A little over a week ago, Susan and I headed out to South Street Seaport for the 2nd annual New York Brewfest. Five hours, lots of brewers, and a free commemorative (real) tasting glass - how could it be anything but good?
I wasn’t sorely mistaken on that point but I wasn’t too far away from feeling that way.
Trainwreck is the best way to describe the whole of the experience. If the forty minutes spent waiting in line just to get our IDs checked wasn’t a sign of what the event would be like, the massive crowds “inside” the event should have been a bright red wailing siren.
Maybe I’ve been spoiled by my experience with BA and their fests but the planning for NY Brewfest was beyond piss-poor. If it wasn’t the planning that sunk the event, then execution was sorely lacking.
- What’s the maximum capacity for the amount of space they “blocked off” for this event? It seemed as if the pier was beyond filled to capacity. Limiting the number of tickets to a more manageable number, considering the layout of the space, would prevent the crowding and bottlenecking I witnessed and endured. Another solution would be to divide into two or even three sessions stretched out over two days.
- I understand the Seaport is public space but would it have killed them to exercise restricting the space to ticket-holders? There were too many people wandering in and out that weren’t there for the event but were taking up space nonetheless.
- I won’t even touch the long line I waited on to gain entry - that’s another problem that could be resolved with limiting tickets. Additional people checking IDs wouldn’t hurt either - I mean, what’s the point of having more ticket-takers than ID checkers if you end up bottlenecking at the ID check?
- There just wasn’t enough beer for the amount of people who showed up. Once again, this could be solved by limiting ticket sales. Would it have helped if the brewers knew in advance how many tickets had been sold before they made the trip? Of course, that’s assuming they weren’t given advance notice - if they were, they planned poorly.
- The layout was atrocious. Make the space work for you - don’t feel constrained by the space given to you. Part of the beauty of the Cylorama that BA uses for their fests is that they lined all the tables along the walls of the building. One giant circle, attendees in the middle, no bottlenecks.
I got on the line at 5:30 and was in at 6:10; I was gone by 8:30 though that mostly had to do with way too many booths running out of beer by that time. I don’t think I’ll be making a return trip to NY Brewfest in 2008.
Now, the real question is: should this experience sour me on attending Brewtopia next month?
Susan, enjoying the Smuttynose Imperial Stout.
On to Victory Prima Pils - a tasty beer by any measure and I’m not usually a fan of pilsners.
A list of beers I tried and a link to information regarding each beer.
- Smuttynose Imperial Stout (+)
- Southampton Grand Cru (=)
- Southampton Double White Ale (+)
- Buffalo Brewpub Buffalo Lager (-)
- Buffalo Brewpub Amber Ale (-)
- John Harvard HOPpopotamus (+)
- Crop Circle Amber Ale (-)
- Captain Lawrence Liquid Gold (+)
- Blue Point Blueberry Ale (+)
- Southern Tier Raspberry Wheat Ale (-)
- Ommegang Rare Vos (+)
- Ommegang Hennepin (+)
- Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot (+)
- Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA (+)
- Victory Prima Pils (+)
- Rogue Ales Dead Guy Ale (+)
- Blue Moon Belgian White (+)
- Harlem Sugar Hill Golden Ale (-)
- Pacific Rim Vashon Old Stock Ale (+)
- Peak Organic Nut Brown Ale (+)
- Saranac Octoberfest (+)
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
All that beer in about two hours? Cheers to you!
Well, they were only 2 oz samples;)