What were your Top 5 EBF Experiences?

Top non-beer experience was hands down that waffle. I need one of those at every beer festival
Honorable mention to the Boston seagull and his precise and calculated mussel drop while we waited in line. If you saw it, you know

 

Experiences? OK, in no order:
Brewery Vivant Sous Chef
Brewery Vivant Wizard Burial Ground
Green Flash Palate Wrecker
Strangeways Martian Spring
The guy at the end of Saturday night who threw up everything he had into our dump bucket, which I then got to dump.

 

Damn man... no time to wait at a festival like that haha!

 

I do, thus my comment. Whenever a beer doesn't stand to hype, it doesn't automatically make it 'bad'. That I understand as well. Plus, I'm sure a lot of it also had to do with my comment about being fed up with the dark beers towards the middle/end of fest.

 

For extreme beers these really stood out:

• Founders CBS
• Funky Budha French Toast props to the volunteer who kept the line in order for session 2
• Carton Irish coffee
• Nerax Jacks Abby's Framminghammer w/ maple syrup

My favorite beer was Nightshift's Bean Porter, will be making a trip to the brewery soon. The improved food selection was great too Roxy grill cheese w/ guacamole and bacon was amazing, jasper hill blue cheese was incredible as always, and walking out of the fest with a waffle cabin waffle is the best way to end a fest.

 

So many!
In no order:
- French Toast / Last Buffalo in the Park tie.
- Good Morning
- Veritas '15
- Big Bad Baptist
- Maltose Falcons / Bretta Rose / Map of the sun

Honorable Mentions:
All Green Everything and Abrasive. I was excited to finally try that elusive beer (Abrasive) and I didn't not expect it to be THAT good!

And there are SOO many great beers that I could swap with any I listed. (and I cheated listing 8!) Extremely strong showing. Just about everyone brought their A game. (Lost Abbey showing up with Veritas was a hell of a surprise!)

The best beer of the weekend though (if you count Thursday!) was without a doubt Wide Awake It's Morning. That beer blew my mind! The DFH Indian Brown Randalled with Diesel Cafe coffee beans was ridiculous too!

 

It was definitely the coffee version.

 

Top 5 for me:

1. Mineshaft Gap by Revolution (and it wasn't even close... this was amazing)
2. Stickee Monkee by Firestone
3. All Green Everything by Other Half
4. Cucumber Ginger Berliner by Jackie O's
5. Sorachi Ace Dry Hopped Pils by Hardywood

So many amazing beers and I didn't get so many of them. Great time as always.

 

I can't disagree with your sentiments but just wanted to add my perspective. I discovered from talking with Dean or one of the crew that the wait out at TH is now down to an hour at most because of the added can production. This is good / great news to hear - but the situation prior to this with 2.5 - 3 hour waits was untenable - criticism that they responded well to, but a situation that I would never engage in again, regardless of how good their beer is, and regardless of whether I am a local or not. My opinion is that bringing one beer to a festival is lame regardless of how exceptionally excellent it might be (and Good Morning truly is...!). Better planning should have been exercised, especially given the months advance notice they had, and regardless of new production. If they're renting the table (not sure how that works), then I guess it's their call how many beers they bring, and what their sampling strategy is, but I would suggest that a minimum of 3 would be a good representation of what a brewery is all about - they brought Double Shot, Julius and Yrrrrgh to the ACBF last year which to me is a good representation. From a strategic perspective - most EBF'rs know from tasting Good Morning that TH is a brewery that knows what they're doing, and are eager to try more of their beers - but are now left curious as to what they taste like. I think this is a double sided coin where there's really no good answer but power to them however they decide to do it.

Top 5 for me:

Tree House - Good Morning
Other Half - All Green
Carton - Irish Coffee
Carton - Truffle Triple
Founders - CBS

Biggest Disappointment - Funky Buddha (please don't give me too much hate here!) - while I think their beers are spot-on for the style, tasty, and well-executed in general - for me, French Toast, MBCP, etc. are one-offs that I'll gladly buy one bottle of to try if I ever get the opportunity, but wouldn't get again.

 

I have to disagree with a fellow fest captain and emphasize what was stated by various folks above. The timing was unfortunate. Their business was in complete upheaval and between the complete construction of a new facility and a delay in production equipment arrival they could not make it happen. It was not the intention, but it was circumstance that had it happen. No strategic component to it. With ramp up just a few weeks away. They will turn it out if they come to another fest for sure, just as they have done in the past for all prior fests.

 

Other Half DIPA was amazing.

 

Fair enough, glad to know that. I realize that these things happen...and I admittedly have been known to be harsh and sometimes unfairly critical when it comes to business strategy in the world of beer!

 

Did Cigar City have a sour on which wasn't listed or am I just crazy?

 

Just being there in general was #1, I was blown away by the organization and how smoothly the event ran.

Meeting a few BA's who I only knew virtually and seeing others again was experience #2.

And the next three were Founders CBS, Funky Buddha Last Buffalo in the Park, and Tree House Good Morning. Kane Cofee ANTEAD and Lost Abbey Track #10 were probably the next two from among an amazing group.

 

I had a great cheese plate from Jasper Hill

 

I definitely echo that sentiment Todd! Being my first EBF (big beer fest in general) and first time volunteering, #1 is certainly the overall experience. I can't say enough how amazing the BA crew is, the volunteers, and the brewers are. I've been to some amazing small festivals and had my share of great beer, but this event really lived up to all the hype and more and was just such a blast. As great as my first session as a 'drinker' was, volunteering Saturday night and then hanging out with the crew/volunteers after was the highlight of the weekend. I can't wait for ACBF and EBF '16!

 

In no particular order...
4 Hands Madagascar
Smuttlabs the Stallion
Oskar Blues Death by Coconut
Almanac Sours
Surly Abrasive - incredible aroma from a little plastic cup

 

Here we go:

Sour: Rare Barrel - Apropos of Nothing (like a fresh cup of berries)
Stout: 4Hands - Madagascar
IPA/L: Jacks Abby - Triple Dry Hopped Hoponious Union - almost skipped this since I drink Jacks all the time but this was unreal.