Zwanze Day @ WLV

This was one of the most unorganized events I've ever attended and the price for admission was ridiculous given the extremely mediocre draft list (which at some time before 4pm they stopped putting new stuff on) and the manner in which they decided to sell "rare" bottles (on top of the fact that every mixed boxe they brought out of the basement had at least two Oracles in it). Not to mention that they over sold tickets for Iris, so some people who had already paid for the beer weren't able to receive any.

The FFF dudes working the bar were the highlight of the day. Those guys rule and handled the crowd like it was a normal Tuesday afternoon.

I have a feeling lots of people are going to have a hard time justifying the cost next year (and if this year was any indication, they'll probably up the cost ten more dollars in 2014). It was really nice not to have to worry about paying for beer once you got your glass, I just expected a little more from the event.

 

I wouldn't say they "oversold" Iris per se, more that at least one of the bartenders was pouring full glasses rather than 2oz tastes so that might have been the problem on that front.

I thought the idea of 2 tickets per person was great for the bottle purchases, except that people were allowed to give their tickets to their friends, so one person could wait in line, then collect tickets from their friends, who were not in line and mule bottles for them, and leave with all the Cantillon. At least a handful of people left with over 6 bottles of Cantillon. If they had done it Hill Farmstead growler fill style, where you get to buy 2 and go to the back of the line it would have been more equitable. Also, Kristina would warn her friends if there was something awesome coming up from the cellar and tell them to go to the front of the line (like 50N4E or King Henry). Sure, this system may have been better than last year, but it was still a cluster.

BUT...that clusterfuck was completely avoidable, you in no way had to spend your time in that line trying to get your hands on the few crazy bottles that they did have. I decided that waiting in that line was not proving to be very fun, so a few of us in line turned that wait into another bottle share. The tension seemed to melt away and by the time I realized I wasn't going to get anything amazing from the cellar, I didn't give a shit anymore, because WeOnFire and his wife had just cracked open a 3 or 4 year old bottle of Cantillon Kriek and it was divine.

Hell, any day that starts out with a high five from YeahNateNelson is destined to be great, even better when it ends with a pitcher of Cantillon Gueuze. Not to mention a bunch of new ticks and new friends.

If anyone managed to rack up enough complaints to not have an awesome day, frankly, you did it wrong. Get your priorities straight and regroup for next year.

Thanks to everyone for the killer bottles they brought to share and to Kristina and her staff, who put on an excellent event.

Cheers!

Edit: PS. I'd pay $50 for a Cantillon glass and the right to attend that bottle share, any day. The free fills at the bar were a bonus in my opinion.

 

Some photos:

Official taplist:


there were ups (like the bottle share):


there were downs (like a broken glass):


there were instawales (that lived up to the hype):


and fucks given (thanks Pat):

 

I had fun pouring beers w/ the FFF guys and opening some bottles behind the bar and hope everyone had a great time. Obviously, there's only so much space for everyone but hopefully you took breaks from the bar and went out back where there was tons of room. I didn't even make it to the shop but the only "problem" was the delay in handing out the tickets...seemed like it was all ready to go by the time we opened the bar at noon. Good to see all the normal suspects and nice meeting some new ones!

Highlights were: Iris Grand Cru, Soleil de Minuit, Brandy Vanilla Dark Lord, BA Old Salty 05, various vintages Lou Pepe Krieks & Framboise, Funky Buddha Last Snow, etc.

 

Me pouring some LP Framboise: http://instagram.com/p/eQMQQ1Caai/

 

I enjoyed the Grand Cru over Zwanze (not that Zwanze was bad) IMO the bottle sales should just dissappare too many still hanging out at the counter and the poor guy working the register was pretty flustered he needed a beer I'm sure at the end of the night...

Glad to see Classic was tapped i left around 5:30, missed out on the Side Project beer thought the Gose from Kissmeyer/magic rock was good. other taps not styles i really drink so have no comment on those... Still think it was too crowded but I get it is what it is... The bartender from FFF was spot on again like last year.

