NYC Craft Beer Festival

What a difference from last years event :(
Me and one of the people I went with last year arrived for the evening session at 7pm just as we have in the past. From the moment we walked in, and despite being among the first to enter, one third of the vendor booths were empty. ONE THIRD! We were out of beer to try by 8pm.
I spoke to an event organizer, who explained a lot of the vendors ran out of beer after the first session and left. No one bothered to inform us of this upon entering, and no vouchers or compensation was offered. To make matters worse, some vendors appeared to be getting restocked with more beer, but they were warm. Towards the end we were served warm beer at about three booths before we decided to just leave. A lot of these booths that had run out and were being restocked did not have workers from the actual breweries behind the tables, but volunteers, who didn’t know anything about the beer they were serving and were often working multiple tables at one time, stacking their cans of warm beer right on the tables.
There was no live music this time around. They had at least two cigar vendors, but only three food vendors: The Bacon Jam people, a booth with $ 15 bags of beef jerky, and Rosamunde’s. So… less of everything, basically.
I did contact the organizers letting them know that if one third of their vendors are not present, I expect to pay one third less for my ticket. With tax and fees, my ticket came to $ 61.54. That is absolutely outrageous for the experience we had. Unless the organizers make an effort to make this right it will be the last NYC Craft Beer Festival I attend.

The beer was good, but none of the pourers knew anything about the beer and none were from the actual breweries. There used to be a live band, but this year was just mainstream music. Could have been better. Food was great!

This was a really fun event! I won tickets and had the pleasure of attending this festival at the lexington armory. I had never been to the armory before, but it’s a really large historical looking building. The staff and security were all really nice, and helped me with the few questions that I had.
Once inside, there were various breweries spread out throughout the hall creating aisles that you can walk through. I finally got to try sixpoint brewery & the bronx brewery beers! I liked that it was busy in there, but never super packed. I didn’t have to wait for more than a few minutes to get my beer sample. Along with the breweries, there were vendors there selling food, shirts, and other various items. Chocolate covered bacon anyone? It was also very convenient that they had seats set up in the middle and water coolers all over. Of course, they also had a Unilocal booth that included a photo booth!
The only complaint I had, is there seemed to be a lack of air circulation going through there. The edges of the building were cool, but if you hung out towards the middle it would heat up really quickly. I wish they would have opened all the doors or turned on the AC to get some circulation up in there.
Overall, this is a really fun event and definitely worth checking out. Even though my ticket was free, it’s definitely worth the actual price of the ticket. For unlimited samples you will get more than $ 50 worth of beers and have the chance to try a large variety.

Thank you Unilocal.Wonderful event!
Was served with 2 VIP ticket to this annual event. I got access to their party downstairs as well as over 30+ type of beer upstairs. To be honest, only benefit for the VIP is get in 1 hour ahead of everyone else. I am not a fan of downstairs special area because the beer is too exotic. Beside no line, I didn’t find any of those special compare to the one above.
Upstairs is where the party really is. Wait is not long at all if you just drink and chill around. Go to the back for a few snack or get those jerky. with a crowd around 20s and 30s, it’s pretty good thing to do by bringing a date however I think you can spend that money at better stuff thou.
Overall, it’s a wonderful experience however for the price I really hope to get some free food too.

Great selection of breweries, terrible selection of beer.
It seemed as though the event organizers went to a distributor and asked for the cheepest craft beer they could find. Then they had volunteers, who had zero knowledge of the beer itself, pouring (got a couple «this ones is light, the other one is dark, but I’ve never tasted them so I can’t tell you» from pourers). The few booths that did have people from the breweries pouring were the best (Sierra Nevada, Sixpoint, Montauk, Gun Hill, and maybe 1 or 2 others — total maybe ¹⁄₁₀ of all stands).
To top it off, some of the breweries ran completely out of beer before the general admission was even let into the building (New Holland specifically, a few others as well). Others ran out, but they had more beer, but it took 20+ minutes to restock. Not acceptable when I’ve paid close to $ 60 for 2.5 hours of craft beer.
I bought my ticket early and paid $ 55 + fees. Anyone who paid over $ 70 (VIP + fees) was basically scammed.
This will be my last year attending this festival. Past years had been better but it seems as though the organizers stopped giving a crap about the experience and more about profit. What a shame.

