Saturday I got to experience my first World Beer Festival and I'll surely be going back. Not just that it's my nearest festival, but also how well the event was ran. It had a good representation of regional and World market beers and a few unique offerings as well.

This is obviously a popular festival, so much so that the tickets had quickly sold out online and when I went to find tickets I had to drive to Foothills Brewery out in Winston-Salem to find mine. Sidenote: It was a great brewpub so that I had to go visit was not a bad thing at all, I intend to go back at my soonest opportunity.

The popularity was also clear as when we arrived shortly before the opening time we had about a 2 and half block line to the entrance. Those behind us went back for another block from the looks of it. But once the doors opened we moved at a surprisingly brisk pace towards the front door, I'd say only 10-15 minutes from once the line first moved until we were in the front door.

The first thing stood out was the white 3x3 plastic floor tiles that covered the outfield. They were obviously there to protect the new ballfield's turf, it felt a bit odd to walk on, but you got used to it.

There were three tents that held the various brews and then some food and other vendors along the back wall. There was no particular order to where the various breweries were, but the organizers did have a handy booklet grouped with both alphabetical and tents order based guides so you could quickly and easily find a specific brewery.

We started with a few random stops with solid beers, but nothing distinct of note until we got to Dogfish Head and I saw the famed Randall. The Randall held a spicy mix with peppers, coffee, and chocolate. It seems to be becoming a more popular option for beers, I tasted the Founder's Breakfast Stout through a Randall Thursday night at Flying Saucer and while they do have their problems, especially in pouring them effectively, it does present a new way for beer lovers to enjoy their favorite beers.

It was just after that I noticed David of Musings Over A Pint over by Flying Dog's booth. It was great to meet him in person. He also introduced me to Stephanie with Flying Dog. She seemed to be in for a busy week between this event and going to the Great American Beer Festival. I got to try the Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter and it was deliciously complex. I'll have to pickup some soon. Stephanie mentioned that the barrel version would be available soon and hopefully some of it will find it's way here, I'd love to see how that pumps up the beer's character.

Then I started to wander a bit and had Kuhnhenn Brewing Companies' Braggot which was every bit of smooth and sweet you would expect from such a mead-beer crossing. I also had a taste of the Fourth Dementia Olde Ale which was excellent as well, while I have never heard of them before yesterday I would keep an eye out for them, they had some wonderful brews.

Besides Kuhnhenn, Arcadia's Hopmouth Double IPA was also outstanding. They are from Michigan so is Bells, so while it's not thought of as a Beer Mecca perhaps there is more to the Michigan beer scene than meets the eye. Worth checking out further for sure.

Another surprise was New Belgium's attendance at the festival considering that Fat Tire and their other brews are not available in North Carolina yet. I had heard next Spring they would be making their arrival, though the festival volunteers seemed to think sometime in the next 90 days so I'll have to do some research to find out what the answer is exactly.

Of course the Big Boss crew was in attendance, I only briefly said hello as they were being swamped with people every time I tried to visit. They were a definite hit at the festival but then they had the Pumpkin ale and Blackberry ale in addition to the regular offerings I can't say I am surprised.

For all the discussion of AB's ownership of Old Dominion Brewing it seems they are not getting in their brewers way. Two of the more interested offerings I had that day were special beers the brewers had been playing with, so there is still a lot of interesting work going on there.

The festival finished with me running into Jay Brooks and Lew Bryson. It was great to see Jay again, he has been quite busy of late, but check his website I think he'll have some great stories to share shortly. Lew was quite a jovial sort and it was a pleasure to meet him.

If there is any sour note, I heard from a number of distributors both in the days leading to the event and at it that there are some folk stealing equipment at festivals, be it signs, ice tubs, and even keg boxes. Not just at this festival either it seems to be a problem throughout the region. Ultimately I can see this hurting everyone involved. So if you are attending a festival and see something that doesn't look right, find a festival staffer and let them know so they can do something about it.

Overall it was one of the better run festivals I have attended. The crowds were managed as well as one can expect. The variety of beers was great, it might be nice to see a couple of beers from Asia, Africa and Australia based on this festival's name, but any event with over 100 breweries isn't an easy job to organize. All About Beer is doing a great job of getting the word out on craft beer to it's community.