The fellas scoped out seats nice and early.
It got real crowded, real quick, but the tunes were good and the delicious microbrews were flowing freely.
We've been to several beer festivals since moving here, but Brewgrass in Asheville and Brewvival in Charleston are definitely a notch above the others. Which one reigns supreme? Lemme
talk it out.
LOCATION
Brewgrass is walking distance from the compact downtown area of Asheville, with multiple hotels, plus several breweries and restaurants with nice beer lists. While Charleston is a great city, the Brewvival location is right beside the COAST brewery; excellent brewery, but isolated venue, meaning shuttles/cabs/public transportation of questionable reliability. No contest here.
Advantage: Brewgrass
TIMING
Brewgrass is in September, still plenty of nice warm weather. Brewvival is in February; we were wearing tobaggans and fleece, even in sunny Charleston.
Advantage: Brewgrass.
VENUE
This may have to do with the number of tickets sold to the respective festivals, but Brewgrass almost seemed like an antfarm of camp chairs at times, and until things settled down, all the brewery tents had sizeable lines. At Brewvival, we had no little problem hitting any brewery we wanted, and had plenty of room to spread our wings.
Advantage: Brewvival
ENTERTAINMENT
An assortment of garage quality bands at Brewvival. A steady stream of smooth bluegrass at Brewgrass.
Advantage: Brewgrass.
FOOD
Reserving commentary until 2011. Didn't have food at either festival, although options seemed to be plentiful at both.
INTANGIBLES
Asheville's just a really cool place to hang out, but my folks live a short drive away from Brewvival, so lodging/transportation is taken care of!
Advantage: Push
BEER SELECTION
The most important category of course. Both festivals were great in this area, but in different ways. Brewgrass was able to capitalize on the thriving small brewery scene in North Carolina, with loads of local breweries showcasing their elixirs. The few breweries in attendance with widespread distribution- Sierra Nevada, Lagunitas, etc.- in general didn't bring anything all that interesting. By contrast, Brewvival had a smaller local/regional presence (although it was hosted by COAST, the best brewery in the state). What was really impressive was how many heavy hitters they recruited from across the country, not just the brewers, but the beers they brought. Some of the barrel-aged imperial stouts were particularly effective in cutting through the chilly February temps, including the bourbon barrel Stone Imperial Russian Stout (Stone's Greg Koch was the keynote speaker).
Advantage: Push
Advantage: Push
VERDICT
Brewgrass by a slim margin for now, but Brewvival put on a helluva festival in their first year. Very much looking forward to Brewvival take 2 in February 2011.
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