Recently, I got another reason to like Mr. Beer. Eric G, the brew master there, offered me an all-session pass to GABF this year. The only thing he asked in return was that I hang out in the Mr. Beer booth for awhile each session.
Of course I said "yes". I do not know the exact value of the 4 tickets, but it is over $200.
Well ... I have a bunch of pictures. No real commontary on the experience other than I drank a lot of nice beers.
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| This is my first beer of the night. |
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| Mr. Beer Booth. |
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| Why doesn't AB have any customers? |
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| Blue Moon looked to be pretty popular |
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| GCB: the 2nd largest brewery in Golden. |
I do have to say, the whole thing was awesome. It is a little overwhelming to have hundreds of breweries to choose from, but you just have to let yourself go with the flow.
I really enjoyed spending time in the Mr. Beer booth, too. I got some "inside scoop" from Peter (marketing guy at Mr. Beer) and Eric G. It was pretty cool to talk to people who either were already using Mr. Beer or interested in starting with Mr. Beer.
How exciting :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a place to be... (eyes loose focus, dreams and drools at the same time)...
ReplyDeleteWow, that looks great. I am really looking forward to reading more.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that Mr. Beer is at this thing. It is such a good product and has probably done as much as any company in promoting the "beer revolution" that the GABF represents. Are other homebrew businesses (like, say, Coopers, Muntons, Blichman Engineering, etc.) there too?
By the way, I personally think its great that AB is at the GABF. No, I would hardly expect GABF folks to rush in to "try" Budweiser. Even a Bud lover (like me) would rather take the opportunity to taste the latest Double Pumpkin IPA or something crazy like that. We can find Bud just about everywhere - especially my fridge - and of course familiarity does breed contempt. But I really don't understand all the contempt. The fact that they're there shows that even the big guys are paying lots of attention to changing beer tastes (as with American Ale that I see in the picture). Blue Moon (which is a Coors' product, right?) is just another example.
Dave ... based on the response so far, I think Mr.B will be back next year. Eric says he is trying to get budget to go to the AHA conference in San Diego next year, too. I didn't see any other homebrew type booths, but I was sort of concentrating on the breweries. I know Briess and Wyeast and Northern Brewers are sponsors, so they must be around ... I just didn't see them.
ReplyDeleteBTW ... Peter told us that Mr.B is working on a project with Blichman which sounds interesting. Should be out next year. Sounds like they have lots of plans to expand the product line long term which is nice.
You are right. Of course AB should be there. I didn't stop by the AB booth, but they had a Michelob booth too that I stopped by. And, people did stop by the AB booth ... just were none when I snapped the picture. While I am not a Bud fan, I don't think I contempt AB. I do like the Bud American Ale and have had my share of bud light at various sporting events. I'm not a complete beer snob about the BMC breweries.
Good stuff, Eric. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI wonder what they're cooking up with Blichman . . .