Ballast Point 18th Anniversary

I would say you did rather well getting through 8 tasters. I got 5 based on the length of the lines and my tolerance level of large crowds. I spent more time standing in line or off to the side letting others pass than I did enjoying their beers.

In similar news, I did find a phone while I was there. Txted the last person that was called and dropped the phone off at the front. So if it was yours, Ballast Point lost & found has it.

 

I'll add my $0.02. First of all this post will really sound bitter, which I hate to do, but I think it's fair to describe how was this event handled so that people can decide if they want to go next time or not.

I think it was a really really bad event. I went last year and I kind of enjoyed it. "Kind of", because it was my first time at the museum as well, so I spent some time just checking out the submarines etc...So that was really cool. Basically, the non-beer festival part was cool. That should've made me rethink this years visit..The other problem I had last year, was that my designated driver wife had nothing to drink at all. Not even cold water. There was absolutely nothing, not even cups to drink the warm water that everybody uses to rinse their glasses. Seriously? So I emailed BP before I bought the tickets and I got a response "your wife has a good point and it is being addressed this year". Guess what, it wasn't addressed at all. Sadly...You want to promote safe driving blah blah blah etc...and this is how you do it?

I agree with the OP. There was way too many people, not enough beer - the beer that everyone comes for the anniversary. It's a goddamn anniversary, not a shelf-ballast-point-tasking-event. If I'm going to an anniversary I expect to drink the interesting stuff, not your regular pale ales and IPAs. But in reality I finally decided to leave halfway, because I spent 20 minutes in a line just to be told at the station that 2 out of 6 at that particular station are not available anymore. I'm usually pretty calm, especially at those kind of events, but this really got me pissed. Seriously? You make me wait 20 minutes in line for a beer to a station that claims to have it available at the time and you ran out with no alternatives? Joke. I will not attend any other BP events in the future for sure.

Oh and if anyone from BP is reading this, you guys should go to your neighbors - Modern Times (or Modem Tones as some call it these days ) and see how to run an anniversary party. I went there yesterday and it was an absolute opposite. I wish I chose them for the 5pm session today as well. Amazing stuff, very attentive and friendly, proper set up, nice options for designated drivers (unlimited coffee, 2 types + 1 coffee on nitro), no outrageous lines for beer, no running out of the "good stuff" etc. A complete opposite.

PS. I left with 8 unused tasters. Out of the 7 I used, 2 were the sours (that required a lot of extra wait).
Anyway, the event was really disappointing. Next year, it's a super easy choice for me.

 

grze channeling the Bruery ice cream guy...

Fareal tho, that sounds like a horrible event.

 

My better half and I honestly cut the lines for the "special release" sours.

The flemish at 2pm, oh man..the smell was magnificent, then I took a sip. Not sure where the beer I smelled went but damn...not even close to a flemish red, basically I would call it an absolute trashcan of a brew.

The gueuze, which was supposedly from '04, you would think would have a bit more oakyness to it, especially after aging for over a decade...nope.jpg


Walking around the ships/submarine >>> the rest of the event.

 

It looks like I made the right decision! I couldn't really justify spending money on two anniversary parties in the same weekend, so I went with Modern Times, and I could not be happier about the decision.

The event at MT really was incredible. I loved or thoroughly enjoyed nearly every beer, and the whole event had a very comfortable, intimate feel. I don't think I ever waited more than 3-5 minutes for my next taster. It was just an remarkably smooth, well-run event. Obviously, it's a bit like apples and oranges, since this is MT's first anniversary party, and it was BP's 18th, but it would seem to me even bigger, older breweries can learn at least something from MT's event. Having multiple sessions was a great idea, and while I wish I could have gone to both days, I'm more than pleased with my overall experience. It was also great because I brought someone who had never been to any sort of beer festival or anniversary party, so I was priming him for a crowded mess. I imagine he now has incredibly high expectations for whatever brewery anniversary party he attends next. Cheers to the folks at Modern Time!

 

did you just admit to line cutting where people are complaining about how long they had to wait for beer?

 

Yup, because I waited in long lines previously and found it was easier to make a friend near the front than deal with poor direction, crappy setup (hey lets make a giant line go this way, but lets put fans in the path so that no one can actually walk off the boat), and an overall piss poor excuse for an event.

The event coordinator girl of mine almost lost her shit at how poorly it was organized. Granted she did lose her shit multiple times at a few Stone events too =P I think one was either an Oakquinox or a Pour it Black where they held registration inside at the hostess stand.

I think the best part is that despite cutting lines I still only managed to get 5 tasters in 3 hours.

 

Is this Ballast Point's version of the BASS release prior to Alesmith adopting BPT?

It sounds like somebody greatly miscalculated how many people they could handle.

 

I wish I had a picture of the crowd on the Star of India. Pretty sure there is a capacity limit and they had to be over it.

 

Funny you mentioned that. I never even made that far.

That was another issue. When I waited for the gueuze there was a couple in front of me at 2:30 and then closer to 3pm when we were almost at the booth that couple turned into 6 people group...But I didn't even want to mention that since it's not BP fault, it's just personal respect to each other. I understand that someone can hold the spot while the other person goes to the restroom, but just cutting in line right at the end?

 

Well that right there should be an indication that BP did not plan properly and basically forces yet another line to stand in. So you get to wait/stand in a line to get on a boat to stand in line. Seems like a good idea for $40.

 

By far my worst beer festival experience ever. They completely over sold the event. As many stated, the first hour was great. After that it went downhill from there. After waiting in line for 30 min for sours, the staff came up to us and told us that we were in the wrong line. This happened on two occasions for us. The ship thing was cool, but for how crowded and disorganized the event was, we will def not be returning to drink beers that were under par. Grapefruit sculpin and even keel were pretty much the only winners in my book. Maybe if we didn't have to waste our time in lines all day, we would have been able to try more. Only used 8/15 tasters. We ended up leaving at 3 along with everyone else. Thanks for the great time ballast point. I hope you are able to clean this up for your next anniversary. Regardless, I will not be attending.
Btw as we waited in line, numerous times did ballast point staff cut in line. My gf simply asked one of the staff members how he was able to cut in front of the line. He replied, "because I work for the company and I'm cool," while turning his back on her. Completely cocky and arrogant. Those who represent the company in this manner are a bunch of jokers.

 

I wonder how long it will take to see a job posting for an Event Manager at BP. =P

 

Wait... is this a Ballast Point or Oggis Pizza thread?

 

I doubt that. Last year was not much better. It was fun for me as it was my first time at the museum so I spent a lot of time checking out the exhibitions, but it was quite similar. It got out of control after the first hour. Again, wasn't that bad as this years, but was definitely a sign. And then the complete "kiss my ass attitude" towards designated drivers...meh.

BTW, I'm wondering if any BAs stayed till the end. Maybe the last hour was actually not that bad since everyone pretty much left at that point?

 

I wonder how long it will take for BP to give us refunds or something to account for only being able to use up half my tasters and half of those were things I coulda got at Vons (since the specialty beers were gone by 2-3pm).

 

Stayed till the end and only had to wait in like for 10 minutes for a taster of Wahoo wheat :/