2017 FOBAB

I'll be there all 3 sessions.

Gonna be a loooooooong weekend.

 

Jesus. How the hell do you guys have that kind of money to throw for three sessions? I can't even justify one.

 

Who needs to eat when you'll gain liquid calories

 

I can barely make it through one session pacing myself, are the people doing both Saturday sessions back to back bringing dialysis machines?

 

I always feel this way when I see people buying cases of DIPAs that are like $16-20/4 pack. I guess some people can justify it but no way for me.

For me FOBAB this year is easy to justify for one session cause of the quality and diversity of beers but no way I'd go to more than one session.

 

Do tickets tend to sell out on the first day?

 

Tickets used to sell out in the first hour or so. That price point has people balking.

 

And it only took an hour because the servers could never handle the load.

 

After 7 or 8 years attending, I'm not planning on doing so at that price point(maybe I'll give in and change my mind if tickets are sitting there tomorrow). For $90 I'd like a more relaxing atmosphere where I don't have to try and get my money's worth, I can sit down and savor what I'm drinking and not having to line up so long.....

 

Saturday early session tickets just sold out.

 

Who says you have to try and get your money's worth? I think it's that attitude that spoils the fun. I plan to not stress, and if I don't drink as much all the better for my liver.

 

Last year CBS was on tap Sunday morning in the city so a repeat of that would complete the weekend of indulgence

 

taking a pass this year given the $85 plus tax fee. Its just too much, no matter how much great some of the beer will be. i think haymarket does a mini-fobab the week before so i'd rather just go there.

 

You're damn right that the attitude of realizing you are paying $90 for less that $45 dollars of beer spoils the fun.

A lot of the beer at Fobab is much more accessible than it was 3-4 years ago. There seems to be one BCBS party at a different bar in Chicago each day with all the new variants from Black Friday through Christmas so no need to go to sample the new GI stuff there. Pipeworks, Off Color, HA etc. BA programs are flourishing, it's not like the days when they didn't bottle their BA stouts and Fobab was the only place to try them.

 

I can kind of agree with you to a point. But for me, Utopias is not easily accessible for me. If I get to try that, that alone has made the ticket worth it (FOR ME) because I don't have to buy a plane ticket to go and try it. Not everyone has that mentality and not everyone needs to. But I think if people are so focused on making sure their $90 is well spent, maybe the beer hobby shouldn't be your thing. It gets costly.

 

If you go into FOBAB thinking you need to get oz to $ equilivents of 90$ you are a fucking moron. Its a beer festival. Its an event. Its not about pouring exactly 90$ worth of beer down your gullet.

It should be about enjoying the beer, hanging with friends, and having fun. Not about making sure you get the most beer in your face for the money. They people who black out by hour 2 because they "have to get their moey worth" ruin it.

 

Agreed. However, there isn't enough open space to hang out. Definitely need to find a new venue.

 

Those are some harsh words. I think it makes sense to expect value for your money. Whether you need an exact $ to ounce ratio may not be accurate, but all those other things you mentioned (e.g. enjoying beer, hangin with friends) can be done without the $90 price tag, and were done in prior years at a lower price point. It's those beers all in one place that aren't as accessible to many people that make it appealing. And now that pricing is higher, where does the extra value come in? That seems to be the crux of the issue for many, and determines whether people choose to pay the higher price this year.

 

It appears tickets are still available for Friday and Saturday night? What's the over under for this to sell out? By Monday?

 

I'm gonna bet there will be tickets available for at least one of those sessions this time next Friday

 

Exactly. Nobody is saying "I want to get blacked out hammered after 2 hours.." but for $90 plus another $30 in Uber/Metra, I can have a hell of a great night with some friends at Bavarian Lodge for about 3 weekends in a row. Or, I could go to Scores. Either way, I think I'll come out ahead.

 

I've never gone to a beer fest for a value. Not once. I go to a beer fest to try amazing beer. If I have to pay a premium to do it, so be it. In all honesty, I think you should pay a premium to be able to sample so much amazing beer in one place.

