EBF 2014: Tell us all about it

Great time. My favorite was Spontaneous Cheer (glad I got seconds before they ran out); Juice Machine was good too. It was also great to have the chance to try some Cigar City offerings.

I was extremely disappointed that Crooked Stave was gone in twenty minutes; I was unable to try anything from them. They are not available here in CT, so they were one of the reasons I bought tickets. Hopefully they'll be back and prepared for the number of participants.

 

Had a great time despite getting there an hour late for C session. Thanks to @TWStandley for the ticket!

There were some stunningly short lines at times, e.g. Toppling Goliath. I walked up at 7 and had to double check it wasn't one of those instances where you mistakenly cut in front of 90% of the line. I'm not sure if TG still isn't well-known by the EBF crowd, but there are several things that made for great lines generally as already pointed out. Keep the venue, don't increase the number of tickets sold, and continue working to have great selections throughout the fest.

Thank you to the volunteers, particularly the woman who stood guard in the middle of the Funky Buddha line tossing out those jackasses who suddenly merge into the line with friends.

 

They brought 6 beers and poured two each session.

My favorites were TG mornin delight and FB French Toast. I think the biggest surprise for me was Sam Adams pouring something unlisted - an "in process" Utopia, next years batch that hasn't finished aging yet, but still delicious.

 

Another fantastic EBF!

Highlights:

Toppling Goliath King Sue- So friggin' good!!!! Even more juicy than Juice Machine. Mornin' Delight was fantastic as well!!
Funky Bhuda Maple Bacon Porter and French Toast - both awesome!!
Avery Tweak - so smooth for something so powerful
Crooked Stave- WWB Batch 60 - beer of the fest!! Perfect use of brett and hops. Seriously glorious!
Lost abbey - Spontaneous Cheer! Beautiful fruited sour.

Volunteers and security did a great job!! Super helpful people everywhere. Right amount of food options. Even though some breweries didn't bring enough beer still plenty of great options all night. How cool is it that you could go up and get any of Lost Abbey's always great options with next to zero line!!

Brewery of the fest for me was Toppling Goliath. They are the real deal. Give me them and Hill Farmstead and I'd be a happy camper on my deserted isle!

 

I don't plan on even looking at a Crime or Punishment ever again. That was as extreme as I was willing to get. Overall a great experience and many great beers, but Firestone needs to pick up their game.

 

I'm glad you wrote this because now I don't have to make a post because this is exactly what I would have wrote. I also thought the FB French Toast was the most fun beer.

 

Awesome Fest. Got to try most of my "must haves" and a ton of other great beers. Not a bad beer all night except for Punishment (but I knew that going in - had to see if it was as bad as advertised) which was mind blowingly undrinkable. Crooked Stave was extremely disappointing, being completely out of beer 40 minutes in when I got over there. Firestone was also disappointing (seemed like they were only pouring the Berliner in session C).

 

~~*~*Hey Mom, I made the forums!!*~*~~* Regulatoooooooors!

 

I'm not sure if this meant to mock me, the volunteer, or Warren G.

Regardless, I stand by it.

 

Nope, I'm pretty sure you meant me as part of my volunteer shift, I was excited to make the forums! I was "the woman tossing people out of line." I also walked most to the back of the line, showed others where it was and chatted with them through out their wait as they progressed. "You're almost there, you're almost there!" I also reminded them one person is pushing it, a group cutting is just mean.

 

Can't agree more with this post as others have. Crooked Stave shouldn't be invited back to any festival until they prove they understand that it isn't OK to come with 15 minutes of beer and act like it's cool they're the first ones out.

 

Great fest! Just as good as the ones at the Cyclorama in my opinion. Well done all around. Of course it's a slight bummer when brewers run out early, but I planned accordingly and tried everything I wanted to try.

I tried 47 beers apparently (yikes), and some of my highlights echo some of the ones posted in here already...

- Funky Buddha was fantastic as usual. No crusts and the French Toast beer were mind blowing in how much they taste like those two things. Ridiculous. I wish I had the first clue how to brew something like that.

- Toppling Goliath...wow. Had heard great things and they still exceeded my expectations. Sue was fantastic and Mornin' Delight was the best stout I had all night I think, even better than Vanilla Bean Night To End All Dawns and Chocolate Rain. VERRRYYY excited to find out more about this collaboration between Tree House and TG which supposedly took place this week.

- Crooked Stave was another that I was really looking forward to trying. Glad I went straight for it when the doors open, really really good stuff.

- Cigar City - the guava sour they were pouring was delicious. Would love to get my hands on some more of that someday.

- Tree House - They never disappoint.

