Firestone Invitational 2016

I'm not sure its fair to compare SARA to most of the other names on this list. Their bottle production, especially the farmhouses/sours, never makes it to distribution (maybe Farmhouse Noir pops up at a few select stores now) and their standard IPA/porter offerings are barely on growler fill for a week before they pull it off to ensure they have enough beer for taproom sales. Pouring for an event like this seems like it would unnecessarily deplete beer that is in high demand at their taproom. The fairest comparison with respect to production/attendance would be Side Project - which kicked and closed up shop about 30-45 min after opening to the general public last year.

 

First, I just want to say that we are so excited to be invited back to the FWIBF! This is seriously our favorite festival we have ever attended. We are actually closing down our tasting room for the entire weekend so we can bring our entire staff with us to Paso.

I did just want to address how quickly we ran out of beer last year.
We did make it half way through the general session, which still isn't acceptable. As for the overall volume that we brought, I can tell you that we brought the exact same amount as another sour brewery that was there (I asked them because I was embarrassed that we ran out), however, if any of you were there or remember, I think you can say that our line was moving incredibly fast. We had 2 or 3 people pouring the whole time, as quickly as possible. I would rather you not wait in line, get the beer and get around to try everyone else too. So, maybe it was our fault for pouring too fast? Because we brought as much beer as we could, which was the same amount as others...

I can say though, that this year, we are bringing more beer and will do everything possible to not run out early! Festivals are the only time that I wish we had 1 non-barrel-aged beer that we could bring a 1/2 bbl or so of!

Cheers,
Cory King
Side Project Brewing

 

Hard to satisfy every neckbeards expectations. Keep up the great work Cory and thank you for coming back again!

 

I hope my comments were not taken as an indictment of SP - they were meant to put context around the SARA discussion. From personal experience, my wife and I knew SP beers would be one of the more coveted beers at the festival and went directly to the line after entering general admission. Ended up about 45th or so in line and got to the pours within 10-15 minutes. 3 people pouring and more than willing to discuss the beers and the process - which was great. Thanks for the context regarding beer volume against others at the festival.

 

Oh, they weren't!

Just thought that your post was a good time for me to address why we ran out, what we brought, and how we are addressing it this year...

Cheers,

 

And that's the beauty of getting to come back and kick even more ass this year! Thanks for taking the time to address what happened last year and for taking steps to be better this year. Us Left Coast folks are looking forward to having more of your brews!

 

KRBC is planning on bringing 1 day old Citra and Long Swim this year for their hoppy beers.

 

Where my hazy alchemist beers at. Fuck.

 

Alchemist was such a letdown for me last year.

 

Same. It was actually kinda nice to stand in line and drink water for a few minutes just for the sake of a break, but the beer itself was underwhelming.

 

Anyone mention that hill farmstead was missing? I thought there was some posted conversation between fw and hf about their joining this year.

 

There was, but seems that either didn't pan out or Firestone is waiting to make a big "surprise" announcement later. Between the breweries added/returning and leaving, I think there is still room for a couple more.

 

My wife bought me the fest shirt with the tickets. It arrived today with Hill Farmstead listed on the back.

 

Any other additions?

 

How about a picture of said shirt?

 

I've realized I don't know how to post a picture on this forum.

 

Never saw anything that suggested that

 

What color is this shirt? Online it almost looked yellowish. Is it...brown?

Am I blind?