Newport Beach Beerfest

I guess I’ve been waiting for me to be in a sour mood to write a review for this event. Cause originally, your girl was gonna rate this 3-​stars. Haha, but I like to be a follower and rate 1 star too.
I had high hopes for this event because cmon, beer fests are supposed to be awesome. But when I saw the flier in my email, I just giggled at the lack of professionalism — the event coordinators were probably taste testing the beers right? Those spelling errors are just so amateur.
I actually got the 2 «vip» tickets from Groupon, and if I worked for Groupon, I’d be embarrassed that I even partnered with Newport Beach Beerfest.
We got to the event an hour late because of other plans, but what the heck, the majority of the vendors not in the Vip section were already tapped out. Also, it was dark and you had absolutely no idea what breweries were present (no labels!). Pretty much just waited in endless lines to get a sample of unidentified, nameless beer, then switch on to the next line waiting for much longer than that buzz lasted.
eh… we tried to make the most of the situation but I would never pay to come to this event. I’d even have to think twice about attending for free. You would probably have to bribe me with free food as well.

I’m writing a 2-​star review to be a contrarian, and because some of the food this time was slightly better than when I went to Huntington Beer Fest by the same organizers in August ’14. And way more plentiful. The weather then was 85 and hot, no breeze. This one was 58 and gale force breeze. The line actually took a bit less time to get inside. Granted any long line still sucks.
Clearly most of the beers were not all that special and despite not touching any sand, there was always 1 – 2 specks of grit in in my last sip of beer (and thereby my teeth). I saw a lot of people serving which didn’t have anything to do with the brewery or know what they’re doing. Boo (who are these people?)
There were more vendors than I’d seen in the past, but I liked the choices more in the past. Invite key outside brews but promote local breweries and try to make sure they have a special limited brew for this event. 35 – 40 vendors is really ideal, not 50 that are «O.K.» I poured out beer at least 4 or 5 times, which was so unlike me, but there was a big rush just to taste as many as possible, get my money’s worth, and move on with my life. And frankly a few pours tasted kinda bad, which is surprising coming from me.
I left right before the music started (except the DJ… aka background music). At least it didn’t rain.
Parking was $ 10, I don’t remember reading this anywhere. Probably should’ve been announced. Keep my options open next time. I’ll go back to another beer fest soon, but gonna skip the dunes if I can.

Moved the event from summer to April… so it was 58 degrees with crazy wind. Got in around 8pm after waiting in the wrong line because there was no signage. ¹⁄₃ of the vendors were already done (but don’t worry, Shock Top was STOCKED). People working the booths weren’t all from the actually breweries and pours were insanely inconsistent, a guy in front of me got a full beer and I got like one finger of beer in my plastic cup. The late band (who had like 3 fans) had sound troubles and tried to start a fight with this pour old audio technician, were then told to get off the stage and went for an acoustic session on their bus.
Last year was pretty bad, but warm and manageable. This year sucked. I could also spend $ 28 at BevMo on any of the beers offered here (because none were exclusive or rare) and just chill on the beach instead.

«Newport Beer BUST». Where do I start? Unfortunately I invited many friends to this debacle. Your definition of an «Army of food trucks» fell woefully short, unless you call 7 trucks an Army? The site was not prepared properly or thoughtfully to handle the crowd. Upon arrival there was no one to direct or explain VIP vs General Admission, answer… None. In fact it would be more strategic to be on the GA side to take advantage of the proximity to the food trucks. I might suggest cushions on the sofa next time, who puts out a couch w/​o cushions? Where was Cocktail City Vegas with our VIP samples, where were the Souvenir Cups that were promised, again all these were featured on your web site and not delivered. This was not a professional effort by any stretch and you should refund all participants. Rating of 0 stars.

For my first ever review, I have to let everyone know how bad this event was. The VIP was pointless; when you arrive at 615 and don’t get in until 7, you know you’re going to have a bad time. Then, the VIP is a joke regardless, lines just as long as any where else and no cocktail samples as promised. Also, shame on Newport Beach Brewing Company. Was this their first rodeo? The local boys were tapped by 8pm. The bathroom line was longer than the line to get in. All in all a huge waste of time and money. The California Beer Festival in San Dimas is a 100 times better. Rockstar should take some pointers from them.

If only I could give zero stars. This event is THE WORST! Half hour wait just to get it. As people have said, VIP means nothing — pretty sure everyone there had been scammed on that one. No signage at booths, no reps from the beer companies, super weird crowd and vibe. Crazy long lines for a taster of beer and not even close to enough food trucks. Someone is making a ton of money on this because they oversell and have no one actually working the operation. Trust me when I say do NOT go next year. Wish someone had told me that before dropping my money on this joke.

Worst thing about this event? The sheer disregard for the safety of attendees before or AFTER the event. There was no crowd control or traffic control, so people were meandering everywhere afterwards. Cabs? No. Parking areas? No. Traffic cops? No. I was glad I took a cab there until I left and could not find one.
Yeah, it was bad. Got the VIP. Got there before 6:00 for a 6:00 entry. Didn’t get in until 6:30. Had maybe 5 food trucks, not enough tables for eating, and very little signage at each beer tent letting you know about the brewery or offering. After 7:30 it was so crowded, beer began to run out, trash piled up, and bathrooms were unreachable. There was literally no redeeming quality other than I thought a good number of beers (which didn’t matter since they obviously didn’t limit admission at all) and a good amount in each pour. I disagree with the reviewer who complained about too much beer per pour. They needed more kegs; not less beer in the pour.
Also, my gf consistently got more beer per pour than I did. Obvious preference to the ladies, there.
Email these folks and tell then what’s up!!!
For Marketing and Sponsors:
For Non-​Beer Vendors:
For Beer Vendors:

Over sold tickets long lines for beers to run out at 8:30. You couldn’t move around. No lighting to see the tents when it got dark. Not enough bathrooms for the amount of people. Bad selection of music for a beer fest. No organization!

Such a Disappointment! They definitely oversold. Ran out of beer within an hour and a half, everyone was VIP (meant nothing), no place to walk except in between lines of people wanting beer that had already ran out. There were no signs on the pop ups (except the big name brands) so you had no idea what you were waiting in line to taste. Food Trucks but not enough seating to eat your food. I «heard» they had double the attendance this year, their website said they had 3,000 people last year. so if that was true there would have been 6,000 people trapped in a relatively small beach area of the resort. Not a safe or fun way to enjoy a Beerfest. I really expected more from this event.. Hopefully more patrons will write reviews and the organizers will make changes.

So bad… way too crowded, they ran out of beer before 8:30 and there were not enough bathrooms. The vip section was a joke!

The absolute most unorganized, overcrowded beer fest I have ever attended!!! The so called «vip» section was around 2000sq and packed with a million ppl. No rare beers in sight, the only thing I could see were Newport sutra hood rats dancing to techno, who the hell has a dj at a beer fest … Oh and the pours where so large that most breweries tapped out at 8pm… Highly recommend you not waste your time coming her it’s seriously a joke.