GABF 2012 – Day 2 Recap W/ Pics

Danny Fullpint gives his account of GABF Day Two (Friday) along with some pictures for your viewing enjoyment.  Cheers!

GABF Day one took it’s toll with all the walking and all the “working.”  We were all a step slower but our sprits weren’t hindered.  We had our fun adventure, which we’d like to share with you.

Denver Rare Beer Tasting at Wynkoop Brewing

We were able to attend one of the most prestigious beer events I’ve ever attended, Pint’s For Prostates/All About Beer Denver Rare Beer Tasting.  Some of the most enthusiastic beer fans and some of the most rare and strong beer was all under one roof.  The tap list was amazing, featuring Samuel Adams Utopias 10th Year, Kate The Great, Allagash Avance’,Troeg’s Black Splinter, Lost Abbey Track 8, Founders Bolt Cutter and more.  The crowd was great, the food spread was great, the beer was awesome. The only gripe, which has nothing to do with the event per se, is the ventilation of the 3rd floor brew pub.  A bunch of big beer drinkers, drinking high gravity beer, and sweating off the day before’s fun with no ventilation lead to some sweaty handshakes and hugs. We didn’t mentioned this before, but we also put an Beer Celebrity signed The Full Pint work shirt at the silent auction, which was cool for us to see and take part in.

Impromptu Stop at Falling Rock and Crooked Stave

Falling Rock, easily the most famous beer bar in Colorado, is a few blocks away from Wynkoop, so naturally, we wanted to stop in, have a beer and say hi to some friends.  Our dear friend Dr. Bill was sitting out front with goblets of APPLE BRANDY HUNAHPU’S, and we never made it past that.  After a nice glass of that, we found some friends who proclaimed we should go to Crooked Stave before the festival starts.  Well what the heck, let’s go to Crooked Stave!!  We piled in a cab and high tailed it over to Crooked Stave to get our sour ale on.  Crooked Stave’s tasting room is pretty small, in an industrial parkway, and wasn’t too crowded.  I was able to get more familiar with their beer, but we couldn’t stay long as we had the festival to get to. Everything I had there was solid, and wish I had more time to hang out.

Friday Night Festival

We made it in to the fest a little late, and boy was it packed.  To the BA’s credit or the evolution of mankind, it didn’t seem like the rowdy frat party everybody makes it out to be.  We made our rounds again, to our friends and favorites.  I am stuck on Alpine Duet, and went back for multiples, as well as AleSmith IPA.  Kudos to DRAFT Magazine, they hada little blocked off section in the corner for members of the media (us included) to get a full pour of beer, some snacks and a place to sit.  They were pouring Dale’s Pale Ale all night, and that is probably what kept me hydrated.  We were a few steps slow, but still having fun and still soaking it all in.

Night Cap at Falling Rock and 1up

We built some great momentum, and that momentum carried ourselves and our friends from Bootlegger’s Brewery to the famous Falling Rock for a beer, and then next door to one of my favorite bars in the world, 1up. 1up is a sweet retro videogame arcade with craft and hipster canned lager and smiles.  We made it to last call playing some fun stuff, drinking some more Oskar Blues cans and made it home safe and sound.