This event used to be 5 stars but it has changed! The summer beer festival contained warm beer sitting out in the hot sun. The event staff was not resupplying vendors with ice quickly enough. The halloween beer fest was a mess as well. Due to the date move they were understaffed and had a single person pouring as many as 6 beers. This lead to long lines, and stressed volunteers. Additionally some of the breweries packed up early as they were not getting beer resupplied fast enough and were tired of telling people they were waiting on more. The price keeps going up, and the quality keeps going down.

Been to two of these this year and the last one for during the Halloween weekend. Took my daughter (newly inducted into the 21 and over club), we had a blast and a nice buzz. In the beginning you take advantage of the huge selection of beers from all over.
As the day progresses (and the buzz begins) you’re more concerned about get as many beer shot as possible. Good for dates, or just want to hang out with your buds.

Rip off for the price, no organization, no variety, organized by thieves that want to full people

This was an amazing event! I’m always a little apprehensive about food and drink events of this size because a lot can go wrong (looking at you Googa Mooga), but this event was organized very well.
I got a general admission ticket and the doors opened for us exactly at 7:01. I loved that they didn’t waste precious beer tasting time by opening the doors late.
They give out large shot glasses to get your samples, and there’s multiple water coolers around with garbage cans underneath so you can rinse out your glass (though some extra-​prepared vendors had pitchers of water and would do this for you). I came with two friends, and I think three people is the perfect number for tasting. I couldn’t have drank a full glass from each place but this way we would each get a different beer and try each others.
I liked everything Trout Town Brewery was giving out, and they sell in the weirdest outer borough locations– like Cherry Valley and Fillmore’s. They’re local to the state, woot woot!
Buddy System from Finback is a great IPA– and it’s made in Queens!
Catnip White IPA was also good and I don’t remember why…
I absolute fell in love with Ace’s Apple Honey Cider.
The Dark Pumpkin Sour from Almanac had so much going on, was really different than other things I’ve tried, very nice.
Nine Pin Cider Work’s Belgian beer was also a big, big favorite.
And…because apparently I just couldn’t get enough cider, Blackberry Pear from Cirspin rocked my world too.
The food vendors were great too, though I didn’t want to spend too much time eating. Rosamunde’s pretzels were delicious, Dos Toros had some carnitas tacos– but their habanero scotch bonnet hot sauce stole the show. They warned me it was hot and I laughed in their faces… then proceeded to take my tipsy butt elsewhere so I could pant and sweat in peace. I loved it. I also bought a bottle of The Bacon Jams red chilie and garlic bacon jam. Nomnomnom, this stuff is freakin fantastic. But by far the best food product I purchased that day was the Tomato Garlic Oil from Cheeky Monkey. I met the owner and creator, Lea, working her table and we chatted for a bit. She’s a great lady with an absolutely drop dead delicious product. It’s incredible and I can’t wait to use it on everything. Seriously, everything.
There were games (no time– beer!) and at one point a somewhat loud marching band in the center of the space. They also were playing music from speakers. I remember Red Hot Chili Peppers and Frank Sinatra (New York, New York of course).
If you’re really set on trying every single beer (that was my own intention at the outset), a VIP ticket will probably make that a little easier. It’s not impossible to do it with a general admission ticket, but you have to make it a mission and won’t have time to savor much or socialize– and things like seminars are completely out of the question. In the end I decided to relax my ambitions and tried about 40 beers, a far cry from the approximate 150 they offered. I wish the event had been more than 2 ½ hours long, because it’s hard to get to everything in such a short time, and by the 2 hour mark a good chunk of breweries had run out of beer. But maybe making it longer would mean people get too drunk and sloppy, so I’m torn.
I only have two suggestions for the organizers. One is to hand out a little check list so people can keep track of all the beers they try. I have the Untappd app which made things a lot easier (if you love beer and haven’t downloaded this yet you really should).
Also, figure out the bathroom situation. A 30 minute line at an alcoholic event isn’t really practical. I ended up having to run outside first to Popeyes (which has no bathroom for customers) and finally to Saravana Bhavan, whose employees were nice enough to let me use theirs without even buying anything. Thanks guys! I also found out vendors don’t have their own bathrooms, so they have to wait along with everyone else. Totally inconvenient for them!
But overall I had a BLAST. Supposedly there is a fall version, and I will definitely be buying a ticket :)

