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| BREW<br />
BRAÜ<br />
CODE<br />
BY BRANT MYERS<br />
Beer festival season is here! Just kidding,<br />
it’s always beer festival season, with<br />
maybe the exception of January. You<br />
see, there’s always a reason to get likeminded<br />
people together for a fun day<br />
on the Central Coast enjoying beers<br />
and live music. As these events become<br />
bigger and more prolific, it’s important<br />
to strategize on how to best appreciate<br />
a beer festival and get the greatest<br />
experience you can, while toeing the<br />
line on how to avoid a bad time.<br />
Let’s just start off by showcasing what a “beer fest” is and what is<br />
going on behind the scenes. The basic theory is to offer a variety<br />
of beers that a typical consumer might not have yet tried or is<br />
not aware of. Kind of like samples at Costco, but without all that<br />
annoying food getting in the way. This can come from either<br />
inviting breweries to join and bring beer, a booth, a representative,<br />
and maybe some branded freebies; or it can be the local distributor<br />
enhancing their customer base by letting you “try before you buy” the selections<br />
you’ll find at the store. It can even be both. The organizers behind the scenes<br />
putting these festivals together almost always have a non-profit behind them<br />
that they are helping to fundraise for, while utilizing a volunteer base and<br />
getting that little hit of serotonin from doing the right thing. Also, one or two<br />
saves puppies, so please think of the puppies.<br />
Speaking of volunteers, let’s have an earnest chat about the juxtaposition of<br />
hundreds of people enjoying unlimited pours for four hours and the people who<br />
serve them. Basics of human interaction get a tad bent in an unfamiliar setting<br />
and for about $50 you get to drink as much or as little as you’d like, albeit in<br />
three-ounce pours. The first rule of beer festivals is to respect others. This is true<br />
to the people who gave up their sunny Saturday afternoon to help you enjoy<br />
yours. This is especially true of the professionals who drove hours and spend<br />
all day just to give you the opportunity to try the beers they made or represent.<br />
Talk to them, find out what beer they brought, where they hailed from, and take<br />
a tasting note from the person who knows it best. If you’ve never experienced<br />
their beer, then ask for a recommendation and you’ll probably receive the<br />
flagship beer they’re best known for, or a crowd favorite on that day. Either way<br />
you can’t go wrong. Shoving an empty glass in their face while you talk to your >><br />
92 | <strong>SLO</strong> <strong>LIFE</strong> MAGAZINE | JUN/JUL <strong>2019</strong>
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