The historic start of Sun King's first annual CANvitational began this past Saturday, September 28th, 2013. The inaugural run was a resounding success! Thirty canning breweries up close and personal with 70 types of beers not available to the Indy market. I heard several friends, and friends of friends, made the trek to Indy from surrounding states to check out the spread. Let's start at the beginning. Like most events it all starts with setup and volunteers.
A lot of setup was done the day before. Mostly tables, chairs, tents, and DJ stage. Big thanks to all the volunteers who showed up to work like champs! The real fun began at 8:30am the day of the event. I would have some photos, but barriers, ice, coolers, canned beer goodness etc. don't move themselves!
Pro Tip: make sure to have your commercial drivers license when operating MACK trucks.
It was great to see Barnaby and crew out from 3Floyds rep'in their canned collaboration with Sun King. Royal Brat is an ESB. My first reaction to drinking it was Crazy Drinkable! Just enough hops and malt to keep me interested. By no means a Canoe Beer!
The highlight of CANvitational for me was trying Tallgrass Brewing Co.'s offerings and meeting their Brewmaster, Andrew Hood. Their lineup was four of their seven year-round brews: Ethos, 8-Bit, Velvet Rooster and Buffalo Sweat. We even got to taste their newly released seasonal Zombie Monkie in their snazzy textured beer cans, and some in their prototype silver cans with signs... Oh those crazy guys in R&D! Fun Fact: Andrew came up with the recipe for Velvet Rooster after hanging out all day at a competition/festival. Beer inspiration strikes anywhere!
#Zomkie
Top 5 Beers of the Fest
Ethos, Tallgrass Brewing Company Manhattan, KS (4.5)
On the Wings of Armageddon, DC Brau Washington, DC (4.5)
Anti-Hero, Revolution Brewing Chicago, IL (4.5)
Jai Alai, Cigar City Brewing Tampa, FL (4)
He Said, 21st Amendment Brewery San Francisco, CA (4)
One Final Note: Well worth the price of admission. Too expensive? Come #Volunteer with Jason and I! You may just get paid in free beer, knowledge of the industry, and meeting great new people. Cheers!
CANvitational was great! It married a low key "Just hanging out" vibe with a ton of great breweries! To turn it all up to eleven head brewers were on hand to talk shop and promote their beer. Great job Clay for executing such a great idea for a festival! I for one can't wait for next year!
Big Thanks to:
All the volunteers, brewery reps, and head brewers that made it out!
Hoosier Beer Geek
Hoosier Beer Geek
21st Amendment Brewery San Francisco, CA
Arcadia Brewing Company Battle Creek, MI
Avery Brewing Company Boulder, CO
Baxter Brewing Co. Lewiston, ME
Blue Dog Mead Eugene, OR
Boston Beer Company Boston, MA
Brewery Vivant Grand Rapids, MI
Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn, NY
Cigar City Brewing Tampa, FL
DC Brau Washington, DC
Great Crescent Brewery Aurora, IN
Half Acre Beer Company Chicago, IL
Lexington Brewing & Distilling Lexington, KY
Marble Brewery Albuquerque, NM
Maui Brewing Lahaina, HI
Morgan Street Brewery St. Louis, MO
New Belgium Brewing Fort Collins, CO
Oskar Blues Brewery Lyons, CO
Revolution Brewing Chicago, IL
SanTan Brewing Company Chandler, AZ
Schlafly Beer St. Louis, MO
Sierra Nevada Chico, CA
Sixpoint Brewery Brooklyn, NY
Ska Brewing Durango, CO
Sockeye Brewing Boise, ID
Tall Grass Brewing Company Manhattan, KS
Tin Man Brewing Co. Evansville, IN
Two Brothers Brewing Company Warrenville, IL
West 6th Brewing Company Lexington, KY
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