I don’t frequently attend beer festivals. Actually, this may be only my second ever and it was LIGHT YEARS better than the Living Social one I attended about 2 years ago in that huge clock bank building near Atlantic/​Pacific in Brooklyn. First off, I attended both as a volunteer through the wonderful company One Brick Friday night and then again as a VIP attendee on the Saturday afternoon session. I never thought I would say this, but pouring beers for people is actually ridiculous amounts of fun. Great way to connect with people even if they may be tipsy. But chatted a bunch with people about different types of beers. Had some people come up to me to feed me with pretzels and beef jerky. Lol. It was fun and I was representing a beer that was new to me from Kansas City, Missouri — Boulevard Brewing Company. Yeah, Midwest! Get it.
Actual event the next day was even more fun! Obviously! It was like being in beer candy land. That extra hour you have for VIP status I think is totally worth the purchase. The VIP room down in the basement, maybe not so much. Though, I had a comped ticket. They had a few rare beers, ciders, and meads, and alcoholic beer concoctions that I had never heard of and were fun trying. A few tables spread out and one sofa. But overall, the vip room was kind of lame. The luxury of jumping from table to table with zero lines was not lame. It was glorious. Even after the general patrons came in I have to say that the crowd was well spread out and evenly distributed. It was a rare moment for me to have to wait more than 60 seconds to sample a new beer.
Going in you definitely need a strategy if you want to sample the majority of beers. At first, I took full flutes. That plan lasted about five minutes before I realized this will fill you up fast. Take half a flute of your samples. Trust. There are over 150 beers to go through! If you are travelling around with a buddy, this makes it even easier. Steph P. and I would take halfsies and switch mid-​way through to make sure we tried everything.
Favorites of the Event: Founder’s not released anymore Old Curmudgeon (very earthy and tasting of mulled wine almost) as well as their Blushing Monk (a very strong fruit wheat raspberry ale). Dog Fish Head’s Ancient Danish Ale Kvasir tasting of lingonberries, cranberries, myrica gale, yarrow, honey and birch syrup. Dark Horse Brewing from Marshall, MI was BANGING as well with a blueberry milk stout and a chicory smoked stout. Both insanely unique and phenomenal. Dyckman Beer Company’s Café Con Leche Milk Stout was actually one of the first beers I sampled but insanely memorable as one of the best. This is a New York beer company?! I’ll definitely be seeking them out in the future. The cocktalians in the basement were a nice touch. My favorite was probably the Winter’s Brew: whiskey and cider together? Yes, please.
Food vendors were on hand for emergencies. Lol. Samples of Cabot’s lactose free cheeses. Samples of a variety of jams that I unfortunately can’t remember the name of the company but they had a really great raspberry chicory smoked jam that I imagine would compliment anything with cream cheese well. I broke Lent to sample Steph’s Tipsy Scoops cake batter vodka martini flavored fro-​yo. It’s that good. Soft pretzels, empanadas, tacos. Rasamunde sausage grill was there as well and I definitely splurged on a huge cheddar bratwurst after my first night of working there. Would I do the Summer and what I hope will also be an Autumn beer event again? You betchya! Ten million thumbs up and 10,000 Unilocal Stars.