Would be nice if the day was centered a little more around Cantillon...(seeing some other locations tap and bottle list available) and yes there were some bottles poured but if you were stationed all day on a seat at the bar across the street you more then likely missed out...

I came home and enjoyed a LP Kriek by my firepit on a beautiful evening most relaxing part of the day IMO...

 

I had a great time meeting so many awesome BAs, and the bottle share was amazing. Really the best part of the day.

The biggest downer for me was when we arrived at the bar at 4:30 for some Iris, and my gf got the last pour of it. It was all foamy but there was still enough Iris to try. Then before either of us got to try Iris, one of the 3F bartenders (the one with the black sleeve tat) took her glass back for what we assumed was more Iris, and instead emptied it, filled it with Zwanze, and threw her ticket back at her saying she should be thankful. We were like WTF? we didn't want more Zwanze, it was terrible the first time we had it. Total killed the mood for us and we left shortly after.

 

That definitely sucks. He should not have dumped your Iris. As a small consolation, you could open a regular bottle of Iris, wait until it goes flat, and then find some freshly paved asphalt and get just close enough to get a hint of that with the aroma of the beer. It'll be pretty close.

 

That guy definitely needed a drink. I agree that it would have been nice to see some additional Cantillon on tap, but when wouldn't that be preferred?

 

Sorry to hear that you missed on the GC. We tried to keep the pours as low as possible and I really have no idea how the Zwanze went so long while the Iris GC kicked so quickly! I doubt Steve meant to come off as rude, he probably didn't know what was in it and figured Zwanze would be a good substitution. He's seriously one of the nicest guys and I'm sure he'd offer an apology to you and your girlfriend.

 

I would prefer no sales of Cantillon bottles and instead they just get opened throughout the day or purchased through a bottle list for on-site consumption. This would clear out all the people who just come to buy rare bottles and make more room for those who actually go to Zwanze Day to enjoy the taps/bottles/shares. I'm going to bring this up to Kristina and hope she seriously considers it for next year.

 

Brilliant solution, I hope she agrees with you.

 

This is the best suggestion for any event I have ever heard. And on-site consumption is a great compromise, particularly with the bottle shares going on.

 

This is a much better idea than the $100 bottles of 2007 Kriek on sale for on-site consumption only at Brouwers Cafe in Seattle yesterday.

 

They flew a 3F bartender in from Belgium? Whoa! This Zwanze day is getting more serious every year.

 

I think people left early because there weren't as many different kegs as last year. I enjoyed the beers on draft, but the bottle share was AMAZING. The line for bottles was a little better then last year, but still needs a bit of work. The issue was sometimes something like 50N would could come up and other times there would be bottles of eclipse or bitches brew. Plus with only one guy working the area and no actual line things got messy. Also as someone said it seems regulars got alerted when to get specific bottles. Either way it was a great day and I can't wait for next year.

 

Balling the hardest. Gueuze4lyfe.

 

har har har, BAs and their conventions! I've been calling 3floyds 3F since long before I was posting here and its a tough habit to break.

 

Thanks for your response, though I wonder how in the world him throwing the crumpled up ticket at us could come off as anything but rude. Not to be a downer, but that sort of soured our experience (no pun intended)
In either case, I'm not going to let that reflect poorly on either WLV or Zwanze Day in general. We still both had an amazing first Zwanze Day experience. The comradery and generousity of everyone at the event was incredible. I dont think I met a single person that wasn't just so happy to talk to me. Also seeing hundreds of grown (mostly men) turn into a mob of star struck teenage girls at the site of a bottle of beer was just heart warming.

 

I'm not making excuses for the guy but I will point out that when he collected tickets, he threw them over his shoulder or up in the air, no joke. I'm gonna assume maybe it flew back in your/her face but he was throwing everybody's tickets in the air. It wasn't the sign of an angry bartender as much as it was like a bartender givin a lil Tom cruise cocktail or Benihana flourish to collecting tickets. I found it kinda entertaining and I think I drunkly was cheering him on and then threw money in the tip jar for the show.