GABF 2015 Discussion & Info

I drove by closer to 11 and there were probably closer to 100 people in line, so I came back to work. I had no expectation that I would be able to get anything at that point, but was out and about so figured it wouldn't hurt to do a drive-by. I would be interested in hearing how it went from someone who waited.

 

I'll be signing books from 6-7 tonight and Friday. If anyone is crazy enough to be in the bookstore at that time (pretty unfathomable) be sure to say hello. Always cool to meet fellow Mountain Forumers

And FYI, for anyone that's never visited the bookstore at GABF, it's a pretty great place to catch your breath for a few minutes while getting to visit with the likes of greats like Randy Mosher, Stan Hieronymus, John Palmer, as well as the occasional dude who still doesn't know how he convinced someone to publish his book.

https://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/at-the-festival/education-presentations/bookstore/

Cheers, Patrick Dawson

 

Joe runs a tight ship, it went well. Smooth as pie.

 

any reports on the new entrance? I'm guessing the line reports are coming from the main entrance?

 

We got there just before 11 and were at the back of the line. Got bottles just before 1. They had plenty of East Bank and Montmorency Fruit Stand there even after we left.

 

#timeforasecondmortgage

 

I can't go this year but what special stuff is typically poured at GABF?
I see a lot of breweries posts on instagram with their lineup and it seems everyone so far is only bringing their core stuff.

Are people lining up for Mornin' Delight and Heady Topper or something?

 

There are plenty of amazing beers that will be poured but Topping Goliath and The Alchemist are not there.

 

Treehouse? Trillium? Cigar City? Founders? Mom? Dad?

 

Thursday night #GABF takeaways:

- The extra hall space is fantastic. Has a much more open feel, and even though the attendance increased, feels like much more elbow room
- May just be a Thursday thing, but feels like people are singling out certain breweries much more. A row might have a brewery with a long line, next to a ton of nearly empty booths. Think craft beer drinkers are becoming more discriminating/selective. Basically more lines, but like always they move really fast.
-The above being said, this is by far the most prepared breweries have been. Lawson's, a newcomer was still pouring everything when I visited almost two hours in. I sampled the heavy hitters early (rare barrel, bruery, etc) so I can's speak to everyone, but the only place I hit that had ran out was J. Wakefield and that was only their Miami Madness that kicked about an hour in. e.g. BA Sexual Chocolate had no line about 4 hours in (and was mighty tasty)
- PAIRED kicked ass. They added a substantial amount of square footage, but kept the attendance the same (or even less?). Was soooo enjoyable.
- Highlights: Melvin, Goose Island, and Societe. But this is only the first night, a lot more places yet to visit.
- Some timed releases, noticed Firestone Walker, Avery, and Bruery, but probably more.
- Rumors were the new entrance was super smooth. Anyone to corroborate?

 

Front door or back door?

 

New entrance FTW. Pre-checking for tix and ID. The fest is great this year! Tons of room, lines aren't bad, and very polished.
The days of GABF being a mess are over? Had such a good time tonight.

 

Just got home and I corroborate PDawson's and Domingo's thoughts. The new entrance was awesome. Got in line about 4 or so after work, immediately we were moving inside to check IDs, get wrist bands, and into an AC controlled waiting area which was broken into several comfortably sized lanes which were released one by one into the convention center. Couldn't have been easier or more well run. Very impressive. We immediately went to Lawsons given where the new entrance is located and while the line was instantly long it moved well. I went through a few times. It got a little congested in a few spots on the floor where big breweries where kinda close together but not burdensome really. It was really a great time. Hopefully some of you guys at WTF last night had a good time tonight.

Melvin's fresh hop 2x4 was ridiculous. That and Veritas 15 were the highlights for me. Beatification back to back to Veritas wasn't really much of a comparison.

Wicked Weed started taking down signs about 2 hours in. Not sure how much beer they will have left. Was shocked to see ZD still pouring when I left about 3 hours in.

Freemont continues to get no love and no line while their Cinnamon Bourbon Abominable (and Bourbon Abominable) are fantastic. Literally no line. Amazing.

Ballast Point's Red Velvet Cake tastes and smells like... red velvet cake. Wow.

Oh and I really enjoyed Fat Head's Buffalo Trace Hippy Sippy Stout too.

That's all I got. Hope you all have a great time if you're going tomorrow or Sat. Cheers.

Edit: Good to see a lot of you tonight!

 

haven't been in three years, but the new entrance was very nice, real smooth. Shorts ran out of beer by 9pm, booth was closed. Lawsons was pouring the goods late till at least 930pm when i left, no line at 9pm, grabbed many samples. Hitting the Food and Beer Pavilion was a great choice tonight, after a needed rest two hours in, Green Flash was pouring some great sours paired with great food which was free (small samples of food, the beer was flowing from bombers through, about as much as you wanted). Good times, there are a few areas that get jammed up with people, but hard to complain when the rest of GABF ran so great tonight!

 

Pigeon Hill's "Your Mom on French Toast". Kind of oddly amazing.

By the way, check out the inside back cover of the program! I may have to pull a PDawson and start signing them.

 

Any comments on the brewers guilds?

 

Agree with all of the above posters. Ive been the past 9 years and this was the best yet. The new entrance was awesome, extra room was Very noticable, absent a few booths lines were almost nonexistent (and the few long lines moved fast), and breweries did not start running out of stuff till almost the end - with some awesome beers never running out. Two thumbs up.

 

I got the impression that paired cost extra, am I mistaken? Is it free for anyone to try?