On Festivals

Sun and a Gigantic IPA. Does it get any better?

I am not entirely sure what the term Beer Festival conjures up in your mind. For some it’s probably the headaches of parking, lines, finding the bathroom (lines there too!), crowds, and substandard food. For others it might mean the thrill of new beers to taste, great music, amazing cart food, awesome summer weather, and a good buzz with friends. I have come to learn, in the last several years, that festivals are all of these things. The problem is, you just don’t know which things from these lists that you are in for when you hit up one you have never been to.

Dear Sunshine, please stay as long as you like

This beer + sunshine = happy me

Because it means I’ll be drinking more lagers.  The Mexican kind are a personal fav, but the Summer Fest from Sierra Nevada was pretty damn good, too.  Great weekend for beer drinking.  Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Not quite summer yet, but a pretty decent intro this weekend.

The Beers at the OGBF

What a beautiful day for a beer festival. Even better was the setting. It might be the best setting for a beer festival, except for that pesky drive down from Portland of course. It wasn’t too bad though. We took advantage of the free shuttle to hitch a ride downtown and back for a little dinner at the Thai Dish (way good by the way) giving us enough time to sober up before driving back to Portland. If you are headed down there this afternoon, think about doing that to stay safe. Miranda got the day off as she did all the planning for the trip, and the previous night’s posts, so these are the tasting notes from the beers that Brian and I were able to taste in the five hours we were there. Check them out in order to maximize your tasting tickets (no need to waste a ticket if I already have for you!) and enjoy the scenery while you are there.

125 beers are waiting for you

Still haven’t decided if you’ll leave work early and join us at the Oregon Gardens Brewfest? Need a little convincing? Well….

Your BFF, The Sun, will be there.

Tickets are only $15 and that includes beer tickets (for more info or to buy tix go here).

And there is something for everyone to enjoy with 62 breweries and 125 beers, ciders and mead.

OGBF Brewer’s Dinner

This year our little blog got invited to the brewers dinner event that happens the night before the Oregon Gardens Brewfest kicks off (thanks Oregon craft beer community!). On the way down here I was starting to feel a little special. It may have just been the sun and leaving work a little early (shhh…don’t tell anyone), but these events are always fun and I can’t believe this little side project is getting us behind the scenes. It’s almost like people want to hear what I have to say. Like there are people out there listening. Are there? Are you out there? My admin panel says you might be…

But just as my head was getting as big as our subscribers list I realized it wasn’t that I thought I was special as much as it is special that we get to go and that the Oregon craft beer community is so welcoming and supportive of everyone contributing to make this whole industry even bigger and better than it already is. There is a recognition that we haven’t hit our cap, our saturation point. Those things probably don’t really even exist, especially not here. There are more things to do, more beers to brew, more to learn, and always another opportunity to drink.