I spent yesterday afternoon at Principal Park in Des Moines taking part in the Cityview Brewfest. It was a dreadfully hot afternoon but as drinkers entered the front gates they were greeted by giant tubs full of complementary bottles of water. A few other stations
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with free water were also posted around the Park’s concourse along with drinking fountains.
If not for the abundance of free water and the fact that the entire event took place in the shade, things could have gotten awful pretty quickly. Luckily though, that wasn’t the case, and it was an amazing event!
All told there was somewhere in the range of 375 beers available for sampling and I did my best to get my money’s worth. It was my first beerfest of any kind and I learned a lot of lessons on what to do, and what not to do at an event like that.
Upon my arrival at the four hour event I decided to get as many samples as I could. I was nearly jogging to get from table to table to try as many one ounce samples as I could. At the first few tables I sampled three or four of the six to seven available. The upside of that was that I got a better range as to the actual quality of those breweries instead of just one or two samples.
The downside of sampling multiple beers at each table was that I got drunk much quicker than I should have if I wanted to actually evaluate the beers I was trying out. That little misstep meant that we had to take an extended break in order to get ready for round two.
While at a table sucking down some water we were joined by three other jolly beer drinkers taking a break. There was almost no interaction between the two groups until they got up to leave and as a parting gift gave us a stack of tokens for free entry to a local strip club.
We paced ourselves much better once we were back at it by not drinking for quantity anymore. Instead we focused our efforts more closely on finding quality beers; I was particularly on the lookout for beers I had never tried.
The whole brewfest was fun, but as with anything, there were some clear high-points. The Sam Adams tent was deservedly one of the best spots at the fest. They had all of their usual suspects there for sampling but they also had three beers from their imperial series and one special treat. Sam Adams is currently taking votes between a Belgian Style IPA and American Rye Ale. I got to cast my vote (American Rye) and in exchange for my troubles I got a nifty keychain.
Another of the best spots to hit was the Boulevard Brewery table. Like Sam Adams they had their usual suspects, but they also featured all four of their Smokestack Series beers. I had never tried out any of the Smokestack Series so I went through their line four times so as to try them all.
My third big highlight was all of the local breweries present. No matter where I am, I’m always a big fan of local brew. In Champaign I enjoyed going over to the Blind Pig Brewery on Fridays. In Fort Worth, not much beats the Saturday afternoons at Rahr Brewing. At brewfest we had the brewpubs Rock Bottom Brewing, Granite City Brewery, Court Avenue Brewing, and Raccoon River Brewing. The Iowa breweries present included the standards of Olde Main, and Millstream. Also there were a few breweries I’m less familiar with such as Hub City Brewing Company, Madhouse Brewing, and a few others. I want to give a special mention here to Peace Tree Brewing down in Knoxville, IA. I got an email from Megan at Peace Tree Brewing before the brewfest reminding me to be sure to stop by their table. I wasn’t familiar with Peace Tree before she emailed me so I got a six of their Red Rambler, it was pretty good. At brewfest I had them pour me a sample of their Blonde Fatale, it amazed me. It isn’t currently available in stores but be sure you’re watching closely for it, I can’t wait until I can buy it at my local grocery store!
I had a lot beer Saturday, but my two favorites were the Long Strange Tripel and the Sam Adams Imperial White. I’ve always liked both breweries, but these two beers were FAR beyond anything I’ve come to expect from either.
Overall, brewfest was an incredible event; I can barely believe that Des Moines is lucky enough to host something like it. Cityview and the other sponsors really deserve some cheering on for bringing it to town. Here’s hoping that it keeps growing and getting even better in the future!
