Extreme Beer Fest: Los Angeles (2017)

Blog Discussion in 'BeerAdvocate Talk' started by Todd, Mar 30, 2017.

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  1. pinballplayer

    pinballplayer Maven (1,373) Jul 2, 2014 California
    Trader

    If one of my wife's friends gets married the same day as EBF next year I'm going to have to decline. Who gets married in December?!?
     
  2. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,254) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    Staff Super Mod Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I went down the line a couple of times and told people that there were other bathrooms. "I don't believe you," is what I got.

    Regardless, we're aware of the men's bathroom situation and have solutions if we return to the CMC.
     
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  3. swanfungus

    swanfungus Maven (1,426) Dec 23, 2014 California
    Trader

    Odd. Finback was the first booth I hit in the night session (and I was pretty front-of-line, and wanted to show some east coast love) because I wanted to try BA-BQE, and they mentioned that they were only tapping BQE once Hawk kicked. It didn't seem like a "timed" thing so much as a logistics thing, but maybe the afternoon session went differently.
     
  4. iebforever

    iebforever Initiate (0) Jan 19, 2009 California

    EBF was very well done! Being the first year you've done this here I didn't know what to expect. The venue, lineup of breweries and beers, efficiency of entering the venue were outstanding. Big bonus that the CMC was so close to mass transit, took the Metro in from Riverside and had to walk maybe five blocks. I'll be there next year!
     
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  5. Laurie0

    Laurie0 Aspirant (254) Aug 28, 2015 California

    What a terrific festival. 2 years ago dragged the hubby, his bro and wife to FoBAB in Chicago since barrel aged is my thing and decided this time to "settle" for Extreme since they like lighter brews. Well, no one "settled" - everyone was happy! Agree with all the notes on how well-run it was. It felt spacious yet lively, and the few lines didn't take that long (and hardly any ladies' room line-WOOT!). Except the constant Weldwerks line. And wow was it worth it: that Single Barrel Rye Coffee Maple Medianoche...I still dream of it. And damn it, if my son had just gone to Boulder I could count on 4 years of chasing after their beer. I'll have to "settle" for my second fav and home-area brewer Cellarmaker's BBA Vastness of Space Vanilla Latte - if I can ever find it on tap here.
     
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  6. PG2G

    PG2G Initiate (0) Dec 26, 2011 California

    Had a great time at the festival. I loved the venue, plenty of space and it was nice to not have to feel like dying from the sun at a beer festival for once. Selection of breweries and beer was well curated and nothing kicked in what I'd consider an unreasonable amount of time. Keep up the great work, definitely plan to go again next year and very happy to have it in town.
     
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  7. rmpic82

    rmpic82 Savant (1,244) Jan 27, 2017 Kansas
    Trader

    Some fellas were flying by the men's room line headed toward more brews when they mentioned to the back of the line (me and others) that more restrooms are outside. I was skeptical, too (why, i dunno) but thought what could it hurt? Sure enough, no wait and I was in and out. In "return the favor" fashion I told others the same when I passed a long restroom line, but they gave me the same look as I gave the other fellas....are you suuuure?

    There were more restrooms, so the problem was more squarely on awareness not facilities.
     
  8. rmpic82

    rmpic82 Savant (1,244) Jan 27, 2017 Kansas
    Trader

    I prefer no timed releases, for sure, but the long Abnormal line pulled people away from other brewers...so in a way, the only "major" timed release that I noticed (although there may have been staggered pours, etc) was helpful. If someone invites you to a party (BA Extreme) and asks you to follow house rules (no timed pours) it seems a little shitty to do what you want anyway. Such is life...
     
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  9. GimmeAGuinness

    GimmeAGuinness Pundit (806) Sep 1, 2005 Massachusetts
    Society

    That woulda been hard to do on the 13th floor :wink:
     
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  10. DJturnstile

    DJturnstile Initiate (0) Sep 2, 2015 California
    Deactivated

    Came here to post this! Haha :slight_smile: Unless the 12th floor was just reserved for raw bathroom sewage maybe?
     
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  11. Dschwartz83

    Dschwartz83 Crusader (497) Feb 1, 2013 New Jersey
    Trader

    Have been to EBF Boston the past 4 years and was so glad to have made it out to LA for this. While 95% percent of the lines in Boston are never more then a few minutes, it was awesome that I was able to just walk up to nearly all booths with no wait at all in LA. Weldworks and the M4 timed release at Abnormal were the only exceptions that I noticed.

    The long lines for the bathroom weren’t fun (I didn’t think to go downstairs) but I actually welcomed the chance to catch a quick break at times.

    My only complaint, if you want to call it that was the limited amount of food options. By the time we thought to take a food break the only options left were cheese or donuts. The tamales had sold out. While I always love cheese and donuts, something a little more substantial in my stomach at that point would have been nice but I survived haha.

