2016-09-17 Small State Great Beer

Small State Great Beer - Great Idea with Poor Execution

We purchased VIP tickets (we know...we're spoiled!) as we have friends who own breweries and wanted to get in early to catch up with them ahead of the crowds. We also wanted to catch a few of the newbie breweries before the crowds set in. Little did we know that the only enjoyable time would be during the VIP hour.

The organizers completely oversold the event.  Once general admin opened, the lines were 20 - 40 minutes to get a 2 oz sample. I won't go in to details, but shoving 4000+ people into Constitution Square is a joke.  All I can do is give a huge thanks to the folks from the various breweries in attendance who shared their beers and maintained much more patience than I could in a situation like this.  Many of the brewers we spoke with were overwhelmed...pouring as fast as they could to keep attendees from getting pissed off.

The VIP time was awesome but the general admin portion of the event was poorly executed and (I say again) completely oversold.  Social media was blowing up with attendees who couldn't get samples and were trying to figure out how to get their money back.  I know it's easy to criticize but it just seems like the organizers were greedy...choosing to oversell the event rather than limit the number of attendees and host a bigger event next year.  Our craft brew scene in Connecticut is becoming awesome!  Poorly executed events like this will keep some people from participating in future festivals.

The night wasn't a total loss!  We bailed (with a boatload of other folks) around 7:15 PM and headed home where we enjoyed some great local beers with friends.





Cheers,
Christopher

2016-09-03 Hog River Brewing Company

We'll have to give these guys another try after several months. 

They had only been open two weeks when we dropped in for a pint (or two or three!). We walked in and sat at the bar and waited 10+ minutes. The staff was awesome...communicating that they were swamped and would get to us as soon  as possible. We didn't have a problem waiting.

The owner came by and informed us that we wouldn't be served at the bar and we needed to line up at one of the kiosks and order...nice to know after we had waited patiently! As we were headed to the kiosk, I heard him say to a staff member that he wished folks would follow instructions. Hmmmm...the only instructions posted are above the kiosks that say you can order there...doesn't say anything about not being able to order at the bar. We're not really impressed right now and don't plan on heading back anytime soon.

OK...on to the beers! Very rooted in German malts and yeasts. We sampled 7 offerings and took home a growler of the porter. We didn't experience a beer that committed us to coming back the next day to enjoy again. As I said...we'll give them a several months to get settled and give them another try.

Just a quick note - we tried to sample the porter two days later but the growler was completely flat! We couldn't give it a second try. We were totally bummed!

Again, they've just opened and have some bugs to work out. We'll head back again in several months for a real experience.

The day wasn't a total loss! We enjoyed the Jungle Crush at City Steam and closed down BackEast in Bloomfield, CT while enjoying their new sour!