First Live (exclusively) Beer Event in Texas!

Called and got someone who said no dogs. Got to the event and saw at least 5 dogs. Major fail, very unhappy. Also watched a dude pass out and hit his head on the urinal knocking himself out cold.

In other news good beers

 

Sounds awesome! I didnt imagine this as a "lets get hammered bros!" type of event, but maybe some people just dont know how to handle their big boy beers

 

Great time and great beer. Let's hope there was enough interest and enough tickets sold so this becomes an annual thing. I think with a little more publicity and a couple of the breweries showing up with more than 1 firkin this could blow up!

Some of the one-offs were on point and a couple were complete misses imo. The surprise Funk Metal was a great addition

Thanks again Walt!

Missed a pic of the the Real Ale table and cut off a Das Wunderkind firkin...

 

I think a lot of people were left scratching their heads at this.... maybe it was a reaction with medication or something. I just don't see how someone could have been that hammered.

 

Also hope this event returns. Eclectic choices to be sure , but my fav was the endeavor.

 

Well...let's hear some stories. I was get home until the late afternoon. Wish I had a firkin on the back porch with me at the moment.

 

damn good time. The hopped Fuyu was A+. The 512 peppercorn Wit never left you even after one sip. The Ost from Rogness was well done with coffee and the coconut was just light enough to taste.

 

That stormcloud wasnt labeled as such but it was also dry hopped from what I was told.

 

Really bummed that I couldn't make it. Looked awesome, and y'all had gorgeous weather for it. Good job, Walt! I definitely hope I can make it next time.

Killer cask list. If Rogness was only going to send one cask, Ost with coconut and coffee would be it. How were the Twisted X casks?

 

Twisted x were phenomenal imo

 

My Fav's...

St. Arnold Endeavor
Austin Beerworks Golden Fist with Mint and Strawberries
Real Ale Blonde Barleywine
Jester King Viking Metal

Cheers,
Suds

 

Yes, the vanilla bean was very good - forgot to ask twisted x if they are going to do tours??
Btw, wearing my cool t shirt.

 

I really enjoyed Viking Metal. I wasn't a fan of the original beer but the gin barreled aged version was awesome. Not super acidic/sour(think Cascade) but more like sour candy and a slight peaty smokiness.

The 512 Black IPA with Calypso was probably my favorite.

The Flix stuff had potential but a couple of them were a bit under carbed. I wasn't expecting insane bubbles but my Fuyu pour was very still.

We had a great time and hope to come back in the future.

 

First of all, I'm very excited that despite this not selling out way in advance you're still going to carry on. I really think this has potential to grow throughout the years and become something huge. Also, huge thanks for putting this on!

Overall it was a great time. I may be in the minority but I love the one-offs, experiments, and otherwise unique firkins offered. I think you already know what I think was done right, and I dont want to make this a bitch-fest, but I have to assume you're looking for a "what could have been done differently or better" type of response so I'll just touch on a few things.

It was nice to have brewery reps/brewers on site but at the same time a few of them did a little too much "mingling" and not enough representation. I attended with a craft beer noob and rather than explain everything @ every table to him, it would have been nice to have someone form the actual brewery there (or within earshot) to answer his questions. Some of the people didn't even know what they were pouring....

There was a decent variety of brews available but I was a little surprised to find that some reps had only brought 1 firkin while others had 4. Not entirely a bad thing but the reality is if a few of those guys hadn't stepped up with 3-4 firkins (including flix) it would have been a disaster. Now's the time to get some of these guys up to speed for next year. There's plenty of time for everyone to arrange to have 3 firkins each. I know there's some TABC label approval involved (or at least that's what I was told) but like I said, plenty of time.

FOOD! Homefield grill on site was great but a little limited. Maybe a couple of food trucks next year? There's room

Music! Not bad but loud and no escape. Maybe I'm just getting old but this isn't a kegger, it's craft beer with a bunch of beer geeks. It's kind of hard to talk about what you're tasting with the people you're with when you can't hear each other. Maybe tone it down or have a more acoustic arrangement? Or stop inviting old people

Yeah, so maybe this is a bitch-fest Seriously though, it was an awesome time, well thought out, and went pretty smoothly from what I can tell. None of the things I mentioned are deal breakers or seriously hinder the enjoyment of the fest but may help it become a little more appealing to beer noobs, old people, hungry and thirsty doods, and anyone else who wants to totally geek out to the world of firkins (both unique and traditional) for the day.

Also very impressed with the placement and availability of water pitchers and dispensers for both drinking and rinsing. Sometimes overlooked but you were on the ball!