Beer Dabbler

I would honestly never go to this event again based on yesterday, and the weather has nothing to do with that. The first hour was fun but then it got way too packed and the lines we absolutely ridiculous, my wife and I left before five.
I definitely agree about Ovalde, mulled Ode was just awesome. Other than that the highlight of the event was the $6 Darkness I got at Stout's when I picked up my wristband...

 

I would go again. The weather sucked. The entry was kind of a mess, especially getting a glass, that seemed completely unorganized, but outside of that I had fun. Was hard to taste the beer with it so cold, but I will say Castle Danger is still one of my favorites. Wish they were closer. Had a bunch of new stuff. laughed at how long the lines were for some stuff. The Surly line was huge. Did they have something super special? But most lines were pretty reasonable. The snow area seemed rather worthless. The silent disco was fun. The extra space compared to the farmers market was huge. So much better.

 

They were frozen and not serving the whole time I was there, but the sign said Abrasive, Furious, and Damien.

 

It was easily the worst one of the 4 I have been to. The lines after 4:30 or so got ridiculous, and by 6:30 or 6:45 I would estimate at least half if not more of the breweries were not serving. I don't know if some ever did serve? Yes, alot of that had to do with the weather and beer being froze, but some of the breweries certainly figured out how to deal with it. Alot of these then ran out of beer early. Had alot of fun the first hour or so but it went downhill after that. Biggest problem was simply too many tickets sold.

Will I go again next year? Maybe.

 

I agree with you 100%. Next year I'll try for Winterfest and if it is better, that's what the wife and I will do from now on. I understand that you need to make money, but events like these can easily be ruined by selling too many tickets.

 

Did they sell more than last year? Last year I heard 7500 sold... which is stupid high and more than Summer Beer Fest.

Anyways, I replied cause I have 1 ticket to Winterfest if any want to compare (there is no comparison, I went to Dabller last year and froze and was sad by the end and lines I didn't find awful but the mulled Auroch's Horn on Rhubarb at Ovalde was awesome).

 

It was 10,000 this year.

 

Come on people!!! It is winter in Minnesota...That is the fun of it....we all live here, dress for it! I am sure they didn't ask for it to be below zero temps. I am sure they were all busting their asses to make each one of you happy. I bet there is not one person on this thread that has the least bit of knowledge on what it takes to put on an event like this.

I think you all should check yourself before you start throwing daggers. Maybe find out the facts before you start assuming what happened. I am guessing The Beer Dabbler Team would be more than happy to listen to your complainants and offer an explanation and take suggestions on how to make this a better festival.

This is their livelihood and it is unfair to just assume something because you "heard" something.

I wish more people would come on to BA and say how great things are, it seems only the naysayers come on here anymore.

 

I don't think I would go back.

I had a good time, but I missed out on a number of beer and breweries I wanted to try because of the lines and kegs being frozen. I saw via untappd that a number of things did get poured that I really wanted to try, but it was cold and not quite worth fighting around to find stuff. We left an hour early and we're perfectly content. We enjoyed ourselves, especially with the friends that we met up with, and I'm glad we went once, but I'd much rather try Winterfest next year. And Firken Fest in March (yay!).

The one thing that helped was that the VIP wristbands were frozen and had snapped, so a number of people just got chunks of wristband. Our friend and his father gave my wife and I a chunk of wristband, so we got to utilize the tent to warm up, get some food, try the Libertine aged on Wild Turkey barrel, and, well, warm up.

(and yes, we layered very, very well)

 

Just as an FYI: Everyone pouring and working were extremely friendly and upbeat, no complaints about anyone working. Hell, I'm not even complaining about the cold. It just wasn't the beer fest that I would fully enjoy. I think that's fair.

