The new Copenhagen beer fests

am so jealous of everyone who got to go. I don’t see how anyone could complain with all the amazing beers. 3 floyds didn’t bring enough rare shit? really? you are lucky they came at all. i would have killed to have been there this weekend. hope both fests happen again next summer. Gonna start saving.

Originally posted by TURDFERGUSON
am so jealous of everyone who got to go. I don’t see how anyone could complain with all the amazing beers. 3 floyds didn’t bring enough rare shit? really? you are lucky they came at all. i would have killed to have been there this weekend. hope both fests happen again next summer. Gonna start saving.

Originally posted by GT2

Originally posted by TURDFERGUSON
am so jealous of everyone who got to go. I don’t see how anyone could complain with all the amazing beers. 3 floyds didn’t bring enough rare shit? really? you are lucky they came at all. i would have killed to have been there this weekend. hope both fests happen again next summer. Gonna start saving.

I think people were expecting Dark Lord to be on tap since DLD was literally a week or so before CBC.

All of the above (pretty much).

I also liked going to a seminar (went to the Troels Prahl one)
... But when he started he only had ½ hour - seemed a bit short.

CBC was the best fest of the year for me so far - and those of you who know me know that I do a lot of fests! The brewers worked their butts off, and the volunteers with the CBC T-shirts worked even harder (and did all the dirty jobs too). Best thing, like always, was meeting everyone - brewers and Ratebeerians alike.
Definitely looking forward to next year. I would worry more about deconflicting with the Haand festival (like was done this year) than any others.
As far as beer selection was concerned, it was just about the best of any festival I’ve ever seen, top three anyway. I think it’s best to just enjoy what’s on offer, because if you expect to find very specific beers, you’ll be disappointed more ofthen than not. And what was on offer was amazing! Urbain outdid himself yet again, and Terry’s stuff from Cabinet Artisinal (aka Farmers Cabinet) was awesome. I hope they work out a deal that brings more of their beers to Europe, but until then, come to Philladelphia or DC to get more!

My comments on my blog. Great brewers, great beers, great crowds - and then some food for thought.
http://knutalbert.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/copenhagen-beer-celebration-my-opinion/

Originally posted by Travlr
CBC was the best fest of the year for me so far - and those of you who know me know that I do a lot of fests! The brewers worked their butts off, and the volunteers with the CBC T-shirts worked even harder (and did all the dirty jobs too). Best thing, like always, was meeting everyone - brewers and Ratebeerians alike.
Definitely looking forward to next year. I would worry more about deconflicting with the Haand festival (like was done this year) than any others.
As far as beer selection was concerned, it was just about the best of any festival I’ve ever seen, top three anyway. I think it’s best to just enjoy what’s on offer, because if you expect to find very specific beers, you’ll be disappointed more ofthen than not. And what was on offer was amazing! Urbain outdid himself yet again, and Terry’s stuff from Cabinet Artisinal (aka Farmers Cabinet) was awesome. I hope they work out a deal that brings more of their beers to Europe, but until then, come to Philladelphia or DC to get more!

Here’s my take. CBC advertised itself as the best beer, the best food, and the best atmosphere, so I’ll talk about those.

BEER:

Pros:
- Struise brought their heavy hitters. The big stouts, 5 squared, Dirty Horse 1983, RR, etc. Awesome!
- Te Ol from Denmark was the surprise of the event for me.
- Westwood brought Mexican Cake, which was outstanding.
- Lost Abbey brought a BA Serpents Stout variant, which was also wonderful.

Cons:
- Besides the two exceptions above, the American brewers did a lousy job. It’s like they brought whatever was easy or convenient and assumed the dumb Europeans would be thrilled. Wasn’t DLD just last week? And wasn’t Hunapuh’s just released a month ago? Those would have been obvious choices. Struise always brings big shit to the USA, and the US brewers didn’t even come close to following suit.

FOOD:

Pros:
- Well organized. Feeding 1,000 people like that was impressive.
- The meal was very tasty, especially given how much they cooked.

Cons:
- The first "course" was a stale piece of bread on both days.
- The main course was increadibly small. I needed to scam a second plate to even have a chance. They greatly improved this on the second day.
- The snacks were outrageously expensive. $10 hot dogs.

ATMOSPHERE (will throw other stuff in here):

Pros:
- Everyone was in a good mood and there was beer involved.
- The Seminars were a great idea. They were fun and informative.
- There was enough space and it never got too crowded.

Cons:
- Miniimal seating, especially after 4:30 when they booted you.
- No water to rinse your glass. The big jug was a lost cause and it was empty by 5pm on the first day.
- WiFi was lousy.
- The insane price put a damper on things to a degree. $5 for a lot of the 3oz pours is a tough to swallow, especially when you paid $100 just to get in the door.

Conclusion:
I had a pile of fun, but the poor showing of the American breweries and the massive, massive price tag means I won’t be attending if there is a sequal. The value for money was a big letdown. I would, however, go up for S&B again. Despite the joke of a "dinner" there, the beers were phenomenal and the prices more reasonable.

Jeff

Originally posted by Jeffo1
especially when you paid $100 just to get in the door.

Conclusion:
I had a pile of fun, but the poor showing of the American breweries and the massive, massive price tag means I won’t be attending if there is a sequal. The value for money was a big letdown. I would, however, go up for S&B again.

Jeff

Or well... $90