Scenes from the weekend (UPDATED)

>(UPDATE #1):The beer festival out at the Pechanga Resort and Casino was a fine time. Even the Stevie Ray Vaughn tribute band wasn’t the absolute train wreck we thought it was going to be. All the heavyweights, with one notable exception, Alpine, were there in their West Coast/San Diego hop-tastic glory: Stone, Green Flash, Port, Ballast Point, Russian River, Mad River and every other flippin’ Northern Californian flowing body of water.

(one suggestion to the organizers: do it outdoors. “Festivals” by definition are outdoor events and that goes double for beer festivals in the summer. We were confined to a large ball room that was extremely cramped at the beginning of the afternoon but, fortunately, grew into itself as the afternoon progressed. The queuing behavior of the masses that developed organically to find the most efficient means of obtaining beer samples was a study in market economics… or at least would’ve been had we not been pre-occupied with organically finding the most efficient means of obtaining beer samples).

And one brewery that hardly qualifies as a microbrewery was there as well: Sam Adams. They stood out simply because they didn’t need to be there. Their brand is recognized nation-wide, they advertise nationally in the prime time and as we inferred, their capacity probably equals that of all the other breweries present combined. So, why go?

We’re not huge fans of their beers but we will say that it was gratifying to see Sam Adams there because it proves that they are still down for the cause. Remember, this was the little Boston brewery that got this whole micro/craft brew thing rolling back in the 80s and their presence at the beer festival demonstrated that while they are big time, they are not big-timin’. Big ups to Sam Adams for continuing to support the revolution.

(here endeth the update)



They were auctioning off memorabilia up at the beer festival at the Pechanga resort on Saturday, the proceeds of which were going to benefit Habitat for Humanity. However, as you can see below, some people would rather you go homeless than show any particular support for certain institutions of higher learning.
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