Beer festivals; am I getting old?

Texas has had some world class aweful fests, cranking out invites to discount social media places like groupon etc...overselling etc...

Rarely do any of the big fests (San Diego) have anything interesting or worth attending. Usually the Anniversary parties aren't worth going to, although Ballast Point always rolls out their entire lineup including one-offs and tap-only offerings, rarely do I go to a beer fest unless I'm volunterring to pour for it. The beers are generally year-round offerings, and what isn't usually doesn't justify the cost of admission/headache.

 

You should try woodshop. Great event put on by a great guy (chris). Has great food, good vibe, lots of beers being a gigantic share vs. fest but has some great options on tap as well

Cheers!

 

You're right on the money. GABF has gone this route too.

In the 90's and early 2000's it was still about tasting the beers, and it felt like a majority of people were craft beer enthusiasts who wanted to try new things. Even as late as 2001 or 2002 I was able to show up 30 mins before start time and be among the first few guys in line. There was a real sense of solidarity in that room.

Now it's as though it's just a beer-buffet drunk fest, with younger and younger participants who go just to get drunk - like it's a fraternity event of sorts. They NEED to switch to a ticket system or pay per drink system so that there's a diminishing return on getting wasted, or they need to ramp up the price so it's beyond the reach of those are just looking for a good drunk/buzz per dollar value (beer enthusiasts will pay a small premium that pure drunks won't).

The lines are atrocious, people will try and knock your glass from your hand so that the crowd can yell "oohhhhhhh", and there's a lot more groping of the females than before. It's disgusting.

This is yet another consequence of craft beer growth and going mainstream.

 

They do this in Oregon. It doesn't really make a difference until you add in the latter part of the statement about upping the price.

 

Groping of females? Knocking beer from your hand? Well I've never gone but that sounds like I'm DEFINITELY too old to start now.

 

I'm 29 and i've nott seen one that is a venue that I can enjoy myself in. So I abstain.

 

Yes I flew to Portland just for the International Beer Festival in the summer, June or July can't recall, and I loved the ticket per drink system. It was great for wanting to sample, but sucked for those who were just there to get drunk (in fact, there were no "scenes" from drunk people during the days I attended).

Plus Portland is a vastly superior beer town in general, but especially because you can navigate much of it without having a car - and you can't quite do the same in the Denver area to hit many places.

 

You'll get snickering from the younger crowd but it's not so funny when it's your wife, sister, or daughter.

 

Not getting old just getting wiser. I went to the Max's Taphouse Belgian beerfest this year and came to the conclusion that it is not worth it to stand in line for 2hrs and wait another hour inside just to have a beer.

 

These days I prefer to mostly drink at home, where I can reach for any number of great beers from my own cellar, keep the car in the garage, and I DO THE GROPING!

P.S. Sometimes my fiancee is even there too.

 

Going to fest's at first were about trying different brews, getting a good buzz was part of the process. After going to these ever more jammed pack fests with brews that I have already tried I went to a couple of the more specialized fest's. They were great because they were not as packed and I got a chance to meet some of the people that worked for the brewery's but the brews were mostly stuff I had tried.

I would rather spend the $50-$100 for the day at a good beer bar that has a good selection of brews, than wait in a packed line for a couple of ounces of brews from a plastic cup.

 

Ive never seen any of that. I only go to two regularly -- Great Taste of the Midwest in Madison, WI and Fest of Ales in Clarksville, IN.

The latter is still very small and the former, while large, is well behaved. There is some "lets get drunk fast" behavior, but its a small minority.

 

I don't think this is an age issue. Maybe there are more assholes attending nowadays but I can assure you that me and my beer-drinking friends would be doing the absolute opposite of snickering and we represent the youngest demographic there is. Just saying...

 

In the last few years we attended, it was never an old guy doing it. Just our experiences

 

Great to meet people like that.

There seemed like more brewers at the GABF in distant past, and now the norm seems to be no brewery representative at all. Then they rely on local volunteers who notoriously disappear from their assigned stations about halfway through the session until the end.

 

I'm torn.

It sucks when it becomes a dick festival comprised of the Fred Durst 1997 appreciation society (bro's w/ backwards pro fit hats, "dude I'm so wasted" and pissed about my life, let's be total loud mouth inconsiderate braggart dicks to compensate for our station in life) . . .

but it also sucks when I go to something awesome like the Stone Sour Festival (1200 mile round trip), and its ten samples (often of 5% lambics) w/o an option to buy more tickets, so I'm like deadpan face sober at 1pm w/o the ability to continue to imbibe when surrounded by excellent beers.

Well it doesn't suck, we just went inside, ordered some dope lunch, cuvee des jacobins, marron acidifie, smoked porter w/ habanero (or was it chipotle?). . . but nonetheless, the limited ticket setup compromised my enjoyment slightly.

Knocking a drink out of someone's hand is a battery. Immediately giving them one punch in the nose is self defense. Fighting at a beer festival or bar is the absolute worst setting to be able to protect yourself (in terms of bodily integrity and the civil/criminal 'justice' system), so I don't advise it under any circumstances outside of you seeing your life flash before your eyes, but thought it was pertinent to point out the legal standards in conjunction with the real life considerations.

It would be much easier if there was some fine print on the back of your ticket that if you're a dick, they just put you in a cage/on a mat w/ some washed up fighter like Tank Abbot or Tim Sylvia inside to regulate (what does it cost to get those guys to do a day's work these days? $50?).

 

I have been to some great beer festivals over the years. Some are great others are like a college keg party. I don't think the ones I do not like are because I feel old (I am 30). I believe the ones I have not liked are because of the atmosphere. Like Boston MA Sam Adams Octoberfest every year and Harpoons Octoberfest. Absolute college drunk events. I prefer smaller events, great breweries attending, good food and true beer lovers.

 

I'm not saying a fixed cap on tickets, just some sort of ticket system so that it's very costly to get smashed, but reasonably priced to have a fair sampling of things. Example would be to have an entrance fee that comes with a certain number of tickets, and then after that each ticket is a set price. This is the way other festivals do things in some cases.

 

The OP's points are spot on. I've stopped going to most beer fests for those reasons and others. I got tired of paying $25-$30 for a ticket, traveling 1-3 hrs. to get there, and then having to wait in long lines to get a 3oz. plastic sample cup of the standard offerings available everywhere. Beers I can easily drink by the pint at numerous local bars.

A fantastic exception to these type of festivals is the Rochester Real Beer Expo, the second annual of which is on June 16. This is one of the best North American beer fests. I've been to. Tickets are $40, which helps keep the party boys away and they limit the number to keep the crowd size acceptable. They issue 7oz. sample glasses. Most importantly, all brewerys must bring their more unusual and one-off beers, rather than their standard line up. Cask ales are a prominent feature as well. I can't say enough for the way it's organized. A street in the South Wedge area is blocked off and there's plenty of room for all. Check it out if you can get to Rochester. Here's a link: http://rochesterrealbeer.com/ - check the pics from last year.