Not much to report from OBF this year. I only made it to one day and I have 10 tokens left. My plan to attend part of the day on Thursday was foiled by coworkers all being gone, so I was limited to Saturday. I had a great time though. My family and a group of friends from college came in to town and we all headed down before noon on Saturday (I love you Max) and set up a base camp with the pack-n-play. Allowed for folks to wander back and forth between the beers, food, and always have a place to relax.
Beer-wise, I wasn’t as impressed with this year’s spread. I think my favorite was yet again Pliny the Elder, and there were several other great beers, but I didn’t go crazy trying to sample all the beers I wanted this year. I think there were actually more beers that I was disapointed by for a change. One in particular, the Boundary Bay Galena single-hop seemed like it could be excellent. Galenas have a wonderful spicy aroma and a strong bittering characteristic, but the beer was just a little too simple. Nice smell and initial taste, but it had no follow up, and my mouth was left wondering who had put out the flavor. Noggin’ Grog was similar. I was told it wasn’t much good by a friend, but thought he might have just been talking down the competition. Nope – it was strangely bad.
I was quite pleased to be able to take my daughter for her first OBF. It was looking like it would be a no-minors event for the first time in 20 years, but luckily prudence prevailed, and families were able to enjoy the event together. I did not get an orange “I am a minor” sticker for Ella though, which was a mild disappointment, and she had very little interest in taking a nap in the chaos. Lesson for next year though – babies need rest if you want them to be happy.
Now, what to do with the additional mugs? At least the tokens are reusable next year.
Good. Now I don’t feel so bad about missing OBF. Sure I didn’t get to see my friends, but the important thing is I didn’t waste time on bad beer. Now where’d I leave that Keystone Light??