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Author Topic: Was the Philly BNA really that bad?  (Read 8782 times)

Offline dkfick

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Re: Was the Philly BNA really that bad?
« Reply #45 on: June 16, 2014, 08:37:20 am »
It should be noted the BNA9 party was nothing short of amazing this year. So enjoyable I'm still smiling. :)
Really?  I was a little bummed about my experience.  We left early. 

The venue was great and really spread out.  Lots of fun activities for sure.  I had a VIP ticket and the music was decent up in the VIP area.... and not crazy loud due to the openness of the patio it was on.  You had easy access to water, food, etc during the party.  This was great.

There were not very many beers to be had and many of them started running out by about 9:30.

There were a few more beers in the VIP area... but it was so far removed from the rest of the event that we were not up there except at the start and at the very end (~10 when we left) when they only had 2 beers left.  The beers in the VIP area were not as 'rare' as they have been in the past parties I've gone to.  The food in the VIP area seemed to be the same as everyone else could get.. With the exception of a few desert items.  For all the extra money I paid for the VIP ticket I was left feeling a bit screwed.  Maybe I would have been 'ok' with the regular ticket though...

One other thing that might have made it a bit 'blah' for me was I had had most of the beers that were served there before.  Which is likely just due to geographical issues.  I guess looking back I have always enjoyed the BNA parties for all the beers that I just have no access to.  I had thought of this ahead of time and that is why I got the VIP ticket.  I really thought they would have some more beers that were harder to get.  Even if they were just some of the many many delicious Michigan beers.

I wonder if the BN was restricted to dealing with distributors for the event, so they couldn't get "special" beers from breweries.
I don't know... I did have 1-2 beers that are not normally distributed in MI.  I would have been happy with more "special" MI beers though in the VIP area.  I just didn't see much added value for having paid whatever more I paid ($30-$40? more).
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Offline MDixon

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Re: Was the Philly BNA really that bad?
« Reply #46 on: June 16, 2014, 09:20:55 am »
I heard several VIP people say it was not worth the extra coin. Remove the VIP from your ticket and how was it then? I had beers well up until last call, granted I can get some of them in NC, but there was plenty of variety IMO.
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Offline brewmichigan

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Re: Was the Philly BNA really that bad?
« Reply #47 on: June 16, 2014, 09:43:28 am »
It should be noted the BNA9 party was nothing short of amazing this year. So enjoyable I'm still smiling. :)
Really?  I was a little bummed about my experience.  We left early. 

The venue was great and really spread out.  Lots of fun activities for sure.  I had a VIP ticket and the music was decent up in the VIP area.... and not crazy loud due to the openness of the patio it was on.  You had easy access to water, food, etc during the party.  This was great.

There were not very many beers to be had and many of them started running out by about 9:30.

There were a few more beers in the VIP area... but it was so far removed from the rest of the event that we were not up there except at the start and at the very end (~10 when we left) when they only had 2 beers left.  The beers in the VIP area were not as 'rare' as they have been in the past parties I've gone to.  The food in the VIP area seemed to be the same as everyone else could get.. With the exception of a few desert items.  For all the extra money I paid for the VIP ticket I was left feeling a bit screwed.  Maybe I would have been 'ok' with the regular ticket though...

One other thing that might have made it a bit 'blah' for me was I had had most of the beers that were served there before.  Which is likely just due to geographical issues.  I guess looking back I have always enjoyed the BNA parties for all the beers that I just have no access to.  I had thought of this ahead of time and that is why I got the VIP ticket.  I really thought they would have some more beers that were harder to get.  Even if they were just some of the many many delicious Michigan beers.

I wonder if the BN was restricted to dealing with distributors for the event, so they couldn't get "special" beers from breweries.

That seems to be what I keep hearing Jeff. Hopefully we can get some laws changed before it comes again. It would be great to get beers that are normally not sold here brought in just for this event.
Mike --- Flint, Michigan

Offline dkfick

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Re: Was the Philly BNA really that bad?
« Reply #48 on: June 16, 2014, 09:48:27 am »
I heard several VIP people say it was not worth the extra coin. Remove the VIP from your ticket and how was it then? I had beers well up until last call, granted I can get some of them in NC, but there was plenty of variety IMO.
Yeah I was trying to decide that, but couldn't remember the ticket costs.  The variety of beer was just really low seeming to me.  There were def some beers that were still around at 10 when we were leaving but a lot were gone.  I  would certainly have been 'ok' with the party if I had not purchased the VIP ticket.. but not sure I would say it was 'good'.  Whereas with the VIP ticket I would say it was 'disappointing'.

