Extreme Beer Fest: Boston 2017 (Survival Thread)

Trillium cans are pretty widely available in the better MA package stores now, aren't they?

 

Some are but not all and they usually go quick.

 

I have to say that Mill House Bakery killed it too

 

So if Beer Advocate buys all the beer for the festival can someone clarify how the choice and volume of beer is decided and how this affects how quickly the brewery runs out of beer? Is it just the higher demand, higher cost - how exactly does this balance out. I remember the Crooked Stave debacle which ended up being the brewery/delegates not stepping up.

 

That is LITERALLY Impossible to guarantee. Unlike other fests BA buys the kegs they're not donated or provided free of charge. Additionally you can't know the exact number of pours each brewery will have based on how many people go to each session. Some sessions some breweries are more popular than others. The idea is to have 3 equal amounts of beer, i.e a sixtel per session. If you get a line of 100 people to start and every person in that line wants only one of the beers it's going to cause that beer to kick sooner than others.

Overall some breweries did run out faster than others, but it's crazy to think that no one wis going to run out at some point. Most brewers lasted at least 2 1/2 to 3 hours of the 3 1/2 hour fest. At no point could you not get any beer during the fest if anything it makes you try some new stuff you wouldn't have thought of.

 

Breweries have a very good idea of how much beer they will go through at any given fest, they do them frequently. For a very popular brewery to be totally out of beer after only a couple of hours in, it is no surprise to them. For whatever reason some breweries just don't bring enough beer to fests. It could be to drive up hype, or maybe due to the cost if they are donating the kegs, or maybe the fest organizers just have limits within how much they want to spend.

 

From what I understand and stated above, BA buys the beer and decides how much each brewery will bring. Also, a side effect of the more well known breweries having lines and running out is people are forced to try beer from some of the lesser known breweries. Imagine if the top 5 or so hyped breweries had an unlimited supply of beer, majority of people would spend all of their time at these breweries and lesser known breweries would be barren. For every well known hyped brewery beer, there was probably an equivalent beer just as good at a less hyped brewery.

 

What you mean to say is that @BeerAdvocate @Todd and @Jason need to buy more beer. Remember brewers don't just bring beer it is all run through BA who works with the breweries, the distributors, etc to PURCHASE the beer.

This is what separates BA fests from lots of others and why there are so many breweries that want to be apart of these fests.

 

I was amazed at how quickly some of the lines grew from 0 to 40+ people later in the fest (LIC, for example) as word got out about some of the standouts from the lesser-known places.

I've always had success with picking the handful of beers I "need" to have, waiting in line for them, and then going exploring. Hang out with friends, split up with friends, talk to strangers, get input on some of the under-the-radar stuff. Also, running into a stream of sloppy first-sessioners on Friday night for opinions is also helpful if you're staying near the Seaport.

 

There's still a big difference between the most hyped beers kicking and a brewery completely running out of all beers with an hour or more left. This "go try some lesser knowns" argument goes out the window when you acknowledge that plenty of breweries (who had lines on par with the early closers, mind you) were pouring multiple beers till the very end. The occasional logistical error is expected, but the same brewers closing early year-after-year is not cool.

 

Curious about which brewery you're talking about?
Other Half made it at least to the final 20 minutes or finished the whole session with at least 1 beer left every session last year.
Funky Buddha always makes it til the last 30 minutes or finishes the session with at least 1 beer each of the last two years
Only 1 session this year did Kane run out completely and that again was in the last 30 minutes or so
IIRC this was the first time Three Floyds has been at a fest in many years, so while yes they ran out it's not as you said "same brewers closing early year-after-year"

To run out in the last 30-45 minutes of a 3 1/2 hour festival isn't too big of a deal with 75 brewers. Other festivals that fall under the same model (all you can drink, no drink tickets/no pay as you consume) always have the same thing whether it's GABF, Huna day, or any other.

 

OH told me that they only had Emerald Cities for the first session. Why bring a certain beer and have it listed if you're only going to pour it during 33% (1 of 3) of the sessions?

 

Because they're doing a tap takeover somewhere else in the city and you can try the others that you missed out on there later on.

 

Did people really not enjoy EBF?

Yes, a couple beers ran out but there were so many other good beers that it didn't diminish anyone in my groups experience

 

I have been to the last 4 and the CBF/micro brew inv. as well.....I have to say, this last EBF was THEE best one yet. I avoided the "popular" breweries and picked ones that I have never had and enjoyed all of them. looking forward to the micro on June 3rd.

 

I totaled 61 samples from 49 breweries during session 3. I really love it when I can try stuff from breweries I can't get ahold of or never heard of. This fest is amazing; getting hung up on OH or 3Floyds running out of beer is the wrong attitude to have.

 

While a couple breweries I stopped at had run out of a beer or two near the end of the festival, I never even noticed a brewery completely running out of beer. I had 44 samples during session 3 including Three Floyds Crack the Skye, Lost Abbey Veritas 018, Prairie Barrel Aged Christmas Bomb, Kane Sunday Brunch, Rare Barrel There Are Rules, Jackie O's Bourbon Barrel Dark Apparation (Vanilla & Coffee Bean) and Bourbon Barrel-Aged World Wide Stout.

I was worried about the lack of Tree House causing longer lines at other breweries' tables, but Funky Buddha and Other Half did a great job of pulling people away from the breweries I really wanted to try.

Zero complaints about the fest!

 

Ginger man is still pouring Magnify beers and LIC beer project beers. I wanted to try a few Carton beers at Row 34, but it looks like I missed it.