Beer festival basics

When I go to a beer festival, these are the things I want the organisation to get right.

Lockdown is gone, let’s enjoy! Beer festival season is in full swing again and we have been all too eagerly waiting. Luckily, there are very many beer festivals to choose from. That one simple fact means that we, as consumers, can vocalize what we want and hopefully organizers listen They might not, as far as I know most of these events (nearly) sell out anyway, but one can try.

There is a rather small list of things, that I think are just common sense. Basic understanding of beer drinker needs. Core necessities. Get these right, please.

1. Water If you don’t allow me to bring any (and even if, then still!), then please make sure there is enough water to hydrate. It’s not only good for the palette, it’s good for staying sober and with that for the atmosphere. Who wants there to be more than the inevitable number of drunk dipshits around?
2. Bathrooms Plenty. Free. Reasonably clean. We come to spend a fair bit of money on large varieties of beer and hopefully rinse our bodies with plenty of water. Those fluids need to exit, that’s just biology. Part of selling beer is allowing us to dispose of it again. We all know how many people are there, how often they need to let some go, so guesstimating a necessary number of toilets isn’t rocket science. Now I don’t need these to be five-star-hotel-clean, but I also would appreciate if I don’t feel the germs swimming upstream into my sensitive parts.
3. Small glasses I want to sample many beers. This is easier, cheaper and less likely to result in health problems when glasses are reasonably small. 15cl (for some: 5 or 6 fl oz.) is good. More is, in my opinion, too much. If I like the beer enough and I want, I can always get a second one. I know you’re selling beer, and you want to sell a lot of it. I really do think that my total consumption won’t go down in volume and/or Euros spent. I’m pretty sure you can set a nice price point where the revenue per drop of liquid goes up, while I get my desired consumption size.
4. Rules in my face People like bringing exclusive bottles and cans to share, snacks to nibble, a soda, power banks for their phone etc. If some of these are not allowed that is totally fine. In fact, it’s very understandable. Nevertheless, us customers can only afford some understanding if this is made very clear in your communication on beforehand. When you send me tickets by mail, just include the rules. It is kind of frustrating to discover at the gates that there is no reasonable solution for my 60 euro bottle other than to just down it like a high society tailgate.
5. Have beer at the end This is more for the brewers than for the organization. It is awesome when you sell out. It is fantastic when people love a new release and line up for it, screaming with their hands in their, chanting your brand name. For people coming a little later, or for those who’d rather have their bourbon barrel aged triple dry hopped oatmeal imperial stout near the end of the festival it is nice if there still is some. Can’t always be guaranteed, I get that. But if the festival is three days, and you have three kegs, save a keg for day three, even if it runs fast. If it runs very fast on day one, hit the keg on day two perhaps a little later, to have it available to more than just the very early birds. Those kind of gestures are appreciated by people who plan their day!

Later today, i’ll be going to my first festival in well over two years! Let’s see how many of the above points they get right! Do you have any drinking event pet peeves? Let me know below!