Oakquinox 2012 reactions

I agree with a lot of what you said. I really enjoyed Farley, also the El Camino was a good surprise. Other top favorites (not including bottles share) was 50/50 Rye, Knight Rider, Bal age Yeti, SN Hellraiser, and BB Stone IRS.

Some of the disappointments were Ladyface, Class X (very thin), Uncle Jacob's (i know others liked it), and Gales 2001. This year seemed to be lacking in sours. I feel like RR and LA just have their regular line up, nothing too special, no vintages. I was a little sad about this because I won't be able to make Sourfest this year so i was hoping to get to try some cool ones here.

Also about the Station 1 bottle line. I agree it was nuts. Talking with Dr.Bill he said he instructed for the bottles to be broken up differently but for some reason that didn't happen and instead they were put in alphabetical order. Maybe they should move the two bottle stations away from each other. Have one at the outside bar and the other at the patio.

 

My favorite part was the absolute amateur hour running of the event by Stone. They ran out of everything but $10 "duck" burritos and rock hard brats by 1PM. No problem - order some food in the restaurant! Oh - 3 hour wait, our bad! I couldn't believe Stone can't figure out that people like to have fresh bar food while they drink beer. How freaking hard is it to have an adequate supply of food? If you are going to sell a 4oz brat with no fixin's for $10 - at least make them fresh - not at 4am then serve them all day till 4pm.

Loved the beers - but I think Stone sucks at event management.

Agree on the Class X - huge disappointment.

Surprise of the day was getting to try non infected BA Yeti. I didn't even know it was at Bottle Station 1 since they listed it as "Oak Aged Yeti", a very common bottle. I ignored it all day until I finally noticed the familiar blue labeled bottle and switched my order to that. BA Yeti and Oak Aged Yeti are two different things, Stone.

 

These events usually go downhill the first year was the best year not too crowded more rare beers, this years lineup was very similar to last year with a lot less sours maybe next year stone will get it right...

 

There is always room for improvement But I had a really fun time. I look forward to going again next year.

P.S. I have had class X at Kern River and I thought it was Fantastic.

 

I had Class X during SD beer week and thought it was fantastic too. However, for some reason, this time it seemed off.

I too will be going next year. I always have a great time, if not with the beers at Oakquinox then with catching up and meeting new BAs and participating in the bottle share

 

Bummed to hear Class X didn't come off well. I also had it at Kern and thought it was great.

 

Class X - almost seemed watered down, very watery mouthfeel. Is this normal? Is it normally a thick beer?

 

that was my impression of it this last time. I do not remember it being that way in the past. I do remember it not being a super thick stout, but I remember lots of vanilla notes and having a drinkable mouthfeel

 

I had Class X during beer week at O'Brien's, and remember it being on the thinner side. Overall, I thought it was just OK; not as good as the Class V with cocoa nibs on cask.

 

Were they serving Class X on nitro? I know when I had it at last year's SDBW it was on nitro and had a very creamy full mouthfeel, not to mention some wonderful chocolate and vanilla flavors. Eric from Kern was there at Toronado and told me it hadn't carbed they way they liked so that's why it was on nitro.

 

Class X, Barrel Aged Ten Fidy, and the Ladyface offerings were all meh. Farley, Sierra Nevada 2x4, '08 bourbon barrel Imperial Russian Stout, and Ad Lib on the other hand, were all very good.

 

I was pretty worried when I saw the line to get into the event, but truth be told things actually went pretty smoothly inside. The draft stations were practically line free. The bottle stations were pretty rough, but it was an improvement having two lines now. Seeing as how all you really need is a table for a bottle station, I'd like to see that split up even further. Overall the beer was good and the weather was amazing... no sunblock or profuse sweating involved!

Interesting notes on the BA Ten Fidy, I have had that beer about three times and it has ranged from middle of the road to mindblowing (2008 barrel aged on cask). Not sure what the deal is there. The regular version is one of my favorite imperial stouts.

 

I thought it was ridiculously good last year at Oakquinox. Why don't they can that stuff?!?!

I'm surprised that the food situation was sketchy... they appear not to have learned from last year, when they ran out of food for much of the afternoon. I think the way to go is to get a reservation at the restaurant, although it gets spendy.

 

While the food situation is not ideal, they can't exactly materialize another kitchen out of thin air. I think based on all previous Stone fests it is pretty obvious what the food situation is. Nobody is going to stop you from grabbing a bite to eat elsewhere and then coming back. It is what it is.

 

Someone suggested food trucks, which I think would be awesome. But would probably cannibalize sales at their food stations.

 

I think for food options they need to have cheaper and simpler items

Though I typically love what Stone does with their food, at the festival I don't feel like dropping $10 on a rather small burrito. The burrito does not need to be duck and have a lot of the interesting ingredients. Just give me a simple Cali Burrito. Or more things like the pretzel and chips (still a little pricey, but good). I also liked the regular brats with onions and peppers they had a few years ago more than the pretzel brats. Plus I feel they were bigger, more filling, and cheaper.

Also, I cannot wait until the kitchen is finished so the menu can return to how it was, I miss the Mussels in Thai sauce

 

I was pretty happy with the whole event - beer highlights for me were the 100% BA Cuir, 2008 BA RIS, Uncle Jacob's Stout (PS anyone know if this is hitting (or has already hit) socal shops?), BA Victory at Sea and of course a few Eclipses. Less than highlights - BA Class X was flat and not that good imo, BA Ten Fidy was very flat and while I still enjoyed the taste a lot the flatness could not be overlooked - incredibly high potential though. Ad Lib was hyped up to me a lot and didn't do much for me either.

Also had fun doing a few tasting comparisons, tried all three Abyss' side-by-side, tried Sucaba and Abacus side-by-side, a couple Eclipse side-by-sides too. As for the food, I agree it was pricey and sub-par but it did the job. The Rare beer tent for the anniversary events always has those awesome all-you-can-eat taco's, this event might be too big to try something like that....but hey, it works and is awesome so I'm suggesting it. Also, it seems like common sense to distribute the bottles between the 2 lines in such a way that both lines are usually equally long, instead they went in alphabetical order. Not a huge deal though.

Overall it was great though and I def. plan to return next year.