GABF 2013: Which brewers got locked out?

Discussion in 'Mountain' started by bigaltemple, Jul 10, 2013.

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  1. Twal

    Twal Initiate (0) Sep 20, 2010 Colorado

    You really need to learn to take things in The context in which they are written,not reassemble what someone writes so you can point fingers.
    As I said, if the majority of beers that get in are mediocre at best and there are many award winning breweries that are shut out then yes,it does degrade the overall quality of the festival.
    I'm sure you can find a great beer regardless but personally (and this will apply to many) if the beer is only better than the resr of the other mediocre beers the beer still isn't the best of its style only the best of the beers available.
    personally,I want to be able to have the opportunity to drink great beer,not run of the mill,session beers o wouldn't consider buying if given the opportunity.
    The servers rarely know what they are pouring unless they are from the brewery and often times the are not that friendly.
     
  2. Prospero

    Prospero Pooh-Bah (2,606) Jul 27, 2010 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Not pointing fingers, I was just being facetious and a little devil's advocate. I'm merely pointing out the flip side. While there are a lot more mediocre beers, there's also a lot more sours and world-class beers being poured. Overall so long as there are more great beers than mediocre beers (that I get to taste, not overall I understand), I call the event a success. And based on the last couple years, it's actually been getting better (aside from the bigger crowd and increased difficulty getting tickets). But to each their own.

    And are there equally as awesome beers being poured around town? Absolutely. It just takes a lot of time and money to bar hop over the 2-3 days to get them all, but can be done, and a lot of times can be more enjoyable for those who don't like crowds. I just remember the CCB Brandy Huna fiasco though, and I gotta be honest it sounded like the same problems of GABF, in terms of crowds, running out, etc.

    If you're just browsing and hopping around, yes, you have a high likely-hood of that happening. If you go into GABF with the beer list and which one's you want to try, it's pretty phenomenal.
     
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  3. merc7186

    merc7186 Initiate (0) Dec 5, 2010 New York

    I have two pennies, is that enough for entrance into the thread?

    As a first timer last year, I thought the festival was phenomenal. Here was my impression of the sessions...Thursday Night is for the out of towners, Friday Night is for the locals and college kids, Saturday Afternoon was for the Beer Nerds and whatever was left over for saturday night was for whoever was still standing.

    We got to Denver a couple of days early and noticed that almost every brewery had their best face on and was pouring great beers, including one offs and retired beers. If you bounce around and do enough research, you can find really great beers with minimal effort or hassle (unlike Falling Rock and CCB Huna, which was purchased by the guys from CCB :confused:).

    I really really really wish I had some sort of account of the beers that I had knocked back because it would be a pretty diverse list. While there were some pretty small time breweries there just taking up space, I also did find other small time breweries that were serving up great beers (ie. Mustang Brewing from OKC and Spring House Brewing in PA) that I never would have heard of or sought out...it just happened to be one of those thing when you are passing by a section, noticed your cup is empty and stepped into a line.

    When it came to the big beers that everyone wanted, thankfully I did not waste any time trying to that DFH Oyster beer...or whatever the hell it was but instead snagged several pulls of T25 and the Lost Abbey Box Set beers.

    This year, I am coming back for a more limited time and with a first timer...if he wants to be a kid in the candy store, then I will gladly do it. But to say that you can't find a great beer because of all the little places is absurd.
     
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  4. SalukiAlum

    SalukiAlum Initiate (0) Dec 19, 2010 Colorado

    Get over the 'who wins awards' thing and 'mediocre' breweries, who are you to judge? Something like 500 breweries from across the nation, first come, first serve. Real simple, nothing in life is 'fair'. Doesn't really make or break a brewery or the festival. Sorry, but don't get your logic. Regardless it will still sell out in less than 24 hours. Cheers
     
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  5. Mebuzzard

    Mebuzzard Grand Pooh-Bah (4,216) May 19, 2005 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    For me, GABF isn't focused on finding those awesome beers (although that's a part of it), but finding something new, from a brewery I've never heard of, or from a part of the country that I will not visit for some time...if ever. I think it would be close to pointless to have all, or even most, of the beers poured be "great". From my experience pouring there for 8 years, most attendees wouldn't no great from garbage. Thankfully, there are great beers....and those usually have lines...the fun part is finding great ones with no line.
     
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  6. merc7186

    merc7186 Initiate (0) Dec 5, 2010 New York


    What he said.......Down with 'Everybody gets a trophy day!'...:wink:
     
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  7. scray24

    scray24 Initiate (0) Mar 12, 2008 Colorado

    ThiS!
     
