BeerAdvocate Microbrew Invitational (2017)

I visited Burley Oaks a few years ago on the advice of the posters on the mid-Atlantic forum. Very glad we did, it was great. Usually after a fest they will have kegs start popping up around town.

 

Agreed. BG makes great hoppy beers but that barley wine they had was incredible.

 

Citralaxy was amazing.

 

Did anyone else try Henry & Fran? I was very impressed by the 2 beers they had. They're out in West Boylston & they've only been open a couple months. Apparently they're gonna start canning soon.

 

Yes, I thought they had the best stuff after JWB. I had the Magic Foxhole and A Perfect Day for Bananafish..A++.

 

Very well run event, efficient check in, plenty of booths and staff and bathrooms. Got to try a lot of great beers. Highlights were J Wakefield, Burley Oak, Brick and Feather, Henry and Fran, and Brew Gentlemen.

My one complaint was that the FAQ clearly said "outside food or Drink - NO" and the next Q was can I wear a pretzel necklace "see above" so I skipped it. But then I get in line and at least 50% of people had pretzel necklaces. I don't really care but if they are allowed, please don't make it sound like they aren't allowed in the FAQs.

 

Maybe modify the FAQ to reflect that the rule isn't often enforced? "Venue policy prohibits outside food. You may be asked to discard food prior to admission." And dump the pretzel necklace FAQ entirely?

That said, OP should have been willing to risk $1 worth of pretzels to find out how strict the enforcement was.

 

The Saturday evening session was a similar experience with the bathrooms. They closed off the bathroom towards the back of the venue well ahead of closing. After last call the porta potties got closed off, but the bathroom by the exit was left open and had a huge line, so I'm not sure how that expedited clearing the place. I understand that that is the call of the venue staff, it just seemed strange.
Only other negative was how quickly some of the booths ran out of beer. I guess that's what I get for choosing session 3. But there was also plenty of other awesome beer to choose from. Best beer of the night for me was Magnify Up Up and Away. Also the barelywine they had at Barreled Souls was amazing.

 

All breweries have equal amounts of beer for all three sessions, so choosing session 3 would have no impact on the how quickly beer runs out. It is most likely that through word of mouth that brewery had a constant stream of people. Brewers and BA do their best to estimate business, but remember there is no way to guarantee beer is going to last for the entirety of a session and that BA pre-buys all of the beer that comes to the festival.

As for the bathrooms, the front ones are always left open upon closing. It is the easiest way for security to make sure people are not wandering the floor after taps close. In addition at the end of the third session brewers begin to pack up their gear so it is not wise for patrons who have been consuming alcohol for the better part of three and half hours to be around while they are trying to prep their stuff and leave.

Agree Barreld Souls was great too!