GABF 2013 Night 1 Re-cap W/ Pics
Denver,CO – The Full Pint returned to The Great American Beer Festival for the third year straight. We came in full force and a day early to warm up. Denver is still as fantastic as I remember it last year, and I feel there’s a bar serving plenty of craft beer on every corner now, noticeably more than I recall.
After eating a large meal and getting hydrated, The Full Pint marched around the floor for the first hour before the public was let in. We walked around saying hi to the folks we work with all over the country before it got too crowded, and of course grazing on magnificent beer. The first thing I noticed was the organizers changed the region layout. I guess I should have looked at the map.
The brewpub pavilion seemed easier to navigate, and in the process we stumbled upon Shiva IPA from Asheville Brewing. Next we migrated to the midwest section and bumped into our friend Jason from Cincinnati. Jason works for a new brewery called Lindermanns, and he’s been asking me to try his beers for a year now. I teased him that they better be good, as Jason has insanely high standards. Sure enough, Jason poured us a peanut butter beer, a smoked beer, a spiced beer, and it was all phenomenal. After more walking talking and sipping, we took a half-time break at the DRAFTMAG VIP LOUNGE. Draft Magazine offers a place to sit down and hydrate to those covering the festival. They might not know how valuable that is to our team, but it is.
The minute we left the Draft Lounge, we stepped into what seemed like quadruple the amount of people. The lights got dimmer and it took longer to get from point A to point B, but we still attacked the Mountain and Pacific Northwest Regions. We got to meet our partners at Grandstand and then safely made it out of the festival a half an hour before it ended.
Stay tuned here at The Full Pint from now until Sunday as we bringing you unique, first hand coverage of the 2013 GABF. Pictures Courtesy of Franny Fullpint – @FrannyFullpint
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