Beer Festival Tasting Strategies
I will be attending Des Moines On Tap in 10 days - my middle son lives in Des Moines and we are returning for the beer-fest for the first time in a couple years. It features 150 brews from 60 producers. I will be there 3 hours, less the time it takes to get in and last pour is 10 minutes prior to closing - so maybe 150 minutes of tasting time. Hey! That's a beer a minute!
Okay, seriously. I'm not capable of drinking 150 three ounce beers. Not even over a long weekend.
I've looked at the list of participants. Maybe 20-25 are breweries I'm familiar with. Some I'd skip anyway (some like Rogue make product I like, but no need to down a Blue Moon). I'm looking for new experiences. About half are local or from other nearby Midwest states. I think I'll have a chance to taste some of that outside the fest. We'll be there a total of 4 days and one local drinking establishment has 222 taps. I made a list of the breweries from out of the area that I have never seen before. That's my A list. After that I will be looking for local/Midwestern porters, sours and hazy IPA's - what I would normally try here.
What would be your strategy?