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.
