Monday, October 3, 2011

First Snippet: Great American Beer Festival 2011

Apologies: computer difficulties kept me from updating the site while attending GABF activities in Denver, and I can only give a very small bit of the first day here. But that may be better than nothing...probably not though.

Well, that's kind of an ominous welcome to Denver, isn't it? But with the GABF, an event that attracts 50,000 people to the city for the chance to try nearly 3,000 beers, you can't blame cab companies for putting the stickers up. And it helped remind me of my pledge to myself for this year's GABF: Don't overdo it this time! Not that I ever found myself throwing up in a cab, but I would certainly hit the beer pretty hard the first night in town, making the rest of the week a fight between catching up on sleep and drinking the daily hangover away. At least we started off this trip right, foregoing the 7+ hour drive in favor of a quick "beverage cart through the aisle and back" 1 hour flight.

Soon after checking in at our hotel we had our first event of the week- Vegan Fest, disguised as a Deschutes Brewery industry gathering. Held at the Hyatt's 27th floor Peaks Lounge, this combination beer tasting/fill your face event is always a nice way to start off our time in Denver. Aside from the meat and cheese pictured, there were sliders and a butternut squash beer soup to go along with The Stoic, Fresh Hop Mirror Pond, and the first tastings of the 2011 Abyss.

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