The Good & Bad: FFF XV Anniversary Party
This article is admittedly delayed. I attended Three Floyds’ XV Anniversary Party this past weekend. I wish I could write a post fawning over them, their genius, and their amazing event, but I can’t. Still, in my typical fashion, I’ll try to focus on the good and not the bad.
The bad points…
I think the whole line situation was a disaster and the event (in that respect) was poorly executed. You can take this as a grumbling from a princess who is whining about having to stand in line, but for them to take 6+ hrs to go through a steady flow of 2,500 guests wanting to get in and wanting a special brew, then so be it. They knew how many people were coming. For a ticketed event to end up with me standing in line for three hours, me having one option for food by the time I got in, and me not being able to hear the music tucked away in the warehouse is not cool in my book. Especially with the great, organized, DLD experience, where they had 2,000 people through the line in 2 or so hours, this wasn’t expected. I guess my expectations were to attend a party with good food and music. It was not to just stand in line and be crammed in a parking lot. My recommendation, that no one wants to hear, if you are planning a big ticketed event, work out a parking deal with the city and maybe hold it in a new venue. I know ticket prices would go up, but I don’t think they’d have a problem with people forking over the $$.
I was also a bit disappointed with the attendees littering everywhere and pissing all over the place. There were a good number of facilities and trash cans available.
Okay….bitching over….positive post below....
All of the badness out of the way, I can say that we had easy access to the guest taps once we finally got through the gate. The lines were short at the taps, much shorter than DLD. It was as expected for a well-run event. They had an amazing selection of beers too. By the time I got to the gate Surly was tapped out, but I was able to get some goodies from Three Floyds, Pizza Port, and Mikkeller. While I was waiting in line for the anniversary brew, I was able to try a half pint of it, along with a smooth bitter, a good porter, and sip on some other notable brews. They weren’t too expensive either.
All complaining aside, the price of this event was right. The ticket included four small brews. These were brews the vendors/brewers selected, but at an event like this, even the freebie selection was fantastic. At 7 PM it was still super easy to get through the crowd and grab your taste. The selection kept changing, and if my metabolism was much higher I would have loved to try them all. Of the ones I sampled, there was not a bad one in the bunch. Being crowded and a bit flustered, I did not write down details or take pictures of the listing. Frankly, I put aside the analytical part of my being and just enjoyed. I tasted, I smelled, I loved.
Quick list of my shared brew tastes courtesy of Mr. K: Pizza Port Whipper Snapper, Pizza Port Rhino Chaser, Pizza Port Plant to Pint, Pizza Port Killer Dana, Mikkeller Shaun's B-Day, Mikkeller Monk's Elixir, Jolly Pumpkin, and some FFF Sour Brew.
Through the gate, they had a tent with lighting to shield us for the elements and make it comfortable as the sun went down. They had tables and chairs. They had space heaters to keep us warm on that November night.
One of the absolute coolest parts of the event for me, that I haven’t seen anyone note in their love letters to FFF, was the warehouse peek. I got to check out what they had in the barrels as I waited in line. Black Sun Stout and Eben-Emael Belgian Pale Ale were barreled. They had a lot of fruit stuff going on. They had Robert the Bruce with raspberries, Gumball Head with peaches, and Alpha King with blackberries (I think it was Alpha King). Maybe they will change everyone’s perceptions about fruity beer….
Was the experience worth it? Even as I write this, I’m still not sure. The Baller XV Anniversary beer was absolutely amazing, in typical Three Floyds fashion. The guest taps were accessible, so I did enjoy some tasty brews. I’m not sure if annoyance at the lack of party-ness might have won out. I feel like I paid to stand in line for rare beer and guest taps. Would I pay to do that? I guess I would. Am I disappointed that I didn’t have food or music? Yes I am.
