Brew Rendezvous

Name: 2nd Annual Brew Rendezvous - A food, farm and craft beer pairing event
Location: SILO Makers Quarter, Downtown
Time: Sunday, May 18, 2014 1:00-4:00pm
Price: $55; $25 Designated Driver
Review: 4 out of 5

Pros:

• Representatives from most breweries were present, unlike at the International Beer Festival in the Del Mar Fair, where everyone serving beer is a volunteer who is usually clueless about the beer.
• Unlimited tastings of 11 great local breweries offering 19 brews: 6 offering one beer, 3 offering two, one offering 3, and one offering 4. I tried 13 of them (about 32oz, or 2 pints, assuming they poured 2.5oz each). This was enough for the 3 hours I was there, but I also did not pour any of the beer out - I drank it all.
• About 9 food stations to match with beer was a plus. One of them was the Robusta grilled mountain meadow mushrooms.
• 8 food tents with gourmet food.
• Unlimited food and beer sampling.
• A souvenir 4oz engraved glass taster.
• Designated Driver tickets were $25, and included food.
• The event space was the perfect size for the number of attendees, I estimate 150 people (mostly mid 30s, about even men and women). I did not have to wait in line for more then one minute at each station.
• They had three tables with iced water, lemonade, and bottled flavored water.

Cons:

• Most breweries (6 out of 11) only offered one beer.
• Few sweets, cheeses, fruits, and berries. One booth gave out goat cheese ice cream on a stick, but I can't stand goat cheese. Only one booth was serving sausage and strawberries. But there were no cheeses or chocolates.
• Very few rare beers offered: neither AleSmith, Lost Abbey, Ballast Point, or Stone offer any barrel-age, limited release, collaboration, or seasonal beers. This makes me think the breweries were not tailoring toward craft beer connoisseurs but toward the general population.
• The music was very mellow, folk/country style. I did not enjoy it.

Beers offered by brewery:

The Lost Abbey - Lost and Found, Judgement Day, Avant Garde
Latitude 33 - Carolina honey hips blonde
Monkey Paw - Low and slow rauchbier
Black market - Deception coconut lime blonde, Aftermath Pale ale, 1945 sour wheat ale, Hefeweizen Bavarian style wheat ale
Coronado Brewing Co. - Sock Knocker IIPA
Stone Brewing - Oaked Arrogant Bastard, Stochasticity Project IPA
Rip Current - In the Curd IIPA, Barrier Reef Nut Brown
Mother Earth - 2014 Four Seasons: "Spring" Belgium Tripel (Collaboration w/Brasserie du Pays Flammand)

AleSmith - Nut Brown
Lightning - Thunderweizen, Electrostatic Ale
Ballast Point - Sculpin IPA

Event Page