Sierra Nevada Beer Camp: The best 5 hour summer camp ever

I’ll cut right to the point, if you didn’t attend Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp Across America on Thompson Point in Portland, Maine this past Friday, August 1st, you missed out on a killer brewfest.

BeerCamp Sign

The venue, the food trucks, the vendors, the beer, the weather. Perfect.

Aside from a couple breweries that had long lines (Maine Beer Company pouring Lunch and Dinner is a prime example) you could walk up to nearly any brewery, grab a sample and chat about the beer with the brewer without disrupting the flow or being in the way. The venue was amazing, the open air structure allowed for a comfortable breeze the entire time. Portalets were abundant and placed in more than one location and if there was a line it was short. Great food truck options although they did have the longest lines at the event, plenty of places to sit down and enjoy a sample and a bite to eat or just step away for a minute. The crowd was also great, every time I turned around I bumped into someone I knew, beer events should be social but not every event allows for it, this one was spacious enough and wasn’t so loud that you couldn’t stop and chat with fellow beer geeks.

I don’t have a whole lot to say, I never took notes, I was thoroughly enjoying the event and I’m sure you can find a more in depth analysis out there, I did however take some photos so please check out my Facebook album and be very jealous if you didn’t go or relive some memories if you did.

Kudos to Sierra Nevada and everyone involved with this festival, a top notch event that should be a model for future brewfests in the State. Also a shout out to The Maine Brewers Guild and everyone involved in the changes to the brewfests laws, this event was a perfect example of the positive changes to those laws.

Cheers!

ChaddahIMG_6206

Chad Lothian

About Chad Lothian

Chad Lothian lives in Old Town, Maine. He is a craft beer enthusiast and homebrewer. Chad has travelled to brewpubs, breweries and brewfests all over New England.