Craft Beer Rising

It almost feels unfair to write about an event so far after it passes but it was eventful enough where I feel I can give it justice.
This year’s Craft Beer Rising was the second year it was at Drygate (after an accidentally poorly timed one last year that was not especially crowded). The setup was very nice, with the hot food outside, beer inside the marquee, snacks inside the marquee, and some other special shows and demos inside parts of Drygate itself.
After having been to a few beer and food festivals, I’ve come to realise that managing crowds and having a place be crowded without feeling cramped is really difficult. Craft Beer Rising really succeeded at handling this well and even at the most packed I still felt like I could breathe and get space if I needed to. I did like the partial outdoor and partial marquee design in that in never ended up as stuffy as it would have if it were inside. I may have felt differently if it ended up raining, so maybe I was lucky in that regard.
The beer selection details have faded a bit in my mind by now but I was pleased. There were a few festival exclusives and the people working at each stand were very willing to talk and answer questions.
Speaking of questions, there was a brew going on inside as well as other brewing information. In addition, there was a table of a company selling nice home brewing gear. It was unexpected but made a very nice addition to the festival.
The food selection was varied and all delicious and I ended up eating far more than I should have.
Given that this was just an event, it’s hard to really push going to it, but I really recommend getting a ticket next year if you love beer.