Belgium Comes to Cooperstown (BCTC) 2024

Just found out the BCTC is returning in September, albeit a smaller version. I've been to every BCTC except the first one and volunteered every year we went except the first. There are some big differences this year. It appears only Duvel owned beers will be served. I'M FINE WITH THAT. The Friday night VIP banquet is family style instead of plated and the tasting is from 2-6 only. I have no idea if there is evening music, movies, fireworks etc, but there is camping so the party will run as long as the partiers can last. I just looked this up "The lowest chance of rain or snow in Cooperstown occurs around mid to late September. I never remember it raining on Saturday in past years. I'll be 74 when BCTC rolls around and I agree that I'm too old for this, but I always looked forward to going, so I'm going again. It's the Woodstock of beer. I know the newer generation are not into the Belgians but in my old heart and mind they are the pinnacle of the beer world. For the young folk, the Duvel breweries now make a lot of styles. I hope they can pack the place, so it continues for the people who will want to attend in the future. Hope to see you there
Brother Michael of St Crispus Friary

 

I am curious to see how ticket sales go after the multiyear absence of the BCTC festival. Friday night VIP tickets always went super-fast but a great many of those were beer distributors and brewing industry related attendees. I wonder how many tickets they are going to offer for sale this time around and if they can sell them all. COVID restrictions broke the spell of many things. Not all will return to their former levels. Add to that, the emphasis of Ommegang has changed over the years while adapting to the beer drinking landscape and their foundational Belgian styles have dropped several notches in popularity. My gut tells me that fads change and sooner or later super hoppy beers will step aside for another style and eventually those Belgians will come back into favor. I would be very hesitant to relinquish their legacy products.

 

Well, the return of BCTC is a month away. Are there any people on BA attending?

 

im legitimately sad that i am not attending. work is in the way. i hope this will be an option next year, i have hope as the VIP is sold out...

 

Well, do you have it in you?

 

@Cameroon, you appear to be a Cooperstown/BCTC expert.

How available is Uber for ride sharing? There will be a shuttle service from town to the brewery from 12 - 4 pm. which is inconsistent with the closing time of the festival (6 pm). Will it be easy to obtain an Uber for getting back to town later in the day/evening?

Cheers!

 

No expert, just went for a lot of years. Sorry, I just saw your post and BCTC is over. I just got back home a few hours ago. For those who have gone in the past, this year was very scaled down, Before COVID I am to told attendance was at about 3,000. I don't know if that included vendors, staff , security etc. I heard they thought they'd get 700 this year but based on what I saw volunteering at the entrance gate, I think it may have more in the 500 range. The VIP dinner was held inside and on the patio of the taphouse instead of the gigantic tent of prior years. I did not attend it but was told the food was good. The crowd seemed a bit older than in the past. After a few years of not having BCTC and also having lost some of the employees who ran it in the past, there were a few hiccups. It was not the full-blown extravaganza of prior years. The weather was beautiful on Friday and Saturday and then a light drizzly rain started about 8 or 9 AM on Sunday, getting the nice dry tents wet. One advantage of the smaller crowd was it was not crowded in the camping areas even though they had banned tents on the hillside behind the tap house and the upper field at the back of the property. The porta-toilets were much cleaner also. Altogether, it was a nice event and not stinking hot as it was in early August all those years. I guess we will have to wait to see if they do it again next year.