After reading this thread, I wish they upped the price to $100 or more so less people would go.

 

To each their own, but I'd venture to say everyone has a cutoff point where they think the premium is just too much. Although, I don't disagree that some sort of premium can be involved.

I decided not to buy tickets this year for a variety of reasons, and the increased price point did play into that (I'm mainly just trying to spend less on beer in general). It's pretty clear I'm not the only one, although I don't think people that did buy tickets are f'ing morons - everyone has their own determination of what they want to do with their time and money. I'm just making conversation here and responding to what I thought was unnecessary words towards someone who does look at value in a certain way. I hope everyone enjoys the hell out of FOBAB, and I'm sure I'll have a bit of envy as the festival is occurring...but I'll also have plenty of amazing beer at home to ease the pain.

 

At my age, getting my money's worth isn't really the focus. I realize it costs a fair amount to put on an event like this and the breweries are doing their part by paying their fees and donating beer. I also know that this is a fundraiser for Imbibe.

I was also one of those people that originally balked and thought/hoped that the increase in price would coincide with a smaller crowd or an enlarged space. I'm still holding out hope that there are some added benefits this year, but, at the end of the day, it's a fun event and I get to enjoy a bunch of good beer with some of my friends.

Everyone's got their buy/pass price for everything, especially 'non-essential' goods/services. Fobab's still in the 'buy' category this year. Hopefully this cost increase truly is the one 'rip the bandage off' increase and it stays level over the next couple of years.

 

I don't understand the price increase. I tried to charm several volunteers last year to give me some of the unopened bottles "to go" so that they wouldn't need to deal with the unused beer. I would gladly take the kegs, too, and return them empty.

I think we could crowd-source a solution to this...

 

I think the problem is these beers are getting more common and more available. If Bottle Logic and TG show up with their whales, maybe I'd sing a different tune and shell out so I could try something I haven't had, but it seems like most of the stuff that comes to Fobab is relatively easy for the experienced BeerAdvocate to procure....For the price of 2 tickets I could get 6- $30 bottles of a high end BA stout at which point putting on my own Fobab sounds a lot more appealing.

 

Honestly, given we are in Chicago, you also need to factor in the time/effort required to get 6 different high end bottles of a BA stout. Hope you brought your tent and motorcycle to truck chase.

 

The volunteer request just went out. It states that anyone who elects to volunteer on Saturday/Sunday (tear down), and would therefore get free access to Friday before your volunteer time, must pay a deposit. The cost will be refunded once you actually show up for the volunteer shift. Probably an easier task than having to track people who might get banned.

 

No truck chasing involved. Just look at Pipeworks as an example of what is going on in the industry. You don't have to camp out at a store to get a BA Pipeworks beer. They last a while at the Dojo. Increased production, more competition, and more alternatives make it pretty damn easy to get good BA beers these days...

 

Sure, that's one example, do you have examples of other breweries where you don't have to hassle to get high end barrel aged beers?

 

Three Floyds...how long were bottles of Rue D'Floyd available for, couple weeks? How about the 3 different runs of BA Behemoth?

 

Exactly. If you know how to easily get Atrial Rubicite, Peach Climacteric, Parabajava, or Mexican Achromatic please let me know.

That's just to name a few. Honestly, I enjoy Pipeworks BA stuff but I don't go to FOBAB for it.

 

Wasn't Rue D'Floyd infected? Couldn't that be the reason for availability.

 

It came out like 6 months ago and everyone on the forums was going gaga over it like it was the best thing ever (feel free to revisit the FFF thread here to see). The infection talk which has not been verified only popped up in the past few weeks so would not explain why RDF lasted longer....

 

Thank you for clarifying, I was genuinely curious because I knew nothing of the beer until I heard about infection.

 

ITT:

"This beer fest is not worth it for me, and you're wrong for thinking it is worth it for you"
"This beer fest is worth it for me, and you're wrong for thinking it isn't worth it for you"

 

First Time Going, Saturday PM session Can't wait!

 

Or "They've almost doubled the price with no value add..."

 

How do you go about volunteering? I was looking to volunteer Friday night.