Now that the hangover has subsided due to my binge eating and Orange juice /​Powerade binge drinking, I can now write a review.
There are 2 standard procedures of this festival. While you are outside waiting to get in there will be ID checks to ensure that you are 21 and over to attend. You get slapped with a red paper bracelet that signifies this. Once you get inside your tickets whether it be in paper printout form or on your mobile device, it will be scanned and you allowed admittance.
VIPS get a special colored bracelet to enter the VIP section which is convenient located in the basement level close to the men’s and women’s bathrooms.
As this is a tasting event I always try to try everything by asking for very small pours and larger pours once I’ve found the beer (s) I like. Of course, not everyone follows this method and MANY, MANY glasses of beers get wasted.: /​
Some of my new likes from this festival :
1) MOODY TONGUE PEACH NECTAR — Delicious, great peach tasting notes throughout but it does have a slightly funky aftertaste.
2) PRAIRIE ARTISAN STANDARD HOPPY — Don’t let the name fool you. This ISN’T hoppy at all. It was VERY drinkable and very smooth.
3) ACE HONEY CIDER — Honey flavor on the lighter side but great cider overall and I love this company’s other ciders namely pear and pineapple.
4) ABITA GRAPEFRUIT — Bitter but finishes smooth.
5) ORIGINAL SIN APRICOT — Sweet, tasty, and light bodied.
6) CIDER BOYS PEACH — I think this is my NEW personally favorite. GREAT peach flavorful and oh so good.
7) CIDER BOYS RASPBERRY SMASH — F L A V O R F U L.
8) MINE PIN BELGIAN HARD CIDER — If you like dry ciders such as Woodchuck, then this is the cider for you.
9) MINE PIN CIDER WORKS — Again, this cider is DRY.
10) REDSTONE MEADERY VANILLA BEANS AND CINNAMON STICKS — The sweetness of the honey is very nice and the body is quite potent. I am really a big mead fan now.
VIP COCKTAILS —
1) WINTER’S BREW — Who knew that cider and whiskey can mesh very well in a cocktail? One of the best new cocktails that I will either be ordering or making at my own leisure.
2) FIREY REDHEAD — I do love gingers. But now I love them as cocktails as well. OH SO GOOD.
Tipsy Scoops is perhaps one of the highlights of this festival for me. As I was a fan of them before I’ve ever tasted them. Now that I have. Here are my thoughts on it.
A) CAKE BATTER VODKA MARTINI — The ice cream had a thicker consistency yet the flavors was no compromised. It was very tasty. Not a strong vodka kick.
B) CHOCOLATE STOUT AND SALTY PRETZEL — This was just okay. Not really anything to rave about.
C) DARK CHOCOLATE WHISKEY SALTED CARAMEL — VERY NICE medium Whiskey flavor. I did ask what whiskey and was told Troy’s Whiskey. This is the flavor to get.
D) CINNAMON + HARD CIDER — VERY DELICIOUS. Flavors are strong and the tasting notes meshes very well. This is ALSO the flavor to get.
Overall, I feel that the craft beer festival Autumn which is hosted by the same company as this one was better. However, Spring Seasonals was still pretty good.
The space was very accommodating. Besides a few bathroom malfunctions and just long lines going to the loo, I had a great time and I highly recommend this festival.
FAN.

Such an amazing event! This was one of the hoppiest days I’ve had this year… so many beers… it was brewtiful!
There were smany local and non-​local domestic craft beers represented here of all types — wheats, stouts, porters, lagers, you name it and someone had it!
The food vendors were also really great — there were tacos, empanadas, delicious bratwurst, ice cream and cookies (courtesy of the fine people at Tipsy Scoops).
I will elaborate more later, I promise :):

Love a good beerfest! Good amount of beers represented. Fell in love with a few ciders and had my fill of the good dark beers. Highly recommend doing the VIP entrance time as it gives an extra hour to taste before the big crowds arrive. They checked ID’S in line so the delay getting in was minimal. But get there a little early as that line goes around the building. Sad that the booths were staffed by only pourers, who had no clue about what they were serving. We were directed to use the scan code provided at some stations or to talk to someone at a booth in the middle with our questions. Not instant feedback that I like. Nothing against the pourers but send a representative! Food choices sounded tasty, but I ate beforehand. Small but Interesting choice of swag vendors. Overall good, festive day and experience.

I had so much fun here. the vendors were awesome, friendly, and knowledgable for the most part! Would definitely go again.

Expensive, albeit well-​run beer festival. It wasn’t crowded, the volunteer staff was friendly and the beers were great.
Overall, it was surprisingly low key for a Friday night fest. The breweries were not organized in any fashion, which is not very important but definitely helpful if you want to focus on one region or country.
The armory is, as always, hot and steamy, but that isn’t the event’s fault. They need to invest in some high powered fans.
NYC Craft Beer Festival is a solid option if you’re looking to sample within the city. There were promo codes through Untappd and a few other sites/​services, so make sure to use one of those to cut down on the cost per ticket.

