4th Annual Collaboration Beer Fest

I think it's the single best beer festival in CO not named Rare Beer or GABF.
Tons of room, loads of good beers, and logistically very well run.
This one is at a different location, so I guess there could be some differences. As long as they don't "pull a 2015 WTF" it should be a great event.

 

The venue last year was great, definitely nice relaxed and chill. I will say the beer can be hit or miss with the experimental nature of them. When they are good they are really good when they are off, well sometimes things just don't work out. Last years WW and Funkwerks collab was awesome though. Wish I could have found more bottles when they were released.

 

Wanted to give this thread a bump, looking forward to my first Collaboration Fest tomorrow! Anybody put together a list of can't miss beers?

Highlights from previous years?

A couple articles featuring some of the brews this year:

http://www.westword.com/restaurants...llaboration-fest-on-saturday-march-25-8876651

https://www.porchdrinking.com/artic...ting-beers-to-try-at-2017-collaboration-fest/

I'm excited for Uberpower, Bianca Raspberry, and Blurpleberry among others

 

Just a heads up. I had the blurpleberry at Cerebral the other night, and it was very much as advertised. I thought it was interesting, but everyone else in my group was a little put off by it. Be ready, they aren't kidding about the milkshake.

 

I can verify that Uberpower is amazing. It's a can't-miss if you like hoppy beers. It's also more drinkable than some that follow a similar approach.

I'm also looking forward to the TRVE/Burial black braggot in brandy barrels, the Call to Arms/Bierstad Rye lager, and Bitsbox from Weldwerks/Great Notion.
The doppelsticke is one I'm curious about. Lots of talent involved in a style that is rarely accurately re-created.

 

I had this beer last month at Bierstadt for their 2nd Saturday of the month Fasser release. It was unbelievable and I easily had 4-5 pours. I would've had more too but the damn Fasser kicked. Fortunately, it will be back on tap this wknd I believe and available in Crowlers. Also, had BitsBox at the anniversary party last weekend and it was easily my second favorite beer there after Single Barrel Medianoche.

 

I had that CTA/Bierstad Rye Lager at the kickoff thing yesterday and it was OUTSTANDING.

 

BitsBox is some serious business stuff. I had so so much of that one. That and the rye lager both lived up to their billing. Bosque's coconut porter was also really good.
While the RiNo Doppelsticke didn't really taste anything like Uerige's, it was also really enjoyable.
The Bonfire/Casey Brett ESB was fun and different.
A sleeper that was recommended to me was Beryl's Biere de Garde with Goose Island. It was also fantastic.

 

Come to think of it, I did see you over by the BitsBox table more than a few times Glad it got less busy over there as the fest went on.
Agree on the Beryl's BdG, that thing was funky! The Bonfire/Casey brew was tasty too, a really unique beer.
Other beers I really enjoyed were Brain Transplant (Trve/Cerebral), Spiciest Memelord (Odd13/Kane) and Bianca Raspberry Wild Wild Brett (Crooked Stave/Omnipollo).
Overall a cool fest, but it did kinda feel like GABF Jr. the way the tables were set up in rows and the crowds/lines at certain booths created serious bottlenecks. I felt like people choose the worst places to stand around, but it was partially a design flaw. When I went to RateBeer Bestfest last month in CA, the setup was far superior with all the brewers sharing a large center "Island" area. Why don't more festivals use that type of setup?

 

Oh and one more thing, if you don't know how to work a jockey box and steps to resolve a foaming keg, you probably shouldn't be working at a fest like this. I saw pour after pour of Uberpower come out of the tap as pure foam. It's a really unfortunate presentation and experience for what should have been one of the highlights of the fest. Maybe they worked it out later, I don't know for sure...

 

Pretty sure our little standing table over by Weldwerks personally put down 1/2 of the BitsBox
In general, I'd say I had far more good beer than bad. In previous years you could tell some places phoned it in, but I think brewers have started taking this event pretty seriously quality-wise.
The new setup was very similar to GABF with the various aisles. That came with the same issues, too. Never seen anyone using a center island (with lines going outward) locally, but it sounds like it would alleviate some of the bogdowns most events have.

Apparently certain volunteers were a major source of problems for at least a few breweries. I know Cerebral's guy was pouring full glasses no matter what they (or drinkers) told him. Some were really good, while others were horrendous. A couple brewers/reps were pouring their own stuff while others seemingly weren't allowed to? I dunno what was up with that.

Anyway, it was quirky, but a lot of fun.

 

The issues were fixed nearly immediately. The problem were the people pouring. Not sure if they were unionized workers for the complex, outside volunteers or homeless people they picked up off the street.

The brewery staff were not allowed to pour, similar to like it was at the stadium. The person pouring at our booth flat out told us that they had never served beer off a tap before.

 

I think the CBG and Two Parts are already aware of the most common gripes with the fest (servers, water stations, too loud, lack of beer info/location), but I think the majority of those came from switching venues and overall, I thought it was a really fun fest. I think having the breweries pour should be at the top of their priority list when negotiating next year's terms with that venue (assuming it stays there), as I for one would have preferred to pour our own for the entire event (and we did for a while when our server took an extended break). But the beers and company were great, so I'm confident the rest will work itself out next year.

 

Didn't make it personally, but a friend went and said it was an absolute blast. He also mentioned a lack of map and being upset he missed out on the Melvin/Epic collabo.. Knowing how much he loves Melvin, I know that stung. Thoughts on that particular one?

I remember thinking I couldn't miss this again, but it happened. I'll be there next year though (probably )

 

We made some bombass IPA with white peaches. Hope everyone enjoyed it. Doing a larger batch on Epics systems Colorado/Utah. Coming soon!!
McGirt
Melvin

 

Yah, I didn't see any map or booklet. Not that I use them all that much. But it was a bit difficult to find things. If they don't issue such info, then maybe they could make the signs (or copy/font) bigger above the stations.
I liked the country band playing some old stuff. I liked the ID check and ticket taking while in line. I liked the venue overall, but the location was not easy (light rail, pick-up, etc). And I liked the beer.

 

I liked that they had a dedicated area for Lyft pick-ups. Made getting out of there a breeze. I know that isn't possible with every event, but I hope to see more of that.

To me the positives were: Great beers, large glasses/pours, good setup getting in, Lyft area, a decent setup inside.
There were more negatives, but they're mostly nitpicks: Lack of food options, volunteers were hit and miss, crowd was about 15-20% too large. I'd also scrap the band since people don't have the same tastes and they took up much needed space.
Nothing big (I had a great time) just things I hope they're able to address for next year.

 

At first I was like, "a band? what the heck-fire? I can't talk with people over a band!". Then they played Mama Tried and I punched myself (and not in the good way).

 

If it was king sized braces covering mama tried I would punch my mom to see that live. Especially withthose beers on tap.