3 Ways to Avoid Long Lines at GABF
The Great American Beer Festival is the largest beer festival in North America and it’s huge! These 3 tips should help you avoid long lines to enjoy great beer.
This advice was first written after visiting the Great American Beer Festival in 2011. Despite the changes to the festival these tips should still be helpful but your mileage may vary.
1. Visit the Guild Tables
We’ve said this before, but this is key. When the long lines at the latest big thing (this year it was Cigar City Brewing) and the crowd favorites such as The Bruery, Brooklyn Brewery, and Shorts Brewing check out the Brewers Guild Tables. I enjoyed talking to the people closely involved with the regional beer. Some of my favorite Guilds included
San Diego — With the notoriety of Stone Brewing, I was surprised there wasn’t a line at this table. These were my two favorites:
North Carolina — I was interested in trying beers from Asheville, NC (AKA Beercity, USA). I tried some Olde Hickory pilsner and Highland. Unfortunately, there was nothing that stood out for me at the table. No worries, I kept going back to Duck-Rabbit so many times, the pourer recognized me by the second session.
Northern California — They were pouring Russian River’s Sanctification. Apparently no one knew about it because otherwise there would be a line.
Michigan — I’d always heard about Michigan breweries from Brian at BayAreaCraftBeer.com. I loved this table so much that I camped out there at least twice. They were pouring Founders Some of my favorites:
2. Find the shortest bathroom lines
The ladies line was either non-existant or moving at a reasonable pace.
For the men’s, the most efficient bathroom plan is to use the port-a-potties in the designated smoking area. You’ve paid enough for your ticket. Don’t waste your time waiting in the bathroom line.
3. Check out the less popular breweries.
There are a lot of outstanding GABF award-winning breweries that don’t have the national fame so they won’t have the lines. In 2011, some interesting breweries included the following, a couple of which have become more popular and famous.
La Cumbre Brewing from Albuquerque, New Mexico
Elysian Brewing from Seattle, Washington
Trinity Beer Co. from Rhode Island
Willoughby Brewing from Cleveland, Ohio