Great Lakes Brew Fest

I am going to the Racine beerfest Saturday. It starts at 3 PM. I am planning on getting there early. I was wondering are there any places within walking distance that I can get a decent burger.

Great Lakes Brew Fest
Lake Festival Park
5 Fifth Street, Racine, WI.

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10279

kewpee's hamburger's just a few blocks away.

I'll be in Racine for the fest on Saturday too, anyone else?

I will be there.

I wish I could be there ... busy weekend.

For Jim and ogre: do you have any idea why the admission price went up so much over what I paid two years ago? I had to miss last year’s.

I think it was only $25 (w/o the glass). You saved $5 if you didn’t take a glass, but used a plastic cup, which was fine for my group. I have more beer glasses than the SO likes.

D.

no idea, this will be my first time there

dodger wrote:For Jim and ogre: do you have any idea why the admission price went up so much over what I paid two years ago?

Can't say, as last year was my first. I am also out of room for more pint glasses.

Wondering what you folks who attended thought.
I really liked the homebrew island and became convinced that the homebrewer can, in some cases at least, hold his/her own with commercial breweries.
I agree with the pint glass comments. Why don't they go with taster sized glasses?

yeah it was strange carrying around a pint glass and only getting 3 oz poured into it (though a few places were more generous with their pours). Maybe just so people would have a more useful memento of the day? Though I like you have a cabinet full of pint glasses.

I had a great time at the fest. I only tried a few of the homebrew offerings; I made the mistake of sampling a few high-test brews early on and was starting to feel some palate fatigue by time I made my way to the homebrewer's area. Maybe I should have started there; it would have been great to chat with some of those guys. I regret nothing though; the Upland Winter Warmer, aged in 21yr Pappy Van Winkle barrels, was the closest thing to Pappy Van Winkle in beer form that you're ever likely to drink; that is, absolute bliss.

It was a great time though, and with surprisingly few idiots (though of course they were there as well).

My friend and I started at Home Brew Island, we both liked it.. They had a lot of very different recipes for their brews, things one could not sell commercially, i. e. cookies & cream ale.

I was surprised how crowded it was. I thought the higher price tag would have mitigated some of the crowd. As I was standing in line, some people were complaining about the cost. One guy opined that maybe they were trying to keep the riffraff out. I said well it didn’t work with me.

I did hear from one attendee that he had friends who had been the last 2 years, didn’t come to this year’s, because of the cost

Another complaint was that the brewers were pouring too generously. I bet I threw out half of my pours as I wanted to taste as many as I could and not just drink a lot.

I was disappointed that several brewers ran out before 6 PM even though the fest went to 7. I didn’t go last year, but the entertainment this year was not as good as 2 years ago. Then they had 2 bands I thought were very good. I really enjoyed taking breaks back then. This year I really could not get very close to the Kilties and they didn’t seem as good.

Oh, we tried to go to the Kewpee restaurant, but it was closed for the week. I guess due to the road construction around it. We went to the Ivanhoe pub. They were very crowded and we were hungry. After waiting longer than we thought necessary we decided to go across the street. We went to this Mexican restaurant, which was just average at best.

Some of the different breweries I liked were Sand Creek, the Dells Brewing Company, and the Ale Asylum (Madison). I was disappointed in the selection from Dogfish Head and the brews from Central Waters.

I also tried the Winter Warmer. Maybe it is just me, but I was disappointed in the harshness of the finish. I thought it might need another year or so to mellow out. But I am not an expert.

Near the end I tried the fruit drinks from AEppel Treow Winery and Crispin Cider which I strangely enjoyed. I assume it was due to these just being something different on my palate.

Speaking of idiots, by the time we left several were breaking their glasses on purpose just to get a roar from the crowd.

Ivanhoe Pub
231 Main
Racine

Casablanca de Mexico
230 Main
Racine

D.

I had a great time. Drank some delicious brews (many of which are not available in Chicagoland) and enjoyed the perfect weather.

My only complaint? Kewpee's was freaking closed.

I went the year before and they ran out of many popular brews within the first hour. When they announced the price increase, I asked how they would control the problems from the previous year and all I got was some Political statement. I and my friends declined to go this year and we live within easy driving distance.
BTW, I certainly agree about the pours, way to much and had to be poured down the drain to stay sober.-Dick