District of Columbia Beer Festival

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

reuliss

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2012
Messages
461
Reaction score
40
Has anyone ever gone to the D.C. Beer Festival? $40 is steep, but I'd be willing to pay if anyone has something good to report. Doing a general tasting is okay, but I could be swayed if there's a chance to talk brewing with the vendors. :mug:

Anyway, general impressions are welcome!
 
The brewery list (note, they have not released what beers each brewery will be bringing), looks like it's well worth the $40 for the tastings.
 
I believe this is the inaugural festival. I will be going, and I expect it to be essentially the various breweries in booths giving out samples like other festivals.
 
Lots of times, but not always, the servers really no nothing about ingredients, processes, hops...etc. They're not brewers, just servers hired by the brewery.
 
Not all volunteers "no nothing". My son and I volunteer at a lot of local brew fests and we make it a point to find out exactly what is in the beers so that we can talk about it to the drinkers, who, a lot of times, know nothing about beer.



Sheldon
 
I agree. Your best shot of talking to brewers will most likely be the local breweries there. If you are expecting to talk with the guys from Bell's or Lagunitas, they won't be there. You will be served by volunteers. Some are knowledgeable, some are not.
 
Sheldon said:
Not all volunteers "no nothing". My son and I volunteer at a lot of local brew fests and we make it a point to find out exactly what is in the beers so that we can talk about it to the drinkers, who, a lot of times, know nothing about beer.

Sheldon[/QUOTE
I never said all volunteers know nothing.
Kudos to you and your son for going the extra mile to learn about the beers you are serving. That's great customer service.
 
That is one hell of a line up. Beer festivals are fun, but can get a bit crowded for my tastes.

Sadly I'll be visiting the arm pit of America, aka NJ, that weekend.

Just a note the MD Craft beer festival is 5/18 this year and up in Frederick County.
 
That is one hell of a line up. Beer festivals are fun, but can get a bit crowded for my tastes.

Sadly I'll be visiting the arm pit of America, aka NJ, that weekend.

Just a note the MD Craft beer festival is 5/18 this year and up in Frederick County.

Given that you live in Frederick, have you ever visited Flying Dog? If so, was it worth while??
 
Yes and Yes. The tour is very cool. My wife a non-beer drinker enjoyed it.

Plus you get like six samples after its over. Also, they hold lots of little events that are generally sold out within minutes.

If you want there is another brewery that just opened called monocacy brewing company. A much smaller operation, but that was an excellent tour too!
 
Back
Top