HOMES Brewing (2020)

Very good! Oddly heavily Korean inspired (I'm guessing there is a logical story behind it). Bao buns are addicting.

 

Seconded, one of the best breweries for food in the country.

 

Nucleate festival is May 30th. Tickets go on sale Leap Day.

http://www.homesbrewery.com/nucleate

It was a really good time last year, despite the rainstorm that swept through fairly quickly.

 

Wow, that is a great collection of breweries... I might have to consider making the drive up to Ann Arbor for that one.

And yes, the food at Homes is really, really good.

 

Just visited Ann Arbor for the weekend and had food at Homes for the first time. Was incredible. Beers great as always. Some of the hoppy stuff can taste the same but those fruited IPAs and goses are excellent. Also very family friendly and great staff all around. I also highly recommend Wolverine State Brewing Co just down the road for awesome lagers.

 

Wolverine is a must when I’m in town. It’s the only place in the Midwest I’ve been to that always has at least one (and usually multiple) IPLs on draft.

 

I wish there was a Nucleate VIP time session ticket without the inflated bottle cost.

Takes me out of it because I hate getting burned at general admission times when all the "whoa" beers blow during the first VIP hour.

How about a middle ticket where its VIP hours without the bottle/teku.

 

Same. Zero interest in the teku or the extra vintage bottle from last year.

 

A $150 increase just for an hour early entry, the 2019 bottle and the teku??? Yikes.

I'd really like to get to this festival, but just not sure it's doable considering Dark Lord Day is two weeks before, and Mikerphone Smells Like A Beer Fest is 2 weeks before that...and those are both local to me (and a lot of the same breweries will probably pop up at the others anyway).

 

About damn time there was some HOMES discussion on the board!

Disappointing to see the VIP hour added this time - a completely insane price to pay, but it will be too bad if the most sought after beers are gone before GA gets a crack. That said... I had a total blast from start to finish at Nucleate last year, and enjoyed just about every beer I had. I was able to try basically everything I wanted to, and much more. Tickets became meaningless as the day wore on as breweries were basically handing their stuff away, and I was able to sample something from every brewery there. A fun way to get to try some of these special beers from around the country.

 

It is a damn shame they are separating out the crowd into VIP and not...there wasn't really that much super rare beer on draft last year, and if you got in line for it on time, you were going to get it. I can't imagine there being significantly more people to even need separate VIP...I suppose they're just looking to cash in on those willing to pay . Those that pay will likely bring a limited keg to its last legs, instead of those at the fest that know to get in line for it. Seems like a pretty significant compromise for what was a fairly intimate, good natured and egalitarian fest last time.

 

Bummed about the VIP time as well as last year's fest was an absolute blast. That said, I wonder how many people will actually grab those VIP tickets at the cost they are at. Add that to the fact that there is less people in attendance than say a typical guild fest I think some of those "WOW" beers will last past that hour. I will still be attending and hoping that just like last year I enjoy this festival significantly more than I did the Summer Guild Fest.

 

For those that went last year, how big are pours? Your typical 3-4 oz per ticket or did the amount of tickets per pour depend on things like ABV?

I want to attend either this or Smells Like a Beer Fest but I want to make as informed of a decision as I can since I'll have some good travel either way I go about it

 

I never gave anyone a ticket. Tickets don't matter.

Pours depend on how happy the pourer is, and how much of the beer they have (if they're pouring out of a few crowlers or a limited magnum they might be a little stingier, otherwise you'll get a "full pour"). Most of the time I had more beer in my glass than I needed. Still, it's a taster glass.

Is pour size your primary deciding factor?

 

Thanks for the info.

Pour size isn't perse a primary factor but I am a stupid analytical person who is bouncing between the regular or VIP. I am trying to figure out the value for the beer I may be getting at $250. If it is 4oz that breaks down to $50 a pint at 20 tickets. Obviously that isn't the only cost but the teku and the Nucleate bottle itself wouldn't be what I was going for, I'd be there to try breweries from all around.

 

You'll get as many 4oz pours as your heart desires. By the end of the day there's still plenty of beer and they're just trying to get rid of it. I left with many of my 20 tickets still in hand having tasted 52 different beers. I was also able to get just about every beer I wanted to try, including the timed release beers.

 

Nucleate is great. VIP is nonsensical and I hope nobody buys it. Just be there at open and enjoy the amazing bottle pours (and a few on draft). I feel like I should just keep it to myself but this is an amazing beer fest. Go to Mikerphone for sure.

 

BA stout release this weekend - have they done a stout before? I’m guessing they have and I just haven’t seen it. Not a cheap one at $36 for the bomber.

 

The only one they did so far was Birkin Bag #1. Sold out really quickly but it was 1pp so they must have quite a bit more to be doing 3pp on this release.