So … how was it?

VIP Hours – Magic!

Last week, we gave the heads up that we were off to the Roswell Beer Fest (RBF18) to explore, sample, enjoy from over 380 different beers. The head-scratcher was how to gameplan for such an overwhelming number of beers. We came up with our solution and shared it with you. If you’re one of those people who has to skip to the ending, missing out on the drama … the planning worked, pretty well.

Today’s post is about the festival itself: the experience, the results of the planning, the food, the merchandise, and of course the BEER. We’ll start with the experience. The venue (Roswell Town Square) was perfect. Green space, with some nice architectural features, but it’s also largely tree-covered, providing shade for gingers like me (yes, I used to have hair.) Beautiful setting, and pretty easily accessible, especially if you did the smart thing and used a Lyft-Uber type ride share.

The layout was different than other beer festivals. Some events will have one brewery in its own space, serving their variety of beers. RBF18 grouped beer styles together, which works out very nicely. If I want to compare two stouts or two barleywines, I don’t have to traipse all over the joint trying to find them … they’re literally being served right next to each other. The exception was for some of the local breweries. Places like Variant, Abbey of the Holy Goats, Pontoon, and others all had their own tents and were serving their beers from there. The only downside to this layout concept was that festival organizers use volunteers from local businesses to pour the beer. They’re nice and accommodating … and have virtually no knowledge of beer. Just know in advance that you won’t get any words of wisdom about the subtleties of the beer from them. You’ll need to do your own research. Certainly not a major deal.

The food vendors were actually quite impressive. We’re not talking chicken fingers and french fries. We had some great tacos, saw some delicious lobster rolls (which must have been uber-popular as they ran out of nuns later in the day). There were about 6-8 food tents, and I did not witness any crazy lines or waits for the food. Prices were either $5 or $10 per meal, so it wasn’t stupid expensive either. The merchandise tent, however, was a bit of a letdown. I’m a sucker for a good beer shirt or hat, but the selection was either a nondescript shirt with eleventy-four logos on the back, or a pretty uncomfortable looking trucker hat with the RBF18 logo on the front. I don’t know what I was hoping for, but that wasn’t it.

And now for the beer … and our homework/planning results. The plan, if you read the last post, was to lower the list to a manageable number of beers, visit as many of those possible, and then spend more time in the VIP tent once the main doors opened. Here’s the skinny if you go next year … buy the VIP ticket. My smokin’ hot wife referred to the first hour of the festival, which was only open to VIP ticket holders, as the beer festival’s version of Disney’s Magic Hours. We got in when there were hardly any people there, and never had to even pause when getting the next sample. No lines … it basically felt like we had it to ourselves. I had tried my first 5 stouts within the first 15 minutes. And yes – that makes for a happy beer blogger. The plan worked really well. I was able to maneuver through, tent by tent, and choose those beers that I had planned on before arriving. I did, however, have to make some on-the-fly adjustments: a few of the beers I planned on weren’t there; some beers that I hadn’t planned on sounded great as I walked by. So, we amended as we walked. I had originally identified 38 beers that I wanted to try. Final count was 29 total selections, 26 of which were on my original list. I think that’s a pretty successful day.

I won’t go into the full list of beers that I sampled … you can see that on my Untappd page. But I will highlight a few of the highlights. Top 5 beers I had at the festival:

• Southern Tier Thick Mint. It’s a Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookie in a stout.
• Variant Double Cashmere. NE style IPA from one of Roswell’s newest breweries.
• Chimay Grande Reserve (Barrel-Aged). Yes … on so many levels.
• Cherry Street Coconut Porter. I love everything coming out of Cherry Street. 
• Southern Barrel Brewing Frozen Barrel Milk Stout. Ohmagoodness, this is smooth.