FOBAB (2019)

get this out of the way now, though i'm sure it'll need to be repeated several times before the event:

The beer list isn't going to be available until the Friday evening session starts. FoBAB is a competition for the attending breweries, and no announcement is made for the beers each one is bringing due to the risk of tainting the judges. It's supposed to be blind judging.

Some breweries may announce it on their own, and there's nothing saying they can't do that, but don't expect it.

 

Emails for fobab volunteers just went out.

 

Any good benefits to having VIP passes to this or is it still a shitshow?

 

If you want even a shot at the whalesiest whales VIP is likely a necessity but there are so many very good options I don’t find VIP worth it. Either way, yes, FOBAB is a shitshow.

 

I've never found this to be true for the Saturday evening session. I get it's probably different for the sessions where they let people in early though.

 

Its the only way to go, hit everything you want with no line in the first hour, then meander around hitting what you may have missed the rest of the time. I will never go regular again.

 

I feel like you may need to qualify with this event. Are you talking about the crowds or just the lingering aroma in the fest?

 

Highly recommend the VIP but pretty sure you need to have an active membership in Illinois Craft Brewers Guild by late summer in order to get a VIP ticket? Maybe there’s another VIP category available?

 

Beer list is up on the website!

 

Correction: Brewery list.

Beers don't become public knowledge until Session #1 starts

 

Sorry, yes meant brewery, stupid phone auto correct

 