    All in all, it was a fantastic fest and I hope to make it back to LA for this event again someday. I made the best of my time in LA too. I think I made it to 10 breweries over the course of the weekend which was awesome. I’m looking forward to EBF in Boston in February. Cheers!
     
  12. Drunken_Master

    Drunken_Master Crusader (420) Mar 6, 2014 California

    Yikes, You're Pretty Hardcore If You Dig That Event as That's One Im Definitely Interested In However, You REALLY Need To pace Yourself There.

    On Another Note, I'll Chime In with My 2 cents: The Event Was Great, the Location though Some Might Be Like "Wtf Is The place" considering it was in a nearby rough location, may be a turn off. Being an l.a native, I know a lot has changed however In comparison to other locations, sure some people may have preferred elsewhere but it would defeat the purpose of it being extreme. Joking aside, Single Barrel Rye Coffee Maple Medianoche, triple barrel baptist, Fremont coffee & other variants, several other stouts that I can't think off the top of head & least m4 were great. The latter was too much hype; Mostra was serving it up during their anniversary the same day at urge. I Know There Was A Similar Stout That Had Honey As Well & thought well M4 Wasn't That Much Different But Eh, It Is What It Is.

    Disappointments: The Hpb pappy & Scoth Parabola. Good At first But Man Let It Warm And It wrecks Your Palette. Sorry for the auto correct darn kindle.
     
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  13. Laurie0

    Laurie0 Aspirant (254) Aug 28, 2015 California

    Yeah...I actually joined up to get the 1 hour early access...when my 3 fellow drinkers arrived, I was HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY to see them. But I really am that person who doesn't drink the whole 2 oz, so there's that.... And agree on Fremont and Epic!
     
  14. Avitra

    Avitra Pundit (756) Apr 19, 2014 California

    Overall very good event, but...

    Good
    1. The selection of beer - unbelievable. rare and cool stuff. I learned a lot about a lot of breweries.
    2. The venue itself - spacious and comfortable.

    Less good:
    1. Really the main complaint is food - in the evening event there was pretty much nothing except nachos. No Tamales, and no Beer Belly. I don't know who screwed up in evaluating the amount of food needed, but someone did a really bad job here - more food also means, easier time to drink, so that's a same.
    2. No buying beer option. I hoped that the breweries would be able to sell stuff too.
     
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  15. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,254) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    Staff Super Mod Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    It's hard to gauge a first year event, but some vendors simply underestimated the demand. Now they know.
    Because it's illegal to do so.
     
  16. GimmeAGuinness

    GimmeAGuinness Pundit (806) Sep 1, 2005 Massachusetts
    Society

    Things don't always go as planned. Circumstances beyond someone's control don't equate to someone screwing up.
     
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  17. RussellHFilm

    RussellHFilm Initiate (0) Apr 1, 2017 California

    I'd like to echo everyone else and say how terrific the event was. I had an unbelievable time-- got to try a ton of beer-- everyone was well-behaved-- event was near public transit-- so many great, great things about this event. I hope it can happen every year here.

    My only recommendation would be to extend the time by an hour to allow for more tasting-- but even without additional time, I will 100% be back to this event every time it's in LA. Huge congrats to everyone involved that made this event the rousing success that it was.
     
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  18. Beer_Jay

    Beer_Jay Initiate (0) Nov 17, 2015 California

    I really enjoyed the festival. I liked the spread-out layout of the brewery booths. It made it easy to walk around without having to cut through lines to get to other booths. The beers were great & all the people were friendly. I didn't use a restroom during the festival, but appreciated that restrooms were readily available in the building following the festival.

    I feel that I should mention here that I never plan to return to EBF Boston again unless you do something about the restroom situation. Right at last call there last year, I had many mafia/dockworker/thug-type security guards surround me (pushing me) & tell me I could not use the restroom. They called the police on me, which I was grateful for. The nice policeman directed me to use the restrooms at the hotel across the street. I am still angry about this. When paying $$ to attend a festival, adequate restrooms should be provided. I should be treated like a civilized person. I should not be told that the restrooms can no longer be used. I should not be told to go use restrooms at a neighboring private establishment. The beer was amazing, but I do not at all appreciate being treated that way. I should have gotten their names & sued them for false imprisonment.
     
  19. Dicers

    Dicers Grand Pooh-Bah (3,412) Sep 2, 2012 California
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Based on that last line.... If they were telling you to leave isn't that the opposite of imprisonment?
     
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  20. rickzusmc

    rickzusmc Initiate (0) Apr 17, 2014 California

    Great festival!
    Great breweries pouring great beers!
    If/when you have the next one in Los Angeles, I will definitely be attending. Location was awesome, easily accessible via metro and great view from the 13th floor. Good to see a lot of familiar faces and everyone pouring, that I encountered, was friendly and pleasant. Good crowed and great vibes. I wish I could have gotten to more breweries than I did, but you know how that goes... maybe releasing the booklet online ,ahead of time, to ticket holders would be nice so I can plan my attack a little better.
    Great festival and look forward to the next one!

     
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