To me the number of beers just seemed to be much less than previous years.  Maybe there were more beers there than I recall.  I know they had beers like Bell's 2 Hearted and stuff.  I can get than even in a dive bar around here and it's an excellent beer, but I realize that some people cannot and it was great for them to be able to try it.  In my mental headcount I could have totally dismissed beers like that.  The ones I literally see in every single bar. It's entirely possible lol.  I would have liked to have seen a list of the beers.  I wasn't there to get totally smashed so the easy to get beers for me were automatic passes in my mind...

I have no idea if that rambling about makes sense... lol
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Offline hopfenundmalz

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Re: Was the Philly BNA really that bad?
« Reply #49 on: June 16, 2014, 09:48:38 am »
It should be noted the BNA9 party was nothing short of amazing this year. So enjoyable I'm still smiling. :)
Really?  I was a little bummed about my experience.  We left early. 

The venue was great and really spread out.  Lots of fun activities for sure.  I had a VIP ticket and the music was decent up in the VIP area.... and not crazy loud due to the openness of the patio it was on.  You had easy access to water, food, etc during the party.  This was great.

There were not very many beers to be had and many of them started running out by about 9:30.

There were a few more beers in the VIP area... but it was so far removed from the rest of the event that we were not up there except at the start and at the very end (~10 when we left) when they only had 2 beers left.  The beers in the VIP area were not as 'rare' as they have been in the past parties I've gone to.  The food in the VIP area seemed to be the same as everyone else could get.. With the exception of a few desert items.  For all the extra money I paid for the VIP ticket I was left feeling a bit screwed.  Maybe I would have been 'ok' with the regular ticket though...

One other thing that might have made it a bit 'blah' for me was I had had most of the beers that were served there before.  Which is likely just due to geographical issues.  I guess looking back I have always enjoyed the BNA parties for all the beers that I just have no access to.  I had thought of this ahead of time and that is why I got the VIP ticket.  I really thought they would have some more beers that were harder to get.  Even if they were just some of the many many delicious Michigan beers.

I wonder if the BN was restricted to dealing with distributors for the event, so they couldn't get "special" beers from breweries.

That seems to be what I keep hearing Jeff. Hopefully we can get some laws changed before it comes again. It would be great to get beers that are normally not sold here brought in just for this event.

There were similar issues in Seattle.
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Offline MDixon

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Re: Was the Philly BNA really that bad?
« Reply #50 on: June 16, 2014, 10:17:40 am »
I did not see any duplicates and each station seemed to have 4 or so taps and there were two jockey boxes on the infield. Just thinking back that's about 8 or 9 stations or 32-40 beers. Maybe you missed the Beet Saison from Right Brain or the stellar brown from Saugatuck. Perrin's Grapefruit IPA was pouring, The Livery had a beer, Mitten had an IPA, Dark Hourse, I know Bell's and Founders were around. I suspect you saw the Centennial IPA and didn't peel the onion after being disappointed by the VIP section. I went in expecting it to be crap like Philly and my first impression as we walked in on the deck was it was going to be until I realized there were tap stations everywhere and the food was gratis. With plenty of room, zero smoking, tons of food, I was never without beer in my glass. Granted it might have been Bell's Third Coast, but that was just fine with me. ;)
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Offline dkfick

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Re: Was the Philly BNA really that bad?
« Reply #51 on: June 16, 2014, 10:26:59 am »
I did not see any duplicates and each station seemed to have 4 or so taps and there were two jockey boxes on the infield. Just thinking back that's about 8 or 9 stations or 32-40 beers. Maybe you missed the Beet Saison from Right Brain or the stellar brown from Saugatuck. Perrin's Grapefruit IPA was pouring, The Livery had a beer, Mitten had an IPA, Dark Hourse, I know Bell's and Founders were around. I suspect you saw the Centennial IPA and didn't peel the onion after being disappointed by the VIP section. I went in expecting it to be crap like Philly and my first impression as we walked in on the deck was it was going to be until I realized there were tap stations everywhere and the food was gratis. With plenty of room, zero smoking, tons of food, I was never without beer in my glass. Granted it might have been Bell's Third Coast, but that was just fine with me. ;)
It's possible I missed some stations.  I only remember about 6-7 including the VIP station.  I'm glad that you enjoyed those beers you listed. 
I really think much of my disappointment was just the VIP area and the fact that I have had all of those beers multiple times and can pretty much get them at will.  Not beers I want to be drinking during the non-stop drinking 'long weekend'.  I opted to save my 'beer bullets'.  Now in a 'normal' situation I would gladly drink one of them.  So I guess my disappointment is really a split on the VIP and my own hang ups (the the other 3 in my party were all in agreement.)