I really enjoyed myself at this event. There were a great variety of breweries represented and I tried so many beers I normally may not have. I don’t think I would attend again, but I’m glad I did and would recommend fellow beer lovers to try it out.
My only recommendations would be a different venue. It was so hot in the armory. People were crowding in front of the few move n cools and fans to try and cool down. It would also be nice if there had been some areas to sit.

This was a really cool event and definitely worth the money. You definitely get wasted drinking out of 2 ounce shot glasses for 2 and a half hours.
They had tons of beer here and a lot of great local breweries which you do not really get to try elsewhere. Kuka was one of my favorite breweries there they had a great banana beer. They also have stations where you can rinse your glasses out with water.
Place was packed in the beginning and you had to wait on lone to get beer at first (very shjort lines). As the night progressed there weren’t really any lines. Coat check line was long as well and I would suggest getting here a half hour early because the line to get in wraps around the building.
They also were selling a lot of food items (overpriced of course). They had a jerkey vendor there and it was $ 11 a package but was honestly the best jerky I have ever had in my life. They had a ton of different flavors too.
The one thing I will klnoock about the festival is that a lot of breweries were putting beers in pitcher so they could serve faster, but once the beer has been sitting in a pitcher for a while it becomes kind of gross.

I scored some free passes due to my blog for the NYC Craft Beer and Jazz Festival on July 20^th and had a great time. Was able to attend the afternoon session and get in on the special VIP hour to start! Winning! That was the way to go for this one. Get in early, hang out for a few hours to sample most of the terrific beers here, take in some music and eats, then clear out before the masses made it an overcrowded mess.
Yes, I ended up staying for most of the first session anyway and I felt it was not to crowded. Since it was held at Webster Hall it was situated over multiple floors and rooms. If one area got too hard to maneuver through we made it over to a different one to sample the beers there. Many local brewers were on hand with a selection of summer brews and seasonal beers. Being that it was a hot summer day out this was a perfect choice of beers to sample. The VIP hour made it so easy to try out the more popular brews and get around each floor before the crowd came in. They even has some beer education classes going on during the session but I did not have a chance to sit in on one.
Some cool food choices to help fill your belly and soak up some of the beer. Rosamunde Sausage, Savory Pie, Stone Street Tavern, and a few others. Pretzel and jerky stands were also here. Cortez hand rolled cigars is always a fine choice to pick up a few stogies. You can watch them rolled and being made right at the booth.
One con was that they should have had maps printed out and distributed to the attendees, as there was only one on a board near the entrance. With so many beers here over multiple levels it would have been nice to have a guide in hand to know where everything was. As a veteran beer-​fester I have been to many of these and most always hand out maps showcasing where each beer is located.
Another con was that most of those working the taps were just hired temps to serve beers but had little knowledge of the actual brews and makers. Would have been nice to have been able to learn more about what I was drinking.
Webster Hall is a historic venue but not the best spot for an event of this size. Too many slippery and at times narrow stairs to climb getting to each floor. Not good if really buzzed! Still, it offered a unique way to have a beer fest and moving from room to room was a fun way to discover new brews. Overall though it was well organized, plenty of beer choices over multiple floors, a fun crowd, and the AC was on too! Not overly crowded for afternoon session. Live band to entertain. VIP hour ruled. Beeeeeerrrrrr!!!

The beer fest was fun as all beer fests are fun by default, but not particularly impressive as a craft beer event. The regular 2.5-hour ticket was more than enough to try all the beers and get heavily inebriated without really trying.
Some things I liked:
–Very local feel with breweries from Queens and Yonkers I would otherwise not experience.
–Crowded but not as crazy as I thought it would be. We sampled most of the beers with plenty of time to spare and socialize. No VIP passes needed.
–Union Jack, Sculpin, and Stone were there
–Webster Hall is not a good venue for beer events (though having it in a ventilated indoor space on a hot day was good)
–Very few interesting beers (mostly summer ales, lagers, and weizens)
–Total lack of knowledge from most of the beer reps. The beer wenches hired from 1−800-BARTENDER, in particular, were pretty depressing. I’m not against eye candy, but part of the fun of these booze crawls is nerding things up a bit with the brewery reps.
–No directions or markings (there was one small map posted at the entrance that nobody really saw) and there were at least 4 floors of beer to explore!
In general, it felt like a typical NYC promoted party vs. a cool beer event (the kind you can now find so easily all over town). Maybe the one in Brooklyn is better.

