Uncouth Craft Fest Behavior ~ Stories?

I was at those events in GSO and I know all about the venue, the mostly OK behavior, the wildness of the young non-oriented youth(?), and the taking good beer for granted mentality. One July I was "pushing" Weyerbacher, and everyone wanted Blithering Idiot. Well, one doesn't get what one asks for, but damned if I knew just how screwed up people are willing, or unknowingly willing to get in public. I learned quickly to not serve the drunk ones, but just once. Strong beer with a Mich Ultra attitude just doesn't work.

 

I poured at a festival once and some chick dropped her glass on the concrete and broke it, so she grabbed a glass out of someone else's hand next to her and dropped that one too and ran away.

 

There was a sour fest in Indy last year. I was in a bar over looking the festival, and I watched this guy sit down on a bench and slowly pass out. It took him 15 min to finally give in and pass out. It was like watching a tree slowly fall. Plus it was raining outside and he dropped his umbrella. His friends did find him and get him home though.

 

I had the same experience on a Saturday at GABF. Things have certainly changed with craft beer becoming so popular. I used to go and not have any issues like this. Now I avoid Saturday sessions altogether.

 

Saw a lot of sloppy, amateurish stuff after my EBF session let out last year. As in people falling down in the street, obnoxiously carrying on and yelling outside the venue, getting sick in the street, etc. To all the people coming into town for this next week: Don't be that guy/gal!!!

Grand scheme of things though, it was more obnoxious than outright terrible behavior I guess.

 

I've been to the Providence, RI beer-fest a couple times. It is mostly just a lot of drunk people. Didn't see anything crazy. I believe there is a lot of security so there is less of a chance for fights.

 

It gives craft beer a bad name. Who wants to have a beer fest when they see results like that?

 

Just a general annoyance at most food and drink festivals is when there's a lack of order to the line queueing and people are just mobbing the counters with no regard to who might've been standing there first. I mean I understand it being a little crazy and disorderly sometimes but pull your head out of your ass and look around you.

 

About 30 minutes at a beer festival is enough to try some good new beers, see some friends, then leave mostly sober. I used to have to go to festivals to promote brands, but truly learned to despise the process. Being around thousands of variously drunk people is no fun. I had to basically donate beer to folks making money because THEY said was it was a smart "promotional" move. It was never a smart promotional move because most people really didn't care what they were drinking. Someone is making money, getting free product and labor. It is mostly a scam. I'm sure that some events are OK. Other than that, beer festivals are a blast!

 

5 years at ACBF with nothing to report 'cept good times!

 

I recently worked a festival for a local brewery and i realized that being sober makes it a very different experience. When you're the drunk one, you hardly notice other people but when you're sober you get to see collage of differing states of drunkenness. No great stories to report besides your general loud drunkenness, most people are there to have a good time and are reasonably well behaved.