24th Annual Beer Fest

Just like Christmas, beerfest comes but once a year, unfortunately.
Where to begin… firstly, I was surprised at the amount of s.w.a.g (stuff we all get) that was passed out while waiting eagerly in line to enter Fort Mason; mostly little stuff like pins, stickers, visors. A few food trucks and a big bbq goin at the entrance, and then it’s on inside for some brew fun.
You get a mini stein (probably ¾ cup size) when you walk in — which I immediately thought was way too small– but trust, you will get effed up. The brewers are set up all throughout the hanger, and each one fills your little glass and tells you about where the beer is from and any special brewing habits they use. If you love it, you can have another. A lot of firsts for me, but keep in mind, I went like 3 yrs ago and didn’t think to Unilocal till now. First time I tried Trumer, I’m an IPA girl personally, but it was very tasty and has become a go-​to at times. Also had Deschutes and got a sweet key chain/​bottle opener that I still have on my keys.
Toward the end of the night you can walk around and there’s sausages and dancing and art. Awesome views as you’re right on the Bay. Definitely going back next time it rolls around, see you there!

I had a good time at beer fest with a big group of friends. The easiest way for me to describe this event is by comparing it to Costco’s venue and their free food samples PLUS BEER! They give you a small keepsake plastic beer mug that you use to collect the different beers in and there are tons of food samples as well! It did get extremely crowded and the line to get in was LONG, but I can’t complain. There was even a DJ playing the jams and a space to dance. For any beer and food lover, this is the event for you!

This is the most fun party in San Francisco to get drunk at OMG Hundreds of beers you will be fucking drunk by the end of it and the food is amazing at this festival too. I recommend you bring your own beer mug haha then you don’t have to drink from a mini plastic mug they give you. Also they give away tons of free give aways like chips soda t-​shirts cups condoms you name it they give it away. Good way to meet people too getting drunk in a huge warehouse.

Came with a group of 6 friends. It was my first time, but my bf had been before and had raved about it, so I promised him I’d go. Overall, I wasn’t so impressed.
First off, had to get there way early to get in line. And the line was sooooooo long! Once it started moving it wasn’t that bad, but a little overwhelming (and chilly!) to wait outside for 45ish min beforehand.
Lots of beer, that was the good part.
Tons of people, that wasn’t so good. Squeezing, squishing, spilling, etc all amount from too many bodies in one place.
The food was good, but ran out quick. We waited for like, 20 min for a slice of Pizza Orgasmica.
Sufficiently tipsy by the time we left, so I guess it wasn’t all bad. But for $ 60, I’d rather go to dinner and drinks with friends and then some, rather than come back to this event.
Maybe 2.5 stars overall.

It was an honor and privilege to be crowned the king as many may have have noticed. No, not the Burger King, but the King of Beerfest. (
) (and thanks to Patra B. for the photo)
And although this was my first beerfest, it will definitely not be my last. Where else can you find an organized event with all you can drink beer and all you can snack food. It almost seemed like a race against time with the 3 hour window, but my friends and I were prepared. With empty stomachs and a determination like no other, we faced the hundreds of breweries with our teeny weeny cups and snatched as many small bites we possibly could. Some of the highlights that I give my royal approval:
— the spot in the back with the giant beer: the red blend was awesome
— chimay… we found you! but please… the small steins are silly as is, don’t be cheap and give us more than just half of it.
— never going to waste my time with the pear ciders
— corndogs… it was like the holy grail
— aidell’s is bomb
— hanoi beer girls… beer probably sucked, but you girls were great at pooring.
— Pizza Orgasmica, thank you for replenishing yourselves. it wouldn’t be the same without the pizza and beer combo!
and so… next year, i’m going to have to come back fosho!

seriously this event is worth the $ 60 is costs to get in! there’s more beer than you could possibly drink and tons of super friendly people! what more could you ask for!!! :D

I’ll preface this by saying I’m not generally a griper… but woah, this was a real bummer. There was a lot of potential for this to run fantastic, but it was missing fundamental organizational structure. We waited in a massive, massive line for about 45 minutes to get in. Granted, the line may have been shorter had we gotten there early… but we already bought tickets so that is 45 minutes too long between me and my beer (fest).
Once we got in, it we had to wait in another massive line to purchase tokens for beer… and then ANOTHER line to get the beer. Now, if you had a beer vendor in expansive parking lot and only checked ID’s there… now THAT would be awesome.
Everyone who was working/​volunteering at the event was fantastic. They did the best they could with the sheer volume of people… but it was a drunken mad house… of happy people! The beer was tasty, the music was great, the food was tasty. A few tweaks to ensure proper crowd control. and we’ve got ourself a fantastic event.

This was by far top 5 best party nights of my life. I have never been somewhere where there were that many drunk people that were just Happy. One would think having a beerfest with unlimited amounts of beer you would see a couple of fights. NO, I didn’t see any. I only saw hundreds of Happy faces. The only part that made me sad was when I looked around and all of the booths were closing up and not serving anymore :(
The Beer was good the food was good. There was so much there! If you didn’t like one type of beer you could just pour it out and move onto the next booth. If you decide to come to this event in the future, Come Hungry, Come Thirsty and Come Happy!!! I
I will be back!

It’s now the 25^th Annual San Francisco International Beer Festival!
Here’s a link to a current thread:
I’m not exactly the casual Unilocaler here – I’m the publicity director for this event, so keep that in mind as you read. Still, here’s the plug for this fabuloso festival:
Good Beer. Good Food. Fun People. That’s a nice mix.
Proceeds go to Telegraph Hill Cooperative Nursery School. So you can feel good about that hangover!
If it wasn’t such a great event, as one reviewer has said, why would tickets be selling out so fast? It’s only 25 minutes after the sales have opened, and about 25% of the tickets have sold out! The People Have Spoken!