18 January 2011

E's Review of Columbus Winter Beerfest 2011

Last May, 2010, Columbus, Ohio, had their first ever Beerfest, an event where breweries from all over come together so beer lovers can try out their wares. Despite a few kinks, the event was a sold-out success, and this city found out pretty quickly that we Columbusites love festivals and beer, and we especially love anything that combines the two things.

Fast forward eight months to January, and we’ve got the first ever Winter Beerfest. Apparently, the organizers felt it was such a success, that they plan on having it twice a year from now on. I attended both events, and, although I had a great time and discovered a couple of new breweries and some new beer from old favorites each time, I still feel like they need to work out some things.

This year, the event was held on two consecutive nights, Friday, January 14, and Saturday, January 15 from 7:30 to 11pm. I bought my tickets over a month ago, and opted for Saturday night VIP tickets, which, among other amenities, included being able to enter the event an hour earlier than regular ticket holders. VIP for both nights sold out well before the event, and eventually, regular ticket sales sold out as well. Here's a view of the room before the masses could enter:

One thing they fixed from last year was the table issue. It was nice to be able to get a tasting and find a stand-up or sit down table to chill out, mark down what you like and don’t like, and see what your friends liked and didn’t like. Despite having 4 and ½ hours and 30 tasting tickets, it’s really hard to get through everything you want to try. A lot of the microbrews were quite strong, some reaching 9% alcohol or more. If you used all your tickets, you would consume about 8 pints of mostly strong beer. So it’s best to bring friends who have good taste in beer. Still, it’s pretty much impossible to leave Beerfest without a good buzz going.

FYI, if you end up going to this event in the future, I suggest going to the official website and getting a printout of the breweries and their beers, and bring a writing utensil. Nothing like that is provided; all you get is a photocopied layout of where the breweries are located. I learned my lesson from the last one, and was glad I did. I had written documentation of what I wanted to hunt down and try again, which I didn’t have from last year.

Some highlights of my tasting (which favored Ohio Breweries, for some reason...)

Riverton Brewing Company - I tried the Hefeweizen, one of my favorite kinds of beers, and the flavor was amazing. I also was able to try the Hop Bomber and Oatmeal stout that my companions got, and have to say they were all amazing. They are from Cincinnati.

Brew Kettle - This brewery in Cleveland was recommended to us by a friend from the city up north, they did not disappoint! The two samples they had were Copperhead Red, a smooth ale, and Imperial 21, a hoppy IPA.

Barley’s Brewpub - There is a Barley’s near my house, and I’m no stranger to their microbrews, but I had the opportunity to try their Frambwah (a Belgium Lambic, Framboise, pretty much a fruity beer) which was better than expected, while my companion gave their Four C’s IPA a star and a smiley face on the beer list.

21st Amendment - Craft beer in a can? This brewery from San Francisco definitely does things a little differently. I first noticed their presence at Carabar (they have some pretty interesting can designs, too) and after trying their Watermelon Wheat at Beerfest, I am planning on trying some of their other brews next time I’m in Olde Towne.

We tried some pretty mediocre to bad beers too, and eventually it got so crowded, I gave up on trying to muscle my way to some other breweries I wanted to try, instead opting to retry some more accessible favorites. One thing that has been disappointing at both events is that, in most cases, the volunteer beer pourers aren’t given any information about what they’re handing out. We learned quickly not to bother asking anything about the beers or the breweries. There were one or two that provided good details about the beer choices on a (soon to be sticky and unreadable) handout, but that kind of thing was quite rare.

The oddest thing at Beerfest, though, would have to be the Miller Light stand amid all the real Microbrews. Thankfully, I never saw anyone “try” their beer.

Another highlight of the night was the live music. It broke up the night a little bit, in case anyone was in danger of getting bored at a beer tasting, and they chose local favorites to fill out the schedule: Friday had Two Cow Garage and Ghost Shirt playing, while Saturday included The Receiver and the break-out band from last year, The Phantods, to provide entertainment (sexiest band in Columbus, as my companion calls them...see for yourself!):

Hopefully the terrible acoustics of the convention center didn’t turn anyone off to these amazing bands.

All in all, this is a fun event that I would recommend to any beer lover in Columbus.

Basic Info:
Website - http://columbusbeerfest.org/
Location - Columbus Convention Center (Northern part, Near the corner of High and Goodale.)
Contact Info – Email: cj@columbusbeerfest.com .
E’s Rating - 3.5 (out of 5)

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