How much is too much?
This year’s crowds were huge. Uncomfortably so in my opinion. The noise alone forced you to shout at the person standing next to you, and on some aisles (particularly the Pizza Port / Lost Abbey / Russian River row), the press of humanity was a little too much to bear.

Record crowds at the 2008 GABF

I happened to be lucky because my brewer’s pass allowed me to skip the lines and go behind the tables to get a taster, but even then the brewfolk in their booths were so busy it was near impossible to have even a short conversation.

Additionally, I noticed a rise in the number of what I’d called “beerfest fratboys” — guys that weren’t there to experience the beer, but to wear goofy hats, get plowed and generally act like jackasses.

I have nothing against these guys when they’re doing that at home, but when they’re at GABF all asses and elbows and demanding “whatever the strongest stuff you got,” I think its insulting the brewers and real beer enthusiasts.

Anybody want more peanut shells in their beer?

Mad scientist nee brewer
Here in San Diego big ales and high ABVs dominate the beer scene. And while our local guys are no slouches when it comes to pushing the boundaries of beer, I was surprised to see the breadth and variety of suds brewers around the country were making.

Like banana in your bock? Someone’s got it. Roasted lime leaf lager? Check. Peanut butter beer? Oh yeah, somebody got jelly? Salt and sour pils? That was there too. Fact is, if you could dream it, it was probably in one of the 2,000 or so beers on the show floor.

Sure, standard American lagers and pale ales still dominated most of the taps, but I thought it was impressive how many folk were willing to brew outside the box (admittedly to varying rates of success).

Beyond convention
The best times we had at GABF weren’t actually at the convention center, but at the enormous number of brew pubs and beer bars within walking distance.

Many of these hosted receptions or special parties where we got to talk to brewers and fellow craft beer lovers in more relaxed settings. Great Divide, Breckenridge, SandLot and Wynkoop all played host to some really fun celebrations (as did Flying Dog and a couple of others we didn’t get a chance to attend), but if you wanted to be where all the cool kids were – including your favorite brewers – Falling Rock was the place to be.

Falling Rock was almost better than the GABF itself

Time and time again we found ourselves back there sampling all kinds of beer and chatting with friends new and old. Better yet, aways from the madness of the GABF show floor people could actually sit back and have a conversation about beer, whiskey, life and whatever else interested them.

Okay, enough babbling, time for pics. Here you go:

The morning of day two requires a fairly heavy meal to offset the previous night. After breakfast we’ll blog a quick recap of yesterday then move on to stir up more trouble

Our GABF experience got off to a rocky start when we hit the San Diego airport around noon to find 3,000 people standing on the curb because the terminal had to be cleared due to a fire alarm. (Turns out some idiot leaned against it and set it off.) We missed the whole “get out of the building” thing, but got to enjoy idling with the huddled masses as they allowed people back into the terminal on a flight-by-flight basis.

As we cleared security we ran into Jake and John from Stone who happened to be on our flight, as were folks from San Diego Brewing and Ballast Point. Coupled with our own Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey contingent, it was a very entertaining flight.

Great Divide Brewing

Great Divide Brewing

We hit Denver at 5pm local time and made a beeline for the Center City Marriott where everyone was staying. After checking in, we dropped off our bags and headed over to Great Divide Brewing to meet up with Matt Dolman and Ivan from Churchill’s Pub, who had arrived several hours earlier.

A view from the Great Divide tap room into the brewhouse

We don’t get Great Divide beers in San Diego, so we sampled the
entire tap list while with the other visiting brewers and GABF folk crowding the tasting room. (My personal favorite: Titan IPA). The tasting room is cool because it looks directly into the brewhouse and the Great Divide people let you wander around in there — which, of course, we did.

Breckenridge Brewpub in Denver

Breckenridge Brewing
It was dinnertime so we all decided to take our leave of Great Divide and wander up to the Breckenridge Brewpub which is just a couple of blocks away and right across the street from Coors Field. Breckenridge isn’t available in San Diego either, but Molly and I were familiar with it from the Tucson Beer Festival. Molly ordered a vanilla porter, I had the 471 IPA, and Matt, Ivan and Adam each ordered a number of samples so we could try everything.

A number of the beers were good (Trademark Pale Ale, Oatmeal Stout, Pandora’s Bock), but not what we’d call exceptional.

Avalanche Amber and the 471 IPA proved to be the favorites. Were they available in our area, they’d definitely be staples in our beer fridge.

The food, was standard brewpub stuff — French Dips, chicken sandwiches, hamburgers, etc. — but well-prepared, tasty and modestly priced. Definitely worth the stop.

We stayed at Breckenridge for a couple more hours and then decided to make our way back to the hotel. I managed to trip and sprain my ankle (totally the fault of an uneven sidewalk, not anything I was doing), and wound up limping the mile or so back to the Marriott. Meanwhile Molly somehow convinced Matt that he should let her piggyback all the way home.

Molly convinces Matt that he needs to carry her back tp the hotel

We rolled into the hotel and strolled downstairs to the bar for a couple of nightcaps. Mitch and Harlan from Stone were there, so we said hi, chatted for a few and finished our drinks. It was well after 1 by this point so everyone decided to call it a night and adjourn to their rooms in preparation of the long day ahead.

Next: The GABF begins

At Wynkoop Brewing right now

We’re idling at Wynkoop waiting for the GABF to open. All having Simian beers — Monkey Fist IPAs and Silverback Smoked Porter/

This is our first trip to “The Show”, so we’re not exactly sure what to expect, but you can be sure that we’ll be blogging live from the festival and keeping you up to date on all the beers and the interesting people we meet.

We’ll also have a video camera on-hand and the technology to broadcast right from the floor, so we’re hoping you’ll check in and see what’s going on.

Cautionary note: It’s GABF. Please don’t expect anyone (including yours truly) to make any sense whatsoever after, oh…. 3pm… or Thursday… whichever comes first.

Oh, and if you’re going to be at the GABF, make sure to look us up. Molly will be wearing the blue Dirndl you see in the pic on Thursday, a green one on Friday, and God only knows what on Saturday. So we should be semi-easy to spot (I’m always within arm’s reach of Molly since she has a tendency to wander after a beer or two).

See you there!