the German Society of Pennsylvania from 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 25, and will include tastings of German-style beers from more then three dozen breweries located in Pennsylvania and Germany. Early access begins at 1 p.m. for VIP ticket holders.

Tickets to the festival are available now, and cost between $20 for designated drivers and $78 for VIP Plus admission, which includes early entry, a keepsake mug, and entry to a German ale and lager seminar at noon.

Taking place across two beer halls, the Philly Bierfest will feature beers from area breweries, including Weyerbacher Brewing Co., Yuengling, Sly Fox, 2nd Story Brewing Co., and Victory Brewing Co., among others. German breweries represented at the festival include Warsteiner, Schöfferhofer, Hofbräu Munich, and König Ludwig.

Plus, as a new addition this year, attendees can get cheese and cider at the Edgar Allan Poe Cheese Cave & Cider Bar, which will feature Pennsylvania cheesemakers' products and beer from Baltimore's Raven Beer.

In addition to drinking beer, festival-goers can also look forward to learning about beer thanks to the festival's educational focus. The festival will feature a Lager Learning Lounge, a brewer's discussion panel with beer author Lew Bryson, and the above-mentioned ale versus lager seminar.

Non-beer entertainment, meanwhile, will come from polka-funk band Polkadelphia, an arm wrestling competition with Philly Roller Derby athletes, and a beer-themed burlesque show dubbed "BEERlesque."