The Expo was loads of fun. A bit crowded initially. After the first 30 min. or so it seemed to calm down. My wife was initially very dubious. She doesn't like crowds. In the end, she said she'd like to go again next year. We managed to go to one of the seminars (given by one of the expo founders) on his picks for 6 beers that stand the test of time and will always be around (and readily available) They included, and we got to taste: Pilsner Urquel, Paulner Hefe, Fullers Porter, Hoegarden, Celebrator doppelbock, and Westmalle Triple. My wife and I thought he should have dropped one of the wheats and included Sierra Nevada instead.
Favorites:
Johnstown White Hat Pale ale - refreshing - Sterling (B) and Amarillo (F) - lager like in the hops - something I've been considering
Anchor Steam Summer - 50% wheat, but not very yeastie
Lancaster Hop Hog. Orange!!! with fuggles and cascade!!!
Stone IPA. Luscious smooth texture loads of aroma 6.9%. I've been enjoying my hoppy beers but want to try and make the less alcoholic (instead of ~8%) This is a good start.
Magic Hat Fat Angel
Zatec pils - a new czech pils available - comparable to PU
There are more that I rated well, but they escape me. I'll have to check my notes.
Lots of IPAs that were variations on the same theme. Typically just varying amount grapefruity flavors.
Not many porters and stouts. Most of the beers were actually drafts - and thus seasonals. Oh yeah, the Weyerbacher double Simcoe IPA was very nice on tap, better than out of the bottle. Clipper City was supposed to be there but weren't. I wanted to compare my version of Loose Cannon to the draft version. I've compared it to the bottle and I (and our friends) like mine better.