I expected this festival to be a total disorganized mess, but it actually went a lot smoother than anticipated.
I was greeted by a long line at around 5:00pm, when I arrived for the VIP session. I immediately thought I was doomed to lose precious drinking time. However, the line began moving rather quickly, as one guy checked IDs and gave out bracelets to those standing on line.
Once inside, I got my hands on a tasting glass made out of actual glass. That was a gutsy move! I mean, drunk people and glass? Could get dangerous.
The first floor was the most jammed, as that is where everyone flocked to first. It was a little hard to navigate the stations that were in the far corner, and the layout of that room was rather clunky. It was also especially crowded because that’s where the food and t-​shirt vendors were, as well as the Unilocal table, and the lecture-​type things that had going on in the back.
Unfortunately, the layout of almost every floor, except the top floor and its balcony right above, was pretty terrible. The basement proved to be the most difficult area to navigate, as it became a sea of people once the general admission folks were inside the building. I found it way too claustrophobic after a short while, and did not return to the basement after having been down there once.
For the most part, I feel like the VIP session was the redeeming factor. I utilized that hour to hit up the breweries I most wanted to try out, and made sure to pound back a few samples a little faster, knowing full well the crowd would swell after 6pm.
At 8:30pm, the place was serious about shut-​down. At some other festivals, there’s always a few breweries that keep giving out samples until they run out, but security was polite — but serious — about telling us to GTFO. I don’t think I was the only one walking outside with a still-​full sample glass.
All in all, the experience was much better than expected, but they should probably work on not overselling these types of events, so that everyone gets a fair chance of tasting everything available.

The logistics of the venue present its own unique challenges, but overall a very good experience. I’d go again.
It’s nice to take mass transit to and from a beer festival, so you can sample as many beers as you’d like and not worry about driving home. The downside of this was that there was no «designated driver» ticket option, and so we had to pay full price for my gluten-​free fiancée. In hindsight, this worked out OK, as there were more options for her than we anticipated.
We went to the 1:00 — 3:30 session, which was delayed by at least 15 minutes. The organizers decided to extend the session, and communicated this all the way to the very back of the line. It was also great planning that they had someone handing out wrist bands as you were on line; we were pleasantly surprised how quickly we got in once the doors opened.
From there it was a bit chaotic. Signs noting each brewery were placed in front of tables, often with kegs in front of them, so you weren’t sure whose beer you were trying until you made your way to the front.
As another reviewer mentioned, the stairs at this concert hall were not well lit, forcing you to pay attention and navigate carefully after a few samples. The wings of the concert floor had a few brewers we almost didn’t see, including a gluten-​free brewer.
Particularly disappointing was a lack of drinking water, and no place to dump beer you didn’t want to finish. When palate fatigue sets in, or you find the rare beer you don’t like, sometimes you just don’t want to finish it, but they didn’t provide any place to get rid of it.
What was most interesting was the vibe on each floor. The main and second floors were busy and cramped but congenial. The balcony was very relaxed, and the basement was apparently where all the frat boys hung out, complete with the «a**hole» chant when someone dropped and broke their glass. Perhaps this is because most of the standard beers like Sam Adams were located.
Overall a great variety of brewers and it was great to see a lot of small, local breweries represented. If they can figure out how to convert the space into something a little more brewfest-​friendly, they can have a real winner on their hands.

This is for the «summer jazz» at Webster Hall on July 20^th. Overall, it was a decent time. However, relative to other beer festivals I’ve attended around the city, this had a lot of room for improvement.
First, delaying the opening by 20 minutes sucked. Normally that wouldn’t be an issue, but for people that had already been waiting in that hot sun (stuck next to trucks that were running and adding more heat) made a lot of people unhappy.
Second, the venue. It was super crowded and very, very poorly marked. The staircases that you had to take from level to level were not marked well and often pitch black. With people drinking and spilling beer on the stairs, that seemed like a safety issue. Some temporary lights would have helped that. Also, the signs for the breweries were poor because there was no place to put them, and having the kegs in front of the tables was weird.
Also, was there an app for this one? Others I’ve been to had an app and with the breweries on 4 different levels, that would have helped a lot.
Finally, this is the first time I didn’t discover some new and interesting beers. Maybe because it’s the same breweries I’ve seen before but I wasn’t wowed by any of the new beers I tried and some places just had the same old stuff you can buy in any corner bodega.
On the plus side, they did give the wristbands and check IDs outside so that made getting into the venue (once it was opened) a lot easier. I do like the VIP option because that extra hour is a little more relaxed.
I’d still go back but would hope the next one is better organized. You’ve put on a lot of these things so get your shit together.

