Back from the Tap NY show. I will have a much different opinion than Bob - who is laying snoring in his recliner, buddy Paul sprawled on the couch. I have nowhere to sit except for in front of the computer or bed. Too early for that. Anyway....2 hour drive up was uneventful until we got off the Thruway. The waterfalls on the way up to Hunter are beautiful. What scenery....and sometimes scary, with the road being so close to the cliffs. I may add that I am very proud of myself navigating those roads, post festival, with two sleeping "drunks" in the car. I probably pissed off the cars behind me, but at least I made it!!
I, personally, was extremely disappointed. Being designated driver, all I had to look forward to was the food. It was AWFUL - GOD awful. Inedible. What made me so mad was the fact that they touted this event as a culinary pairing with micro brew beers..blah blah blah...it was TERRIBLE. Being in the trade show industry for most of my career I wanted to scream - their food was made by whatever food service company caters to Hunter Mountain Lodge. Most of these generic service companies barely make a decent ham sandwich, let alone pulled pork. And hamburger heaven???? It was, no joke, a star shaped (
) pattie thing that tasted like some kind of filler - I would not have fed it to my dog. Spit the first bite into a napkin and the rest in the trash. So basically, I paid a $20 admission fee for one "ok" coconut shrimp. Oh..and a cup of coffee. Woo freakin' hoo
Ok rant over..I'm just cranky that I couln't taste the beer. Bob & Paul sampled them all - and I sipped a few of the best. Most notably - Keegan Ales - Mother's Milk - fantastic. Secondly, Ommegang- not sure which one it was, but phenominal. And third, as ironic as it may be: Middle Ages brewery - Wailing Wench. Had a great rootbeer from Saranac as well. I know that High Point Brewery won top beer, but I have to look up the others. I'm sure it will be on their website. - So, all in all, this was a wonderful time for the beer tasters - not so wonderful for the sober folk. I definitely need to apply to the event management as a consultant
- they could have done so much better to make the DD's happy - microbrewed sodas - birch beer, orange, rootbeer etc. And had some decent food vendors!! I gladly would have paid them for some real BBQ (as they advertised) or real ANY food. But, the beer was excellent - what made the show was the exhibitor breweries themselves. Because of this trip, we will head out this summer to Keegan's brepub/restaurant, and others in the area. However, next year, I think we'll organize early and rent a bus....like so many groups did. That seemed to be the way to go. Wish there were roadfood sound - you cannot believe the snoring from the boys - I'll be laughing at them all morning when it's time to wake up for work heh heh heh
One week till Philly/MD -
Sue
