Sunday, May 10, 2009

craft beer fest los angeles 2009


yesterday i mentioned that i'd be heading to the los angeles craft beer festival - and guess what - i went and it turned out to be quite an event. i missed buying tickets during the online presale, and thus was forced to wait in an incredibly long line (for over 3 hours) just to gain entry.

once i got it, i recieved my complimentary festival glass and got to work, tasting beer from a wide variety of california brewers. unfortunately quite a bit of the free advertized food was already gone by the time i got in, but i got to sample most of the beer that i had been excited to try. it was an interesting event, and i ended up running in to quite a few people i had met during this event.


in hindsight, it would have been much better if i had purchased tickets in advance. it was the first time the organizers had ever done something like this and there were certainly a few hiccups in the way that it was run (huge lines outside and inside, and they ran out of most food rather quickly), however with the overwhelming response i'm sure it will become an annual event.

update: a good review of the festival was posted in the la times.

update 2: a fantastic rundown of different perspectives over at beergeek.la

5 comments:

Cafe Observer said...

3+ hours WAITING in line?!

In hindsight, bw, it wooda ben much wiser to skip your studies so you coulda bought your beer tix in advance!

I pray this will be a wise lesson you will learn.

Anonymous said...

bottoms up!

WV
barphy

thats kind of funny

Anonymous said...

This event was disaster, nobody took control and the owner of echoplex took off in his Prius when he relaized how bad it was. You left hundreds of people stranded and disapointed.

ben wideman said...

nokidz4me - bad experience, eh? That's too bad. I was also disappointed by much of this festival was set up and run, but I think for a first time event it was an enjoyable time.

Jean Spitzer said...

I love the top photo especially; the indoor shot of the crowd is intriguing. You truly are a persistent person. I would have taken one look at the line, maybe even admired it for a while, and then left to get my beer elsewhere.