Northern Lights Rare Beer Fest-2019

First year I am debating on skipping. Last year felt like a letdown and it was so crowded. I think more back to just 750 tickets this year which I believe would be a decrease from last year's 1000. That would certainly help. Beers announced so far have been hit or miss for me, looks as though they are still allowing some breweries to bring seasonal or year round offerings, which are hardly rare. I plan to wait until all beer is announced before deciding.

 

Taking this year off after being at the last 3. '16 was a great fest with no lines or crowds. Very laid back atmosphere with some great beers. Last year was the complete opposite of that. It was shoulder to shoulder everywhere you went and a lot of places were out of beer in less than an hour. If we hear good things about this year maybe we'll consider returning in 2020.

Side note the Winter Dabbler had a crazy amount of barrel aged beers this year so that fest is a much better value if you can handle the snow and cold.

 

First year that I have skipped also due how terrible last year was, was hoping to hear it had improved but I also like that after saying they would never sell VIP tickets since the whole event is meant to be VIP they sold "special tickets" this year that allowed early entry.

 

There were way less people this year or at least it felt that way. They stepped up their beer game. Lots of really good barrel aged stouts and barrel fermented sours. I was able to try everything I wanted. The big boys like maple nillerzzzzz and ba ice cream social went early but that is to be expected when people keep lining up for more. The food was a letdown for me. Pretty much the same as last year. Things like cheese curds and polenta fries were served in baggies so they ended up being super soggy. I mean I go for the beer so that didn’t ruin it for me. A well run event, got a couple pours of maple nillerzzzzz, term oil and others after coming back a while later.