“Stand Your Ground and Pour!”

Brooklyn Brewery’s Garrett Oliver made some noise with his inspiring letter to participating brewers of last month’s Great American Beer Festival (GABF) urging them to “PLEASE STAND YOUR GROUND AND POUR.” While he certainly didn’t “save” GABF (as the Denver Westword blog claimed) from a sea of yellow-shirted volunteers who still manned the vast majority of booths, nor is this a new concern or concept, he did bring some much-needed attention to the importance of brewers connecting with consumers at events.

Why is this important? Oliver also writes that “beer is about people, not just about liquid.” Having beer at a fest isn’t enough. As consumers, we want to meet brewers, ask questions and learn more from those who inspire us. A few moments with a fan could mean brand loyalty for life, but simply sending beer to an event and having volunteers pour it will often be matched with proportional enthusiasm. Besides, there’s no better person to represent and handle a beer than the person who brewed it.

We know this firsthand. The T-shirt backs of our first fest (Art of Beer Fest, May 2003) proclaimed: “There’s more to beer than beer,” and for the past 10 years, we’ve hosted 30-odd fests in Boston with this in mind and heart. Since day one, we’ve required that brewers or knowledgeable representatives man their booths, pour their beers, and properly represent their brand and beers to attendees. The fact that attendees can shake a brewer’s hand, share their passion and get some knowledge dropped on them has become a signature draw of our fests.

Personally, as attendees, we now skip booths that are manned purely by volunteers. Our thinking is that if the brewer doesn’t have the time to represent, then neither do we. Some might take issue with this, but we’ve always said that “beer is the ultimate social lubricant.” Without the social aspect (people), what’s the point?

Respect Beer. ■