FoBAB 2018

Hitting dastro

 

So what're the standouts?

 

Horus - Deepest Shade.

 

Agree. For the sours, I would say strawberry provence.

 

Agreed right back. Huge fan of Logsdon Peche n Brett also.

 

Bourbon County Vanilla is too damn sweet

 

Thank you for posting, Rahm giving out the medals was kinda random lol

 

Yes,wonder if they delayed the ceremony for Rahm’s arrival, or due to other reasons.

Glad Werk Force Brewing won gold and silver, they were the best fruit offerings in the row I worked Friday. The brewer would have ranked the silver winner gold and vice versa, was very happy.

Paced myself tonight and did well. Had the BCS Prop tonight, a chocolate bomb, was very good.

More’s MehndI was great, as was Half Acre’s Benthic offering. Mikerphone’s Interventions and Lullibies was excellent. I generally dont seek sours wilds or Barleywines during the year, glad I could sample a good variety at the festival. Liked Funkworks Sauvin Reserve the best among the wild beers tried.

Pace and hydration was the key during my first beer festival. Great event and I look forward to volunteering and attending the 17th annual FOBAB in 2019.

 

For me:

Rare Barrel Playing for Keeps
Avery Raspberry Truffale
Rheingeist Perpetual Passion
Perennial Funky Wit: Blackberry + Raspberry

 

Another year, another incredible FOBAB. We lined up about an hour early for the PM session and got in way way earlier than we ever had before. Got to try all of the stuff we wanted to. My personal top 5 were...

- 3 Floyds Chemtrailmix, this was probably the consensus best beer we had all night
- Vlad Neapolitan, never had a vlad before and this blew me away
- Lost Abbey Veritas Kriek, couldn't believe this lasted almost 2 hours, unreal beer
- Bottle Logic, Fundamental Observation
- Imperial Oak Quiet Giant, this was beyond a pleasant surprise

Other good ones were Transient Canuckley, Verboten Grow Old With You, Ryeway to Heaven, Desthil Rye and Normal, both Dovetails were awesome especially the Petit Gueze, Pillar of Beasts, Vanilla Bourbon Chick-ow, both Arclights, Perennial Funky Wit, SN Blackberry Sour, and I'm sure many more I'm forgetting.

The sour offerings were just fire in general this year, not many bad ones at all.

The over-rateds were...

- Both More offerings were fine but nothing special
- Unfortunately, it pains me to say it too, the BCBS variants this year were mostly misses for us. I really liked Reserve, Bramble was very good too but Midnight Orange was just OK, vanilla is just a vanilla bomb (which some people may like but I found overwhelming), coffee barleywine was again, fine but nothing special. We didn't get to try Prop was is unfortunate
- Mikerphone's stout was meh, very hazelnut forward
-The Rusty Nail (silver medalist) wasn't great
- Hopewell's offering was definitely good but we were surprised it finished as runner up best in show

Overall, FOBAB is just one of the best days of the year. I think we tried upwards of 80-90 beers.

 

Way, way, way too much vanilla

 

Vlad Neopolitan was my #1. And as a change of pace, I actually really enjoyed Confluence's saison aged in tequila barrels.

 

Did anyone who went to the evening session yesterday get the story on the old codger who was screaming f bombs at the entrance?

 

I saw that dude on my way back in but he was walking towards the Popeyes. Then he walked into a doorway and just sort of stayed there. I waited to see what his deal was but he never re-emerged. I don’t know if he was drunk from day session or just disturbed. I’m leaning towards the latter. He didn’t strike me as a whale hunter.

 

I'll second this, I had some at a point when I was just walking around trying what looked interesting and had to do kind of a double take when I tasted it. Really good.

I thought the Chemtrailmix was good but kind of a cinnamon/spice bomb, and was wearing out its welcome after a couple sips.

The Midnight Orange was odd. I liked the BC Vanilla.

 

Sixth year at FOBAB for me, and my observations on the setup over the last couple years (always at Saturday afternoon):

- If you're really super into getting a few very sought after beers before they kick, pay for IMBIBE membership to get in early. That said...
- If you don't care and you just want to try a bunch of different stuff, find a local place for lunch. Get there around 12:30, take your time, and walk into the festival around 1:30. No lines. No waiting in the cold. Easy coat check. You can drink for three hours straight and still beat the crowd a half hour before it closes. For me, three hours of "drink as much high ABV beer as you want" is plenty. Your mileage may vary.
- Much of that second point is driven by the lack of tickets the last couple years. No more finding the one guy who doesn't take tickets. No more finding the one guy who pours a couple extra ounces. Just drink as much as you want of whatever you want to try. You can take a sip and dump if it you don't like it. Makes the whole thing a lot less stressful.
- Surly Pancake Party, Transient Canuckley, The Hailstorms, and Cruz Blanca Blueberry Chocolate were some of our favorites.
- Bramble Rye, Vanilla, and Orange were all really good.

 

Had an amazing time with my better half at our first Fobab, but won’t be our last. Albeit overwhelming, we couldn’t have been happier with the way it was hosted and setup. Considering the number of people there, not much that could be done to make it more efficient. As the night goes on and more samples consumed, we cared less and less about being nuts to butts. Variety was second to none but wow, that palate fatigue was alive and well around 9:30ish. Faves/likes/duds:

Faves: Chemtrail, Traxx, Sweet Potato Suflee
Likes: Rusty Nail, Grey Monday, Wildings
Duds: Neo Vlad, Mayan Mocha, Chicago Special

Quite an experience and going into it, was hoping that Chemtrail would be kicked or disgusting; unfortunately, it was flowing and took me away to a special place. Can see why it commands such value. (ISO, just in case you were wondering)

After plenty of Advil, pedialyte and greasy food, we didn’t hate life on Sunday morning and I’m happy to announce that we’re still happily married.

Cheers to Fobab and god bless BA beer.

 

It was my first fobab and I'm happy to say that the fart smell problem was greatly overstated.

 

I believe that was due to the increased security, not so much the metal detectors, but more the fart sniffing dogs.

 

That's what they like to hear! They appreciate the feedback and look forward to another great fest next year at $150 a ticket!