The bad points…
I think the whole line situation was a disaster and the event (in that respect) was poorly executed. You can take this as a grumbling from a princess who is whining about having to stand in line, but for them to take 6+ hrs to go through a steady flow of 2,500 guests wanting to get in and wanting a special brew, then so be it. They knew how many people were coming. For a ticketed event to end up with me standing in line for three hours, me having one option for food by the time I got in, and me not being able to hear the music tucked away in the warehouse is not cool in my book. Especially with the great, organized, DLD experience, where they had 2,000 people through the line in 2 or so hours, this wasn’t expected. I guess my expectations were to attend a party with good food and music. It was not to just stand in line and be crammed in a parking lot. My recommendation, that no one wants to hear, if you are planning a big ticketed event, work out a parking deal with the city and maybe hold it in a new venue. I know ticket prices would go up, but I don’t think they’d have a problem with people forking over the $$.
I was also a bit disappointed with the attendees littering everywhere and pissing all over the place. There were a good number of facilities and trash cans available.
Okay….bitching over….positive post below....
All of the badness out of the way, I can say that we had easy access to the guest taps once we finally got through the gate. The lines were short at the taps, much shorter than DLD. It was as expected for a well-run event. They had an amazing selection of beers too. By the time I got to the gate Surly was tapped out, but I was able to get some goodies from Three Floyds, Pizza Port, and Mikkeller. While I was waiting in line for the anniversary brew, I was able to try a half pint of it, along with a smooth bitter, a good porter, and sip on some other notable brews. They weren’t too expensive either.
All complaining aside, the price of this event was right. The ticket included four small brews. These were brews the vendors/brewers selected, but at an event like this, even the freebie selection was fantastic. At 7 PM it was still super easy to get through the crowd and grab your taste. The selection kept changing, and if my metabolism was much higher I would have loved to try them all. Of the ones I sampled, there was not a bad one in the bunch. Being crowded and a bit flustered, I did not write down details or take pictures of the listing. Frankly, I put aside the analytical part of my being and just enjoyed. I tasted, I smelled, I loved. Quick list of my shared brew tastes courtesy of Mr. K: Pizza Port Whipper Snapper, Pizza Port Rhino Chaser, Pizza Port Plant to Pint, Pizza Port Killer Dana, Mikkeller Shaun's B-Day, Mikkeller Monk's Elixir, Jolly Pumpkin, and some FFF Sour Brew.
Through the gate, they had a tent with lighting to shield us for the elements and make it comfortable as the sun went down. They had tables and chairs. They had space heaters to keep us warm on that November night.
One of the absolute coolest parts of the event for me, that I haven’t seen anyone note in their love letters to FFF, was the warehouse peek. I got to check out what they had in the barrels as I waited in line. Black Sun Stout and Eben-Emael Belgian Pale Ale were barreled. They had a lot of fruit stuff going on. They had Robert the Bruce with raspberries, Gumball Head with peaches, and Alpha King with blackberries (I think it was Alpha King). Maybe they will change everyone’s perceptions about fruity beer….
Was the experience worth it? Even as I write this, I’m still not sure. The Baller XV Anniversary beer was absolutely amazing, in typical Three Floyds fashion. The guest taps were accessible, so I did enjoy some tasty brews. I’m not sure if annoyance at the lack of party-ness might have won out. I feel like I paid to stand in line for rare beer and guest taps. Would I pay to do that? I guess I would. Am I disappointed that I didn’t have food or music? Yes I am.
I hate to be "that guy," but the notes that I gave you were incomplete and poorly commented. We also had Mikkeller's Boo Goop and From/To, which was awesome. The FFF sour we had was called "Totally Epic Bourbon Barrel Aged Awesomeness" and the ESB was called "Hessian Smog." We had another beer from Pizza Port called "Riptide."
ReplyDeleteOh, and we didn't have the Jolly Pumpkin... That was just one that someone told me that we have to try. Apparently it is the best pumpkin beer they've ever had.
That BooGoop was something special. It was probably the highlight of the night (next to the Anniversary brew of course).
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