FESTIVAL SEASON ARRIVES

As any good beer lover knows there is no bad time for a beer, but there is no better time than a festival.
There are hundreds of different festivals in the United States and with very few exceptions they are the perfect places to enjoy a tasty beer. The tricky part of these grand celebrations is making the right choices. The most wonderful festival can be destroyed by choosing the wrong flavors to enjoy. I’m not here to order for you, just to help dodge the landmines and hit the easy home runs.
Some festivals make your choice of beer very easy. If you are at an actual beer festival get your little sample cup and get to it. The only thing to keep in mind at this type of event is a safe way home and food in between every couple dozen samples. Be sure to try things you are curious about first as your pallet will be a bit more discerning early on. As time goes by try a bunch of beers you would have never tried otherwise. You are bound to like about anything at this point and will become a sudden fan of beers you would have never tried otherwise.
The second easiest festivals are the seasonal variety. If you are at a Summerfest you are probably only choosing between light lagers and wheats anyway. Occasionally there will be a special seasonal one better than another but the key is to wet the whistle. 100 degree heat is not the right time to experiment. Stick with a domestic you know or some other favorite. Fall festivals are traditionally the best for beer. Many brewers make special beers just for the season and they are often their very best. I believe the word Oktoberfest is actually German for heaven. Feel free to find a beer that you like and that is easy to drink if you need to, but don’t resort to mass production at one of these wonderful events. Fall festivals are for the pros. Bud lights and frat boys are asked to disguise themselves for these sacred events. If you find yourself stuck outside at some winter event I’m not sure what to tell you. Find your way indoors next to a fire with a winter warmer selection nearby.
Then there are the ethnic festivals. As luck would have it, most of these festivals revolve around cultures where beer is fairly important. Irish and German festivals seem to be the most common for some strange reason. You would think these events would be easier than they are for selecting the right beer, but commercialism has made these a bit tricky. What do you do when Coors Light is the featured beer at the local Irish Fest? If there is no other choice I suppose you drink it or go home. Even if a major brewer is the sponsor of an ethnic festival there is usually some tent with something more authentic. What is the point of going to a cultural event just to experience American mainstream culture?The good news is there are very few festivals where the growing army of craft brewers haven’t at least put a toe in the door. Even State and County Fairs often have a few choices present. The key is to have fun. By simply looking at the list of sponsors for the event you should have a good idea of what you are getting into. Just remember you can always protest bad selection with a killer tailgate party.