2008 Holiday Ale Fest: Part I

Beer Luvvas,

It's the morning after, and I'll try to quickly surmise my experiences from my first day at the 2008 Holiday Ale Festival before Freebird and I head out for another day at the fest!

First, the festival has expanded this year to encompass almost 100% of Pioneer Courthouse Square. There are positives, and negatives, for this new setup.

The positives: More beer, more beer, more beer and more room! They've added a second tent on the upper level of the square. This adds ~30% more capacity for both beer and Beer Luvvas. Those are both good things.

The negatives: Stairs, lots of stairs. I don't understand why they chose to erect a scaffolding to get from one tent to the other; forcing people to walk up, and down a series of slick wooden stairs to get between tents. I'll admit that with a taster mug in one hand and a cellphone in the other, I failed to successfully navigate this treacherous path once. And although I felt little pain at the time, it has come back to haunt me this morning. Why didn't they use the built in wheelchair path?? If SQHub was here, it would be physically impossible for him to get to the new tent. Maybe I should sue on his behalf!

Second, Tis the Season to be Stingy - with pours that is. Even with the increase in cost for Ale Fest mugs ($10) it only takes a couple double tasters to break even rather than dropping the full $4 on a full mug. And if your goal is to taste every beer at the fest in one sitting. The stingy pours have made it much easier to give that a go...

Third, there are a bunch of great beers at this year's festival. I'll delve into more detail in a later post, but here are a few to look for today/tomorrow:

• Freebird's Best in Fest: Rudolph's Imperial Red - Three Creeks Brewing Co., Sisters, OR - ran out yesterday, so get some early!
• Track Town Shotput Stout; Oak Rum Stout - Rogue Ales, Eugene, OR
• Babuska's Secret; Black Raspberry Russian Imperial Stout - Widmer Brewing, PDX, OR
• Double Brewed Double Black Stout; Imperial Stout - Redhook Ale Brewery, Seattle, WA
• Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Beans - Stone Brewing, Escondido, CA
• Oaked Bomb; Winter Warmer - Golden Valley Brewery, McMinnvillle, OR
• Dry Hopped Wassail; Strong Ale - Full Sail Brewing, Hood River, OR

There are plenty more to taste, and much more to describe. But those were some of the favorites from day 1. Hope to see you there this afternoon/evening!

Prost to 2008 Holiday Ale Fest!