Can't wait for next year!

 

Firestone Walker = Fail!!! Even the serving wench had an attitude at my disappointment at 1:02 when I was denied a quick Parabojava on my way to Funky BL. Don't bring it if you can't pour even a little at each session. Did I mention FAIL?

 

I was volunteering for all three sessions and had a blast. Even though my sampling was mostly limited to my break time, and a few others, I think I had everything I would have as a paying attendee.
The rest of the volunteers were great, the paying folks treated us great (except when we had to be jerks at the end of the session after beer stopped, and people walking past asking for "just one more!")
I was amazed at how long the lines were at a few breweries - within minutes of opening Toppling Goliath had lines 3/4 the way across the hall all 3 sessions. Cigar City and Funky Buddah were the same.
There were some great beers, and some that, while well done, left me scratching my head.
Oddly, my favorite of all wasn't one of the 'kitchen sink' ones, or even a high-abv. Carton Brewing's Boat Beer took the title for me. A nice low test (4.2% abv) brew with some malt sweetness and a good hop kick.
While it might have been a touch too hoppy for a true session beer - I could see my palate shutting down if drinking it all day - it was definitely something I could drink quite a few of.
Other highlights were the Brasserie Dunham out of Quebec and Franklin's from Maryland - both of those guys didn't have a single downer in all the lineup. Sierra Nevada and the 2001 Bigfoot, NERAX and the Cask of Flower Power,
Both Treehouse beers
Throwback's cask of Apple Brandy barrel stout.
Against the Grain had some great beers and enjoyably demented pourers in hilarious costumes.
Sam Adams with Utopias and the KMF Cru.
Cigar City's Rum Aged Marshall Zhukov.
Half Acre's Double Daisy Cutter.
plenty of others I'm not remembering right now.

 

this was my first EBF and will definitely not be my last. there was so much great stuff there i almost wished i had tix for another session, despite being drunk and then hung over for most of my saturday. logistically, everything went pretty smoothly, and it was great to be able to talk to so many brewers--you can really get a feel for each brewery's vibe that way. my only complaint (and perhaps this is my own fault) is that i had no idea how quickly some breweries would run out. i understood when the guys at the bruery said they ran out of chocolate rain in 45 minutes (session B), or when i went to founders at 4 and there was no kbs left. however, it kinda sucked to go to breweries that brought 4-5 beers and see them only pouring one (or none) toward the end of the fest.

treehouse and half-acre killed it. glad to see carton pouring some nice stuff (only had the boat beer before this weekend). i think nerax was quietly one of the best booths there. i'm glad i got to try some toppling goliath before they ran out, and i was pleasantly surprised with the dfh collabs. as childish as it sounds, grabbing a waffle on the way out was one of the highlights of my day.

 

I've been to quite a few festivals over the last two years and this was the best event yet. I loved it. Great beer, super friendly people, and killer waffles ;-). These Guys know how to put on a festival. On a beer note, the French Toast beer was crazy good and so was the Regular Coffee. I was also a fan of the Maple Orange beer from Due South. I'll attend this event for as long as it continues.

 

I will echo the complaints of Crooked Stave. VERY disappointing. I will not say angry as there was SO MUCH other awesome stuff though. There were so many amazing brewery tables without any line whatsoever. As much as I love FB, I didn't need to wait in the line more than once with Cascade or The Bruery (post Chocolate Rain) having next to no line.

I loved it and loved the venue. I think it was a nice step up from the Cyclorama (not my favorite venue at all).

 

Liked the idea of checking ID's, scanning tickets, and wristbanding while in line allowing us to walk right in. Only problem was there wasn't enough people doing this and they weren't very systematic. When 1 pm came around, there were still a lot of people who werent banded yet. Other than that it was a great fest! Thank you!

 

It was a good fest, but I did miss the intimacy of the Cyclorama, the High-Tops to stand around to meet and chat with new people. The space at World Trade is very sterile; it feels more like a trade show than a beer fest. Sometimes bigger isn't necessarily better.

Other than that, everything was excellent and well managed with a great selection.

 

Had such a great time and what a great event.

I walked out of there having had Tree House for the first time, and it is now amongst my favorite breweries.

Sixpoint also continues to be amongst my favorite breweries, and I stand by the fact that I've never had anything bad from there.

And Carton was awesome. As a Jersey guy, I already knew, but I was happy to hear so many people really excited about and liking what Carton had to offer.

Food: The sausage rolls were bad, btw (I had to send one back because it was raw), but the beef pie was awesome.

Finally, so happy to get some great glassware from some awesome breweries including aTeku glass from Carton