I have been to plenty of beer fests over the past few years, and pretty much all have run "buy a ticket, get unlimited samples". I just put on my first festival last weekend. 25 beers (small, I know), a homebrewing demonstration, and a brewery that is soon to open down the street. It was flat fee, unlimited samples donated by the distributors in town. People loved it and I have spent the last 48 hours hearing how they can't wait for it next year. That night at the bar, the bartender told me make sure to involve them, he'd clear the taps for whatever we wanted to put on. He only has 5 taps, but right in that block there would be about 28 taps (small town), all at bars that I think would participate. So now I'm trying to figure out how (if) we could do this where all taps are a different beer, plus some bottles/jockey boxes, and make money both for the bars and for us (we are a non-profit downtown association) and maybe even the brewers/distributors. So, my question is how do festivals you go to work for pricing? And what are the prices? There is one festival by us that is a ticket system, but that seems inconvenient...thoughts?
It's American Craft Beer week and we're celebrating by paying homage to the breweries that helped to shape the current craft beer culture in America. It cost $14, include a flight of beers, a flight sheet, a little bit of craft beer education Worthed!
I have been to festivals where it's a paid entrance that gets you beer tickets and others where a paid entrance gets you unlimited beer samples. Obviously, I prefer the one with unlimited samples so I can try whatever without worrying about burning tickets. The only downside is that it's a lot easier to end up drunk with this system.
Ones where you don't have obnoxious people who show up just to get drunk and see how much beer they can drink/slam back without tasting it first.
Some to take into consideration....because we are the Downtown Development group, we prefer not to close streets when possible, so we won't likely make this a gated event....
I just went to the Texas Craft Brewers Festival here in Austin this weekend, and it was $20 admission, which included a 4 oz tasting glass and 6 tasting tickets. Extra tickets were on sale for $1.50 each. In general, it worked great, was more about tasting than getting hammered, and everyone had a fantastic time. The only negative was that some breweries decided to charge 2 tickets for their beers rather than 1, making it easy to quickly burn through tickets. But if the tickets are reasonably priced and everything is consistent, this model works well.
Yes, and the glass was actually a little bigger than 4 oz (probably held more like 5-6). It had a little 4 oz line on it, and some filled to the line, while some filled to the top. I think thats a perfect amount to get a good taste without being committed to drinking too much of something you dont like.
Here's a picture of the glass they gave us. You can see the 4oz line above the St Arnold's logo (its a little worn off - I had about 20 samples....) It worked really well.
Well most in PA have a 2 oz pour line and they glass might hold 4 or 5 ozs maximum so it all depends on what or how you approach the Beer Fest. Plenty of beer and 3-4 hours with food and you will taste some incedible brews.
I don't know if Portland still does it this way, but they used to have the option of a 2oz. or 4oz. pour. You would buy 'wooden-nickel' tokens, and one would get you the 2oz and two of 'em for the 4oz. The glasses had two different lines noted on them. I always liked option #2, myself- staying within walking distance helped That was always a great fest in the 90s- I couldn't say whether it was the people, the times or how it was managed but it was always a great time with very little problems or hassles. I do think the idea of paying per sample helps keep the focus on the beer, rather than a 'drink all you can' event.
Check the state laws. Michigan does not allow uncontrolled pours - you need a token and there is a fill limit per token.
I much prefer the pay one price for unlimited tasting system, but then again I am the consumer so I want the most for my money. That being said, I'd go with a punch card\token system where each person gets ~12 tastings for their tickets, then the ability for them to purchase another card(s) if they choose.
