GABFest 2013

Here’s a first-timer’s view of the Great American Beer Festival, which took place in Denver October 10-12.    [Photos follow.  If you'd like more of a beer expert's review, including a summary of awards, please head on over  to Dave's blog at Fermentedly Challenged!]  Most of you know GABF is a celebration of all things beer, almost all craftily made.  There were apparently more than 3,100 different beers served from 624 US breweries (with more knocking at the door for entrance). This means that even we could not try all of the beverages on offer.  The ones I did try were almost uniformly delicious, but every bit as fun as the beer was the people-watching.  For anyone who has ever thought about attending but passed it up (it’s an investment, for sure), you’ve gotta’ go.  TimCo described it as a combo of Oktoberfest, Halloween, and Mardi Gras.

We braved the gargantu-line:

...and officially found the end of the line.

We were kept entertained by the themed garb on display before we even got into the hall.

Once we got in and obtained our sampling glasses, we stopped by various regions of the US – met up with some FoCo friends

...and met some new ones.

THE BREWERY THAT SERVED US OUR VERY FIRST CRAFT BEERS EVER (25 YEARS AGO) HAD A TABLE THERE!  Woot!

For a first-timer, even the necklaces were a revelation.

Most, of course, were pretzels, but then there were these:

Sadly, I missed a photo of the one that had mini-Gouda cheeses strung between the pretzels.

A huge variety of headgear was on display:

Not all the costumes were on our (the spectator) side of the tables:

Other costumes abounded.

SANTAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

["I KNOW HIM!" -- Buddy]

[We realize these are not costumes, these are formalwear.  Still, worth a photo.]

Though this (below) is not a costume either, I just would like to point out that no brewer can rock the traditional necklace look quite like Natalie from Funkwerks.  (I wonder if Audrey Hepburn brewed beer?)

In other local faves, we stopped by Verboten:

and noted that when Zach serves for High Hops, the line is all female, but when he’s gone, it looks like this:

We bumped into our brewer a few times.  Here she is with the ever-interesting Stuart Long of Silver Moon Brewing Company (go find him in lovely Bend, Oregon, and/or here at GABF next year!):

When you needed a break from beer (as if), there were options.  Karaoke:

Facial hair trimming (I did not partake).  And my personal fave, the silent disco, where you’re handed a pair of headphones into which a DJ is feeding some rockin’ 70’s beats.  No one outside your earphones can hear them, but y’all’ve just got to dance.

Not being big fans of waiting in line (and BTW, what’s the deal with waiting in this crazy line to buy a tshirt?  It's worse than the TSA at DIA.  Who does this and why?)

-- again, back to not being big fans of waiting in line, TimCo & I didn’t get to jive until suddenly, just before closing on Saturday afternoon, there were loads of headsets available.  Workinit!

Speaking of lines, how good must beer be to command this sort of line when there are amazing tasty fresh beers right next door with no wait?  I just didn’t get it.

Also speaking of lines, how about these apples:

Love this event!

Our buddy Sarah (pictured here with the brewer/owners of Union Craft Brewing in Baltimore) has termed this the GAB Fest (as in, talk-your-tongue-off fest).  I'm in for both the terminology and the experience.  Hope to see you all there next year!

Jive on.