Philly Craft Beer Festival

Philly Craft Beer Festival aka «The Sausage Festival» as there are 75% dudes that attend this event. I went to this Festival years ago when it was held indoors– they have since moved it outdoors in large tents in order to accommodate a larger crowd: meaning it was freezing. Luckily beer insulates the soul while your toes develop gangrene.
Food trucks were smartly parked and ready to serve the masses. Even better: many of them accepted credit cards. There was a cigar tent to really round out the dude-​ness of this festival. And though I believe there were 100% drunk people at this event, I did not see any rookie behavior of vomiting or public urination or openly humping. Brava. Save that activity for the wildly popular Ice Cream Festival. Upon reflection, I do realize there was one «A — HOLE» chant, that was well deserved and was light-​hearted enough to generate much happy laughter.
Please attend. So much fun. Buses to shuttle you back and forth were ample. People working there were surprisingly nice and patient. Don’t be a fool and make your pretzel necklace at home and bring it to this festival to consume so you don’t have to wait in a 30 minute food truck line. Or maybe do wait in line, give yourself a breather, and embrace the luxury of day drinking.

This place is great for trying out new brews! Especially when you consider the fact that in PA you have to buy a case most of the time.
The vendors are nice, for the most part, and they showcase some new beers as well as some classics.
Most of the people who attend are in good spirits and have a great demeanor. Every once and awhile you will get some idiots but that happens no matter where you go. Staff/​volunteers are helpful. Although beware of the guy in the Kilt, he can get a little grumpy over nothing at all. I will be back, for the beer but mostly, for the food trucks!

After reading some of the other reviews, clearly the organizers took the comments to heart. I went to the International installment of the craft brew fest. It was fantastic. There was a bus from AT&T station right to the main entrance of the festival. The place was laid out so that there was lots of open space to move around. The food trucks (with ample tables) were off to one side –brilliant idea as it led to people having some food and taking a break from drinking. The crowd was interesting and I really only saw 2 people vomit and 1 guy being weird– otherwise the crowd was just awesome people who love beer. Almost all of the tables had people who were really knowledgeable about the beers and where they came from– I was pretty pleased with that. There was not a line for the port a johns EVER… seriously they had a ton and there was no line… and they had portable sinks with water, but the water sadly ran out around 3pm. The only gripe I had was that it was 95 degrees that day and all of the food trucks ran out of water/​non alcoholic drinks… so the ONLY thing to drink was beer. Luckily, they let you bring in water from outside, so we had 2 big old bottles of warm water to help combat the booze and summer heat. Overall, I highly recommend this event. I would be sure to bring your own water. cash for the food trucks, and a good attitude :)

This has to be my favorite event of the entire year in Philadelphia. Seriously, I woke up the morning of this event feeling like it was Christmas morning. And my hopes and dreams were upheld!
This is the second time I’ve attended, the last time being 2 years ago when the event was in the cruise terminal building. This time, instead, there were two large tents set up in a rectangle (ish) shape with food trucks and porta potties making up the other two side of the lot. Lots of tables dispersed throughout the center of the lot. I have to say this location gave it a much bigger space to work with and therefore… MORE BEERS TO SAMPLE! Duh, obviously the best part.
This event hosted awesome vendors – there were plenty of brewers that I was familiar with and happy to see bringing some of my favorites (Flying Fish, I’m looking at you) and a whole bunch that I was also unfamiliar with (12% you are my new favorite). The food trucks were outstanding! Perfect addition to this event, as my last visit there was very few options for food.
Even though it was relatively cold out for an outdoor event, the cold was forgotten once inside the tents (or maybe once I was drunk…). The people in attendance, despite being mutually sloshed, were very friendly and polite. The porta potty lines were manageable. There was hardly ever a wait for beer.
I came with a great group of beer loving friends – we made our way in a large circle sampling more beers than I can count (or remember), had a food orgy at the food truck stations (that’s the only way I can describe it), danced to some Grateful Dead played by the awesome live band, and generally had all of my Beer Fest dreams come true. This day made me so happy. Maybe it was the group of people I was there with? Maybe it was my general love of craft beer? It was basically a perfect combo of all the things I love. Whatever it is, I’ll most definitely be going back year after year.

I’ve gone to every spring Philly Craft Beer Festival since the start 6 years ago and this past one was pretty disappointing. The location has moved from the vast insides of the Cruise Terminal to some tents in the middle of a parking lot in the Navy Yard. We got the VIP tickets so we were able to get in early and drink some «special» VIP beers. There was no order or direction to where these special beers were located so you had to either find the place that had the longest line or just happen upon them. I’m actually pretty happy that we sprung for the VIP tickets though because after the hour was up and general admission patrons starting pouring in, it was impossible to move/​get food/​go to the bathroom. More importantly, the beer selection wasn’t very great. The same brewers come year in and out and only a few bring different selections that I haven’t seen/​tried/​wanted to try. I’m not sure if this means that I’m getting old or what, but I think next year I’ll skip the beer fest and spend the day drinking my way around town where I’m sure to find some new and exciting beers and not have to push my way through crowds of people to do so.
I will say the addition of the food trucks was great. Everyone in our crowd was able to get something delicious to eat and didn’t have to settle for the hot dogs/​pretzels that were offered in years past.

