The Next BeerAdvocate Fest?

Yeah...beer and wood, especially barley wines and Belgians. I'd also ask that the fest run on a Saturday and Sunday as well as earlier in the day for us East Coast folks. The upcoming event in February doesn't start till 8PM EST. I'm usually done or almost done with any alcohol I'm consuming by then rather than just starting. The time of the upcoming event in February killed it for me.

 

How about a beer fest honoring "February is stout month" like they do at Midnight Sun in Boulder Colorado

 

Unfortunately, I have never been able to attend but am looking forward to a future event. German would be nice. Belgian and barrel aged too!

 

Beer meets wood with a combination of funky, wild and straight beers!

 

Yes, a thousand times, yes, to the barleywine fest. My blank check is in the mail...

 

I would vote for a dark beer fest. Stout, porters and barrel aged!

 

Cooking with Beer. Explore recipes that include various brews, but also discuss best beers to drink while you're cooking. Invite some chefs and brewmasters to brainstorm creative ways to cook with beer. Conduct live session where we can cook along at home, with the guest chef walking us through the recipe, while the brewmaster conducts a beer tasting as we cook...

 

Some great ideas posted here. I don't have anything particularly more compelling than what has been posted, but putting my own spin on it, I would be compelled by a best in class fest with offerings of top award winners for the year in a variety of categories. Or maybe a hyper-specialized fest with a specific style - something like a "My milkshake brings the beers to the yard..." fest featuring only Milkshake IPAs. The possibilities are many and applicable to every style.

 

Could also do one featuring medal winners from the GABF.

 

One that can ship to Minnesota.

Otherwise, unfortunately, it doesn't matter to me.

 

Belgian is top choice. Second would be lager.

 

I like the idea of a general European theme. Belgian, German, English, maybe a little Italian or French, maybe a nice Czech Tmavé Pivo.

 

Getting one of the many generous traders on BA to ship a box to you is a lot cheaper/easier than flying to Boston. These virtual fests mean a LOT more people have the opportunity to participate. Of course there is no solution that suits all people. Everyone is doing the best they can under trying circumstances, doing my best to stay positive.

 

The problem is the ship date does not allow enough time for the box to be trans-shipped (at least that is true for the upcoming one), so I would get the beers, but miss the live event itself.

 

I vote for German, but not just typical lagers. German beers include many styles like weissbier, dunkelweizen, pilsner, schwarzbier, bocks, doppelbocks, eisbocks, rauchbier, kolsch, altbier, Berliner weisse, gose. And make them be real German beers, not American copies.

 

I wonder if the all German fest would work.

There are, for sure, fixed overhead costs associated with these online fests. Add to that the logistics and costs of it being all imported beer. Is this even practical?

What would be the participation be and what would the cost be with a fest where each participant got a 12 pack of German beer? Could BA even break even, let alone make money, on this?

(By comparison, the Costco Advent box of 24 German beers is $60.)

 

What happened to the "American Strong Ale" - I'm talking about classic brews like Avery's "Hail to the Chief". Bring 'em back!!