[heavyeng]

Who has gone and was it worth it?

Thinking about going for a mid-life crisis trip LOL!!

Obviously lots of good beers, but hows the rest of the experience?

I've only flown through Denver and C-Springs,so I don't know the area much.

TIA!

[tom]

Fantastic!  You can't do it all in one day though.

There are a lot of other events going on about town too.  A lot of pro breweries will have special nights and the Falling Rock Tap House has special brews several times every day.  The KROC homebrew club also hosts their annual World Brewers Forum on Thursday night with speakers and lots of great homebrew.

One fun thing is to volunteer.  You can set up, tear down, or serve.  The bigger the serving teams the more time each individual has to "taste".

Last year the tickets sold out in the first week, so plan early.

Cheers, Tom

[heavyeng]

Right on Tom!

Gonna plan to go out early on Thursday and come home Monday.

I need to do things as cheap as possible and still have fun.

[snowtiger87]

Well, the KROC event is free (The World Brewers Fourm). There will be announcements as the GABF gets closer. I would not bother going to the convention hall on Friday or Saturday night (unless as a volunteer server) so that only leaves you with Thursday night and/or Saturday afternoon to attend (and buy tickets).

But do not worry about that. There are literally hundreds of beer events going on in Denver for those days (Thurs - Sun). With the opening of several new beer bars and breweries in Denver since the last GABF I am sure there will even be more this year.

It is definately a "must attend" event for and beer lover. How much you spend will be up to you. One piece of advice for a hotel (if you need one) I would give would be to stay north or south of Denver because the rates get cheaper the farther away from downtown you stay. As long as you are close to I-25 public transportation is very good.

[gsandel]

As a resident of Denver, I go every year.  I believe that it is a must-do at least once in a lifetime for anyone who likes craft beer....I just wish I could convince those that like getting drunk (on anything they can get their hands on) more than "tasting" craft beer to skip the event.  That would reduce attendance significantly.

As stated, there are a gazillion other beer events, bars, (It is also Denver Beer Week, I think) and brewery tours that are worthwhile, not to mention National Parks, Mountains, and other recreational opportunities abound.

[jeffy]

I've been a few times.  I can reiterate that the Thursday night session is the best.  Most of the brewers are there pouring and nobody is out of beer yet.  Friday and Saturday nights are way too crowded, so I usually go to Lodo and find most of the brewers at Falling Rock Tap House.  Saturday afternoon used to be nice and quiet until the general public found out they could all get tickets if they became Brewers Assoc. members. 
We have stayed at B&B's just outside of Lodo (there are several), an easy hop on the light rail to the convention center.

[heavyeng]

Good stuff folks and thank you!

[dolecek21]

Most definitely worth it, in my opinion.  As someone else who lives in Denver, it may be a little bit easier as I don't have to worry about the cost of getting here and a place to stay.  A couple of people have mentioned staying south near a light rail station.  This seems like a very good way to save some $.  There is a station right outside the convention center that hosts the event.

It is also Denver Beer Week.  There are several events that take place all week long at local breweries, bars, etc.

[heavyeng]

Really looking forward to this as each day goes by.

The Falling Rock looks like a lot of fun and the current tap list shows Young's Double Chocolate Stount on tap the wife and I love it.

Got a couple of fests and concerts to hold me over but I've never looked forward to being 41 sooo much!