FW Invitational 2014

Exact same thing for me - went to get the BA Cellarman first thing, yada yada, got in line about 3:15, got to the front 10 or so minutes later and no BA Cellarman. Can anyone confirm they actually had it? Maybe it's just me, but if the 'rare' beer you have officially announced lasts less than 30 minutes I think you are doing something wrong.

I too became frustrated with these timed releases just in general - I mean why do something that just unnecessarily creates more time waiting in line?

 

yeah, that taps line was the first to blow up when the gates dropped and clogged up that walkway. Even worse is that most in line were going for dat Remy Pappy that wasn't tapping till 2. I mean, there was always Remy Oh La La to comfort you, but I'm sure that line wouldn't have been as long if people knew what time the beer they actually wanted was going to be offered.

Even orchestrating it well enough in advance of the event so you assign breweries times to put on their rare shit and putting that in the booklet would do wonders in eliminating the confusion and cut down on needless lines.

 

I'm pretty sure I've seen others confirm that BA Cellarman was tapped at some point. But yes, it seems it should have lasted more than 20 or so minutes.

The only other annoyance for me was the opening of the 3L/9L bottles by Russian River etc. It causes chaos around the tent as beer bros come running and trample people. I was waiting in line at the Barrelworks tent when they started to open the 3L Feral One bottles. That was a mess as bros were smashing into the back of us shoving their glasses past us to get a pour. Unnecessary to say the least. This behavior has gone one at every FWIBF since year one.

 

Anyone else notice that Avery Rufus Corvus and Funkwerks Peachy King were gone within 15 minutes of tapping, while there was still a huge line in both cases...they were pouring bottles...but what did they bring one or two cases for 2,200 people and give out 3 oz pours? Doesn't seem like they planned well enough for that. Firestone should require a minimum of a 5 gallon keg or at least 5 cases.

 

Firestone was definitely the victim of their own success. The first two years went so well that even though this festival was great by most standards, it felt disappointing if you had gone the previous two years.

Count me in the group that never got BA Cellarman despite repeatedly going up to ask about it.

 

First time at the Firestone Invitational. My wife had a great weekend! Drove down from the SF Bay Area on Saturday, checked in and parked at Motel 6, and walked over at about 11:15 am. Initially, I was a little worried with the log line wrapping around the south end, but once it opened up, the line moved fast. Once we got in and got our glass, we went to the AT&T Pavilion and tried the collaboration beer. While not my favorite barleywine, I really enjoyed it and was a nice start for the day.

My strategy was to hit the 1-15 booths near the front and grab food along the way. Worked great. Got food in the stomach which helps not to get too drunk early. Other than Cigar City Hunaphu, I was able try all the beers that I wanted and some not even planned (Zombie Dust!). (~30-35)

I would categorize them as follows:

Surprises
Revolution Straight Jacket
Bolt Cutter
Dogfishhead Black and Blue

Favorites
Vietnamese Speed Stouts - Ok. This is one my favorite stouts, but this may be my favorite of all.
Bruery Rue De Floyd - Complex flavors. Tied for second.
Bell's BBA Cherry Stout - This is a dangerous beer. Just the right balance of cherry. Please more. Tied for second.
Grey Monday - I wasn't a fan of Bruery before the event. I am now.

Met Expectations
Founders KBS
Surly Darkness
Sierra Nevada Trip in the Woods
Beachwood Denver Jackhammer

Disappointments (Note: None of these were bad. Just not outstanding)
Alpine Keene Idea
Kern Citra
Fifty Fifty Coffee Vanilla Stout
Mikkeller Orange Yuzu Glad I Said Porter - Kind of light weight.

Fortunately, it wasn't too hot, lines moved, and it was great talking with people. A little disappointed at the size of the crowd and the beer ran out a little earlier than expected. Next year - We will be back!

 

2 cases is equivalent to 4.5 gallons, requiring a 5 gallon keg wouldn't really be making progress. I'd love for some of the rare beers to be easier to get, but significant requirements would probably cause breweries to leave certain beers off their list. A potential compromise would be minimum 15 gallons of the beers you list in the program, then anything extra you can do as you see fit. At the very least, that would help manage expectations.

 

Except that the Avery beer is only 12oz bottles...

 

They must have brought only a few bottles then, maybe a case at max...because if you bring a 5 gallon keg, that would allow you to give ~210 people a 3 oz pour.

 

Do it! Culmination is incredible and totally worth the trip. The longest line I waited in this year was 3 people long and the lineup was unbeatable.

 

Maybe they staggered it because I walked up fairly late in the festival and got a pour of Rufus with almost zero line. Got right back in line for a pour of Lilikoi and the whole process took maybe 4 minutes

 

Can confirm on the BA Cellarman but yeah there were a lot of people just jumping ahead in line or to the front and getting pours. I foresee tickets being handed out for special pours.

Alesmith is another example. They brought three bottles of BA Old Numbskull as their 3pm pour

 

It was my first year but the only thing I was disappointed in was the FWIBF collaboration beer

 

12oz * 24 bottles * 2 cases = 576oz
576/128 = 4.5 gallons

Only Avery knows how much they brought, but two cases isn't outside the realm of possibility since a number of breweries were giving special pours to fellow brewers/VIPs/friends/etc. Maybe it was only one case, but my point was that a 5 gallon keg wouldn't be doing much to correct the problem since it's not nearly as much beer as it sounds like for a fest with 2000 - 3000 people.

 

Regarding the special pours for fellow brewers/VIPs/friends I was seeing a lot of this near the Triple Rock, Russian River segment of the event. They were in a unique area where breweries were backed up to one another so there was a little pathway between that regular attendees couldn't get to. Around 2:30-4pm this area was pretty packed and the lines got bigger because the brewers were pouring a LOT of pours for those people behind the table. I get that this is almost more of a brewing conference for the breweries as they have no real financial stake in doing it but it was getting to be excessive with the lines building up for people who paid the ticket price to attend.

 

This x1000 please!

I hated the timed pours and almost got trampled at 2:20 for 9L Temptation (there by coincidence; and I am a large man).

I say hand out maybe 1-3 *rare* tickets and have a set of 10-15 the high end/low volume beers designated as ticketed pours. Shoot for the ones you want first, if gone move along and try something else.

 

We were standing in line at Fifty Fifty around 2:00pm and the line wasn't moving. I finally asked the person in front of us and he said everyone was waiting for a special pour of Remy Pappy. I wasn't familiar with Pappy, but we waited and it was worth the wait, but still very confusing...

On a side note, I can't remember, but my wife had KBS at Founders and I had a BBA of something. Am I remembering correctly?

 

Might have been Bolt Cutter

 

Yep. That was it. Thanks!

 

I have the opposite sentiment than most, did not find the lines to be bad, crowds seemed fine and no different than last year. That being said Alesmith bringing 3 bottles of the brandy seemed silly - since it was an extra I can understand that didn't feel obligated to bring a lot, but than don't even advertise it, just randomly put it out. Also cigar city went quick , Huna I expected to run out but the Tangerine. Surprised me. That being said, I really did get to try almost everything I wanted. Overall I thought was a great event and well run.