Brian Lenzo has the anniversary party down. I commended him on the layout for the 2014 version and he told me that he keeps learning and I could tell because first and foremost it looked like he was having more fun this year than in the past and that is probably due to having all the moving parts finely tuned.
But it is to be expected from Blue Palms when they throw any party.
Here is what I liked about the running of the fest itself:
A) All the notices leading up to the affair noted how hot the party was going to be since part of it was outside. But Lenzo tweaked where the tents were to make a much better flow and utilized more indoor space as well to give people a respite from the sun.
B) Check in was efficient with mugs and tickets being handed out first so that when the doors opened, people could go right in.
C) Except for one bar location the signage was great. Easy to see what was pouring.
D) Good amount of seating. There can always be more but this was a good amount.
Enough of the inner workings, what about the beer? Two words. Holy Crap! What an amazing list of beers under the super heated Hollywood skies.
My top two of the day came from Anaheim and Noble Ale Works. With their Tongue Tickles IPA (on cask) and the Cinnamon Roast Crunch being my co-Best in Show. The Cinnamon had the benefit of being a variant of the awesome Naughty Sauce and a bright cinnamon aroma. Tongue Tickles benefited from the cask service which added a layer of creaminess that offset the bite of the hops plus the slow transformation from foam to beer was great to watch.
Next on my list was the Mo Hop from Golden Road and the Southern Tier IPA on nitro. There was no shortage of hops at the fest but these two shone the brightest to me. I also have to recommend the fun tropical beers that Monkey Paw brought from San Diego. A coconut IPA and a pineapple IPA. Both were weird but good if too sweet.
If you weren’t there, by all means head there this week for some awesome “leftovers”.
