was thinking about going this weekend. finally got a whole weekend away from work. what was on tap last year? anything crazy from goose, three floyds, or upland? bcbs, dark lord, lambics. trying to decide if this will be worth it or more for the occasional beer geeks
I don't recall anything rare last year from the breweries you mentioned. I recall mostly year rounds and summer seasonals with the exceptions being Matilda/Evil Power as opposed to Dark Lord/BCBS. That being said, maybe they had a small rare tapping while I was at another booth. Not to mention, just because there weren't rare tappings last year doesn't necessarily mean there won't be any this year. Regardless, I had a great time exploring many new breweries. I focused on the Indiana ones since I've been to most of the Illinois ones. This event opened my eyes to many great small breweries just a state away (Flat 12, Sun King, Barley Island to name a few). Did any one beer at this even blow my mind? No. Have I bought beers from Indiana brewers available in Illinois because f this event? Yes Long story short, I'd go if you haven't tried several of the attending brewers. Think of it as a cheaper way to try a few beers from new breweries than visiting or buying 6 packs would be.
We went last year and had a nice time. Not much on the crazy or rare side, just solid offerings from breweries on both the Illinois and Indiana sides. Here's a photo gallery/write-up sort of thing.. http://hoosierbeergeek.blogspot.com/2011/05/road-trip-beer-diary-scenes-from.html
I was there last year. Several breweries brought a couple of barrel aged things (Flossmoor, Shoreline, and Crown all stick out), but there wasn't anything crazy well known or hyped. In any case, it was a lot of fun, and there was a lot of good beer there.
won't be going again next year. Not for $34 a ticket. Didn't have anything worth recommending. The afterparty, however, included Pliny (thanks Largadeer), BCBCS, Bramble, Tropic King, Red Eye, Juliet, Cantillon Gueuze, and probably others I'm forgetting. I would do that again. Plus, unlimited 6 irons on a 170 yard par 3 (thanks Luke)(long story). #Parentheses
