Knoxville Brewers Jam

Another hugely successful Brewers Jam is in the books. Saturday turned out to be a perfect day - the weather was hot and sunny, the beer was cold and plentiful, and everybody there had a great time. I had the privilege to sneak in a little bit ahead of time and see some things behind the scenes. While nothing about that was exciting, the best part of being there early was watching the gates open right at 1 pm and seeing the flood of people stream in and race to the beer tents. It looked like the last day of school let out and the kids were starting summer vacation.

The line wasn't as large as last year, mostly because the organizers chose to sell fewer tickets. I guess it worked out fine because the beer lines never backed up too long and there definitely was more open space to move around this year. There were also tons of police working to manage the crowd, and I only saw one incident where the police had to escort a man out but it was the most civil and easy-going situation I've ever witnessed. I never heard of anything else happening that day.Like I said, it was a hot, sunny day. Luckily there was a cool breeze throughout the afternoon, but finding a spot in the shade of a beer tent was better than anything - you could refresh your beer and take a break from the heat.
Lots of people dressed up and this guy rocked the full "Beerfest" ensemble. There were beer goggles, beer t-shirts, beer hats, funky boots, goth girls & guys, 1970's starlets, punks, dweebs, losers, dickheads...you get the idea.

There were some favorite new beers, and some bad ones too. I was looking forward to the Old School ale by Asheville but found it way too sweet, however I was told the Shiva IPA was excellent. Lucky Kat IPA by Magic Hat was one of my favorites, Unibroue had some strong ales that everybody kept talking about. Thomas Creek, Highland Brewing, Catawba Valley, Foothills Brewing Company, Duck Rabbit and Yuengling were others I tried that all brought their A game.

And of course our local boys at Woodruff Brewing Company and Downtown Grill & Brewery represented in full force with 4 of their brews. IPA is my favorite and what I drank most of the time between sampling the other stuff.

Overall I had a blast and I think most of our group did too. Last year was more fun and exciting since it had been a long time since I'd been there; this year was almost as fun but better planned out and I made it through the day without personal injury or loss. The absolute best part of the day happened mid-afternoon as a group of us were standing around drinking and carrying on when a hot, beautiful girl stumbled right through our circle exposing a perfect boob and kept going. We gawked quickly and just stared at each other before laughing and wondering what the hell just happened. So there you have it - beer, good weather and surprise public nudity. It doesn't take much to keep this group happy. Maybe throw in a footlong corndog and call it a good day.