7th Annual Oak Park Micro Brew Review?

I've been the last few years and enjoyed it. It's a good time, a nice venue in downtown Oak Park, and I'll definitely go again this year. There's usually a good lineup of breweries, but I wouldn't call it a rare/unique beer festival. A couple breweries will usually bring a special keg and announce a time it will be tapped, but it's not a
place to go for rare/unique stuff, though.

With that said, the Replicale Project is a very cool idea and fairly unique. They pick a style, and 15-20 or so of the participating breweries try their hand at the style. It's a cool idea, but the styles they've picked the last two years have been pretty underwhelming. Something like a honey lager last year and something similarly bland (IMHO) the year before. I guess they can't pick a really popular style that the breweries already make and they need to keep it simple to get participation, but it hasn't worked for me in the past. I've been able to taste the Replicale stuff in the past, but wouldn't buy the more expensive ticket to get an extra hour with them. I like to see the festival trying to do something unique to set it apart, but there's just not much you can do with a golden lager, IMO.