Beerfest! Vol. 2.

The fifth annual World Beer Festival took place in Columbia, South Carolina, January 19th. Six of us gathered together to drink and sample beer, eat good food, and have a great time. Three gals, three guys, it was an amazing day! 

 

Matt and I spearheaded the day, convincing our friends to make the hour drive into South Carolina with our friends, for the early morning session, noon-4pm. While some of you may think noon is a little early for beer, you should have seen the crazy lines to get in. Thousands of people were just as excited about beer as we were!

The gals. Jessica, Rebecca, myself. (Sean behind us)

The guys. Matt, Brian, Sean.

While I'm typically not a beer drinker, I am a huge fan of a good beer. Generally, I prefer a good dry cider and Guinness to most ales and IPAs. This festival, and festivals like this, give me a chance to try new beers, and enjoy beer with Matt. There were 64 breweries, food, music, cask beers, examples and tents to show you how beer is made, and more.

One thing you must bring when going to a beer festival, pretzel necklaces! I made everyone's necklace in the car on the way there. A pretzel in between beers cleanses your palate, and helps you not get too crazy from all the beer, with a little food in your tummy. I was deemed the "pretzel Queen", the last one with pretzels, although it may have been a bit unfair, since Jessica crushed Sean's remaining pretzels while he turned his head. Oh what a fun day we had! 

Matt and I this year, left, and two years ago, at our first beer festival, right. Isn't it funny how two years to the day looks!? We look SO different! Two years ago, we had been dating for a few months, and the festival tickets were a Christmas present to Matt. He was so impressed with my present to him, "YOU BOUGHT ME TICKETS TO A BEER FESTIVAL?! You're the best girlfriend EVERRR!", he exclaimed on Christmas. Hehe. We had a blast, just the two of us, and honestly it was a better festival two years ago, with 100 breweries versus the 64 this year. 

But this year, friends made it so much fun. The organizers of the festival really could have done better, but I heard through the grapevine, a few distributors dropped out last minute, making there so fewer tents than previous years. I was really disappointed there wasn't live music this time. But all differences aside, it was the best day ever. And you can't beat all that beer and cheese for a $40 ticket. 

See more pictures from our first Beerfest here.