  8. XmnwildX12

    XmnwildX12 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,066) Nov 12, 2010 Minnesota
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Hopefully there will be no death threats, like last time while waiting for Black Tuesday... that was interesting!
     
  9. kunstdrache

    kunstdrache Initiate (0) Sep 22, 2006 Texas

    BT brings the worse beer geeks out of the wormwood. Two years ago there was a shithead who stood in front of the line, holding everyone up, knocking back glasses and glasses of BT. He finally left after enough people in the line were screaming expletives at him. I think he got away with 6-7 pours.
     
  10. southdenverhoo

    southdenverhoo Maven (1,363) Aug 13, 2004 Colorado

    does anybody else sort of not give a shit? I started going to this thing when it was at the Merchandise Mart, and I have just sort of lost interest the last few years. Part--most-- of it is my own failing--I just cannot decide if I like a beer or not in 1 1/2 oz like, evidently, everybody else in the world can.

    Yeah but how do you get to taste beers not distributed here? 1. Travel 2. Beer Advocate trading.

    Don't point out they don't need my admission $$; I can see that that is so and has been for about a decade. Cheers to all who still dig it, I envy you!
     
  11. SalukiAlum

    SalukiAlum Initiate (0) Dec 19, 2010 Colorado

    I still dig it, but wouldn't loose sleep if I couldn't get tickets! You say 1 1/2 oz. pours? Last year I just kept returning to the Minneapolis Town Hall table as there was no line, knocking back some Russian Roulette and Three Hour Tour pours (same with FiftyFifty)! Boy that was great, better not give out my secrets. But don't need to always line up in the long lines, that's overrated!
     
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  12. DenverBeerDrinker

    DenverBeerDrinker Initiate (0) Apr 5, 2012 Colorado

    That Russian Roulette was one of my favorite from GABF last year
     
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  13. SalukiAlum

    SalukiAlum Initiate (0) Dec 19, 2010 Colorado

    Keep that between you and me :wink:
     
  14. XmnwildX12

    XmnwildX12 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,066) Nov 12, 2010 Minnesota
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I did the same and I live there... haha
     
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  15. Twal

    Twal Initiate (0) Sep 20, 2010 Colorado

    Who am I to Judge? Who are you to tell others the way the should enjoy the festival?
    Maybe you should look at what the festival is,and that is the largest (beer judging) competition in the United States.
    Sure you can go there to drink beer and try new breweries but many people are there to enter the competition. If the festival comes down to the fact that the breweries winning gold medals are only better than the other breweries that got in and countless very good breweries are shut out then yes it does effect the festival.
    It's really not that difficult to understand.
     
  16. DenverBeerDrinker

    DenverBeerDrinker Initiate (0) Apr 5, 2012 Colorado

    Can't a brewery submit beers to be judged without having beer being poured in the main hall? I thought that was the case. If so then the only limit to winning a medal is actually submitting the beer. If a brewery chooses to not submit beer to be judged because they didn't get a table to pour their beers at then that's on them not the festival.
     
  17. Twal

    Twal Initiate (0) Sep 20, 2010 Colorado

    Enough w/ the bickering really.The festival will be great regardless of who gets in.
    My point from the beginning was only this (and it was not focused on this years events but over time),If really good breweries and previous award winning breweries that consistently please are shut out from the festival it really is a losing situation for everyone.
    The thread initiated w/ a question as to how in the future the festival can be run so that it is not a free for all to get in,moving forward (it was suggested) maybe there should be regional events for entry ,much like the NHC...
    There are many breweries I never heard every time I attend GABF that are great surprise finds and that is going to happen every year regardless,but I know there are some other great (small) breweries out there (some I know that did not get in this year) that would have been a great addition.
    I think if you have a beer that has won other medals and is potentially a gold medal winner,they should have a little better chance in the lottery than the guy from the middle of nowhere that has a beer in there just because it's good advertising (and really not all that good).
     
  18. b0rderman

    b0rderman Initiate (0) May 18, 2010 Colorado

    Every year, GABF bitching starts earlier and earlier. I know that correlation ≠ causation...but man, these pumpkin beer release dates have got to have SOMETHING to do with it.
     
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  19. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,282) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

  20. DonSaleen747

    DonSaleen747 Initiate (0) Oct 2, 2009 Connecticut

    I know I have seen an excel file in the past (not for GABF) of all the breweries, beers, ratings, ect - if anyone has the ability to create something like that again can you please share it? I would even put it together if I had an idea on where to start
     
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