West Coast Brew Fest

It was a long walk. we parked by the automobile museum. It was HOT. Tickets are $ 40(thank God ours were free). So long walk long lines and I honestly only liked the apple and berry beers. We found some cute hand made jewelry. The cup you get is a shot glass. VIP was about 2xs bigger. Blessed to have had the chance to check out the big hype… My brew fest will be at bevmo. we then needed to go to burgers and brew to get our real glasses of beer! Which we weren’t the only ones from the festival the whole place was packed with familiar faces.

We had a great time! Riding bikes is definitely the way to go. It’s a long, hot walk from the parking lot, but there is a free bicycle parking area right in front of the entry to the festival. There were several long, disorganized lines to get in, which could have been handled much better. However, once inside the lines were short and the brews and breeze were plentiful. Not being much of a beer lover, I was extremely satisfied with the selection of ciders and «fruity» beers for my taste. Overall a good event in a great location for the discerning drinkers in Sacramento.
As for the food vendors, the philly cheese steak and bratwurst were good, and bbq oysters were also available.

This is the place to be for warm days, cold beer, & HOT people!
The venue at Miller Park is perfect! While the line to get in may look intimidating it moves fast! VIP tickets can definitely be a plus… you not only get in an hour before general admission (letting spend some time with the vendors & try their beers), you get a food ticket & t-​shirt!
One thing I found way cool was the bike valet, making it a breeze to ride your bike & check it in! Great idea!
Designated drivers get the royal treatment!
This event is well organized, well planned, & a whole lot of fun! Oh, the proceeds go to a great cause!

This year, they did it right. Perfect, I’d say.
Brewers galore, great music, good vibes — just tops.

Definitely your moneys worth and the most friendly crowd. Gets better every year.

This was a great concept that could have been executed better. I loved the idea of paying a flat fee and then drinking unlimited amounts of beer from a bunch of cool microbreweries, but my enthusiasm waned after a long walk to the festival, a wait to enter in the hot sun, and then long lines for every brewery. To make matters worse, they give you a plastic glass a little larger than a shot glass to do your drinking. So when you finally get to the front of those long lines, you get one shot of thick brew to quench your thirst.
It wasn’t all bad. Once you get into the rhythm of standing in line then you learn how to navigate the crowds and maximize your investment. It was also a great place for people watching and food, like the amazing nachos I shouldn’t have devoured after all that beer. I enjoyed myself, but not enough to go again.

I was impressed with vendors/​pourers at the WCBF. They supplied beer pours non-​stop at a frantic pace but without frantic energy. They also managed to share some specifics of the sample beers in the few seconds they had face to face with each patron. I loved that the event was pet friendly; who doesn’t love seeing a cute, well-​behaved pup trot along side his master in the park? With that said, I am not sure I would attend next year. I expected quite a few breweries to be in attendance; that was not the case. The title, West Coast Brewfest, is misleading. The lines were long but moved quickly; however, the issue was that you just didn’t know where lines ended and began. The vendor booths were jumbled together instead of being spaced out. Miller Park could definitely accommodate more space in between tents. The weather was pleasant and I definitely slammed down refreshing beer samples as the afternoon sun hit its peak. I only remember hearing one band and they stunk. I wish I could be more delicate but they topped each bad song with a horrible one: Kid Rock, Bön Jovi and did I hear «Baby Got Back»? The food vendors left much to be desired and by half way into to event, the porta-​potties no longer had T.P. and portable sinks were out of soap and water. It’s a brew fest! People are going to be going to bathroom in record numbers! Please keep the peers happy.

This event is AWESOME! I will definitely be making it an annual tradition from now on. If you’re a beer drinker, $ 30 gets you unlimited tastings from a pretty decent selection of breweries. I’m not sure if there’s anything not to like about that.
Even though it was pretty packed, I never had to wait more than a few minutes in line to get a pour since there were so many breweries and they were well-​staffed at the kegs. The crowd was mostly 20-​somethings and 30-​somethings… very friendly all around.
Oh, and props on the bike valet parking too — I thought that was a nice touch, even though I didn’t bike to the event.

Wow, what an awesome way to enjoy the beautiful weather on a Saturday!
Nearly endless variety of beers — I liked that the vendors each had light and dark varieties. I was hungover from Fri, so I kept it light. The lines weren’t long at all — especially if you filled up your cup and stood in line.
A lot of fun people watching about two hours in. One guy literally fell out of his flip flops and tried to put them on again by tossing them on his feet. I watched this for nearly five minutes. There was also a pretty entertaining fight that broke out in the parking lot. Give the people beer and watch them do funny things!
Deducting a star for two reasons: Cigar smoke (cough) and lack of paper in the port-​o-​potties. Attention brewfest: Girls need paper.

UNlimited tokenless tastings from great breweries. Music, food and people watching along the river. Only 3000 tix sold to keep it on the down-​low ($ 25 if you plan ahead) with 100 VIP and $ 5 Des Driver tix too. Over 60 breweries with over 120 award-​winning beers.
Free parking (though you’ll probably have to walk a li’l to burn off those beer calories). For a good, LOCAL cause.
Enough said, right?

