GABF: A Newbie’s Perspective

Hoplight Social has been attending The Great American Beer Festival for the past 3 years. However, this year was our 2018 Interns first GABF! GABF gave our interns the opportunity to taste 4,000+ beers from 800 breweries all over the nation as well as the chance to connect with some awesome people! We thought it would be cool to share our newbie’s perspective on their first time attending the greatest beer festival in the US.

Our Biggest Surprise 

Averee: 

How much goes on outside of the festival. I knew there would be after parties and the like, but being able to attend awesome events like the Sam Adams Media Brunch and to have the opportunity to meet Jim Koch was really neat. GABF is an awesome way for breweries and fans that might not attend the festival to rub elbows with everyone from media to the owners of their favorite spots. My biggest surprise? That somehow I was always able to find the rest of the team. Way to communicate, pals.

John: 

What surprised me the most was how smoothly the entire festival is run. I was aware of the large numbers in attendance before I got there. I figured that it would be a bit like Comic-Con, with people shoulder-to-shoulder all night while waiting in long lines. Sure, the big popular breweries had long lines (WeldWerks, Bell’s, and Russian River for example). I never felt cramped or claustrophobic or like I was spending all my time standing in lines. You jump in a long line, your partner holds your place while you try out the breweries right next to you, then you hop back in line and let your line-buddy go try some beers. I didn’t see anyone getting absolutely hammered, and everyone I talked to was super nice.

Aryelle: 

Something I really enjoyed seeing was the work that was put into some of the booths. I was surprised to see that breweries put time and effort into designing their booths to stand out among the others. Some of the ones that caught my eye were Two Roads Brewing Company, Short’s Brewing Company, Deep Ellum Brewing Co., Beachwood Brewing, and of course Melvin Brewing’s party bus.

Beers We Stumbled Upon

Averee: 

Honestly, I found so many delicious beers it is going to be hard to try and narrow them down! Good thing I have the My GABF app or I would be doomed.

• Ossifier Red Rye IPA (Jameson Caskmates Barrel-Aged Series) by Bale Breaker Brewing Company
• Funk Yeah by Beachwood Blendery (Gold: Belgian-Style Lambic or Sour Ale)
• Spirit Animal – Sour Pale Ale by Blue Owl Brewing
• Spearmint of Destiny by Braindead Brewing
• Old Towne Funk: VOL. 2 (wine barrel aged) by Chapman Crafted Beer
• Winner, Winner, Hoppy Dinner by Fort George Brewery
• Saint Dekkera Reserve Sour: Fructueux by Destihl Brewing
• Two Tortugas by Karl Strauss Brewing Company
• Passionfruit Gose by Perrin Brewing Company
• Watermelon Gose by Three Notch’d Brewing Company

John: 

I went in with high expectations and was still blown away. The sheer number of quality beers and from breweries I had never heard of blew my mind. It really was a beer drinker’s paradise, with delicious beers only a few steps away from wherever you were.

• Spruce Tip Sculpin by Ballast Point Brewing Company
• Horchata Blonde by Cerveceria Colorado
• Golden God (Jameson Caskmates) by Green Flash Brewing Co
• BA Cannoli Stout (Jameson Caskmates)  by Harpoon Brewery
• Perrin Black by Perrin Brewing Company
• Epic Blackout Stout  by Brickway Brewery and Distillery
• Babeebock (Bronze: Munich-Style Dunkel) by Brew Kettel 
• Coffee Kolsch  by Fate Brewing Company
• Cucumber Squeeze IPA by Magnolia Brewing Company
• Sanitas Black IPA by Sanitas Brewing Company
• Little London Mild by Pikes Peak Brewing

Aryelle: 

GABF has a beer for literally everyone and anyone! My approach was to keep an open mind and try whatever sounded interesting to me. I tried some of my Atlanta favorites, but also made sure to try some breweries that were favorites of the San Diego and Denver branches of our team.

• The Fruitening Pt. 2 by Modern Times Beer
• Thai Peanut by Right Brain Brewery
• Shake City by 350 Brewing Co
• Fight Milk White Stout by 10 Torr Distilling and Brewing
• Dis de Los Mangos by Beachwood Blendery
• Blackberry IPA by Perrin Brewing Company
• Blackberry Cobbler Berliner by Weldwerks Brewing Co.
• Neapolitan by Florida Avenue Brewing Co. 
• Tiffany’s Melons by Right Around the Corner Arcade Brewery
•  PB&K by Four Sons Brewing 

Favorite Moments

Averee: 

Experiencing Charlie Papazian, founder of GABF, and John Hickenlooper, Governor of Colorado, open the final session together. Governor Hickenlooper has participated in GABF since 2011, but this was his last year. I also really enjoyed the Jameson Caskmates section of the festival. One of my all-time favorite breweries, Bale Breaker Brewing Company, was in there. After I spent FAR too long looking for them in the normal line-up, I was so happy to find them. The entire Caskmates section was awesome and the booths were really cool.

John: 

The Jameson Caskmates section was the highlight for me as well. So many different breweries doing different takes on a barrel aged beer. Aging them with an iconic whiskey like Jameson was a real treat, and you can tell the breweries involved took great pride in their work. The entire atmosphere in that section was an absolute blast. I watched a whiskey barrel put together by a cooper, ate a ton of Taytos, and took some amazing pictures in their panoramic-style photobooth.

The next best moment for me was the silent disco. Always, always go to a silent disco when given the opportunity.

Aryelle:  

It seems we can all agree that the Jameson Caskmates section was amazing. There were barrel-aged beers from all over the country which was very appropriate considering this is where members of our team met up for some group pictures. There was also a DJ providing some good tunes, the photobooth, and even some spots to sit down at.

What We Learned for Next Time

Averee: 

Sleep is very hard to come by. Make sure you have a plan for caffeine as soon as you get up in the morning. Don’t drop your tasting glass or you will get jeered by everyone. Say hi to all the brewers and representatives you can and always go to the after-party.

John:

Make your pretzel necklace at home before the festival. Sure, Rold Gold was generous enough to provide big bags of free pretzels and lanyards so you could make your own. But the line into GABF is long, and some pretzels before the festival would have been nice. I also definitely suffered from pretzel-envy that night from people with some pretty amazing looking necklaces.

Aryelle:

It is close to impossible to try every single beer there is to offer at GABF so go for quality over quantity. If you take your time and go for quality, you’ll actually be able to discover some great beers and meet some great people. If you go for quantity, you won’t get to enjoy them and might even forget a few, especially if you don’t log all of them in your GABF app!

Check out some more of our GABF photos from Thursday’s Session 9/20, Friday’s Session 9/21, and Saturday’s Session 9/22. 

For more information on the Great American Beer Festival, be sure to check out their:

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