Planning ahead for Octoberfest

Don't go to the Harpoon fest in Boston. Way too crowded. It sucks. Not an Octoberfest but rather a fest in October is Cambridge Brewing Companies Pumpkinfest. They make some great beers for it and then there are awesome guest beers from the likes of Jolly Pumpkin, Elysian, Stone etc

 

I actually really enjoy Harpoon's Octoberfest. Yes, it's crowded, but you have great beer, oompa lumpa bands, traditional food and good looking girls.

 

I second this. Love the brewery, the beer, the brew tour, etc. But jeesh, cut off the number of people you let in. It takes a decade to get a beer, is filled with frat boys, and is in general uncomfortable. Not to mention so much beer gets spilled on the ground in the lines that you are literally wading through beer to get to the taps. Maybe I am just being a baby but I have not enjoyed myself either of the years I went to it.

 

Haven't been myself but my German friends say the real thing isn't a whole lot different.

 

Harpoon is basically fine if you're a 20-something and/or don't mind a crowded frat party type of atmosphere. If you can have fun in that type of environment, then you can have a good time. I've enjoyed it in the past, but haven't bothered with it in years.

 

I'm not some grumpy old man who can't deal with a bit of a crowd. I'm still in the demographic for Harpoonfest but it just sucks. It is impossible to have fun because there are so many people that you spend every moment either in a line or holding onto your beer for dear life while a constant stream of people push behind you to get somewhere while spilling their beer on you. Its like trying to enjoy a beer in a mosh pit except the music is lame. And you paid $20 for the privilege.

Drinking beer outside on a saturday afternoon is the best thing in the world. But Harpoon somehow made the best thing in the world totally suck.

 

I went to 2 of the Boston festivals last year and never had a problem, and didn't wait in line for beer longer than 2-3 minutes. for the most part, i found everyone to be pleasant and rather courteous. my girlfriend's dad was visiting from OH, and he had a blast at last year's Harpoon Octoberfest. people love to blow harpoonfest crowds out of proportion. mosh pit? really bro?

 

Go to this http://www.somervillechamber.org/oktoberfest/

Not sure what the 2012 dates are yet.

 

Agree, your experience is much more like what I saw at the one I went to a couple years ago (2009 I think). Yea, there was certainly a young college-type crowd enjoying the booze but I've seen that at BeerAdvocate fests as well. Any time you get large crowds and booze together, shit is bound to happen.

 

Mount Snow, West Dover, VT has an excellent Octoberfest every year.

 

You are right about the beer lines not being long. But the bathroom lines were nuts. I waited 20 minutes.

People weren't jerks there in my experience, it was the situation that made it suck, not the people attending. Everyone I was with had beer spilled on them multiple times because everyone was so packed in that people had to push others around to get somewhere. Having someone push you in the back when you are trying to sip a beer isn't fun. Really bro.

All Harpoon would have to do is limit the crowds just a bit and it would be a good event.

 

Has anyone been to the Sam Adams Oktoberfest at the Castle?

I've found the Harpoon festivals are fun when going with a group of people. They've expanded their outside space pretty significantly in the past year so there is plenty of room to post up. You can also sign up for a tour which is cool. Things that suck:
- bathroom lines later in the day (go figure)
- the $15 or $20 to get in, which doesn't get you any beer ($5 pours once inside)