California Beer and Wine Festival

As usual, it was great. Check in was easy, no long lines. Some of the lines for tasting were a little long, but not too bad. There seemed to be more beer than wine, some better than others. Spacing of booths was great, plenty of room to walk around, perfect location, there was a lot of people there, but because of the location of the event, there was enough space where people weren’t elbow to elbow. I remember when it was in downtown Plumas Street, pouring was inside the shops. That was super crowded. I had a great time and knowing that kids in our local area directly benefit from this event makes it all worth it. Thank you Norris Family for this awesome charity you have and also to the volunteers that make this so successful every year.

Weather beautiful. Beer was the best. a wonderful experience in Yuba City and monies donated to local charity. What not to like!

It was a great event! Arrived about 90 minutes after the beginning of the event; walked right up and got our wristbands; then headed off to try all the beers and wines. We successfully tasted 95% of all that was offered. All in all, a great time was had by all! Did I mention I will be attending next year? Woohoo! Can’t wait!

I didn’t make it this year, but I heard wonderful things. Though the friends I was suppose to go with, who did go, said it was difficult to get into… but once it, it was fun. I was really wanting to go, to support this type of thing in Yuba! It is wonderful to not have to drive to Nevada County, Chico or Sac…

It was a blast as always! I love that you can have a huge get together and the money gets donated to a worthy cause. I like that some of the tastings were in weird places. It makes it more fun to talk about later. I also like that you can donate your time and get a wristband for free :)

I have been attending the California Beer and Wine Festival in YC since it began in 2009. It is my favorite drinking related event in Y/​S. A portion of the street is closed to traffic to allow for more breweries, wineries, and food vendors. The beer and wines are always great, but the food at the event is also some of the best in the area. The festival has been better every year, and I’m sure 2012 will be the best! I can’t wait to meet up with all of my friends, have a drink, and enjoy the great weather!

It was definitly a good opportunity to taste Californian beers and wine!
Sierra Nevada 30^th anniversary was my favourite that day!
Unfortunatly, the line to get wristbands was a bit long and the staff was probably not enough numerous.
I have a to say that the band was playing well, I was impressed on some covers…
I enjoyed that day!

First off, I did not actually attend the Beer and Wine Festival due to the HORRIBLE organization of trying to get a wristband to get in to the venue. This was by far the WORST experience I’ve ever had with a Beer or Wine festival. Whoever organized this should be fired. What person thinks that 2,000 people should be ID’d and given a bracelet by TWO people? The line was ridiculous and I’m beyond angry that I can’t get a refund. This might be a great venue for those people that have the time to waste for standing in a ridiculous line. I will NOT be returning to this venue ever again.

Five stars for a fascinating and innovative concept. Three and a half stars for execution. The CBWF was on Plumas Street, in between Colusa and Bridge, in Yuba City. They had the serving stations set up in the various businesses along Plumas Street; the hair salon poured Lagunitas, the carpet store poured Lost Coast, the workout studio poured Sudwerk, etc (I don’t recall which business poured which beer, but you get the idea). Instead of hanging out at the park all day, you walked around a few blocks in Yuba City. Plumas Street is very pedestrian-​friendly; it is two lanes with ample sidewalks. There was a band, food vendors, and other booths raffling off items. I don’t think you were supposed to take your drink outside onto the sidewalk, which made space an issue at some of the businesses. Like I said earlier, it was an interesting concept.
There were a few problems that need to be addressed:
1. However, the event was from 1:00 to 5:00 and they started running out of beer around 4:00. They had unlimited tastings, which probably contributed heavily to that problem.
2. If you couldn’t leave the store with a beer, that led to the store becoming crowded as the people coming in outnumbered the people leaving. There’s not a lot of room to walk around inside a hair salon.
3. They had several pourers operating out of a vacant building, which is not an issue in itself, but the building had no ceiling, so there were wires and insulation hanging from the rafters. That is more of an ambiance issue. The event staff should have seen if the gun and ammo store or the kidney dialysis clinic could have sponsored a pouring station.
4. Glass sampling glasses look classy, but they turn into shards of pretty glass when some drunk guy drops his on the sidewalk. Kind of a toss-​up there.
5. Not an issue, but an observation: this is the first brewfest I attended that served a malt liquor (I don’t remember the name but it had a pit bull on the can) and an ice beer. Maybe this attests to the innovative nature of the CBWF.