For the lazy

10 Barrel Brewing
18th Street Brewery
2 Towns Ciderhouse
25 West Brewing
2Toms Brewing Co.
3 Floyds Brewing Co.
4 Hands Brewing Company
5 Rabbit Cerveceria
Afterthought Brewing Company
All Rise Brewing Co.
Alpha Brewing Co.
Alter Brewing Company
Angry Orchard
Arclight Brewing Company
Area Two Experimental Brewing
Argus Brewery
Around the Bend
Arrowhead Ales Brewing
August Schell Brewing Company
Avery Brewing Company
Beachwood Brewing & Blendery
Begyle Brewing
Bhramari Brewing Company
Black Horizon Brewing Company
Blackberry Farm Brewery
Blue Island Beer Co.
Bold Dog Beer Company
Bottle Logic Brewing
Branch & Bone Artisan Ales
Braxton Brewing Company
Braxton Labs
BrewDog Brewing Co.
Brickway Brewery and Distillery
Brooklyn Brewery
BuckleDown Brewing
Buffalo Creek Brewing
Burnt City Brewing
Call to Arms Brewing Company
Central Waters Brewing Company
Cerebral Brewing
Church Street Brewing Company
Collective Arts Brewing
Columbus Brewing Co.
Confluence Brewing Company
Coppertail Brewing Company
Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project
Cruz Blanca Brewery
Crystal Lake Brewing
DeHop's Brewing Co.
Derive Brewing Company
Deschutes Brewery
DESTIHL Brewery
DESTIHL Restaurant & Brew Works (Normal)
DESTIHL Restaurant & Brew Works (Champaign)
Dovetail Brewery
DryHop Brewers
Elder Pine Brewing and Blending
Ellison Brewing Co.
Elmhurst Brewing Company
Empirical Brewery
Epic Brewing
ERIS Brewery and Ciderhouse
Exit Strategy Brewing Company
Farmhaus Cider Co.
Fifty West Brewing Co.
FiftyFifty Brewing
Flossmoor Station Brewing Co.
Forager Brewery
Forbidden Root
Forest City Brewery
Four Fathers Brewing
Four Peaks Brewing Company
Free Will Brewing Co.
Fremont Brewing
Fretboard Brewing Co.
Funk Factory Geuzeria
Garagiste Meadery
Goose Island Beer Co.
Great Lakes Brewing Company
Greenstar Brewing
Griffin Claw Brewing Company
Hacienda Beer Co.
Hailstorm Brewing Co.
Hairless Hare Brewery/ Dayton Beer Company
Half Acre Beer Company - Balmoral
Half Acre Beer Company - Lincoln
Half Day Brewing
Haymaker Meadery
Haymarket Brewery & Taproom
Haymarket Pub & Brewery
Hidden Springs Ale Work
Hop Butcher For The World
Hopewell Brewing
Hopvine Brewing Company
Horse Thief Hollow Brewing
Illuminated Brew Works
Imperial Oak Brewing
Indeed Brewing Company and Taproom
Iowa Brewing Company
Jefferson County Ciderworks
JT Walker's Restaurant & Brewery
Karetas Brewing
Keg Grove Brewing Company
Kinslahger Brewing Company
Kros Strain Brewing
Lagunitas Brewing Company
Lake Effect Brewing Company
Lakefront Brewery
Lil Beaver Brewery
Listermann Brewing Company
Lo Rez Brewing
Lost Forty Brewing
Lunar Brewing Company
Lupulin Brewing
MadTree Brewing Company
Maplewood Brewery & Distillery
Mark Twain Brewing Company
Marz Community Brewing
Metal Monkey Brewing
Metropolitan Brewing
Middle Brow
Mikerphone Brewing
Mikkeller Brewing San Diego
Misbeehavin' Meads
Miskatonic Brewing Company
MKE Brewing Co.
MobCraft Beer
Monday Night Brewing
Moody Tongue Brewing Company
MORE Brewing Company
MyGrain Brewing Company
New Belgium Brewing
New Holland Brewing Co.
New Image Brewing
Noon Whistle Brewing
O.H.S.O. Brewery - Gilbert
Oak Park Brewing Company
Odd Side Ales
Off Color Brewing
Off Color Brewing - Mousetrap
Okcidenta
Old Irving Brewing Co.
On Tour Brewing Co.
Only Child Brewing
Open Outcry Brewing
Orpheus Brewing
Oswego Brewing Company
Penrose Brewing Company
Perrin Brewing Company
Phase Three Brewing
Pig Minds Brewing
Pipeworks Brewing Co.
Pollyanna Brewing Company
Prairie Street Brewing Co.
Pretentious Barrel House
Pure Project
Ravinia Brewing Company
Revolution Brewing
Revolution Brewing - Brewpub
Rhinegeist Brewery
Rock Bottom Brewery - Bolingbrook
Rock Bottom Brewery - Chicago
Rock Bottom Brewery - Orland Park
Rock Bottom Brewery - Portland
Rock Bottom Indianapolis
Rockwell Beer Co.
Rogue Ales & Spirits
Rowley Farmhouse Ales
Samuel Adams
Saucy Brew Works
Scallywag Brewing Co.
Shoreline Brewery
Short Fuse Brewing Company
Short's Brewing Company
Side Lot Brewery
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (Chico)
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (Mills River)
Skeleton Key Brewery
Sketchbook Brewing Co.
Smylie Brothers Brewing Co.
Solemn Oath Brewery
Soundgrowler Brewing Co.
Spiteful Brewing
Starcut Ciders
Sun King Brewing Company
Sun King Small Batch Brewery
Superstition Meadery
Surly Brewing Co.
Taft's Brewing Co.
Tangled Roots Brewing Company
Taxman Brewing Company
Temperance Beer Company
The Bruery
The Butcher & The Brewer
The Collective Brewing Project
The Dayton Beer Company
The Explorium Brewpub
The Lost Abbey
The Lucky Monk
The Rare Barrel
Tighthead Brewing Company
Transient Artisan Ales
Tribes Beer Company
Twisted Hippo
Two Brothers Brewing Company
Two Doors Down Brewing
Two Roads Brewing Co.
Unpossible Mead
Untitled Art
Upland Brewing Co.
Upstream Brewing Company
Urban South Brewery
Verboten Brewing and Barrel Project
Virtue Cider
Warped Wing Brewing Co.
Watermark Brewing
WeldWerks Brewing Co.
Werk Force
West Sixth Brewing
Whiner Beer Co.
White Oak Brewing
Wild Mind Artisan Ales
Wild Onion Brewery
Will County Brewing Company
Wolfden Brewing Company
Wolf's Ridge Brewing
Woodfour Brewing Co.
Zaftig Brewing Co.
Zaftig BrewPub Italian Village

 

Please let Forager and Hidden Springs have a little corner all by themselves in the sour room. I want no part of that mess.

 

8,000 breweries in the US and not a single good one can show up at Fobab?

 

Is this going to be in a bigger venue? That's a lot of breweries.

 

Wow that's a lot of lack-luster breweries. Hard pass for paying for this one.

 

I thought the same but it's still at UIC

 

Having VIP passes means you don't have a shitshow for the first hour. Otherwise it's the usual shitshow.

 

The best 60 minutes of my beer year.

 

Is there a significant difference between how long things last on Friday night non VIP and Saturday night non VIP? We’ve always gone Saturday PM, but I think this year we have to go Friday PM. I’m worried about things kicking before we are even allowed in.