Great Taste 2016 reflections

Man - what a fest...

I did notice a select few breweries had better offerings of their flagship rarities at their pre-taste parties then at the fest (e.g. GI Bourbon County Line up... Founders...) first time seeing that...

All the Friday events we went to seemed to go really well - although busy - always able to try what one wanted... #RIPBrickhouse

New Glarus still is killing their releases...


In terms of the GTOMW
I've come to realize there is just flat out way too much good beer in one location... so hard not to have your palate destroyed... Great trying things that don't make it up to MN...

Bottom line - came away counting down until next year - so that is always a good sign.

Any cool unique things that one had to be in the right place at the right time yesterday? (e.g. the 2015 BB B9K?)

 

I liked the mystery tappings... Regal, Barleywine '14, and Prop '14 were nice

 

Please elaborate on what Bell's did this year for their booth and hat giveaways? Last year's boat and captain's hats were pretty funny. Didn't attend this year, but it's both the most beautiful beer festival and the most maddening- the large selection of choices throws in a bunch of palate wreckers leaving some otherwise delicious hard to find beers undrinkable later in the fest.

 

I thought Bell's having 2 tents was very interesting. Luckily I found the 2nd one early on, but I don't think a majority of people every found it to be honest. The bottle openers that they gave away were really nice.

Biggest disappointment of the weekend goes to Perennial IMO. Last year they killed it at the pre-party, and had Maman and other surprises. This year, they didn't even bring all of the beers that they had listed to bring (Funky Wit Raspberry), had a picture of BA17 on the event page and that wasn't there either. Brasserie V's poster said timed tappings of barrel aged surprises, or something along those lines, and there didn't end up being any additional tappings. Last year they had brought some surprise bottles to the Great Taste itself, and to my knowledge they didn't bring anything this year. I still love Perennial and pretty much everything they make, I guess I was just a little surprised by the huge change from last year.

Goose's lineup was pretty weak - when I first went up, I thought it was like rare day, and you would get a different beer from each side of the line, but that wasn't the case. Prop 14 was awesome as usual, but 2 stouts the entire day was rather disappointing.

New Glarus' line was very slow for the new R&D champ, as they were using a barrel instead of bottles like previous years, and it was pouring out 75% foam. It'll be interesting if they go back to strictly bottles next year. I didn't wait for the other R&D's. The release itself was super easy as usual.

Bacon on a stick was amazing.

Still a great weekend regardless!

 

What Goose did was stupid. Not knowing what you are drinking is only fun if it is a preplanned blind experiment. I went through the line once which went quickly, thankfully, and was, in fact, Prop 14 as I was told it would be. That was worth it but the artificial hype machine that is Goose was in full swing.

The TG rare beers line was slow but it was nice to see them cleaning everyone's glasses and pouring only one-ounce pours of Morning Delight so it lasted for what seemed like an hour. Transient's booth was overwhelmed but they put out some amazing offerings.

 

Agree with this 100%. Goose was kind of annoying, I went later in the day after all of the Timed ??? Tappings and they poured my beer which was lighter in color, I asked what it was and they said "beer" and wouldn't tell me more than that. I think it was sophie or matilda but c'mon, I already waited in line and got a pour of your beer, at least tell me what I am drinking if I am asking.

 

Agreed, love what GI did this year. Most I have ever drank from them at a fest.

This is the direction this festival is going and people need to embrace it. Don't worry so much about the rarest of the rare. Enjoy the experience and head out of your comfort zone.

Plus I forgot how good Gillian is.

 

The GI stuff could be a result of the BCBS infection debacle. Last year their line-up was pretty heavy on the most current variants and if they don't have the supply....

 

Their thing this year was a camp with one or two other MI breweries. They were all dressed up in camp counselor gear.

 

Wasn't the GI barleywine listed as "2 Year Barleywine" and not '14 Barleywine?

 

Could have been... I wasn't in the proper frame of mind for remember all the beers

 

I'd go the other way and say what Goose did was the opposite of hype. Their lines were much shorter than last year, because of it. Was the mystery beer thing a gimmick? Sure, but it was the type of whimsical thing I'd expect from GTMW. Much like breweries randalling beer through Sour Patch Kids or serving your beer with a licorice straw to drink through.

 

I'm fairly certain the Barleywine they tapped was actually 2 year aged BCBBW, so it was something unique/cool for sure. I thought I read in a GI thread sometime back that people noticed there were barrels that had 2 years worth of BW in it.

 

Completely agree with this comment. And yes, this year's Gillian is better than I ever remember it being.

 

I enjoyed what Goose Island did. I actually got pours from them this year. Prop '14 was deelish. I was able to guess all of the variants except I didn't know I was drinking Regal Rye right off the bat (I think I guessed a vintage regular version, 2012...I'm dumb).

This festival is amazing. It is also frustrating in a way others have mentioned. SO much deliciousness and not enough palate to handle it nor memory to get back to certain tents for timed tappings (e.g. I heard Kentuckley would tap and forgot to go back, I forgot to go find a few under the radar beers I planned to get ahead of time, etc.). But of course it was a blast. Another great day, weather-wise. Can't wait for 2017.

(I was not able to do Friday's activities and it sounds like I missed out)

 

My only complaint is that GI didn't really notify everyone when things ran out. A friend and I got in line during one of the timed tappings, waited for a while only moving a little bit only to figure out who knows how long after that they had closed the windows due to running out and the line was no longer moving at all. We were around the corner and couldn't see the front of the building when this happened, so we likely wasted 15 minutes standing in line for nothing.