Highlands Beer Festival

I’ve been to this festival every year since the beginning, back in December 2009. This is the first year that the festival has been held outdoors and I have mixed feelings about it.
Previously the festival was held in the main corridor of Midcity Mall– fine the first few years but as the event gained popularity, it became very crowded. This year the event was held in the parking lot beside the Back Door.
The festival this year was much larger, with way more beers to test and try. Most beers are available for purchase in Value Market’s magical and wonderful refrigerated beer cave. Unlike previous festivals, there was no option for full pours of anything, and each sample came in a tiny plastic cup. Maybe this isn’t such a bad thing since there were many choices, but it felt very wasteful to toss each little plastic cup between samples. At some previous festivals, pint glasses came with admission and were used for samples or full pours. This year I didn’t even get a pint glass since they ran out very early.
Since the festival was held outdoors this year, there was a lot more elbow room for the guests– another pro in my opinion. The negative, more space meant there was room for a stage where absolutely dreadful dad rock was blasted all day.
The festival also started much earlier in the day than previous years and finished up by 7:00. I’m sure this was because of noise levels, but I’m more of a night person so I would have preferred to have been just kicking things off at 7 rather than finishing up for the night.
This is still one of my favorite beer festivals because of the intimate neighbor-​like feeling. It always feels kind of DIY, and that’s why I love it so much. I think that feeling didn’t change with the move outdoors and that’s what really matters.

99 bottles of beer, takin’ all down and passed around…
I love this annual event in Louisville to showcase new beer’s on the market, local breweries, and new seasonal selections. The event is setup that you get a wrist band advertising that you are over 21 and then you buy tickets to trade for two ounce samples of any beer you choose.
This event coincides with Bardstown Aglow in the Highlands so parking is limited and event is pretty crowed. Unilocal always represents with bottles of water, beer openers, or even a yummy pretzel necklace. There is usually someone selling chips or water, but make sure to eat something before you arrive, those two ounce samples can add up quickly!
See you next year!

This event was even more popular than I had anticipated, and more than a little bit disorganized. We got in line at 5:10pm with easily more than 100 people ahead of us. The end of the line was past the outside doors of Valumarket. There was no queue; I don’t think they anticipated that kind of line, or at least didn’t plan for it.
It didn’t take long for us to get inside, though maybe 15 minutes. There were only 2 people checking IDs, and 2 people taking money ($ 5 per person to get in the door). The lady who took my $ 20 (I paid for my fiancé, as well) and didn’t give me my change until I asked for it. I think she was distracted by her children, who were also present.
The cluster continued just past where we paid the door fee. They had the table selling drink tickets just past where we entered. Tickets were $ 1 each or unlimited for $ 30. I would have considered buying the unlimited had it been more reasonably priced (I’d have to get wasted in order to make that worth it).
Once we got in, it was incredibly crowded at the front. We fought our way to the back, where all the good stuff was, anyway. I was absolutely amazed by the collection they had available for sampling. De Halve Maan’s Bruges Zot? Ommegang’s Three Philosophers? Others that I wish I could remember but there was nothing to write down what I liked? YEP. It was great to find out that all of these beers could be purchased at Valumarket… I just wish I could remember what they all were.
Overall, this event was pretty awesome, just could have used a little bit of logistical help.