KC BeerFest '09

I wasn't going to do a write up on the beerfest because everyone already has, but I need to state my opinions in hopes that they get heard. I had a feeling this festival was going to be not my type of beer event, but I had to go see what it was all about for myself. This event was held at the top of the parking garage at Legends. Not a bad idea in case the ground was wet. We were greeted with a KC BeerFest snifter glass that was pretty cool and a band that was, eh, good enough. I turned the corner and walked right up to Sam Adams area that had their Imperial Series. I am a big fan of that stuff and figured an Imperial Stout was a great way to start off the day! I made my way over to Free State which had a great booth. I tried the Eccentricity which was explained as a barrel aged ale that was blended to perfection. Then I asked what style they were going for and they just said it's a style of it's own. Hm...

From there I found tons and tons of crappy beer you can buy in any liquor store and then all of a sudden I realized that every booth except for Boulevard's Nuttsack Ale and Free State booth everything there was something you could just go to the liquor store and get. But it was kind of cool to see almost 250 different beers in one spot.

None of the volunteers knew about the beer. Don't get me wrong, I am happy that these volunteers were pouring, but I just feel like having some conversation about it. Instead I felt like I was to move out of the way so this other guy can get his drink on. Then it became very crowded. Hundreds of people swarming BMC booths and taking down the Corona, the Smirnoff Ice and the Bud American Ale. Dude, buddy, homey!

The beerfest was to last from 1-5. At 4 most tables were being cleared off and the lines became very long for the people who actually brought kegs. A big thanks to Boulevard, Schlafly and Free State for holding down the fort. The only spots besides High Noon that actually had their own staff pouring.

Closer to 5 people started swarming to the edge of the parking garage to gawk at some white-trashiness fight. We saw two bloody fights ensue and people getting arrested. The whole time I was thinking about Parkville's Microfest and how awesome and laid back it is.

- picture taken from pitch.com

Later that night the Mizzou game was on and what better time to keep drinking. Okay maybe that was a bad idea. Bryan came over and he brought back his collection from Florida: 13th Anniv. Stone, Cigar City Bolita Brown, Terrapin Rye squared, Smuttynose IPA, and a couple others. As a night cap I popped my Southern Tier Cuvee. WOW, what a day of drinking! Time to take a long break from drinking that much.