When I paid the extra cash for VIP, I didn’t expect a line out the wahzoo when I got there minutes before the gates were scheduled to open. My expression had to be a tad incredulous when I was directed to such line; however, I was able to regroup and make light of other stupidities happening around me, such as one vendor’s generous charity, which was expired snack bars. Yum. Hope no one had nut allergies.
Moving forward, all was forgiven until I realized there was no particular order once inside the tent– as in, it seemed a bit «mass chaos-​y.» We had to locate some random gal to explain VIP meant nothing more than an hour of beer sampling before the commoners stampeded through the tents. While this was not advertised as such when I was purchasing tickets online, I later decided I was 100% overjoyed with my additional $ 30 decision since following that first hour, the tents resembled more of a mosh pit, than an organized beer tasting event.
I mean, I get it– everyone wants to make money, so you’re going to sell as many tickets as possible, but c’mon people, you must have an estimated head count at some point, so there’s no reason you should be undershooting the amount of comfortable space that requires. It’s logistics, not rocket science.
That being said, do I really need to mention the bathroom situation? Ok, here’s the math, my Festival-​planning Geniuses: if general admission makes a mad rush to begin drinking (nay, guzzling) alcohol at 1:30, and you’ve sold let’s say 500 tickets, there’s a very good chance there are going to be at least 350 folks who need to relieve themselves between 2:30 and 3:00. ORDER MORE PORTAJOHNS. It didn’t matter that it turned out to be a breathtaking, sunny day on the water’s edge, and I was surrounded by a ton of drunk, happy idiots– I could’ve pissed myself after standing in line for a half hour and not necessarily cared a lick.
One last thing, and I swear I’ll stop bitching. Sam Adams. Ohhhhh, Sam Adams. I cannot express how vigorously I’m wagging my finger at you. I was excited to see you there… until I saw the dizzy 20-​year-​old college girls you sent to represent you who knew jack about beer. Really? You couldn’t send someone who actually drinks Sams and knows something other than the best place to get their eyebrows plucked? They were completely disinterested in their main job– SERVING BEER.
Ok, so enough about the idiots pouring it. Let’s talk about the crap they were pouring. Sam Adams Boston Lager. Gee, thanks guys! I’ve NEVER had that before. Then there’s the Alpine Spring, which has to be the biggest embarrassment Sams has put out thus far… oh wait, maybe not because then I tasted the Whitewater IPA. An IPA, you say? Really? Perhaps you’re not familiar with the definition, but have no fear, you can find it on Google, and whatever is remaining of the Whitewater «IPA» should be discarded immediately.
Time to wrap this up. Yes, I had a ton of annoying complaints, but truth be told, I had a great time. It was a tolerant crowd; we had great weather; there was a decent beer selection; and there was some quality food. I hope my other half and I make it back for some much improved fun next year!

3.5 stars. This festival easily has the potential to rate 5 Stars, not because of the vast vendors and excellent beer selection, but improved logistics. This was the first year I attended the event and had high hopes based on what I saw on the website from previous years.
Apparently, this was the first year it was held in tents at the Navy Yard. Although it was a nice big open location near the water, it also led to some minor problems, mainly adequate ‘elbow room’ and poor foot traffic flow. During the VIP session, I quickly realized this was going to be a problem with the vast number of attendees even before the General Session started at 1:30. Fortunately, I was able to sample a good number of beers during the first hour with no issues. Lucky for me because it got worse after I ate lunch. The tents became completely packed to capacity, making me feel like I was trapped in Saturday night club… with no music (which also would’ve been nice).
Then the issue of the number of Porta Pots drew it’s ugly head, as lines began growing longer and longer as the afternoon drew on. Waiting 20 – 30 min. to use the restroom during a four hour event is ridiculous, considering this is beer festival which obviously requires proper facilities.
However, I didn’t allow either of these issues (which should be addressed next year with a larger event area and more restrooms) deter me from having a really fun afternoon of sampling some of the best beers in the area. The weather was beautiful, the beer/​vendors were great and the attendees were jovial and polite… at least those who weren’t ready to wet themselves in line.
See ya next year!

This was a great time! I bought tickets with a friend not knowing to expect but it ended up being really fun. Tons of people, but it’s in a huge building at the Navy Yard so the crowd was evenly dispersed. There were a good amount of breweries there, and even though you only got 2 oz. pours in your little plastic beerfest glass, they are unlimited!
We started off the festival like it was some kind of race, and realized about 15 minutes in that it was a marathon, not a sprint. Take your time or you will find yourself PRET-​ty tipsy in a short amount of time. The hot dogs/​pretzels/​other snacks they have help with this.
Tickets were almost $ 50, which is a little steep just for beer, but I looked at it as a way of saving money on future beers that I would have otherwise ordered and found out I didn’t like. I will definitely be here again next year.

OMG! If you love beer, this is the event not to miss. Over 50 breweries and over 100 beers. DO NOT MISS THIS EVENT!