I've never been to one of these beer festival thingies. I wonder if I would actually like it?
Throughout the evening, which ended at 10 p.m., the atmosphere became increasingly raucous. Every time somebody dropped something, a shout went up and spread throughout the arena until the whole place was filled with cries. A group of people in lederhosen walked by arm in arm. There was an unusual number of T-shirts asserting Irish nationality and more T-shirts encouraging drunkenness. By 8 p.m., all of the more sober things like cooking demonstrations and tasting classes were over and people were losing all reserve. Some of the breweries ran out of beer and closed up shop.The weird thing about the Great American Beer Festival is that they appear to have been limited to one ounce servings despite paying 55 bucks US to get in. How much better the British beer festival format like the Scottish Traditional Beer Festival 2005 held last June where you play 3 pounds and get pints.
There is a line in a Hemingway short story where a nice European lady running a nice restaurant in the American west asks why the men drink like pigs. Paying 55 bucks for one ounce glasses seems to be one reason.
Comments
Todd - October 7, 2005 10:11 AM
The reason for the one-ounce samples is probably due to Colorado state law. For example, here in New York, for a beer festival the state liquor authority limits samples to 2 or 3 ounces (don't remember which).
For the GABF, with 463 breweries pouring 2,350 different beers, giving people pint samples would probably not be a good idea.
Alan - October 7, 2005 11:21 AM
I don't know. I don't have any hope of getting 2,350 tastes in my mouth and after maybe five or fifteen I really have no hope of knowing what is what. I would think that at least a half pint would be civilized. Plus you have to plan. If I were going to something like this, I would be going all Belgian or even all witte. Anything else is a cacaphony.
Johnny - October 8, 2005 12:33 PM
The GABF is BS for this very reason. How can you "taste" a beer with just one ounce? That's probably why everyone at GABF clamors for the really strong stuff like Dogfish 100+ IBU or some sour lambics, while some nice, well thought-out beers go relatively unnoticed. 55 bucks goes a long way in a great tavern. Why not enjoy yourself and have a decent glass of beer?
The contest is BS as well, with the big money sponsors (A/B, Coors, Sam Adams) winning gold medals. Hmmm.
If you've never been, skip it and hit a really good fest, like Oregon Brewers Fest (an invitational, so everything is good) or Madison, WI Beer Fest (college-town with German influences). Both are twice as good as Denver.
BTW, you can have more than one ounce in Colorado, that's just the way they run the Festival. Every brewery we visited poured a 3-4 ouncer, which I think is the minimum for getting a good idea of what beer is all about.
Alan - October 8, 2005 1:17 PM
See - that is sort of what I think. You have to have a good few cheek bustingly good sloshes around the mug to know what is what. And what about 55 bucks? My experience of a night of bevvies stateside makes me thing that is pretty stiff - if the point of a beer festival is to attract new fans to your brew.