Brewfest trip report w/pics (and I met [censored])

[nolanfan34]

So, on Saturday the wife and I, and two of our friends, headed down to Portland for the Oregon Brewer's Festival, a.k.a. Brewfest.

We got down there, checked our bags in at the hotel (room wasn't ready yet), and walked over to the event. Brewfest is right on the waterfront in downtown Portland, which was walking distance from the hotel. Really a must when you're hammered at 8 PM and have to go check in still.

After standing in line to have our ID's checked, we made it inside and went right to work. Mrs. nolanfan and I split their $50 package, which includes two mugs (which you must purchase to drink), a program, and 37 tokens. 1 token gets you a sample, or about a 1/4 mug, and 4 tokens gets you a full beer.

The mrs. tried a Raspberry Wheat ale, that wasn't that great. I had a Whoop Pass Double IPA, from Silver City Brewing. 9% ABV, so it packed a nice punch. The hops were a bit harsh, but overall this was very good.

About this time we had claimed a home base at one of the tables, and connected up with original 10k OOT poster ThaSaltCracka (remember when that was a big deal, OOT vets?), and former poster now lurker Kerssens. TSC was already drunk, after like 2 beers, because that's how you roll when you're from the streez, OK?

Hung with those guys for a bit, then they left to track down TSC's brother. TSC also was expecting a call from [censored], who was supposed to make an appearance.

Before they took off, we also ran into mostly-lurker, occasional poster Plaster8. Plaster had worn his signature Expos hat, thinking it would be unique and easy to spot. Except that we saw three of them just sitting in our area alone - it's just so hard to be original nowadays.

A few beers later, I got the call from TSC that they were headed back our way - [censored] in tow. And the guy hadn't wasted any time, apparently he banned two people just for looking at him the wrong way.

So we met up with [censored] and the rest. [censored] made it clear right away that even though we had now met in real life, none of us is immune from banning if we slip up and post any dumb crap in OOT. Duly noted. The only exception might be Mrs. Nolanfan, who was on the watch for girls to hook [censored] up with.

We hung out for a bit, and played some drunken high-stakes Uno, which is always a crowd pleaser. [insert poker playing analogies here].

[censored] also gave me some insights on what I'm missing these days in the mod forum, and some of his future plans. I can't spill any details here, but let me tell you that he has some exciting things in store!

Finally, we snapped a quick group shot of the 2+2 contingent, before people headed off their separate ways for the evening.



Top (L-R): Plaster8, [censored], Kerssens, nolanfan34
Bottom (L-R): TSC's brother, TSC

It was great to see everyone, and was another great Brewfest. Sorry for the lack of beer reviews, but after the first few glasses you pretty much just stand in line and get whatever they pour you, so the quality of review might not be that great.... [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]