Hops And Props 2014

Very impressive event. I was excited to go get a peek inside the EAA, since I’d never been, while getting a chance to sample to many different beers and Hops and Props did not disappoint.
The only line I waited in all night was the one to get in initially and it moved incredibly quickly. It’s clear the organizers know what they’re doing and have been doing this a while. They were able to deal with the influx of people right at the start with no difficulty and once we were inside, it was smooth sailing.
There was an extensive program and map, but in the end we just wandered and meandered and had no problem hitting every location. There was one large room with many little pockets and a smaller room all chock full of stands. The back room was almost hidden and was full of gems — both of the beer and food variety.
Pro tip — head there first. The taco bar and chocolate and caramel fountains were very nice and the extra awesome beers were back there.
There were at least four lives bands playing and somehow they managed to not overpower the place or interfere with each other. They covered all different genres, which was a good touch. You could park yourself near the one that most appealed to you.
As a «not so much a beer drinker,» I was impressed by the amount of non-​beer available. Basically every cider on the market was there with multiple offerings. There was also Sprecher and Point soda and a selection of the Mike’s Hard Lemonade style stuff.
Literally the only complaint I had all night was a lack of slop buckets and I’m probably the only one who cared because I wasn’t actually finishing my tasting glass of each sample. Not as much of a beer drinker, I was in it to taste and sample beers I might not have otherwise bought myself, so I was more looking for one or two sips. Even when I asked for short pours, each booth was very generous and I often found myself with more beer than I wanted (such a problem!) and nowhere to toss it out. There were maybe 4 rinse stations throughout the whole event and many of those water bottles emptied quickly. Additional slop buckets spread throughout the area would have been nice.
Thought not H and P’s fault and not something I factored into my rating, I’ll leave this here since it should be a consideration when making H and P plans — we chose to stay at one of the hotels suggested on the H and P site that offered free shuttle service so we didn’t have to worry about designated driving. We chose one of the cheaper per night options since it was just to sleep for the night. Not sure if the hotel underestimated the popularity or just cheaped out, but they provided one 6 passenger van. This wasn’t really a problem on the way to the event, but obviously created a bottleneck leaving. We left about 15 minutes early, knowing the situation would get bad. Despite the hotel being about a 5 minute ride away, we waited more than 30 minutes for the driver. By the time we’d stood in the cold for as long as we did, I was more than sober enough to drive us home. We called the number she left us, but were just told she was on the way and were given no explanation. We were lucky enough to get on the first van, but I’d guess others in line waited quite a long time. So what I’m saying is that if you’re planning to do that option in the future, check out the details with the hotel first. Other hotels hired school buses or had their own mini buses, so it might be worth it to pay more for a better transportation situation.

I’ve been to a handful of beer fests, not generally a huge fan, but this one was great!
It was not overcrowded, no lines to sample hundreds of beers, ciders, and I even saw some wine. The food was done by Machine Shed, and the variety really impressed me.
Food was strategically-​placed and there were no waits there either other than the standard buffet line shuffle.
Having never been to the EAA, it was great to have the opportunity to see some of the cool crafts housed there.

Totally impressed with how well this beer fest is organized and run.
Hops & Props is along the same lines of Food & Froth at the MPM. Both are fundraisers for their respective museums & both offer lots of beer to taste. If I’m honest, I think Hops & Props is a wee bit better.
First, there’s a ton of space at the EAA so it never felt overcrowded. They’re able to really spread things out over several large, connected hangars.
Second, there really was never a wait for anything — ever. Even bathrooms!
Third, there was plenty of food & it was pretty good. Shrimp cocktail, build your own tacos & sliders, pasta stations, a HUGE dessert bar with chocolate fountains (and bacon to dip!) and even Indian food. At one point, they served strawberry shortcake!
Fourth — beer. Lots of beer, and lots of breweries I’d never heard of or tried. If oure a hardcore beer nerd, be aware most breweries are going to bring their staples vs. the crazy stuff. Still, there’s lots of things to try. My favorites were Blue Moon Tongue Thai’d which is infused with lemongrass, basil and mint and Wells Sticky Toffee Pudding Ale. It really tasted like dessert, but it wasn’t sweet — WHAT IS THIS SORCERY?
To make a great event even better, we scored free tix from Unilocal along with Ron & Stephanie R & Nicole H. So we had tasty food, great beer, ample restrooms AND cool people to hang with.