For those of us that didn't get to attend Brewvival, what were your thoughts on it? What were some highlights from the breweries that were there? Any big hits? The only beers I got to try were the Holy City collaborations and I liked them, especially Holy Weed.
I may be in the minority, but I did not think this years beer selection overall was anywhere near as good in years past. I will be curious to see if others felt the same way.
Holy City was good Friday night. Really enjoyed the Half Calf. Dinner and drinks at Edmunds was great to say the least. This was my first Brewvival but comparing to other beer fests I thought it was very well done. Lots of room, for the most part lines were not bad and even the long ones moved right along. My two favorite beers that I remember was the Black IPA from Wicked Weed and the Pumpkin beer from Founders.
Highlights for me: JK Atrial Rubicite (for the few early birds who got a pour) Against The Grain Berwynerweiss (all flavors - ginger orange, pomegranate & mixed peppercorn - stood in line 3 times to try all 3) Avery Tweak Bells Black Note CC Illuminating the Path JK Ol' Oi (don't know how I haven't bought this when it's around - big fan of the RU-55 and this is almost as good) Local Option Kentucky Common HC Holy Weed & Half Calf CC rum ba Marshall Zhukov Wicked Weed Black Angel Cherry Sour I think Cigar City brought the best lineup - they only had 2 taps, but every time a beer would pop, they put on something different. I went 3 times and had 6 different beers from them. Wicked Weed showed up strong as well, nice for a Carolina brewery, and it was cool to see Holy City really step it up this year with the collabs! Overall I agree with dogdoc above. I've been to Brewvival every year, and this was one of the weaker years for breweries really bringing their A game. Still - an amazing festival executed top-notch across the board. Thanks Coast & CBX!
Last thought - while I wasn't as blown away by their beers this year as I was last year, a big shout out to 7venth Sun. One of their brewery reps was walking the line up to their table pouring tastings of Time Bomb, their session IPA, from a pitcher. A refill of a sessionable delicious beer while waiting in line? Pure class!
I agree with you guys about this being a somewhat 'weaker' year, but I have a theory. It's obvious that there are a lot more new breweries in South Carolina this year, and I'm sure that the organizers have decided that there is an obligation to allow the state breweries to have their showcase, and that obviously squeezes out a lot of regional and national breweries. It's a two-edged sword, IMO. As to my favorites, I will say that nothing really 'blew me away', but I had some fabulous stuff: CCB's rum barrel aged Good Gourde was fantastic Coast's Old Nuptials A coffee stout from Quest (who, incidentally, had the longest line later in the afternoon that I have ever seen at any of the 5 Brewvivals!) NoDa (bummed they didn't have a booth) & HCB's Shades of Grace Westbrook's bourbon barrel-aged Cap'n Skoon's Those are just a few - I had a lot of really good to fantastic beers and can't wait until next year!! Oh yeah, I was disappointed that a couple of the food trucks (Ted's and CPH) sold out early, which made the lines for the remaining booths way too long. That needs to be addressed. Thankfully, I got a fabulous wagyu beef sandwich from Ted's earlier in the day. Heartfelt congratulations to David, Jaime, Michael, Scott, Rich and all of the organizers of Brewvival.
I've been to Brewvival every year and I have to say this one was the best organized. From the beer to the portalets, I would rate it a solid success. I don't know if I stood in a single line longer than 8 minutes this year and that included 7venth Sun (who had the longest lines all day). While the beer selection may not have had as many superstars (read over-rated) beers as previous years, the overall class was very solid. Some of the stand-outs for me were as follows: 1) Wicked Weed - Love, love, love this brewery. They had a great showing. (My personal favorite: Ruffian Black IPA) 2) Florida breweries - always bring the pain. CCB and 7venth Sun had good stuff on every tap. Hate that Funky Buddha wasn't there but hardly missed them once the festival got into full swing. 3) Against the Grain - MY surprise brewery. Didn't know anything about them before the festival. I will be looking for more of their stuff afterwards. (Rico Sauvin' and Bo and Luke.) 4) Conquest - Big shout out to the home town brewery for bringing it...the Sacred Heart cask was great. The Chocolate Cherry Brutus was on point and the Brewvival Saison wasn't bad (not a Saison fan). Did the Finisher make an appearance...I don't know. 5) Last but not least, Freehouse and River Dog....I'll be visiting soon. Good job guys! Favorite Beer of festival goes to......Terrapin Cinnamon Roll'd Wake and Bake. I had some in the bottle but you can never have enough of this stuff, am I right?!? Runner-up: Rum-barrel aged Marshal Zhukov Honorable mention: River Dog India Red Ale (Indian Red according to Total Wine) and Holy City Shades of Grace. Congrats to all who helped to make the festival another to remember. Already looking forward to next year. PS - Biggest disappointment ....Westbrook ran out of beer. Love the brewery and wish them nothing but success but WTF...how does a hometown brewery run out of beer. (They may have been the first to do so.) I know there will be someone who does't like this statement but STFU and hand Westbrook a cell phone so they can get someone to bring another keg over to the festival next year. (I'm just hating because they were tanked before I got any!)
