Every year Denver host the “Great American Beer Fest”. I was lucky enough to have a ticket bought for my by Tony C. The beerfest takes place in the Denver Convention Center, and offers every beer underneath the sun. Your ticket gets you a shot glass and the ability to freely roam and taste any beer you desire for the next 4-5hrs. This being my first major beerfest, I was made aware of several key tricks, the most important of which, ” HAVE A PRETZEL NECKLACE.” They will not only provide nourishment for the next 4 hrs, but they also are great way to make friends.
The line entering the center was quite intense but this allow us the time and place to make our necklaces. Kevin (a friend visiting) was having lots of trouble putting his preztel necklace together. Kevin (made already few drinks deep) kept forgetting to hold on to the other side of the string. So after the string was about half-full, it would enough weight to pull the string and dump all the pretzels to the ground. After watching this happen “3 times” and seeing the how distraught Kevin had become, myself and pat made one for him.
Entering the door of the center, all you could hear was the deafening roar of people craving/enjoying/chugging beer. The thing i noticed immediately was “DO NOT DROP YOUR GLASS”. Dropping your glass at this type of event was strictly taboo. At my first table, one guy (possibly just a little clumsy) lost control of his cup. As hit cup hit the ground making a distinct rattle, everyone within a 20 yards (a very densely populated area) focus on it. Then the infamous roar of “oooooooOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH” started. The “oh” started locally, but then continued to resonate throughout the entire center until everyone (drunk/sober) was shaming the person that dropped the cup. After the crowd was satisfied with the humiliation, the guy was then allowed to pick up his cup again. This continue to happen throughout the day and never got old.
I sampled many beers,in face too many to count. However they did ranged from each area of the country, to every type of beer in existence. Here is list of all the breweries attending. http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/
Costumes and dressing up was hit. They went from the very creative to the standard drinking teams. The teams and characters from the move “Beerfest” was a big hit. One other strange thing was at the festival was the beard shaving tent. Pat summoned initiative to get his beard shaved off, but he decided to leave the mustache. What was left after the grooming was a pure masterpiece.
As the pretzel supply dwindled, and beer began to run out, people began to file out. It was a great social event and i hope to do it again next year. All and all the beerfest was a good time. Good beer, good preztels, and good friends.
