The use of Other Half's original taproom was a nice touch, and that area hosted some of my favorite beers of the fest. Human Robot even brought a stitchfass (gravity-pour keg, pictured) of their Hallertau Pils of from Philadelphia. Others were Long Live Beer Works from Providence, RI, who brought The All Seeing Eye Extra DIPA, and Fidens, who brought Triple Jasper TIPA. I would have to give that Triple Jasper my vote, if anyone asked for my vote, for best beer of the festival. Fidens also gets an extra nod for bringing more than one beer. They were also liberally pouring samples of Socratic Questioning 57, Broccoli's Axe, and Deeper Purpose Imperial Stout, as well as handing out stickers like crazy. The Fidens guys seemed to be having the most fun at the fest, or maybe I was just having fun because of how many different beers they poured. No, they were also having a good time. They did have competition in the fun category from the Human Robot guy, who at one point implored everyone to, "Make some fuckin' noise!!! This is a beer fest!!!!" As a jaded pourer at many beer fests where you have to watch for the slightest signs of intoxication, I can really appreciate his enthusiasm. Plus he started some E-A-G-L-E-S chants, which in turn got the New York guys going. Good times.
Another group that was enjoying the spirit of the fest was Tin Barn Brewing out of Chester, NY, who brought some cleverness to their booth. They poured their Dropacana #3 orange, mango, and banana fruited sour out of a familiar container (pictured) over ice and garnshed with an orange slice. Does all that theatre make it taste better? Absolutely! I can't even remember what it tasted like, honestly, but I remember how much fun they were having putting it all together.
More fun was this Other Half employee tasked with going around and pouring liberal amounts of lager directly into people's mouths via some genie bottle/bong-looking thing. Nice palate cleanser, and a nice touch by Other Half. It wasn't extreme heat in New York at the time, though lingering area storms had upped the already considerable humidity and being in some stuffy areas of the fest didn't help. A few water stations scattered around were helpful, but I think we need more people doling out lager shots at festivals. Think that would fly in NM?
The main taproom area was crowded at times, as this was the area with the restrooms and food offerings (did not get any food, thugh the brisket looked awesome. Made many trips to the restrooms. The taproom had a good setup for beers: you lined up in one of four lines, marked A,B,C, and D. The first two lines were dedicated to Other Half beers, including eight released for Green City. The other ten taps were for breweries such as Cerebral, J Wakefield, Alvarado St., Cushwa, Green Cheek. And while we're speaking of Green Cheek, I wasn't necessarily disappointed, as I've been fortunate enough to be able to visit their taprooms directly a number of times, but I felt they missed an opportunity to show off their skills at hazies. For the two days of the festival, they poured a Pilsner and a west coast IPA. Both good beers, to be sure, but I feel Green Cheek is producing some of California's best hazy DIPAs and TIPAs, up there with Monkish and North Park. Other than that, I thought all the breweries brought interesting, and in some cases, rare beers to be consumed. This fest isn't the easiest to get to every year, but I look forward to coming back next year.
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