Winter Beer Carnival

2/20/2011

3/5 stars

I was told by a few people that this year's was far better than last year's, so there's hope of progress. This was a vendor fair with a few amusing asides. Given the free ticket (yup, another one), I was able to taste quite a few brews I've hesitated buying. I'll likely buy one of them (Midas) now and know better than to buy the others.

There were four beers I didn't recognize from the shelves at Hop City out of all those available. sigh. I wish they had coordinated with the brew-your-cask-off competition or had homebrewers sampling. There may be nasty legal entanglements with that, though.

I somehow didn't notice the beer running short, yet I stayed until 7. I did notice the *water* running out very early. Makes rinsing out the tasting glass rather difficult. The cheese in the VIP area was a very welcome palate cleanser while it lasted.

With the confusion about what brews where where, and with running out of water, I'm not sure I'll be buying tickets next year. A trip to Hop City is more economical, predictable, and still pretty fun. But they want to continue growing and improving, so we'll see. I did have a blast at the carnival, though, even after us married fuddy-duddies stayed back and let the singles go mingle.

Yelp tags: Festivals