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| - The friendliest beer festival ever! I attended this fabulous event for the second year in a row, and was not disappointed at all. If anything, the festival has grown and if 75 different brewery vendors is not enough to wet your whistle, than you need to move on, my friend. I was encouraged to buy my ticket for the 2013 SBF well in advance, because all of the hopheads I know were certain the thing would sell out. I took my buddy Nate H.'s advice and got myself a VIP ticket which was only $10 more than the general admission ticket. VIP status also gets you in the gate an hour earlier than the main herd, which allows you to scope out the venue and pick and choose your battles wisely.
The weather couldn't have been more perfect. It was actually around 80F in the sun during the peak temperature (not terribly unheard of for Phoenix during February, but still a bit warmer than the average)! Fortunately, I bummed some sunblock off of some fellow light-rail passengers on the way to Steele Indian School Park, who were obviously planning on attending this event. These type of festivals lend themselves to some silliness, so I (and others) seem to make a great attempt to wear something unusual, if not something completely outlandish. This makes for a great icebreaker with fellow beer-drinkers who have caught their buzz earlier than anticipated (it is a STRONG beer festival... which lives up to its name) and feel the compulsion to comment on your odd wardrobe choice. Last year, I wore a Wienerschnitzel bowling shirt proudly declaring "America's favorite wiener!" and it was a hit. This year I settled on a fez embroidered with a biohazard symbol. I was happy to see that I did not spot one other person with a fez the whole day, so apparently I was an original.
Glad to see that Arizona's craft beer scene is growing, as evidenced by the local vendors represented. I spotted a presence by SanTan, Papago, and Four Peaks, as well as relative newcomers Fate, THAT Brewery, and Desert Eagle. I also got to follow up with one of my old loves, Rubicon Brewing in Sacramento, which I sampled from the Pitcher of Nectar (distributors) tent. Rubicon's Black Capricorn Ale was a real treat, and I am so happy to see their distribution growing in AZ! I was also blown away by Bell's Brewing's (Michigan) Bourbon-barrel aged Batch 9000. At 14.8% abv, this propelled me to my peak happiness of the day.
Cheers to Old World for sponsoring the Beeraoke Tent and the ska band 2Tone Lizards who rocked the house. It was an all-around good time.I love this beerfest!
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