– Armsby Abbey — Worcester, Massachusetts Tickets via eventbrite – Novare Res Bier Café — Portland, Maine Tickets in person at noon – Seymour, the pub — Greenfield, Massachusetts Pending – Trillium Brewing Company — Canton, Massachusetts Pending
Has anyone done Novare Res in the past? wondering what time is reasonable to show up? They seem super laid back about it, but alas I cannot be.
Any feedback from last year at Armsby? Thinking about going but is 1 pour, a glass, and the right to purchase other Cantillion beers worth it for $65?
No. Not worth it. Went to Spuytin Duyvil in Brooklyn (2015) and entrance/pour was $20 or less (don't remember 100%). Our party of four had no problem racking up a $450 tab. You'll need your loot for bottles.
Went last year, I highly recommend it. It was about $18 I think? We got there about a half hour before they opened, and there was a line of maybe 60 people (I don't remember exactly) but to get tickets you don't need to be there early. There was plenty of tickets left for people behind us. However, if you want to get a bar seat/table and get served/get the really good stuff, you need to line up early. But just to get in and have the Zwanze pour you don't have to arrive early. Plus they give you your ticket and you can just leave and come back when they pour Zwanze. We went to the Thirsty Pig and had lunch and some beers before the Zwanze pour. They were having their Oktoberfest, so it worked out well. Eventually we were able to get a few bottles of some Cantillon, but it took awhile. Easy to get tickets and get in, but the place is packed and everyone's looking for the rare stuff. But considering I couldn't even sniff the door at Lord Hobo years ago, this was much more laid back. All in all, solid day, and we made a weekend of it. We even left after the Zwanze pour and were able to get cans at Bissell still. Disclaimer: Beer Meets Wood is going on that same day...so that could definitely impact all of the above. Session 1 obviously not, but I could see people trying to got to Zwanze before Session 2.
@M-Fox23 That's what I was hoping to get info on from people who went last year. Are oysters flowing all day or are you capped at 3 for example. From reading up this may be the first year they are doing it outside with this setup so it could be a "who knows" scenario.
Second year doing this setup; however, I’ve been to Zwanze at Armsby pre-ticket phase, which was horrid in it's final running: 2015. Nonetheless, and although I cannot speak to the event that took place last year, I’ve heard it was extremely well done, and one most certainly gets their $$’s worth out of the meats, cheeses, breads, waffles, oysters… I was at Seymour last year, which was one of the best Zwanze experiences I’ve had, but will need to downplay that to prevent others from clogging up the online registry
Zwanze at Novare Res is always amazing and super laid back. Lining up early is unnecessary and Novare would prefer people explore the Old Port area instead of queuing for a number of hours, but it's inevitable. Also, I've never seen the crowd before noon come close to exceeding the number of pours that are available [140.] Expect a selection of great bottles/pours of geuze/lambic and wild ales from all over. I tend to see two types of people... 1. Those that claim their favorite spot at open and strap in for all Novare has to offer for the duration and 2. Those that grab their ticket and then come back a few hours later. Either way ends up being a great experience and you're never waiting too long for pours, be they Zwanze or whatever else is on. Sad i'm missing it this year due to session one of Beer Meets Wood.
Yeah, and I'll be @ Copenhagen Beer Fest. Too bad so many great beer events ended up on the same weekend.
September's a rough month, that happens often. Both Idle Hands and Nightshift have their Oktoberfests on the same day (although they're close enough I'm going to try to go to both). Last year Idle Hands' Oktoberfest was on Zwanze Day so I missed out. A couple years ago Olde Magoun's had their Oktoberfest celebration the same day as Nightshift (again, I went to both)...and so on and so forth. In hindsight I'm sure many people would have loved to buy Session 2 tickets and hit up Zwanze first in Portland. Personally, I would have a hard time going to a beer fest in Portland. There's SO much to do there in terms of food and beer, I wouldn't want to spend 3 hours of my time in one place...and more importantly, I'd wear out my liver and palate.
