Last Call for GABF Tickets
Attention, procrastinators: you’ve just about run out of time to get your tickets to the Great American Beer Festival. According to the Brewers Association, 96 percent of the tickets have been sold, and there are no more tickets for the Friday evening and Saturday afternoon sessions.
GABF Tickets Now Available to the Public
Earlier this afternoon (Ludwig lives in Michigan), the Brewers Association began the public sale of tickets to this year’s Great American Beer Festival, which will take place September 16-18 in Denver. The GABF website has information on the availability and price of these tickets, which are expected to go fast.
Got a minute? Here’s the Brewers Association’s 60-second-long video of last year’s GABF:
GABF Tickets Now on Sale
Starting today, members of the Brewers Association and the American Homebrewers Association can buy tickets to the Great American Beer Festival. Your membership must be valid through September 30, 2010, in order to attend the Members-Only Tasting Session or the Farm to Table Pavilion.
GABF tickets go on sale to the general public next Monday at noon Mountain Time.
Brews for Breakfast, Anyone?
Last Saturday, Ludwig slept through the Today show on NBC. What did he miss? Phil Lempert, who treated his TV hosts, Lester Holt and Jillian Michaels, to a tasting of Great American Beer Festival medal winners. Click here to watch the video.
The beers featured on the show were Firestone Union Jack IPA, Arcadia Ales Cereal Killer, Hub Ace of Spades and Hopworks IPA, New Glarus Totally Naked, Lost Abbey Carnivale Ale, and Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale. Real eye-openers, even at 8:30 in the morning.
(Hat tip: Charlie Papazian, who hardly needs an introduction on this blog.)
Michael Jackson Documentary to Debut at GABF
It’s hard to believe that more than two years have gone by since Michael Jackson, The Beer Hunter, passed away. Many of us who write about beer have a Michael Jackson story to tell. (Maryanne and Paul’s involves a Jackson-tutored vertical tasting at the New Belgium Brewery when we were in Colorado for the 2003 Great American Beer Festival. And yes, we still have the festival program bearing his autograph.)
Now comes word that a documentary about The Beer Hunter will debut at this year’s GABF. It was directed by John R. Richards of The Wine Travelers series fame, and produced by his production company, Maroon Studios. The website for The Beer Hunter: The Movie describes the film:
Filmmaker J.R. Richards traveled extensively with Michael throughout the United States and Europe, filming Michael as he got the story behind the world’s greatest beer and whiskey. Through this footage and interviews with leading brewers and beer enthusiasts, we are treated to an intimate picture of Michael: his enigmatic personality, his extraordinary life, his remarkable contributions, and his secret struggle with Parkinson’s Disease.
. Here’s a preview of what festival-goers are going to see:
By the way, proceeds from the film will go to the National Parkinson’s Foundation.
Making a Fashion Statement at the GABF
It never ceases to amaze us what people wear to beer festivals. Evidently, we’re not the only ones. Zenia Brink and Rick Mazzola of the Beer Drinker’s Guide to Colorado have assembled a photo essay of attendees in–shall we say–distinctive attire at this year’s Great American Beer Festival. Our favorite? The couple in his-and-hers “Official Promise Keepers Alibi” T-shirts.
Better Late Than Never: A GABF Review
Andy Crouch at BeerScribe.com offers his “inevitably late review” of this year’s Great American Beer Festival. Crouch’s review focused in part on New England, a traditionally under-represented region that did rather well in this year’s competition. He also noted that organizers expanded the festival venue, creating space for the Great American Beer School and other educational presentations. Barrel-aged beer was very much in evidence this year, and a number of breweries brought craft-brewed lagers to the festival floor.
If you’re interested in attending the 2010 GABF, circle September 16-18 on your calendar.