I’m heading to the GABF for the first time. I’ve got tickets for Friday farm to table and both sessions on Saturday. I think I need a strategy. I want to try everything but also want to feel human Sunday for the 7hr drove home. Any suggestions?
Kris
Drink lots of water - alternate between sample glasses of water and beer. Walk the whole floor looking only for one style of beer, say milds or another lighter beer. While doing this make a note of what you want to taste on your second round, perhaps Belgians. If you are still up for it go all out on the third round, say smoked beers, double IPA, or sour beers.
That’s what I do anyway. You could just as easily look for breweries you’ve always wanted to experience and stop in for a beer there, but sometimes you will spend a lot of time in long lines with that strategy.
Some breweries only bring enough beer for the first couple of sessions, but you can’t predict which ones will be out of beer by Saurday afternoon. New Glarus has run out early in the past, so if you like sour beers, check them out on your first session.
The floor is organized by geographic regions, so you can go to a region that doesn’t distribute in your area and skip the ones available any old time.
There is so much good beer that you can’t really have a “bad” strategy, can you?
Drinking lots of water is a good point. Whenever I walk by one of the water dispensers I fill up my glass and hydrate and rinse my glass at the same time.
wear a food necklace. you’ll look dumb, but you’ll look like everyone else.
I do pretzles and cheese.
Pace yourself, it’s not a race. And +1 to just trying the ones you can’t get at your locale.
Don’t arrive full of food/beer. You’re gonna stand in line outside for over an hour–there are no bathrooms outside and lots of undercover cops.
Don’t arrive less than an hour before the session unless you want to stand in the line that literally goes all the way around the convention center.
Don’t be afraid to dump the beer samples that aren’t awesome. Seriously.
If it is unremarkable (or even "bad’), just walk over to the next booth, dump and rinse out the sample glass with water.
There’s way too many choices, so little time, and just one belly/liver.
A “waste not, want not” mentality does not apply at beer fests like GABF.
Dont be intimidated by that big line that goes all the way around. They’re not going to run out of beer inside before you get in, at most it takes 30 mins to get everyone in (they’re good at it). Spend that time enjoying Denver, touring a brewery like Great Divide , not standing outside the convention center for 3 hrs in advance.