Opelika, Alabama, will become the center of the bourbon universe on Saturday, August 29, as enthusiasts from across the nation converge at Brewzle Fest 2026, the country’s largest celebration of craft distillers and the whiskies they produce.

The third annual event has roughly doubled in size each year and offers attendees the opportunity to sample craft whiskey pours from more than 40 regional and national brands, interact one-on-one with the distillers that make them, attend educational panels, sample food vendors, and create lifelong memories with fellow bourbon aficionados.

The popular bourbon festival is the brainchild of Opelika’s TJ Gamble, whose YouTube channel, which is simply named “Brewzle,” went viral after he began posting humorous bourbon-related videos out of boredom during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the years since, his channel has amassed more than 860,000 subscribers and hundreds of millions of views, which led Forbes Magazine to recently declare him “The Most important Man In American Whiskey” in a lengthy profile. He was also profiled by SoulGrown Alabama.

“We created and built this incredible community online, but it was spread all over the United States,” Gamble said. “The Brewzle Fest festival was started because it offers that scattered community an opportunity to come together one day out of the year and jointly celebrate our shared love of bourbon and craft spirits.”

This year’s event is being sponsored by Sprayberry Bottle Shop, a Marietta, Georgia liquor, wine, and craft beer retailer that has also become a pilgrimage site for bourbon hobbyists in the U.S. because of its large selection, hard-to-find offerings, and abundance of quality single barrel store picks.

Another new partnership at the 2026 festival is with the Carter’s Hope Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting families navigating the unimaginable journey of infant and child loss.

Named after Carter Aspen Gamble, a beloved granddaughter, and spearheaded by Gamble’s wife, Jill, the charity is hosting a fundraiser tasting of rare bourbons at Brewzle Fest that also sold out as soon as tickets became available.

“Jill is an important part of our YouTube channel, and our viewers always react positively when she appears in a video or joins me in a livestream,” Gamble said. “She created the Carter’s Hope Foundation along with our son, Will, and our daughter-in-law, Lexie, and the overwhelming response to the fundraiser is a testament to her popularity as well as the heartbreaking issue that it addresses.”

Gamble has become best known for posting “bourbon hunting” videos in which he travels from state to state visiting small mom-and-pop liquor stores, searching shelves for highly-sought bottles, and bantering with owners and fellow connoisseurs about the current condition of the whiskey industry, all of which is filmed through a first-person perspective.

His witty and wry commentary and engaging demeanor have earned him legions of loyal viewers, many of whom pay monthly subscription fees for special access to behind-the-scenes videos and the ability to communicate directly with Gamble and other fans through an online message board.

The channel’s popularity has also created a phenomenon known as the “Brewzle Effect” because liquor stores that Gamble randomly selects and features in his videos invariably experience a significant increase in business, sales, and foot traffic, and many owners and employees visibly register surprise, delight, and excitement during his filming.

While most bourbon-centric YouTube influencers focus their videos on long-established whiskey brands made by corporate-owned legacy distilleries, Gamble decided early on to turn his attention toward highlighting small craft producers who are innovating the industry with up-and-coming labelings.

His focus on helping craft distillers comes at a time when the rise in popularity of THC beverages and canned cocktails, a decrease in alcohol consumption by younger generations, and other factors have led to a downturn in the bourbon industry.

“The big brands can afford million-dollar advertising campaigns to promote their products, but I have always appreciated the small entrepreneurs who throw caution to the wind and begin distilling simply for their love of bourbon,” Gamble said. “Some of today’s best ideas and leading innovations in the bourbon industry are coming from small craft distillers who are willing to take a new approach to a product that has been made the same exact way for more than 200 years.”

Gamble’s devotion to craft bourbon even led him to acquire the equipment of a distillery in Kansas, move it to Alabama, purchase a small campus of buildings, and open his own production facility named Oak Bowery after a once-thriving 19th Century unincorporated community near Opelika.

He has already released and sold out two batches of Oak Bowery Bourbon, both made by blending distillate he sourced from other craft producers, and though it is still being renovated and under construction, Gamble plans to begin distilling and aging his own bourbon on site by the end of the year with a tasting room and tours following in the summer of 2027.

But the first taste of self-produced Oak Bowery Bourbon is still far in the future as Gamble is determined to let his product age for at least six years, which is the amount of time he believes it takes for barreled whiskey to begin becoming truly great.

“The YouTube channel, the Brewzle Fest festival, and our Oak Bowery Distillery are all linked together and form this perfect little universe for those who truly love bourbon,” Gamble said. “It has been a bit of a meteoric ride, and the journey hasn’t always been an easy one, but nobody ever accused me of being scared of a challenge.”

Tickets for the four-hour Brewzle Fest Craft Whiskey Festival, which begins at 5 p.m. on August 29, include a free Glencairn tasting glass, a lanyard, and access to samples from all participating distilleries.

Non-alcoholic refreshments will also be available for ticket holders serving as designated drivers.

While VIP packages sold out almost immediately, general admission tickets remain available and may be purchased from Eventbrite HERE.