Wowzers. That pretty much sums up my experience at the NYC Craft Beer Festival. To be flat out honest, I got pretty hammered here, and it took less than 2 hours to do so. This festival was located at Webster Hall, in a nicely air conditioned, 4 floor venue. I think I was more stoked about the fact that I’d be out of the sun that the beer, but that quickly changed. Tickets for this event were $ 55 a person, and a little more if you’re opting for the VIP option.
I arrived at the venue around 5:45, 15 minutes before doors opened. There was a line down the block by the time I arrived, but it wasn’t too bad. Event staff were there to check ID’s and hand out wristbands, which definitely cut down on the processing time. Pretty great idea that hopefully more people can adopt. From a crowd standpoint, it actually wasn’t that bad. There were two waves, which basically allowed them to control the crowd and restock beers if necessary. Each wave was given 2.5 hours to hang out and taste beers, which is more than enough time to get yourself sauced.
Once I got in, I was given a 2oz tasting glass. At first, I thought to myself that there would be no way that this is going to work because 2oz is basically a shot of beer. Little did I know, that 50 shots later, I would be in a happy place. The breweries were spaced out on each floor, but what made things a little confusing was the fact that there wasn’t a map given out to everyone, and that there was only 1 map each floor. Pretty much, you’re left to navigate and fend for yourself. Luckily with alcohol, it makes things easy.
As far as the breweries go, there was a decent selection. I probably had not tasted roughly 70% of the beers that they had there, so that’s definitely a huge plus. Sadly, after drinking so many beers, I can’t even remember which one I liked and disliked. All in all, I had a pretty good time here. Initially, I had my reservations and wondered if I would even get my money’s worth. The fact that there were pretty much zero lines, plenty of beer to go around, and a nice and cool venue made it a great experience. Oh yeah, being buzzed the whole time was also pretty amazing too.