 

I don't think I personally said anything that wasn't really facts, aside from the opinion that too many tickets were sold. And the reason I said that is that most of the problems (too long of lines, beer running out so early), seem to be directly tied to the amount of people there. Other things, like long lines, tons of stands closing really early, those are all facts

Some facts I would like to know from them. How many tickets were sold per brewery in attendance compared to the past years of the Dabbler? I missed last year but had been to the past 3 before that and the Summer one this year. Seemed the lines were way longer at this one. Did the breweries know how many tickets were sold and if so, why did so many run out of beer so soon? And alot of the breweries did a really good job of keeping beer liquid and flowing, were the other breweries caught off guard by the cold? It wasn't like it was a surprise, the forecast was like that for days.

As I also said, I may go again. I actually have more fun at the winter one, kinda fun to be outside to do something like this when there is little else to do. I was warm as a bug aside from my face. The other winter ones I've been to were a blast, as was this one for the first hour or 2. I don't think pointing out some problems that occurred there is such a crime. I'm sure it is a hell of a chore to organize this event. I also think it's fair to ask questions when things go wrong. And honestly, the fact is I had enough fun at the other ones to care that the future ones are fun too.

 

If I thought it had been awesome I would have come on and said that. Some people have different opinions of things and this is a place to share them. I said I personally would not go back, never once put down the Dabbler for putting on this event, nor did I complain about the weather. I was actually sweating the whole time I was there because I was prepared.
The first hour was great and if that's how the whole event would have gone down I would definitely go back.

 

not really, word of mouth is very valuable. I "heard" from many people that this years dabbler was a cluster in many aspects and because of this info, I'm a) glad I didn't go and b) don't plan on going next year.

 

I also won't be going back next year. When we first got into the fest we had to wait at least ten minutes to get a glass because they had run out and had to get more. Seems silly to not know how many glasses you should have. This coupled with long lines and frozen beers will keep me from going back.

 

I agree the deal with the glasses was ridiculous. I got through the id line and ticket line with 0 problem, but then having to wait for a glass was bad. I didn't find any of the lines to really be that ridiculously long. And even the ones that were longer, seemed to go fast. I like the new space so I think I'd be interested in going again, though if the price increases any I probably won't. $35 is kind of the top level.

 

$35 seems steep for an event with so many people. This price is comparable to ABR, which is different from Beer Dabbler in so many ways (with the exeption of the poor execution at the entrance in 2013).

 

I think we've all been civil so far. Maybe not Minnesota-nice civil, but I certainly haven't seen any "daggers" yet...

Ultimately, I learned yesterday that for a beer geek like me, the Beer Dabbler is not my kind of festival... My kind of festival is calmer, warmer, and more intimate (read: Winterfest). Even so, I found fun in my experience and will forever catch my tongue before I complain about rain, wind, heat, or other hazards at a festival after drinking frozen beer on Saturday!

 

I've always viewed the Dabbler events as a beer festival for the masses versus the craft brewer guild events which are aimed more at the beer geeks (read: most people that post to BA). The friends of mine that usually go to the winter dabbler probably wouldn't go to Winterfest. It's too expensive - and they don't care about the special beers that the breweries roll out at smaller events like Winterfest- they just want to go and drink some craft beers and have a good time. ABR has gotten more like this in recent years but it's still a smaller sized fest. That said, I respect the Dabbler and all they are doing to get more people into craft beers and the Growler magazine is good too.

 

SHUT IT! You are stupid! Beer Dabbler is above losers like you!

There, less civil for ya

 

This was easily the worst beer dabbler I've been to. I didn't say it was bad, just that it was the worst one. The biggest problem was too many people. The lines at the individual stands this year seemed about 3x as long as the longest line I recall seeing in the previous dabblers. To keep a glass filled, you pretty much had to get your beer in one place and immediately get back in line for another. Also, many times I like to chat with the people serving, but I didn't feel like I could really do that with 25 people in line behind me.

the weather is what it was. cold. so be it. But the fact that some brewers knew how to keep their beer flowing while others obviously didn't is really too bad. There were a number of brews I didn't get to test out.

oh, and i didn't have a problem getting a glass, but to have people waiting for a glass is pretty inexcusable at an event that's only 4 hours long.

all in all, I'm leaning toward not going next year. I just didn't think it was worth the money. too crowded, chance of not getting beers if it's too cold, etc. Too bad, the other 3 winter dabblers I've been to were really fun.