Don’t get me wrong. I had a ton of fun. but I do think they can make a few improvements next year. It was packed — huge lines when they opened and they sold out right away. I was happy that I bought my tickets online.
— Water availability — water was only available from the food vendors and the longs were extremely long. it was so hot I ended up drinking way more beer than anyone needed just to cool down.
— Access to the river — again it was hot as hell that day. It would have been nice to go down the river. I would assume they blocked it off since they did not want drunk people drowning. but still.
–Parking — we ended up walking about a ½ mile to get to the park. It might be nice to have some shuttles.
*as an added bonus. hung out with some cool Unilocalers at this event!
All in all — I can’t wait until next year!

The West Coast Brewfest is a blast. I recommend going to this one as well as the Sacramento Brewfest (previous weekend) at Raley Field, but if you have to make a decision, go to the West Coast Brewfest. I thought it had a better selection of beers and you can’t beat unlimited tasting.
Don’t show up early and think you will get in at 1:00; there was a huge line of people with the same idea. The workers do their best to get everyone through quickly, but spending 15 minutes in the sun still sucks. If you show up at 1:30 you will probably walk right in.
I didn’t think the lines for beer were too bad; they were probably less than five minutes for most of the beers there.
West Coast Brewfest (Sacramento BrewFest)
Pros:
— free parking ($ 10 for Raley Field)
— unlimited tasting (10 tastes at Raley Field; extra tastes are $ 1 each)
— Miller Park looks nicer than Raley Field. I like sitting on the grass underneath a tree and looking out on the river.
— There was a good band playing
— Each vendor has a sign (why is this a pro? At Raley Field, only one vendor had a sign. A sign makes it easier to tell what beer is being offered before you get in line.)
Cons:
— Holy Jesus, it is always hotter than hell when you aren’t in the shade. I have no idea how Sacramento heats up by about twenty degrees in the course of a week. I wish they had had some misters or cover for when you were waiting in line for a sample. (Raley Field had plenty of shade)
— I didn’t see any food or drink for sale. I didn’t see any water fountains either. Good thing alcohol helps you stay so hydrated (sarcasm). (Raley Field had their snack bar open)
— Is Miller Park close to any public transportation? (Raley Field is a half mile away from downtown Sac and light rail)
— $ 5 admission for designated drivers (Raley Field has free admission for DD’s).
Please correct me if I have any details wrong.

I had a great time here. Aside with the fact that this year it was HOT. The Miller Park is a perfect place for this event. Plentify shaded trees, live music, and a perfect place to dip your feet… the Sacramento River!
The mini beer glasses didn’t matter because you could always fill it up with more. The variety of beer was excellent. And if you didn’t like one, you could always find another local brewery with their finest brews. You can’t really complain about the cost…$ 25 bucks online, and $ 30 at the door. Come on… you can spend that much and more for less beer and drinks at the bar. So truth is… I like this event. And it keeps evolving every year. More food, better music, and better organization.
It is a great way to start out summer.

My wife and I went to the West Coast Brewfest a couple years ago. If you like to binge drink in the HOT Sacramento sun in the middle of the afternoon this is the perfect location. There were a couple fights near the port-​a-​pots. One fat bald hairy guy actually took his wife-​beater off to tangle with another drunk loser. No dude, keep it on… that’s why they call it a wife-​beater. There were also quite a few mumbling drunk-​types that hit on my wife a lot. Dude, see the drunk red-​head with the tat that says «Bitch» on it? Maybe you’d have better luck with her.
West Coast Drunkfest.

As a beer lover, this is heaven. When the weather’s warm, you’ve got a solid buzz going, and everyone’s wearing as little as possible is a recipe for a very good time. Loads of small brewers producing and offering high quality beverages makes Über’s heart sing. Beer, beer, beer!!! More BEER! MORE BEER! Beer I say! Gimme more! Yeah, that hefeweizen looks good… What? It’s a ‘witbier,’ not a hefe… Uh, well, pour me one of ‘em anyway… MORe, more… he… maybe I should drink some water… I gotta drfve3 home at some point… No, you sloww donn! F#ck you! No… I don[’t wanna be queit! F#ck moff. I;m siting down cause i wanna aisit down.
, m [burp]
Uh… guys. I don’t sfeel so goodd. Uh…
Uhd…uh…
[BLARG!!!]
Ok… in all seriousness, this event is an excellent venue to really learn about the local breweries, and really hone in on the types of beers that appeal to you. True beer connoisseurs will love this place. All of the vendors are very enthusiastic, and are very knowledgeable about the beer they’re pushing. This even is a great place to really pry them about their brewing processes, methods, and histories, if those sorts of nerdy things appeal to you.
Just be sure to get in your brewing process questions to the vendors early. Any information gained after about 12:30 will be lost to the ether in your alcohol-​saturated memory.
It’s a bargain, and there’s usually tons of beautiful people to keep your alcohol addled brain occupied. GOOD TIMES.

$ 25. All you can drink. 48 vendors. Park by the water. Biking distance. sweet.