2017 FOBAB

I remember it being 4 with the VIP but I could be wrong

 

Few points I remember from last year, which was my first time going.

The categories are very weird. I'm not really sure if fobab is the only beer festival that sort beers based on styles but it makes the lines worst. The ba stouts area ends up being the most crowded. I didn't like the way it was set up at all.

Breweries are not allowed to pour beers, only volunteers. Not a fan of this idea. Breweries should have representatives pouring beers alongside the volunteers. I didn't get to learn anything about the breweries that were participating last year because no one was there to interact with me. Best part about going to festivals is to talk with the brewers and connect with industry people. That's why I think Shleton fest is the best. At fobab there is so much focus on the beer rather than the brewery behind it.

I don't understand why they have to pour beers out of pitchers? Towards the end of the session, most of the unpopular beers are flat and warm.

Absolutely the worst crowd ever. Never seen so many people cut in line like this before. Also the music is very bad and loud. The vibe in general is unlike any other beer festivals. It gets really bad on Saturday night towards the end of the night.

Unlike other beer festivals, fobab is not quite a destination. Although crowded, the majority of the crowd are from Chicago and the rest are from neighboring states. Few people outside of the Midwest care about fobab. Same thing with the breweries. Most of the breweries are from Chicago and the Midwest. Because of that fobab lacks the "adventure" feeling most beer festivals have. I'm pretty sure there are some people who travels to Chicago for fobab but the ratio of local to visitors at fobab is more than other festivals.

Imbibe doesn't do a good job throwing side events or afterparties. Few beer bars and breweries in the area didn't really care about fobab at all.

These are all my reasons for why fobab is not worth going to.

There are however some really good beers at fobab I'll give you that. I'll recommend going there with a group of friends, so you can tolerate the crowd. Friday night session is way less crowded and more enjoyable. On Saturday night session however you will have better chances at drinking "whales" and get to try the winners. It feels at times as if the festival's whole purpose is to promote goose island barrel program.

Sorry for the rant and the poor grammar: )

 

But your still going, right?

Why should Imbibe throw side parties? They are using there resources for Fobab and I believe they might also do a brewers dinner the day before for the breweries attending. That being said, I've noticed plenty of good beer bar things going on during Fobab week. I think Local Option usually does stuff and I recall Northdown one year hosting Side Project before Fobab. Good stuff is out there if you look.

 

FoBAB is a fairly unique beer festival in that the actual purpose of the fest is a judged beer competition. It's not really about brewers interacting with consumers.

 

As a barleywine fan, the set up by style was great! It was nuts in the Ba stout area. I thoroughly enjoyed and can't wait to return

 

BIN29 - some interesting comments from an attendee's perspective. There certainly are some side events at places in town, but I don't know if they're officially tied to the event, or not.

Interesting thoughts on the crowd and I agree to a certain extent. However, I'd say the crowd is at it's worst about 1/2 way through when there are still some of the big stouts available (and invariably right next to one another). Many completely forgo common decency in the interest of 'getting theirs'.

In some ways I'd like to see some sort of system for tickets for sampling the whalez or winners to prevent people from just clogging up the lines in front of the high demand beers. On the flipside, the unlimited sampling is a huge draw for me.

 

I'll throw in that I don't really want brewers interacting with consumers if those brewers are also doing the pouring. One thing that annoys me is when there are lines for a brewery and someone decides to sit there and talk to the reps for a few minutes. This happens at wine tasting events as well, so definitely not limited to the beer crowd. I think it is great to chat with brewers/winemakers when given the chance, but if there is a line to taste what they are pouring at a festival, that isn't the time/place to do it.

 

This is also why volunteers pour the beer. It's a competition.

Same as GABF.

 

Bingo, people should get their pour, say thanks and get out of the way.

 

At GABF, the brewers often do pour their own beer, although it's typically a mix of volunteers and brewers.

This is not accurate. All stations are staffed for volunteers but brewers are 100% allowed to pour their own beer. I've volunteered 3 different years and that's always the case. Typically most brewers seem to rather be drinking great beers, and networking with other industry folk though.

It's a speed/logistical thing. If they pour from the tap for every pour, a 5 minute line quickly becomes 10 minutes real quick, this is doubly so if the keg is a touch over carbed. Typically 1 person is in charge of pouring about 6-8 beers. Often times you'll have 1 of your beers foaming heavily, which means you need to be pouring into multiple pitchers to let the foam settle so people aren't getting cups of bubbles. I do agree unpopular beers get warm, but rarely have they been flat.

This typically happens in the categories of: Classic Beer Styles, Strong Pales, and Specialty/Experimental

Goose and Revolution both make substantial contributions to ICBG that enable them to have bigger booths, not unlike GABF where breweries pay premiums to have larger endcap booths at the end of rows,

 

As a brewery I can absolutely say they tell you not to pour. Can't recall if they said it was law restricted (many states don't allow brewers to pour at fests) or just their recommendation, but FOBAB explicitly said to let the volunteers do it.

I tried to go behind my booth at first even but was told not to by the area captain plus there was literally no room back there for an extra body anyway.

As a brewery it is nice to interact with people, I tried to stand near my booth several times but the crowds wouldn't allow me to be in front or anything. On the other hand, it's also nice to not feel like I'm working the event and can more easily just enjoy the good beer and company.

 

Interesting, our group captain told us volunteers that brewers were permitted behind the table to pour and could take over pouring their specific beers if they wanted to, as well as cut the lines for pours of their own beers.

 

I will definitely keep my eyes open for you this year. Won't be missing your stand!

 

Time to get a Goose Island Brewers shirt and sew my name onto it.

 

Goose has allowed all brewers to line cut for as long as I've been going. Last year they had an entire side dedicated to them.

 

I remember just hanging out at the side area and constantly going back for pours.

 

I think the captain was mistaken then. (To be fair, they are also just volunteers as well)

The last few years, the 2 main people that were in charge of FOBAB (can't remember names- dude with a beard, and woman with black hair) were both very clear that brewers were not to go Behring the table or grab the pitcher/keg in any way shape or form, even if they tried showing the "brewer badge" or saying "but I made this!"

I never saw any of that, but I guess it must have happened at some point. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

My guess is their policy was meant to discourage brewers from pouring, but the message to volunteers was "don't get in their way if they really want to badly enough."

I might also be mixing up old years of FoBAB since ICBG leadership changed between 15 and 16 FOBAB, with Art Golk taking over for Justin.

 

Too late to edit, but I was mistaken above on who took over for Justin. Art was the volunteer coordinator last year, not running the whole show

 

Sounds like the brewer entry fee went from $25 + 3 1/6 barrels to $100 + 3/16 barrels.

What the hell is going on with this event this year?