Battle of the Beers

I’ve been wanting to come to this for some time now and I finally had time this year! And let me tell you, I was not disappointed at all! The layout of this place worked out well. The parking wasn’t amazing but strangely, once we were inside, it was a pretty short wait for another fill of tasty brews! The food trucks there were so good. The atmosphere, the smells, the sites, and the tastes were overwhelming! I wish I would’ve made it there earlier.
A good number of breweries had their lighter, citrusy beers on tap which went well with the weather we had that day. The bands that they lined up were great and one of my local favorites went on last. (The bassist is an amazing cook btw if you know what band it was!)
I’ll definitely be back next year, with a bigger squad of course: D

I love beer festivals, and I love the Mariner’s museum as a venue. I went to the BotB last year, and it was just as fun this time around. This year instead of doing North vs. South, they did Land vs. Sea (inland breweries vs. coastal breweries). There are 5 styles of beer, with two competing breweries in each. You get a menu when you enter with a description of each beer, and once you taste each one, they check it off on your menu and you vote for your favorite in each category. The sample you get of each one is about ¼ of a beer, which means that for your $ 35 ticket, you get about 2.5 beers. You can purchase beers after that. This is my biggest complaint about the event: for $ 35 I really expect to get A LOT MORE BEER. I know it’s not all about getting hammered, but 35 bucks and I barely get a buzz? C’mon. Maybe next year consider giving unlimited tastings or at least three breweries per category instead of two. That big problem aside, the event was fun, the venue is nice, it was well-​organized, they had live music, and the free food this year was stellar. I had a good time, but I went home and continued to drink.

I really, really wanted to like this event. First off, let it be known that I enjoy a good beer… German, Belgian, Belgian, and Dutch are some of my faves… don’t mess with centuries of tried and true ingredients and methods to brew! But out of the 10 beers, I could only manage to down one of them, the Devil’s Backbone.
The location was great, and the people were friendly, but the «atmosphere» wasn’t really my thing, I guess. The «southern» band they had sounded like they came straight out of Appalachia, which is probably the intent, but I’m not a fan of banjos and people who sing like they’re dying. And I’m from the South!
If the Mariner’s Museum can do a wine event in the same fashion with a little more upbeat music, I’m there.
The highlight of my night was meeting Unilocal’s Xerxes. It was like meeting a celebrity :)
If one phrase can some up my night, it would have to be «I see white people»
Saw someone with a baby at the event… who brings a baby to a drinking event!!!

Let me start off by saying that the Mariners Museum knows how to pull of an event. I stopped in last night for the Battle of the Beers /​North vs South. The idea behind this was to have 10 breweries, 5 from the North & 5 from the South pit their recipes against one another in 5 different categories Winters, IPA’s Stouts, Pale Ales & Lagers. Once you’ve sampled both beers in a specific category, you vote for which one is best.
I arrived about 20 minutes before the event started and everyone was mingling in the lobby. I stopped by the Unilocal table and said hello to Xerxes and Yajaida, and also helped a new Unilocaler get signed up on his Windows phone. From there I ran into Matt & Cherry.
At 7pm the doors opened into the main area. The closest brewers were the Winter beers so we started off with St. George’s Winter Scotch. This was an awesome beer. We grabbed a table right after that as the place was really filling up and it’s a good thing we did because shortly after that it was standing room only. From our vantage in dining area there were 3 more categories close by, the Stouts, Lagers & IPA’s. We took turns leaving the table and visiting each and voting.
In addition there was a band playing mostly more traditional southern music. I was thinking it was a home field advantage trying to sway the votes, but maybe that’s just me. There was also a ton of food at 2 different serving areas. I just got in line and didn’t know what I was going to get until I actually got to the servers. Ultimately I received a plate with a mini chili hot dog with some baked beans, 2 chicken wings and a cup cake. The meal hit the spot and the portion was perfect, not to much, not to little. I noticed the other table was serving mini BBQ sandwiches which also looked delicious.
After eating we finished sampling the rest of the beers. I sampled 7 of the 10 completely bypassing the IPA’s which I just don’t like. They’re to hoppy for my taste. All in all my favorite beer of the night was the very first one we sampled, the St George Winter Scotch which had a wonderful taste with a lingering smokey flavor. It was just outstanding and I’m going to have to find a 6 pack of it somewhere.
I had an awesome time and can’t wait to come back. The next event here will be the return of Craft Beer Festival in May of 2014. If you like beer and would enjoy spending the afternoon sampling a bunch of different kinds the Mariners Museum is the place do it. You’ll be happy you did.