Rinse stations were available, though somewhat limited by overall space limitations. Many of the brewery tables were also quick to rinse your glass, not wanting your last fill to influence your experience of their fine offerings. Rinse stations, dump buckets, more rinse stations...they don't need to be any more fancy than a jug with a spout, but they make everybody so much happier!
The Festival provided some lovely tasting glasses. They're going to be absolutely fantastic for bottle-shares and other tastings, However, being little mini snifters, and widest at the bottom, they completely defeated my beer lanyard. :-( I have some ideas to overcome this challenge, and I'll be sure to get back to you with any promising prototypes!
There were so many outlandishly tasty beers at this festival. Of course, Cantillon and 3 Fonteinen brought lovely samples, and being such recognizable names, had the expected loooooong lines. But there were delicious brews to be had from every vendor, and the lines would come and go. I seriously did not encounter a single beer that left me thinking "i coulda passed on that."
One of the brews that I really, really enjoyed was Ritterguts' Bärentöter Sour Gose Bock. Think malty gose with some cinnamon...yum! I thought it was a really interesting take on this traditional style: it certainly stayed within style expectations, while subtly exceeding them.
All in all, a fantastic event, and I will seriously consider attending the next one, regardless it's location!
