After about 15 minutes in line, I was finally inside the festival and excited to wander around on such a beautiful sunny day. I had my adorable complementary little Strange Brew beer glass, but still didn’t know where to begin. There were booths of local breweries surrounding me, most of which I recognized. The place was pretty packed with 6 or 7 people standing around each booth. I walked over to High Sierra Brewing Company first and waited behind a woman discussing craft beer with the brewer. I immediately felt like a fish out of water for my lack of knowledge on craft beer. I quickly glanced down at my red plaid shirt and silently thanked myself. At least I looked the part and basically matched more than half of the crowd.
After going from booth to booth and trying a wide range of drinks, I could see why so many people loved coming. Each brewery had something different to offer and truly enjoyed watching everyone try their own “strange” combinations. After talking to them, I learned how much work actually goes into making craft beer unique and taste great. They didn’t even seem bothered by my questions but instead seemed to love providing details and explaining everything craft-beer related. I felt much more at ease that I was actually understanding more about what the festival was all about.
I found my favorite creation when I walked up to Brasserie Saint James’ booth. Already a fan of their bar in Reno, I was excited to see what they had in store. Turns out it was a PEZ Saison, made with the actual PEZ candy. I loved the idea, and it definitely tasted better than I actually thought it would. While each booth had something different, the reaction from the crowd and myself was almost the same every time. We were all pleasantly surprised. Before I knew it, time was flying by and I had been there for two hours. Sadly, I had started the festival thinking all beer tastes kind of similar and boring. But when I left, I had a pretty good buzz and a new realization that beer can actually be strangely amazing.
