St Louis Microfest

Always a fun time!
I have volunteered and attended this event for 3 years and never been disappointed.
First of all, signing up to volunteer is always a great idea, as you not only get a cool volunteer t-​shirt but you also get a free ticket to the event, plus the volunteer gigs are fun!
As an attendee, my only suggestions are:
*Attend the first or second session as more of the limited supply beers may be out of stock during the last session.
*The VIP upgrade is totally worth it!

This past Saturday my brother, his friend and my father came up to the big city from central MO to experience Microfest for his bachelor party. One word; Amazing!
We didn’t order our tickets in advance… which I was apprehensive about as I like to be prepared when I roll up to an event of such magnitude but it was a good thing we didn’t! We had decided to go to the Saturday afternoon session, lasting from 1 to 5, and when we got there the lines were confusing and crazy long. Apparently, any pre-​order ticket had to be scanned and the line was out of control. When we got there around 12:45ish, line ridiculous, we decided to go with the VIP tickets due to the promise of buffet and the hope that there would be a special line for us rich snobs to go through. No special line for VIP, but, there was a line for no scan tickets which got us right up in the event.
Once in, we immediately got a beverage and went straight for the VIP tent to get some grub. We thought we were running late, that this deal started and 12(due to someones half assed research…) but no, so we had to wait to get food. In case anyone was wondering, the VIP tickets were well worth the extra $ 15. Three trips through the buffet line and a selection of beer no one else got to have. The food was kind of heavy for such a hot day but was still good. Main courses included corn chowder, some sort of stir fried noodles, pork tenderloin and sandwich stuff. There was lighter fare as well and while no main course for vegetarians, there were plenty of veggie friendly snacks consisting of hummus, caeser salad, various crackers and cheeses and other dips. Nothing impressive but it soaked up some of the beer.
And the beer! OH, the beer! So many different styles I couldn’t even begin to taste them all. So many drafts! Not to mention all the bottles and reserves they had on hand to sample as well. I can’t even list what all I tried… there were just too many to name. My highlights would be the O’Dell they had in bottles, sadly no drafts, as well as the Rogue and Grand Teton. As far as drafts Boulevard had some wonderful beers in the VIP tent with a special tapping of a sour brown near the end of the event. I would say the local brew pub with the best beer was Urban Chestnut. Definitely going to have to check them out. After fully gorging myself on buffet and beer we settled back with a decent cigar and soaked in the beautiful sun that decided to shine on that day.
Lift for Life truly put on a great event for a great cause and I will definitely be back next year!