Sasquatch 2014

Yesterday I attended this year's Sasquatch Brewfest, the capstone of Eugene Beer Week. Held at the downtown Hilton for the past several years, this year saw a return to the outdoors, in the parking lot of Ninkasi's new distribution center, deep in the Whiteaker neighborhood. I had the time and opportunity to volunteer for a shift pouring beer, so I come to y'all now to offer my thoughts from both sides of the booth.

My main impression: the organization wasn't adequate. I arrived at the festival around 3:45 for a 4:00 shift pouring beer. Upon entrance, I was asked for ID, but upon checking in at the volunteer tables, I received no training, no wristband, and my OLCC credentials weren't checked. I was hurried over to Rusty Truck's booth and introduced to Brian, the affable owner. He and his partner quickly took off once I settled in, and I got down to the busy work of pouring beer.

Here, another organizational problem reared its head - there was no water for rinsing out the beer glasses. I was told that the official policy was to 'rinse the glasses with the new beer'. Further, the kegs were on ice that melted fairly rapidly in the warm afternoon sun, but replacement ice was hard to come by. This, in turn, caused the kegs to pour a lot of foam.

The festival was crowded when I arrived, and only got more congested as my shift wore on. The people were lovely, by and large - courteous, warm, and curious about the beers and the brewery. But the space was simply not big enough for the massive number of folks attending.

When my shift ended at 8:00, I was free to explore the grounds and try some of the beers I'd heard so much about. Unfortunately, I'm suffering from the massive amount of grass pollen we're blessed with in Eugene, so by this time I could barely breathe. This, combined with the crush of other attendees and the loud (but well-prepared) live music, inspired me to drink through my handful of free tickets quickly and leave.

Of the beers I tried, the most memorable was from Salem's new brewery, Vagabond. Their Falcon Punch barleywine was hoppy without being too bitter, and malt-forward and boozy without being too hot.

So, on the whole, it was a lot of fun to be a volunteer, but I sincerely hope that Sasquatch takes a hard look at some of the logistical challenges they faced yesterday and improves for next year. If I knew things were going to be the same, I wouldn't attend again.