Big Red Beerfest

October 28, 2007

Bloomington, Indiana is always a favorite destination for nature, arts, and beer. This year's Big Red Beer Festival celebrated beer with a largely youthful crowd at the Bloomington Convention Center. Drinkers had one of two (or two of two in the case of many) nights to sample beers; Thursday, October 18 and Friday, October 19. It was a large, clean open space for milling around with tasting tables around the border.

One thing that stood out about the Big Red Fest was the huge variety of beers, from craft beers to mega-blech. There was such a spectrum that the gap between the Mega-boring beers and craft beers is closing somewhat. The experimental beers from Miller/Coors/Bush were on hand... everything from syrupy cocktail-flavored beers (malt beverages) to mega beers dressed in craft beer clothing. The girls were on hand to cater to the college kids...

On the craft side there were few suprises. All the regulars were there; Cavalier, World Class, and the Breweries...

In all, a modest celebration of beer... abysmal food choices, no band, convention center atmosphere, and little to no education. On the otherhand, pours were generous, the crowd was youthful and willing to experiment, and there was pleanty of variety to sample (including foreign beers).