I know this was over 3 weeks ago, but I wanted to write about it. It was so much fun. Oct. 10-14, Mike and I went to Denver, CO for the Great American Beer Festival (GABF). Ithaca Beer Co. paid for Mike to go and I got a pretty sweet deal too. We went there with Dan, the owner of Ithaca Beer Co., Chief (the other brewer), and Eric (the sales rep). Chief was the only one of us who had gone before, so he was helpful with showing us around. The first night we were there, we went to an opening private party at Wynkoop Brewing Company. That place was amazing! It was so big - I think it was 3 stories, the top floor had over 20 pool tables, plus a full bar on each level. All the food and beer you could eat/drink for a few hours. It was really nice. Afterwards we headed a few blocks over to Falling Rock, which is a cool tap room/bar. We ended up spending a lot of time there - when the festival wasn't going on, it seemed to be the prime gathering spot. The actual fest ran Thurs, Fri, & Sat nights and an afternoon session on Sat. too. Each session lasted 4 hours and there was something like 400 breweries and over 1800 different beers available for sampling. It was held at the Colorado Convention Center - and it was HUGE! I guess they said over 46,000 people attended - the biggest turn-out yet. I'm pretty sure they sold out each session.
Anyway - it was a great time all together. We also got to visit Great Divide, Flying Dog, and Coors Field. We made some new friends and experienced the biggest brew fest in the world. It was a strain on the body, going through such intense sampling :) and being a mile above sea level, and traveling, but I think we will definitely be returning in the future.
Here's a couple of pictures - I even bought a disposable camera since ours is STILL being worked on. Just to get this out - we pretty much HATE (that's a mean word, maybe it's more that we're very upset and disappointed with) Best Buy right now. They keep saying they are going to fix our camera, then send it away to their "shop" and two weeks later we get it back fixed, but only for about 4 pictures. They say that nothing is wrong with it, yet it doesn't work and somehow they figure out how to fix it (temporarily). Thank goodness we have a warranty on it, but we have been doing this dance with them for over 3 months now. And this last time, we took it back for the 4th time with the SAME problem, they sent it away again, and now are almost refusing to send it back, saying that there is nothing wrong with it but they can't fix it and we can't get a replacement. The actual store says that they can't do anything for us until they have the camera in their possession, but it's been away for almost 5 weeks when it should only be away for 2 weeks at the max. The good news is that when and if the camera comes back, they are going to refund our money or at least give us a new camera, but right now we feel as though we are getting so messed with. So after this experience, I'm going to make it a priority to never go to Best Buy again! I was trying to stay positive and not spew all that out, but I had to get it off my chest - sorry for the rant!
Anyway - here are the pictures from my phone and junk camera which really took horrible pictures too. Oh well - what can I do?
This just reminds me of papercutting - I like :)
Mike and Chief outside Falling Rock
Inside Falling Rock - this wall had taps going the whole way across, I have no idea how many they had - tons!
Here we all are at the booth. It was my first time being able to actually "work" a festival. I got to give people drinks and get people excited about our beers. It was great - I think I could really get into doing this more. (Chief, Dan, Me, Mike, Eric)
We also ran into our old friend Josh from DE. He used to work at Dogfish too but now lives in Milwaukee and works at Miller.
People get pretty silly at these fests. I learned a new trick (not really trick, but something that people often do at the fest) is walk around with pretzel necklaces. I was seeing so many of them and thought they were for sale somewhere, but when I asked someone, they said that they brought it from home. Hundreds of people walking around with these things - just a string with pretzels strung on it, tied around their necks. An instant snack with no hands needed. Although I never made it to the store to create my own, I discovered that most people were pretty open to sharing their necklaces, so it worked out nicely. This pretzel hat was quite crafty!
The guys working hard. They got such great reactions from people. I think the beer was viewed as quite tasty.
Don't I look so natural?
Anyway - it was a great time all together. We also got to visit Great Divide, Flying Dog, and Coors Field. We made some new friends and experienced the biggest brew fest in the world. It was a strain on the body, going through such intense sampling :) and being a mile above sea level, and traveling, but I think we will definitely be returning in the future.
Here's a couple of pictures - I even bought a disposable camera since ours is STILL being worked on. Just to get this out - we pretty much HATE (that's a mean word, maybe it's more that we're very upset and disappointed with) Best Buy right now. They keep saying they are going to fix our camera, then send it away to their "shop" and two weeks later we get it back fixed, but only for about 4 pictures. They say that nothing is wrong with it, yet it doesn't work and somehow they figure out how to fix it (temporarily). Thank goodness we have a warranty on it, but we have been doing this dance with them for over 3 months now. And this last time, we took it back for the 4th time with the SAME problem, they sent it away again, and now are almost refusing to send it back, saying that there is nothing wrong with it but they can't fix it and we can't get a replacement. The actual store says that they can't do anything for us until they have the camera in their possession, but it's been away for almost 5 weeks when it should only be away for 2 weeks at the max. The good news is that when and if the camera comes back, they are going to refund our money or at least give us a new camera, but right now we feel as though we are getting so messed with. So after this experience, I'm going to make it a priority to never go to Best Buy again! I was trying to stay positive and not spew all that out, but I had to get it off my chest - sorry for the rant!
Anyway - here are the pictures from my phone and junk camera which really took horrible pictures too. Oh well - what can I do?
This just reminds me of papercutting - I like :)
Mike and Chief outside Falling Rock
Inside Falling Rock - this wall had taps going the whole way across, I have no idea how many they had - tons!
Here we all are at the booth. It was my first time being able to actually "work" a festival. I got to give people drinks and get people excited about our beers. It was great - I think I could really get into doing this more. (Chief, Dan, Me, Mike, Eric)
We also ran into our old friend Josh from DE. He used to work at Dogfish too but now lives in Milwaukee and works at Miller. 
People get pretty silly at these fests. I learned a new trick (not really trick, but something that people often do at the fest) is walk around with pretzel necklaces. I was seeing so many of them and thought they were for sale somewhere, but when I asked someone, they said that they brought it from home. Hundreds of people walking around with these things - just a string with pretzels strung on it, tied around their necks. An instant snack with no hands needed. Although I never made it to the store to create my own, I discovered that most people were pretty open to sharing their necklaces, so it worked out nicely. This pretzel hat was quite crafty!
The guys working hard. They got such great reactions from people. I think the beer was viewed as quite tasty.
Don't I look so natural?
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