State College, PA
July 28,2001
One
of the premiere events on the East Coast made its 4th successful appearance
at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center on July 28th.
The
brainchild of Michael Goldfine and Greg Somers, this festival began after
the duo returned from the Penn Festival in Pittsburgh in 1995. Sitting
in the living room Greg asked Michael,"Do you think we can do this?" And
obviously, they could! It took a couple of years of planning and their
dream came to fruition in 1997 to a surprising crowd of 850 people! More
than either had expected. They knew then that this was going to be a hit.
With their focus on quality beers and imports, the crowd grew to 1600 in
the second year and now are up to 2000 strong for the 2 sessions.
Greg
and Michael work perfectly together; Greg, the math teacher, is the organizer
and Michael, the English teacher, is a beer geek extraordinaire. Their
enthusiasm for this "labor of love" certainly shows in the finished product.
With the dedicated team of volunteers and family members, the festival
seems to go off without a hitch, and this year I saw first hand what goes
into the production of this event. Who else but someone who loves beer
would hold a festival like this and not be able to enjoy the fruits of
their labor?
Being
teachers, they look to provide an education for the masses who come to
enjoy the festival. Michael says that education is an integral part of
the experience of beer tasting and augments the appreciation of the brewers'
art. Every year, they bring in learned beer notables who conduct seminars
on a multitude of aspects. This year, they went for the Gold! The Beerhunter,
Michael Jackson, came to conduct three of his famous tutored tastings.
MJ does not ordinarily attend festivals of this sort, but decided to make
an exception here and it seemed that all parties were satisfied with the
results. I know the faithful were more than happy to listen to him give
his expert opinions on the 10 beers picked by MJ himself to be presented
and all the anecdotal commentary and digressions that went along with it.
His final seminar lasted 2 hours! Other very interesting classes were held
by Bryan Pearson of Church Brew Works on "Off Flavors in Beer", Bill Covaleski
of Victory Brewing on "Import Quality, Local Freshness" and Scott Bickham,
Master Judge, on the "Challenge of Beer Evaluation".
"Drink
less, drink the best" is the motto that they have chosen for this festival
and they stick to that promoting responsible consumption, designated driver
programs, taxi rides, etc. in order to keep excessive drinking to a minimum.
To help with this end, they provide an International Buffet included in
the ticket price....German Wursts, Thai Stir Fry, potatoes, desserts and
beverages all help to absorb the alcohol and allow you to taste a wider
selection of offerings.
For
those brewers who wish to submit their creations for judging, there is
the Nittany Valley Brewers' Cup competition. A panel of certified judges
samples the brews by style and awards medals appropriately. Check out the
website
for this year's winners.
Also,each attendee is given the chance to vote for their favorite libation
in the People's Choice Awards. To some professionals, this is a better
gauge of their art than having a judge certify them as the best. There
are many whose creations are difficult to slot, but if people don't like
it, then it won't sell anyway. This year, the winners were Gold- Dogfish
Head's Raison d'être, Silver-Lancaster Milk Stout and Bronze-Heavyweight's
Perkuno's Hammer. The Best of Show was the ever-popular Victory Hop Devil!
This
was our third year in attendance and we decided to do something quite different.
First, we volunteered to help setup the night before and we got a chance
to hang out with Greg and Michael and families. We arrived a little late
to setup, but I brought some special beers for everyone to sample and we
had our own private tasting.....Cantillon Gueuze, Heavyweights Two Druids
Gruit Ale and Perkuno's Hammer(both original recipes), Flying Fish Grand
Cru, Belzebuth Golden Ale(15%abv!), and Dogfish Head's Midas Touch were
the main attractions. A good time was had by all! Second, we volunteered
to help setup in the morning for which we arrived on time. We got to see
first hand the inner workings of the hectic day of the festival. They've
got to love what they're doing! So much preparation...so little time. But
it all falls together somehow and the doors open to a throng of thirsty
beer lovers right on time! ID's to check, tickets to sell, banding to do,
glasses and programs to be handed out.....but all that people see is a
good time and that's what it's all about! Don't think that the opening
of the doors ends the headaches for the principals....it's only the beginning!
There are two sessions 12PM-4PM and 6PM-10PM, so they may get a short respite
at the break, but still there are things to do throughout the day and then
must move everything out after it is all over! A long day to say the least!
Brewing,
Tom Baker and his wife Peggy Zwerver. We had never experienced it from
the other side of the counter before and it was quite an eye-opener. You
get a whole new appreciation for the festival from this perspective! The
people were great and we thoroughly enjoyed it! Thanks to Tom & Peggy
for the chance to help out!