The crowds were large and the venue sold out (at least on Saturday) for the 2015 version of the Columbus Winter Beerfest. |
Now five years old, the biannual Columbus Beerfest (there is a summer edition as well) has grown by leaps and bounds each year, expanding on the number of vendors as well as number of attendees. This year's edition cover two days and featured over 350 beers from 100-plus different brands and breweries combined.
While there is a "Connoisseur" ticket package that allows you such privileges such as early tasting, a special/larger tasting glass, and a food/special beer pairing with local breweries and restaurants (from the research I did prior to the event, it seems to be worth the extra cash generally speaking), we decided the standard admission would be perfectly fine as we were meeting up with some members of my spouse's beer club, Brews and Betties (formerly the Hopyard Honeys) for dinner prior to the event.
As a newcomer to this type of event, I wanted to follow a general game plan and more or less stuck with it. I decided to split up from our group to get a feel of the layout and atmosphere (and grab some pictures in the process). I also made the decision to target porters and stouts (my general leaning and much more of a winter beer anyway). In addition, I had ferreted out some breweries and styles from the beer list posted on the event's website to break up that stout/porter taste profile every two or three samplings.
For my spouse, beer sampling power came in numbers - she and her beer club buddies got to sample multiple beer at various booths. This worked well at gaining maximum tasting of different beers with relatively sane levels of alcohol consumption as well as her strategy of asking for half-pours. Another option for lessening the intoxication factor that many people took advantage of was the various pour buckets or a random stray partially or fully empty cups.
As in past posts, I find images really help tell the tale of these types of experiences, so without further adieu, here are some pictures from our night at the Beerfest:
The folks attending the Anime/MMORPG Convention Ohayocon 2015 provided a unique contrast to the beer aficionados attending Beerfest. That said, quite a few Ohayocon attendees double-dipped and also dropped into the Beerfest. |
Pretzels are a popular choice for giving your palate a break from multiple beer samplings; hand-fashioned pretzel necklaces like this were commonplace |
Beer list handed out of the event; the check-marked beers were those that were in more limited supply, but even some of the more plentiful beers tapped out early (such as one of my favorite porters, Great Lakes' Edmund Fitzgerald) |
The folks at Zaftig Brewing pouring me a Bam Ba Lam, a breakfast stout made with Ghirardelli Chocolate and Crimson Cup Coffee Beans. This proved to a favorite beer for all our group members. This Worthington-based brewery is due to celebrate its one year anniversary with an event on February 28 |
Deschutes Brewery, based out of Bend, Oregon, made it easy for folks to avoid the long lines with this Mirror Pond Pale Ale portable keg/cart |
The representatives of San Diego's White Labs, a leader in the development and supply of yeast for the craft beer agency, were very happy to have folks drop by and say hi. Unlike most vendors, they had some stickers and other fun media (such as a beer geeky poster describing their yeasts) for the taking. |
Some early action on the "dance floor" in the middle of the event space. Not surprisingly, more people joined the group as the night wore on as the liquid courage consumption built up in event-goers. |
While portable canopies and table setups were common, several breweries went for fancier setups. Vehicle-based taps were sported by Zanesville's Weasel Boy and Columbus' own Seventh Son and North High Brewing, among others. |
One vendor I had pegged for a palate break was Hudson, Ohio's Spindoktor. I ran into a few people at the event who liked their hard root beer beverage, but alas I never did get around for a sampling. |
One alternate non-beer beverage I did get to was cider from Griffin Cider Works. Founded by a British ex-pat, this Cleveland-area company's original cider provided a nicely crisp and not too sweet break from my mainly porter/stout based quest. |
My spouse and I had been questing for the 5 Rabbit Cerveceria (from Chicago) El Bizarron collaboration with Tampa Florida-based Cigar City Brewing to no avail. Lucky for us, this Cuban-themed porter brewed with plantains was available (their rep said it was the last three kegs available that he knew about) and was easily in our top three beers tasted that night. |
Columbus-based Zauber Brewing's space was enhanced by hops supplied by Marysville-based Grandpop's Hops. |
Speaking of hops, Jackie O's Brewery's tent was hopping with activity. This Athens-based brewery has recently returned to Top 100 Brewers in the world by ratebeer.com, joining 4 other Ohio-based breweries. |
Fancy fonts preceded another palate-cleanser for me; in this case, it was the Belgian White from Cincinnati-based Fifty West Brewing. |
The chocolate-hints of Eugene Porter from Chicago-based Revolution Brewing made it a winner in my porter/stout quest. |
This teeter-totter from the Shandy-oriented Traveler Beer Company out of Vermont proved to be a hit with Beerfest goers. Live music bands and a karaoke stage were other non-beer activities which attendees could partake. |
I ended up on a mini-tangent in sampling two smoked beers:I sampled both the Buchenrauch, a smoked lager produced by Columbus' Wolf's Ridge Brewing, and Weasel Boy's smoked porter Rauchbier one after the other. Both were very tasty, though I preferred the porter's fuller mouth feel a little more. |
My spouse and I both had fun hanging out with our friends this night, and agree this is an event any beer lover from around this area should do at least once. In addition, it also has given us some valuable experience on how to approach similar events in other cities in the future.
Columbus Beerfest (Winter and Summer)
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