That glass they gave us was pretty huge too... Maybe I'm crazy but I would have preferred a smaller glass.  I know it seems counter intuitive but I don't want to drink that much when I am going around sampling beers.  It just means I can't enjoy as many samples to me.
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Offline Stevie

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Re: Was the Philly BNA really that bad?
« Reply #52 on: June 16, 2014, 10:41:52 am »
That glass they gave us was pretty huge too... Maybe I'm crazy but I would have preferred a smaller glass.  I know it seems counter intuitive but I don't want to drink that much when I am going around sampling beers.  It just means I can't enjoy as many samples to me.


My trick in this situation is a nice thick rubber band around the glass. Set it to where you want and tell them to only pour to band.

Offline MDixon

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Re: Was the Philly BNA really that bad?
« Reply #53 on: June 16, 2014, 10:51:26 am »
I used the large opening at the top as a self limiting device... :o
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Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Was the Philly BNA really that bad?
« Reply #54 on: June 16, 2014, 11:13:26 am »
I used the large opening at the top as a self limiting device... :o

:D    Nice.  I use a similar device.
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Offline jeffjm

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Re: Was the Philly BNA really that bad?
« Reply #55 on: June 16, 2014, 02:42:13 pm »
My only complaint about BNA9 was that the bus situation seemed to be pretty disorganized. Once we got there, I had a great time.
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Re: Was the Philly BNA really that bad?
« Reply #56 on: June 16, 2014, 03:08:12 pm »
That seems to be what I keep hearing Jeff. Hopefully we can get some laws changed before it comes again. It would be great to get beers that are normally not sold here brought in just for this event.

I'm pretty certain that was the reason.  It was a very convoluted process to get beer from any commercial brewery.
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Offline denny

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Re: Was the Philly BNA really that bad?
« Reply #57 on: June 16, 2014, 03:10:41 pm »
That glass they gave us was pretty huge too... Maybe I'm crazy but I would have preferred a smaller glass.  I know it seems counter intuitive but I don't want to drink that much when I am going around sampling beers.  It just means I can't enjoy as many samples to me.

If you're talking about the official conference glass, Dan, there is a line on it to mark 2 oz.  I didn't have any problem getting it only filled to that line.
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Offline dkfick

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Re: Was the Philly BNA really that bad?
« Reply #58 on: June 16, 2014, 03:14:57 pm »
That glass they gave us was pretty huge too... Maybe I'm crazy but I would have preferred a smaller glass.  I know it seems counter intuitive but I don't want to drink that much when I am going around sampling beers.  It just means I can't enjoy as many samples to me.

If you're talking about the official conference glass, Dan, there is a line on it to mark 2 oz.  I didn't have any problem getting it only filled to that line.
Na I was talking about the Brewing Network Party glass.  It had to be able to hold at least 12oz and I was getting some 75% pours... even when I would be like 'just a splash'. lol
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Offline denny

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Re: Was the Philly BNA really that bad?
« Reply #59 on: June 16, 2014, 03:19:19 pm »
That glass they gave us was pretty huge too... Maybe I'm crazy but I would have preferred a smaller glass.  I know it seems counter intuitive but I don't want to drink that much when I am going around sampling beers.  It just means I can't enjoy as many samples to me.

If you're talking about the official conference glass, Dan, there is a line on it to mark 2 oz.  I didn't have any problem getting it only filled to that line.
Na I was talking about the Brewing Network Party glass.  It had to be able to hold at least 12oz and I was getting some 75% pours... even when I would be like 'just a splash'. lol

I should have guessed it was the BN glass.  "More is not enough!"
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