I'm kind of eye balling the Crafts & Drafts festival in Milwaukee this year. I've done many other similar festivals in the area over the years, but most seem to lack the quality of beer/breweries. However, after reviewing the lineup that Crafts & Drafts is getting, looks like they're getting some very solid Midwest breweries. In addition to the 3-4 beers each brewery will be sampling out, they will also provide a "special VIB" beer for a $1 a taste, which really gets my interest. Has anyone attended this in the past? Is this worth doing? Are the lines terribly long? Looks like this is a great opportunity to taste some outstanding beers. But I'm not sure if it's worth paying $70 (VIB ticket) to just get a 2-3oz taste of 15-25 (hopefully) very good beers. I'm worried if it's too small of a sample size to really enjoy a great beer. On the other hand I'll get a great opportunity to try some beers that I don't normally get to have. I'm on the fence. I'm interested to hear other people's thoughts/opinions.
I can tell you that friends thought it was defitely not worth it 3 years ago. And they had free tickets. For them, there was nothing unique about the experience. It's pre VIP beer experience though, so maybe it's different now. The two beers they have up for VIP now are good, but I'd be concerned you are paying $70 to tick 8-10 beers.
The VIP is also ticketed so you have to pick and choose your battles. You won't be able to taste everything.
All great points. I'm sure they will have some great beers available there.....but I doubt I'll truly be able to enjoy them. I can see myself quickly gulping down the 2-3 ounce pour, only rush off and get in line again at another booth. Then repeating that cycle for 2-3 hours. It's hard to enjoy a good beer that way IMO. So I'll probably pass on this, and hopefully cross paths with some of these beers I'm missing out on down the road. Thanks!
FOBAB was definitely worth it. I went VIP and got in an hour early. I had to slow down big time after the first 20 minutes. The Utopias aged on cherries clocked in at 28% apv.
