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As you read this, I am making my way from Boston to Denver for the Great American Beer Festival. I have packed my ACB T-shirt, business cards, digital recorder, and cell phone charger. I am carrying granola bars, gum, and Tylenol in my purse. I am ever so slightly terrified. The stats from last year are mindboggling – 3,000+ beers and 49,000 attendees.
This is my first time at GABF. While I’ve been to big music festivals and conferences, nothing has touched the intensity I imagine I will witness this weekend as fans flood the Colorado Convention Center to sample one-ounce pours in four-and-a-half-hour bursts. I am expecting a stark contrast between Saturday afternoon (networking amongst industry insiders) and Saturday night (open to the public; what the youth like to call a “shitshow”). I am crossing my fingers that I manage to make the flight home Sunday afternoon.
This is also my first time using AirBnb. I will be staying with a dude named Dusty in a house near the Sheridan light rail station. I doubt I will see very much of him. Friday will be a whirlwind of press events and beer/food pairings. E-mails have been flying the past few weeks between me, my fellow ACB correspondent Mark, my editor, other Boston attendees, and various PR reps as we all try to figure out who’s covering what. The pressure is on to see and do as much as possible in three impossibly short days.
I never thought I’d find myself at the biggest craft festival in the country, but after ten months of tap takeovers, beer dinners, and brewery tours, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. I’m excited to see seven familiar Massachusetts names in the Festival Hall, including Jack’s Abby and Newburyport Brewing. I’m also psyched to check out some of the area’s newer breweries on a tour led by the Convention & Visitors Bureau (more to come on that). I have no idea what to expect from other travelers, but after three years around Sox, Celtics, and Patriots faithful, I can handle rowdy.
Well, I think I’ve done a pretty good job of convincing myself I’ll make it out of this thing alive. No matter what happens, you can expect real-time pictures and semi-coherent tweets from me via @AmericaCrftBeer, and a big fat write-up once I reunite with my couch. If you’re staying in the Hub this weekend, I hope you enjoy following along. And for those of you also journeying westward – let the games begin!
