Stone 22nd Anniversary Celebration & Invitational

I will be there again. And yeah, I thought the same thing when I saw it. Might spend most of my time in the GA area.

 

First thing that came to mind as well. i don't recognize the so called curator that was appointed though i looked & was meh. Majority of this stuff I either have or already tried. Still think it's a bit bogus that Stone mentioned on their website for the past few weeks that the rare access was sold out out when in fact by going to eventbrite, it's still available. Hype? ironically when they were using BPT, it would officially say SOLD OUT and actually be valid. See you guys there.

 

Damn. I remember the days looking forward to the next Stones Anniversary bombers. Some were bombs. But most were good to great. I’m not missing those days.

 

This years beer listing is a complete joke compared to previous years.

 

If you think the beer list is a joke don’t blame Stone. Tell the brewery that donated that beer that they should have donated something better.

 

First time at this event and I can say it’s pretty poorly planed. “Rare” beer area was packed with lines all over the place. After 1.5 hours I managed to get 2 “rare beers” and a couple of tacos. Almost no trash cans (in the rare area) so stacks of empty plates all over the place, apparently overselling the “rare” beer tickets, etc. etc. etc.

As I walked through I heard many people say they really messed up things by changing everything around this year compare to prior years. Having not been to prior years I can’t comment, but not impressed this year and it seems like a lot of return customers weren’t either.

 

Wow. Rare Beer so sux this year. Over sold ( taco line took over an hour for 1 taco) Never going back. Sign of the times for Stone. Full on $$$$ grab. “Rare” beers are non existent. Waste of $100...weak. Big mistake coming.

 

Garbage festival. Spent the first 45minutes in line just to get checked in. The lack of trash cans, removal of the large tents, single location to obtain water (except society of barley engineers were giving you cups of ice if you asked...so that and their sodas were quite good again this year), no maps, lines went quick if you weren't in a bottle pour line.....zero fucking signs for handicap access going back down from the rare beer section (few signs when you were going up though). The elevator was locked if you attempted to go back down from the very top of the rare beer section. Turns out you had to leave the festival area and ask the security guard to unlock it...fail planning there.

I left early, around 5ish and spent most of my time in GA. Better beer, better organization...all around just more enjoyable. VIP was basically a joke.

 

I agree that VIP was totally lame this year. Forcing the “sold out” tix to the smallest confined area of the festival with the most stairs and a lot less shade was an insult to those of us who shelled out for a better experience. On the plus side, it was awesome having TG there and if you were lucky enough to hang out right when King Sue and Mornin Delight kicked, you were served some BA Assasin and Chain Smoker.

 

I'm still wondering WHY stone flipped the switch this year. it felt as if the GA was the rare section (in some aspects) whereas Rare beer area was the other way around (somewhat) I was Really surprised when i saw what Alesmith had listed as a timed released. & that line. Shit was that ridiculous.

Only pro i saw was Possibly the porta potty upgrades next to the taco station. Not quite bottle logic awesomeness but a minor step up in the right direction.

Best beers thus far i still agree on morning delight & fieldworks parfait. man was that a Great beer. The missus enjoyed it a lot as well especially in that weather. The one thing that may have been overlooked was the ice cream from scoops (iirc) they had a Salted caramel Fundamental observation & man mixed that with the mostra maple choconana, yikes killer combo.

 

I’m surprised no one has mentioned lost abbey having sangria in GA. It was a blend of 3 veritas served over frozen fruit. I must have had 5 pours of it. Morning delight was awesome also. Overall rare area sucked. We ended up leaving during intermission and went to bottle logic.

 

I have a bit of insight regarding the festival this year. This year Stone did not hire out putting on the festival to another company but did everything in house. So that would explain some of the changes made. Also was this the first year Dr. Bill didn't curate the rare beer section? I can't remember but that could explain things as well for the beer list.

I didn't go but it's good to hear that some breweries brought some good beers to the GA sessions.

 

So highlights of a beer festival were a parfait, sangria, and ice cream float...

 

Don't forget the beer jesus trust fall!

 

Welcome to beer in 2018, where beer doesn't taste like beer.

 

I did hear something about a Mornin' Delight extravaganza...that was probably worth a few bucks.