I had a great time. I thought Holy City, Conquest and Quest brought their A games. Really enjoyed Freehouse and Frothy Beard, too. Seemed like a few breweries packed out early. Where was evil twin this year?
Glad to see Holy City getting some love on here. I liked their collaborations a lot. Had to go back after Friday night and get another taste of the Holy Weed and Half Calf. Hopefully, some will be left on Tuesday when I can go back!
I thought it went over great. While I agree there were less "super-star" beers (in name), on the whole I thought it went over better than last year. Just because you haven't heard of a lot of the beers before, doesn't mean they didn't taste like "super-star" beers. My only complaint was the food lines...again. The one BBQ place had one dude making sandwiches and about 60 people in line. Took FOREVER but the brisket sammy was good. They really did a good job this year scanning and banding before 12. I was in the festival in five minutes after noon. Much better job than last year. Also really liked the alphabetical order lineup under the tent. Way easier to find who you were looking for.
First year for me and I had a blast!!! I thought the festival was perfectly planned and executed. I will absolutely be back next year. As perfect as the festival was, the highlight for me was dining at Edmunds Oast the night before. That place was hands down the best beer bar I have ever been to. 40 taps, all of which were INSANE!! 2 Cantillion taps.......are you fn kidding me? Best bottle list I've EVER seen. The food was amazing enough to compare to anything coming out of Charleston or Asheville. The presentation and the service was first class all around as well. Another awesome thing about the weekend was running into so many familiar faces. It amazing how many folks travel to this event. I'm pretty sure 1/2 of the Charlotte beer community was in attendance. Cheers!!!!
I was pretty mipressed with the beer this year, but preferred the field setup last year. I wounder if CBX being busy trying to get Edmund`s Oast open and COAST expansion had anything to do with some of the offerings this year? Also, I didn`t mind the fest ending at 5 vs 6pm, but if you are going to wrap it up an hour earlier at least make sure beer is pouring until the end. By 4:15-4:30 it looked like most everyone had ran out of beer. Overall, a great time though. Could not have asked for better weather, plenty of room, lots of portajohns, great company, and so many great beers. My wife and I both agree that our experience Edmund`s on Friday was one of the best we`ve ever had.
We came down from NoVa, and really enjoyed the festival. We hit the food trucks a little earlier than most, so we didn't suffer the lines too badly (Banh Mi!). So many of the local beers are great; I bought a Wicked Weed hat so that when they get real famous, I can say I was there early. Other things that got my attention: Bell's Black Note (!); Free House Oyster Stout randallized with MORE oysters; Brooklyn Dave Brown (a brown ale with various chilis); Wicked Weed chocolate raspberry saison; Jester King's Atrial (something or other) raspberry sour . . . really, really, good job organizing this.
I've heard a few people say that the Beer wasn't "as good" this year but I don't think there was a single one that I tried that I wouldn't have gone back for again if I'd had time. I don't think I've ever been to a fest (previous Brewvivals included) where that was the case. Maybe I got lucky with my selections, but there were no duds for me and several standouts.
100% agree, first time in Charleston and had an amazing time....everyone at the fest was great. One of the best organized festivals I have attended on either side of the table.
I had some at the festival. I was trying to play the sympathy card in hopes of scoring a bottle from Mr. Ackerman since I missed the release.
I enjoyed a lot of the beers I tasted. Not sure what was wrong with the beer line up as almost all the beers I tried seemed to be limited or one-offs. Great festival overall and always enjoy a trip to Charleston.
