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CBC12: Part Three

The second day started off with a Pink Boots Society meeting!
Brie, Laina – owner of Wolf Creek, and I hustled to seats up front and grabbed a raffle ticket.
We had 101 women attending this meeting! As of Friday, there were 815 members worldwide of the Pink Boots Society – a group designed to educate and support women in the beer industry. Peek closely above and you’ll see the lovely Cyrena from Ladyface in attendance.
Raffle items! Brie and I scouted out the table and prepared for the sprint after the meeting.
SUCCESS! It was a wonderful meeting on top of getting the awesome shirts – everyone stood up and introduced themselves, told where they were from and what company they worked for. After the meeting broke, ladies magnetically drew towards those in similar job positions or met with others who could help them understand certain aspects they’d been looking into. I found the lead brewer, Alex Nowell, from Drakes Brewing and talked about participating in a collaboration brew they’ll be leading for the PBS to raise money for scholarships.
More gratuitous images of the SWAG (schwaaaaag!).
We then moved on to the Anchor Brewing hospitality suite, had a beer and chatted with the reps for a bit before we met up with the rest of the EBC crew.
On our way, we ran into Ray Daniels, the creator of the Cicerone program and talked for a bit about the certification exam.
I also went super creeper and snapped this pic of Jim Koch from Samuel Adams. Creepering is my specialty.

We finally found the rest of the crew.
The happy couple! Congrats again on your engagement Christoph and Brie 🙂 Best. Picture. Ever.
Tyler Endicott – artist and brewer who’ll be opening up a 15bbl with his brother, Sean, back in Thousand Oaks where I used to reside, and Joe – Enegren’s brew chief as I’m sure you all know.
Peter/Sean – Joe’s brother or Tyler’s brother depending on whether or not you looked at his badge and if your name was Jim and you were a few beers deep before you stumbled into our table, and Commander Matt.
The beginning of our night…
The Tiki – the location of the 148 taps that was open EVERY SINGLE NIGHT we were there.
The Tiki is where I got this ring to try out from Creek Van Houton from Compass Rose Designs. I LOVE this ring!
We ended up going to Karl Strauss for the event they had there – free carnitas tacos, beer and a mechanical bull. I rode the bull. Then we made Brie ride the bull. It was epic, just trust me on that. There may be video footage coming up soon…
The next day after the boys had gone to their seminars, Brie and I hit up Little Italy for some brunch and to check out Monkey Paw. I had to try the beers to ensure that I would proudly wear the shirt I’d gotten from the raffle!
I liked their Oatmeal Pale Ale best (not pictured here) – full citrus on the nose, a rich body thanks to the oatmeal with a crisp end. I’d be more descriptive, but that beer was the first that I tasted at the Tiki. The rest is up for your interpretation…
We all got back together and ended the night at Blind Lady Ale House with chorizo and avocado pizza, egg and bacon pizza and taster flights. A gentle end to an insanely amazing four days!

After I catch up on sleep and detox for about a month or four, I’d so be ready to do it again!

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CBC12: Part Two

CBC12 is completely insane. Insane and awesome. Brie and I have floor passes and spent the first day wandering around sampling beer, staring in awe at the overwhelming amount of vendors. Picture bomb commence.
Keg washer/filler.
Bottling/canning line.
Taphandles booth.
Lunch break!
Beer break! Actually, the entire conference IS a beer break. I paired a Midas Touch with my tortilla soup. Not the most exquisite combination I’ve ever made, but delicious nonetheless.
Merch booth! I would’ve picked something up from here, but there was so much SWAG (schwaaaaag!) around that I didn’t need to open my wallet.
Beautiful rainbow of malt!
Golden Road brewers!
Mike Hess at the nanobrewery roundtable we snuck into.
Sam Calagione hosting the nanobrewery roundtable.
Brie and I tracked Sam down after the seminar and, after trying to overcome our starstruckedness, got a few pictures with him. Then we ran away giggling with glee, showing the pictures to everyone we ran into.
One great thing about CBC12 – no lines for the womens’ restroom. One bad thing about CBC12 – no lines for the womens’ restroom. More ladies need to get into beer! I’m willing to wait in line if it means more women are getting involved in the craft beer industry.
We checked out the hospitality suite that featured beers from overseas and starting unintentionally speaking in British accents. You just can’t help it after having a Belgian strong and chatting with the brewer who has the coolest accent around.
I’ve collected enough free glassware from the hospitality suites that I will never need to purchase another vessel to drink beverages from.
After the exhibits wrapped up, the EBC and Wolf Creek crews headed downtown on the trolley/tram to track down some more delicious brews.
We ended up at Neighborhood. Beer was consumed. Debates about whether or not our mode of transportation was a trolley or a tram were had.
Once we took the tram/trolley back to the hotel where the conference is held, we met up with every single attendee at the Tiki event.
148 different beers to choose from. One. Hundred. And. Forty. Eight.

It was a good first day.

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CBC12: Part One

I have no idea how many parts to this there will be. You may be getting a play-by-play as the Craft Brewers Conference occurs down here in San Diego. For a real time play-by-play, follow me on Twitter. Obscene amounts of pictures will be uploaded throughout the days.

We got in at 11pm last night and hit up an incredibly divey dive bar, passed out around 1am and woke up a few hours later to pick up badges.
Already saw beer “celebs” like Greg Koch and Randy Clemens from Stone Brewing at the free breakfast provided by the conference.
Breakfast burrito. Free. Awesome. I’m really not picky when it comes to free food. Or food in general, actually…
Mass amounts of coffee were consumed. A majority of the attendees looked a little dazed and weary after the welcome reception at the San Diego Zoo last night. After seeing them trudging through the breakfast line, sunglasses glued into place, I was a little glad we’d arrived so late. Starting the CBC with a hangover is for those with experience. I’m not quite there yet.
I perused the delicious seminar menu – none of which I’m invited to with the floor pass only. Oh well, beer booths and free stuff it is!
After being stopped at the door to the keynote session, I slunk back to the hotel with my free beers in hand and posted this blog. Now I’m heading back since the floor is opening at 11am and there are an obscene amount of booths that need to be checked out by yours truly.

My Camelbak is loaded with water and Advil. Let’s do this.

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