2017 FOBAB

How much do people usually drink during there shift as a volunteer?

 

It’s stll going to sell out. It’ll just be a little later than usually. They’ll be fine.

 

Right. Curation has it's place, I'm just saying FOBAB isn't it. It doesn't work with the competition model. One would have to assume that an "in demand brewery" is unable to attend/compete because a "not in demand/small IL brewer" took their spot. In reality, it's... probably not that cut and dry.

But let's take the competition away and dissect the opinion a bit.

Firstly, who even determines what "in demand" means? I know which breweries up there I'm itching to try, but....are they the same as yours?

Second, why do some of the "in demand" breweries not attend? We know for certain that some don't do it because of the cost. 15 gallons of "high end" (to them, to us..whatever) barrel aged product is a big ask, right? We know from prior threads that some don't attend because they know what we all want out of their portfolio and they either can't or aren't willing to send the required quantity.

And finally. This. This exactly. People are acting like this is the first time tickets have made it into October. Is the price increase hurting sales? Maybe...in fact, probably. It's still going to sell out.

 

I love how some facts conveniently get overlooked in the name of entitlement and rare chasing around here.

The ICBG is a trade organization whose mission is to raise money for Illinois beer. It's a political lobby, an advocate, and in so many ways an aide and educator for it's member breweries.

The BA is all of this too, only amplified. Is it really such a jarring and hurtful surprise they are limiting big beer's involvement in their events? Big beer advocates for laws and policies that directly impede if not outright harm small brewers.

Despite big beer's diminishing involvement at GABF, the competition grows larger and tougher every year. I'm ok with it. But even if you're not, at least try to understand the reasoning and move on. Frankly, the BA accepting large donations (end cap booths could cost as much as $32,000 for large brewers) is like a democratic presidential candidate taking money from the NRA or a Republican accepting donations from Planned Parenthood. Yeah it's still money, but it's not going to make their constituents happy or help them forget their true goals.

Goose Island wasn't banned from entering, ABI chose to make the BA pick which breweries attended (their own political stance). As such GI got shut out. If they were the best brand to rep and best bet on a medal ABI should have hand selected them to go. Notice I don't see any complaining that Elysian and Breckenridge missed out... GI just conveniently has the rarest beer.

As for breweries at FOBAB, it's simple. FOBAB is a competition so any wholesale limitation on number of breweries tarnishes the quality of the competition. Any can enter, and the rules clearly require them to pour beer to enter. If your favorite rare brewery isn't there contact them. It's not FOBAB's fault. Many choose not to attend for a multitude of reasons. Suggesting they should only pour the rarest most sought after beer is arbitrary, would destroy the competition, mean they take in less money, and STILL wouldn't even mean every brewery you think should attend would.

I get the frustrations but there's sound reasoning behind all of these decisions and I don't think either organization is going to change their model much anytime soon. Also, both events are still very enjoyable, at least for me.

 

Who’d like to do this Aussie a favor and recommend a few non-Chicagoan brewers to check out?* (I say non-Chicagoan because I’ve already done my homework on the local scene.)
* 3 Floyds excepted - their fame extends as far as Australia.

 

Are you talking for Fobab or outside of Fobab? Unless 3 Floyds all of a sudden brings a Dark Lord variant to Fobab, I'd say they have consistently been one of the most disappointing brewers to attend based on what they've brought- stuff that is readily available at their tap room.

 

How far out of Chicago? Some notable local suburban breweries include Mikerphone in Elk Grove, More in Villa Park, Noon Whistle in Lombard (close to More), Hailstorm in Tinley Park and Solemn Oath in Naperville.

 

I'll give it go mate, you going outside of Chicago?

 

Sorry, that was a bit unclear - I meant were there any non-Chicago brewers who’ll be at FOBAB whose stands I should make a bee-line for? Although I’m sure that’ll become obvious from the crowd surges!
In my travels, November, I’ll be doing Chicago and Portland OR - 1 week each. (Yeah, baby!)

 

Oh boy. Good lucky tallying up all the recommendations you're gonna get to make an overall recommendation. I'll limit myself to four must-trys and one underrated option: Central Waters, WeldWerks, Fremont, Firestone Walker, and 3 Sheeps.

 

Portland is great. Be sure to drive to Tillamook for de Garde. The drive to Seattle along the coast is pretty incredible. I recommend it if you can rent a car and have that much time.

 

Weldworks was the word of mouth hit of 2016. We’ll see if Perennial brings BA Abraxas or Maman as either would be a huge get

 

They are bringing BAA to the STL Beer Fest. I know that's IN st. louis and they are IN st. Louis, but still - I'd like to hope given the size and magnitude of FOBAB that they'd bring one or the other.

 

Honestly, it’s really hard to do it that way. There’s just so much beer.

Looking at the brewery list, here’s a few of highly regarded breweries that are known to make quality beers. If you see these, you can’t go wrong, and a number never make it out of their city in Texas/California/Colorado etc, so seeing them at a fest in Chicago is kind of a big deal.

Jester King
Arclight
Bells
Central Waters
Firestone Walker
Perennial
Perrin
The Bruery
Rare Barrel
Lost Abby
WeldWorks

 

I'll give a list a go: 18th Street, 3 Floyds, 3 Sheeps, 4 Hands, Allagash, Arclight, August Schell, Avery, Ballast Point, Bell's, Blackberry Farm, Cascade, Central State, Central Waters, Crooked Stave, Deschutes, Dovetail, Epic, Firestone Walker, Forbidden Root, Fremont, Goose Island, Half Acre, Hardywood Park, Haymarket, Jester King, La Cumbre, Lagunitas, Metropolitan, Mikerphone, Mikkeller, More, New Belgium, Odd Side, Odell, Off Color, Oskar Blues, Penrose, Perennial, Perrin, pFriem, Pipeworks, Revolution, Rhinegeist, Saint Archer, Sierra Nevada, Speciation, Spiteful, Stone, Surly, The Bruery, Lost Abbey, Rare Barrel, Sour Note, Transient, TRVE, Upper Hand, Urban Chestnut, WeldWerks, Whiner, Wicked Weed, and Zaftig.

Good luck!

 

Cheers for the recommends! I hope others find them as useful as I do.

 

Thanks! A number of those I hope to sample during my Chicago/Portland stints. Also a few already export to Australia (true story). Not so bad when you’re talking high-ABV, malt-driven ales that can survive the journey.

Speaking of which, a real US hit in Australia is Founders. I love their beers! I wonder why they aren’t going to be at the show...

 

The Sam Adams booth for Utopias if you haven't had it....

 

Couldn't agree more. Just got back from the Great American Beer Fest in Denver and they had one of the most disappointing beer offering lineup. I wasn't expecting BA DL but when they bring Zombie Dust, Lasersnake and Flying Tigersault, it's pretty disappointing for those that do not live in the Midwest/Great Lakes region.