(NOTE: There is a duplicate entry for the same festival here:
, although I think THIS ONE was created first… I’m posting to both in case one of these pages gets nixed)
—
Being my first beer festival in NYC, I signed up to work session one, receiving free admission to enjoy the crafts during the second session.
Quick summary of the day overall…
GOOD:
— Plenty of booths, with loads of selection downstairs, even more upstairs
— Good venue/​space (although once the hardwood basketball floors go back in, the beer festival will likely NOT be returning here)
— Lots of awesome beers, people, and tasty bites upstairs in the connoisseurs lounge
— Friendly representatives and volunteers all over
NOT SO GOOD:
— Ticketing/​wristbanding process was HORRENDOUS upon entry
— Rinse stations/​coolers emptied quickly and were slow to be refilled
— Crowded during second session & lots of beers ran out
— General lack of organization/​structure, although no one really seemed to notice :)
…and my (typical) long-​winded writeup:
So like I said earlier, I worked session one, camped out behind the Sam Adams sticks — I was pouring Norse Legend (a sahti aged over a bed of juniper berries, arguably, and as others could verify, one of the best beers at the entire festival), and their almost-​as-​stellar Whitewater IPA (a white ale /​IPA blend). We kept two pitchers at our booth filled with water at all times, because the rinse stations were pouring way too fast and emptied quickly. This way, everyone coming by for a Sam Adams sample could get a fresh rinse… people seemed to really like that!
Towards the end of session one, we got hooked up with some production wristbands granting us access to the connoisseurs lounge and early entry for session two… YES!
Now on to session two — They had a separate VIP /​Connoisseurs line which moved quickly, but I’m not sure why they kept all the GA people completely outside without even acknowledging them until EXACTLY 7pm. There must have been hundreds lined up, with no possible chance of everyone crossing, and getting ID’d/wristbanded/ticketed, all at the stroke of 7, unless people bum-​rushed the doors Black Friday style. I think the organizers should have put staff outside, checking tickets/​IDs and giving out wristbands PRIOR to 7pm. The GA ticketholders would still be outside until 7pm, but this way, everyone could be let in at the same time.
The second session was more crowded than the first, so I took a quick lap around downstairs before heading up to the connoisseurs lounge. My favorites downstairs were the Dogfish Head Ta Henket, Fire Island Frozen Tail Ale, Keegan Ales Joe Mama’s Milk, Original Sin Pear Cider, and the aforementioned Sam Adams Norse Legend!
Upstairs in the connoisseurs lounge, we were treated to couches, private bathrooms, background music, and, of course, additional beers — I thoroughly enjoyed the Widmer Brrrbon, Brooklyn Black Ops, Blue Point Wet Hops Experiment, and the Ommegang Duvel Rustica. Passed hors d’oeuvres from Tavern 29 and Cooper’s Craft & Kitchen helped to soak it all up — my favorite snacks were the duck pizza bites (duck bacon, cream, and chives), pepper shooters (Duvel-​marinated peppers stuffed with cheese… YES!!) and the Blue Point braised short rib sliders! The servers and chefs both made the rounds, and I had a great conversation with manager Cara about Tavern 29’s recent opening. Also upstairs were several of the beer reps taking breaks and chatting it up with us, as well as Chris O’Leary, editor/​blogger for Brew York. Everyone was super friendly, and as if that wasn’t enough…
MURRAY’S CHEESE has a table upstairs dishing out bites of aged cheddar and a silky smooth bleu cheese to accompany all the scrumptious beers! They were awesome as well, and two of their reps went downstairs to run a beer & cheese pairing seminar with free samples. Needless to say that seminar was very well-​attended!
All in all, save for the few organizational/​logistics thoughts I mentioned, it was a great festival, and I really enjoyed it. Even though I didn’t pay, I think it’d well worth the money, and would encourage anyone interested in tasting delicious beers to attend as well!

So I went to the festival last night and from other beer fests this was probably the best I have been to. If you were one of the lucky ones you would have bought the early bird VIP ticket which would be the best deal. The one hour extra would have saved you a lot of troubles with the lines as after the GA was let in the lines got a lot longer (there were no lines before the GA was let in. I also had access to the Connoisseurs Lounge which had seats catered food and some more beers to chose from and I must say I was not a fan of it and it would not have been worth it had I actually bought a ticket.
My favorite of the evening was in the GA area and it was Founders Breakfast Stout. I am a IPA kinda person, not to say that I do not like stouts but it is not what I prefer but this stout is out of this world and definitely worth being in the top 25 in the world. The beers that surprised me were Dark Horse Special Reserve Black and Firestone Wookey Jack Black IPA. I was most disappointed with Magic Hat selections which were Magic Hat humdinger series and Magic Hat Heart of Darkness Stout, they just did not have enough umpf behind them. The Connoisseurs Lounge was disappointing. The beers were not that impressive and I only had one favorite out of the 20 beers they were pouring which was the Widmer Brrrbon, where you would think you were drinking a stout with a really big shot of Bourbon in it is was that strong a flavor and pure alcoholic.
I did not get to try the food in the food area because I was getting food upstairs in the lounge. They had food from Tavern 29, Cooper’s Craft and Kitchen and cheese from Murray’s Cheese bar. The two cheeses they had brought with them were both really good options and I never like blue cheese but this was such a creamy and tasty cheese that I could not help myself to try it. My favorite food was something that tasted a little bit from home which is strange as it is supposed to be a New Orleans kinda inspired food and me being from Denmark. It was Cooper’s BBQ Shrimp with crispy onions and remoulade. In Denmark we a lot of remoulade and fried, crispy onions so those flavors brought me back home for a bit and I liked the twist with the shrimp because I had never eate remoulade and fried onions with Shrimp before but it was soooo good!
The music in the Connoisseurs Lounge was not bad either. It was a one man band Willy Gantrim who was playing some blues and country style music that fitted very well with the setting of the lounge and made it just a bit more cozy and laid back.