Hopworks Biketobeerfest

John, cyclocross team BEER! Team beer uniform with mini green leather lederhosen!

Auxiliary parking overflow!

Bike building demonstration.

The scene out front.

This past weekend I went to two beer festivals. First, I checked out the mini beer fest at green dragon. They had the street blocked off on both sides, and had the beer fest set up there. It was pretty disappointing on a couple levels. First, it was $10 to get in, and that included 5 tastes, but NO collectors cup/glass like most festivals; so $10 bucks got you significantly less than 1 pint of beer, and that's literally it. Second, although there were a good number of breweries present, there weren't really any new beers. The festival beer list sounded like the taplist of any mediocre local beer bar in town. Not that these were bad beers; one just expects to get to try something special at a beer fest. Third, it was very disorganized. Most of the people pouring beers didn't even know what they were pouring, because they hadn't yet been provided that information.

Immediately afterwords, I headed over to the Hopworks Biketobeerfest. THIS was more like it. First, it cost $5 to get in, and that included a screened collectors pint GLASS, plus one pint of beer. Second, they had 2 new fresh hop beers (sodbuster pale, and fest of fury), bike beer IPA on tap (made partially with fresh hops), and several other more special options (bourbon DOA, etc) on top of their standard taplist. The entertainment, turnout, food, organization, etc... was great too. I had the fest of fury (a fresh hop oktoberfest beer!), the sodbuster (fresh hop pale ale), the bike beer IPA, a bourbon DOA, and then things got a little cloudy. I also had some great BBQ. By the time I left, the parking lots were completely packed with bikes. Great event, great turn-out, and I hope the first of many biketobeerfests to come.