Brewvival!

Sorry, hadn't heard about a camera. Fire off something to Scott or Jaime, can't hurt.

Some drunk idiots acting like acting like drunk idiots. Then some guy started to chastise/lecture the aforementioned idiots... As anyone who's worked in a bar knows, drunk idiots love that... Scott just asked me to keep an eye on it.

The line was a bit more than I expected. There was a dedicated line by 11, and was still in the area of (if not over) the bridge around 1. Hell, at 10 there was some guy from out of town wandering around when the volunteers were getting going.

 

Despite the long lines, I still was able to try samples of over 30 beers as well. Last year however, I was able to sample more in the same space of time. I certainly think 2000 is a good cap.

On the bright side, the organizers were diligent in seeing the problems and I think you will see some solutions next year.

Again for me, the low point was the line for the Maple Bacon Porter at Funky Buddha. I was in line adjacent to several solid beer fans who refused to cut in line like us. The line doubled back on itself and when they started the pour, the people at the end of the line simply turned 180 degrees and were at the head of the line. Nobody wanted to be the "Barney Fife" douche ruining others good time. I think "Line Rangers" (aka Golf Rangers) who are Staff would have made things easier. Have one at the end of the line and then one at the head of the line politely telling people to move on "politely." When we got to the tap people were standing there socializing. In fact I saw one person just get back to the head of the line 2 more times and get additional pours.

 

Undrinkable, I am a sour fan and could only choke and ounce of that down, the grass that I poured it on died. Other undrinkable beer was French Broad Wee Heavier on oak (tasted like licking a log, no complexity, just dry wood taste)

 

The good: Cigar Cithad little line and the tequila aged El Murcilago was very good, one of those that you can't put your finger on, but like it. Saint Somewhere Fierte du Sud was excellent,victory headwaters cask, allagash thing 2 (which somewhere reviewed from the fest and they didn't taste the sugar- sugar pretty much ferments out??), brooklyn maple, terrapin cabernet monks revenge.

The bad: petty thief from great divide and wee heavier from French broad

To me rare doesn't mean extreme.

Festival problems: line to get in,cramped area (chairs in food lines- spread it out), can't really talk to servers. Food- kielbasa was decent,I have had better frozen pizza, and we couldn't even see the front of roti rolls line (spread out the vendors and have them at least be prepared to serve a large crowd.

Festival good: good crowd of friendly people, not the frat fest you see at some festivals, the price is well worth it considering some of these fests in this area see Blue Moon as a craft brew, palmetto booth was fun and southern tier was actually trying to describe the beers.

 

I had maybe 30 samples...some duplicate, but considering most pours were half glass (2oz) I'm guessing 60 or so ounces, $600 for the trip and you do the math per ounce. Some people will rate this the best ever no matter what...I'm not that amazed considering the lines, crowds, tent placement, vendors that ran out, and problems getting food. Sure, the people were great, it took alot of work, etc...etc...understood.

 

Yea i see where your coming from but i look at it like if i purchased most if the beers on say ebay values i easily came out better than trips cost. Black notes running around 120 bucks so getting to try that was a big chunk of trip cost imo

 

Wow, been a long time. The forum here is finally easy to navigate!

Anyways, I just wanted to chime in to say I really enjoyed the festival. Westbrook beers were fantastic, and same goes to COAST. I wasn't that impressed with the Maple Bacon from Funky Buddha, but their coconut beer was perfect.
I was probably one of the line cutters that MarkSCCOT was complaining about. I walked over to that line and just wanted to try anything. Some guys half way through told us to walk to the front if we wanted the coconut beer, since the line was only for the Maple Bacon. However, as soon as I got to the front (where no one was sampling, just waiting), they put the maple bacon on. I got my coconut beer and my friend got the maple bacon, so I tried both. Sorry if that pissed anyone off, as I just wanted to try anything and I thought it was sort of unfair to make people stand around and wait when no one was getting samples.
My advice for next year was to spread things out and get more port-a-johns. Honestly, I had to use the creek a couple times. There was actually a line to use the creek by the middle of the event. If you increase entry by 25%+, you also need to increase the number of toilets by 25%+. I feel like the tents were too close together, which led to more line skipping than normal. The Bells line worked better, as it was on the side that had open space. I really didn't mind the long lines that much. As much as I like running around drinking every beer at the festival, the lines gave me some break time so I enjoyed stuff more and never got drunk. The food lines were a bit disappointing, but that could be remedied by allowing more vendors in. The Coleman burgers really hit the spot!
I am definitely going to attend again next year. I think Rich, Scott, Jaimie, David, and all the volunteers did a great job, despite the little bumps in the road. It is sad to hear that people were abusing the DD tickets. Maybe we need big guys like whitekiboko to serve as bouncers next year and kick the abusers out.
To all the friends I talked to: it was good to see you all again. I miss living in SC and hanging out with that beer community. It was also nice having brunch with khiasmus and his wife, Mrs. Westbrook, n8h, and whitekiboko the day after the event. Good time had by all.