We start off 2013 with a thorny question. The Beer Festival idiots. I was spurred to write about this after reading a blog post on the Heretic Brewing website, which you can read HERE
The above post can’t really be argued with. There are many festivals (including the grand-daddy of them, GABF) that have a major component of people who just want to get hammered. Blotto. Whatever you want to call it. There is one beer fest in the L.A. area that I will not attend again because that percentage is so high and the beer knowledge so low that I fear that people will start keeling over from alcohol poisoning.
Now, I do not know if that is OK from the standpoint of the event organizer or not. But I do know that it is an atmosphere not conducive to learning about beer and it sure as hell doesn’t make it any fun at all for the brewer or brewery staff who man the booth and have to put up with it.
The only way to stop that behavior is to charge more for tickets ($45 at least, $90 for GABF) and to have a cap of 10 beer tickets max. I know that this means that I will pay more and get less but I will gain a lot of elbow room and I will feel safer getting home because the drunkards will be elsewhere. And hopefully, if the cost is higher then some of that extra money can go to reimburse the brewers (who usually don’t get paid) or send more to the charity that usually is part and parcel to a festival. Throw in a couple rare beers or a food ticket and if the breweries are good then the people (who love “tasting” beer) will flood through the doors.
And I think that there will be side benefits as well. Brewers will probably start to return to their place inside the booth and the grumpy beer snob folk who only want their beer served by the person who brewed it and absolutely no one else will be sated. Two sets of people happier right there! Smaller crowds mean less parking and security and bathroom needs as well. It means the lines will be smaller and the decibel volume will be less so you can talk without screaming.
It’s paradoxical but I would go to many more events if I knew that I didn’t have to put up with the louts and asshats who should stay home drinking bathtub gin instead of being out in public.
I applaud the use of “louts and asshats.” You also make some good points. How many beers do people really need to drink throughout the course of a three or four hour event? Also, even if the format’s all you can drink, people typically self-regulate. Why do you think the nameless event (which I’m sure I recognize) gets so out of control?
I am sure you do know the fest of which I speak. I think there is also an aspect of remembering college or youth involved in drinking oneself into oblivion. I can’t imagine waking up with a hangover is fun at any time.