Brewvival!

It was great to try some of the Cigar City Brews that never seem to make it our way! I really enjoyed the Hotter Than Helles myself.

Maybe it is selfish, but I think 500 less people would have made the lines more manageable. That or maybe someone is a staff capacity policing the lines for some of the limited releases.

But, for as many people that were there, it was extremely mellow and cordial. I think it really showed the class that exists in the Craft Beer Community.

 

I thought it was a great festival. Other than the selfish behavior of some in the Funky Buddha line (particularly when the Maple Bacon Coffee Porter was tapped), I can't think of a thing I didn't enjoy.

Had Funky Buddha been on an outside table (like Bell's, for example), I suspect that the problems could have been contained more easily as it would have been much clearer where everybody stood in the line.

 

I wasn't around when the Barleywine was offered -- must've been later in the afternoon. I was able to taste the Baltic Porter, but I don't recall the El Murcielago being on when I stopped by either. I guess I should've assumed that there would be rotating offerings like nearly everyone else was doing. I spoke too soon, my apologies.

 

Which was absolutely delicious.

Thanks to Scott and Rich, Jaime and David, and all the awesome chaps behind the tables pouring. Though the lines were long, they moved quickly, and I think the overall pace, supply and organization of the festival was superb.
Standouts for me: Hot Garbage, Duck Rabbit BA Baltic Porter, 08 BA Stone IRS, Calypso Ruination.

Couple of suggestions for next year: Some sort of organization for restroom lines; there was a line for every two or three port-a-johns, and people from one line would jump into the four in front of them, while the line next to them somehow got relegated to one or two. Very easy fix would be to just have some type of barriers every two or three, making it obvious where each line was headed. Also, the handwashing station, while necessary, could have definitely been augmented with a station next to it with a few big bottles of sanitizer. Would have made things a lot faster getting out of there and back to the beer.

As someone said earlier, the really limited release beers, if at all possible, should be on the outsides of the tents, so that the line can form long and obvious.

Even with these minor things, it was easily the best festival of my life. I thought the food was superb and the beers even better. I look forward to being there next year behind a table. :-)

 

Funky Buddha was great other than the general lack of respect from people in line for the Maple Bacon Coffee Porter and the insanely small pour after waiting an hour.

Duck Rabbit, COAST, and Westbrook, and Foothills represented the Carolinas well.

 

A few awards:

Most Suprisingly Delicious, Big-Guy Division- Great Divide Raspberry Yeti cask. Didn’t think it would be bad or anything, but it was awesome.
Most Surprisingly Delicious, Little-Guy Division- Fullsteam Lager. Hearty and satisfying.
Most Unsurprisingly Delicious: BA Blackbeerd, Stone ’08 BBA IRS and Double Calypso Ruination.
Most Meaty: SN Imperial Smoked Porter.
Most Likely to Infuriate a Certain Former BA: Sweetwater's 15th Anniversary Imperial ESB.
Most Likely to Catch a Communicable Disease: Guy washing his tasting glass out in the porta-john handwashing sink.


Anyone else have some awards to pass out?

 

I barely got to taste anything because it was so busy at my table! I may have tried 10 beers total? But, I was certainly there to work and they got good labor out of me!

Special shoutout to chefkevlar for bringing me by sips of things to try! You rock!

I have to agree, the Great Divide Raspberry Yeti cask was awesome. So glad I got to try it. The Duck Rabbit BBA Baltic was really great too. My boss-man snagged me a sample of Westbrook Mexican Coffee cake and I savored it.

I rep the beer, so I feel a little bad saying it, but I couldn't finish my sample of Great Divide Petty Theft... way too sour for me, bordering on vinegar-y.

The Allagash table was rocking good too. Besides that, I got to try the Bell's beers which always overdeliver.

 

I have to agree on the vinegar aspect here... Not what I was expecting, however, I like the vinegar so it felt right at home for me. Hate I didn't get a chance to come over and meet you while there, but I was busy limping around and ticking. Haha

 

No worries! I was happy to see so many BA's come over and say hi and drink some Trogdor. I'll be popping up again at Beertopia in March, Micky Finn's/Apple Annie's festival in Florence in April, the Brew at the Zoo in August, and who knows how many other ones.. working on getting to Greenville and the Dirty Myrtle this season too... so many festivals, so much good beer, so many miles on my car, so worth it

 

If you make it to Greenville let me know... Cheers!

 

I too loved Great Divide's Petty Theft. I was amazed how many folks who call themselves Sour Heads did not like it. I had 3 pours and now have the urinary tract of a 9 year old boy. Stone's BA '08 RIS rocked. Allagash, CCB, & Coast rocked too. Great to see to so many friends pouring for Foothills, Stone, Bells, Allagash, and others. Great weather too!

 

This event was awesome! The only low point for me was the crazy long lines for food at various points throughout the day, but hey you can't have everything.

High points: Bell's was incredible as always. I finally got to try some Black Note and it totally lived up to the hype for me. I was blown away by COAST's 32/50 Kolsch. I guess I wasn't expecting much from it and it surprised the crap out of me. It would be the perfect refreshing but still very tasty beer for a hot summer day. New Belgium's La Folie was excellent. I haven't had many sour beers, but it got me hooked. Finally, before last Saturday, I had never heard of Saint Somewhere Brewing Company. From now on, I'll be on the lookout for them. Their offerings really impressed me.

Can't wait for Brewvival 2013!

 

This is SO true...

 

No, Petty Theft was gross. Obscene acidity in a sour is a flaw. If it burns going down, it's wrong. @pettytheft @lambicusdexterius @oldgrowth, etc etc.


But the event was very very fun. I'd gladly pay $75 next year for 500ish fewer people however....

 

My review says it all: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/158/78918/?ba=thagr81us

 

I was standing in line no where near the Great Divide table and these folks were drinking Petty Theft, saying how they hated it etc. One of them poured their sample into my glass and it locked my jaw up. Loved it. And of course by the time I made it to the GD table, they were out. Great festival but I agree about the amount of people.

COAST put up a blog post about how many people may have abused the DD ticket (which is a shame) that may have contributed to the overcrowding to some degree.

http://coastbrewing.com/blog/2012/02/brewvival-2012-wrap-up/

 

Moral of the story is that non drinkers are evil and should be dealt with properly.

 

Good running into you MULTIPLE times man... You didn't find that camera I left in the bathroom did you? Someone else might have taken it. Haha! Also what was up with that group of people near the port-a-johns toward the end of the festival? BM me if you need to. Cheers bud!

 

Agreed on all counts. I love some balancing sweetness, fruitiness, other flavors, not just a blast of acidity. Cascade= the king of American sours, IMO.

500 fewer Brewvivalers sounds about right...

 

Well this was my first and I guess my last. I did get to try some great beers, no doubt...but the lines for everything was crazy. We got there before 12 and couldn't see the end of the line so we waited till the gates opened....stood around while the line moved and finally started walking to the end....and walked.....finally got in after 1. Overall vibe was great, but the tents were WAY to close together, lines from one tent were back to the other, (and with any beer festival) people would get their pour and then stand under the tent chatting like they were the only ones there. Food lines we obscene, our DD went for doughnuts and waited in line 1 hour...she sold a few on the way back for $4 each...

I don't want to sound unappreciative, I know alot of work goes into these things. However I figure I may have got 60 ounces of beer, hardly a buzz when we left, spent about $600 over the 2 days getting there and back....as I said I can't see me doing that again.

Suggestions: Move the tents further apart, have more vendors or less people, spread the port-a-johns apart more, maybe do a early entrance like Charlotte Octoberfest, and have more beer...sucked to see several out of beer half way through the event.