With an actual high temperature of around 52 degrees and total rainfall of 2.06 inches, May 13, 2017 probably wasn't the greatest day (from a weather perspective) to host an Outdoor Craft Beer Festival (i.e. Pour-A-Palooza #9), but when you have 81 breweries scheduled to bring 143 different beers and 2 ciders to your event, pulling the plug at the last minute, or even rescheduling, isn't really an option. When I think of the what the management team of The Pour House must have felt like as they monitored the weather in the days leading up to the big event, this scene from The Hunt for Red October springs to mind...
The fleet of breweries have been mobilized, the beer is on its way, tickets to the event have already been sold, and the tent is set up in the parking lot, so much like Jack Ryan dangling from a helicopter with very little fuel left in the tank over the frigid North Atlantic, there's no turning back, and the show must go on!
While it may have been chilly and wet during Pour-A-Palooza 2017, the weather for the 2016 event was its complete opposite, i.e. a high temperature of 95 degrees and 97% humidity. For those of you that have never experienced a hazy, hot, and humid summer day in the Delaware Valley, take my word for it, mid-50s and rainy is infinitely more appealing, assuming of course that you're wearing the proper attire. Can you say Wellies, Duck Boots, Ponchos, and Gore-Tex? These folks sure can...
Although Pour-A-Palooza ran from Noon to 4PM, due to circumstances beyond my control (Mother's Day AND my sister's birthday were the next day, so I had some shopping to do!), I could only stay til 2PM. With limited time on my hands and oodles of beer available for sampling, I had to behave and thus limited myself to just a few little pours (and two hot dogs, a soft pretzel, and a bag of truffled popcorn). The only question was: Which beers should I drink? There was certainly no shortage of options...
Here's what I "settled" on:
As is usually the case, it's tough to pick a winner when there's so much good beer on offer, but if we revisit my "gun to the head" scenario, I would go with the Ommegang Pale Sour, the Carton Hangju Saison, and the Weyerbacher Cinnsanity as my three favorite beers of the afternoon. This of course doesn't mean that the other beers weren't any good. Oh no no no! Everything I tried was super fresh and quite delicious, but sometimes, you like one beer better than another. So there you have it. My three favorite beers of the afternoon.
Once again, The Pour House pulled together a fun and frothy event for the uber-thirsty Craft Beer lovers of the Delaware Valley. The weather may not have been perfect, but rest assured, everyone behind and in front of the taps was smiling and having a delicious time.
And now, for your viewing pleasure, a few of the fine folks that kept the beer flowing all afternoon...
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Many thanks to our friends at The Pour House and Food Shelter PR for the media passes to this event!
Categories: Booze Banter, Brew Review
Tagged as: Beertography, Craft Beer, Drinkwire, Events, Photography, Photos, Pictures, Portraits, Pour-A-Palooza, Review, Reviews, South Jersey, The Pour House
