Long before becoming a huge, raging wine geek, I was well on my way to beer geekdom. While my fraternity brothers were knocking back cases of cheap beer (Keystone Ice and Milwaukee's Best were favorites) I would scrape together every last nickel I could and buy whatever obscure microbrew I could find at the local beer distributor.
I still enjoy good, artisanal-style beers on occasion, especially those from local producers like Southampton Publick House and Oomegang Brewery and that's why I'm interested in the Long Island Beer Festival, which is being held on May 12 from 6:00 - 10:00 p.m. at the Huntington Hilton in Melville, NY.
For $45, you get unlimited beer samples and food from a bunch of great breweries and restaurants as well as live music and guest speakers like guest speakers including Garrett Oliver brewer of Brooklyn Brewery and Phil Markowski from Southampton Publick House.
Best of all, proceeds go to North Shore Animal League, the largest no-kill animal shelter in the world. Plus, designated driver tickets will be available for $10 at the door.
Get your tickets...and make sure you find one of those designated drivers.
Sounds like a great time! i look forward to going! thanks for bringing it to our attention! ;)
Posted by: mattO | April 07, 2006 at 03:48 PM
This was a terrible event. It was oversold and many ticket holders never got in. Food ran out fast and there was such a dangerous number of people inside that the fire department shut the event down early at 8:45. Even if the money does end up going to charity, it was still a rip off.
Posted by: Scott | May 13, 2006 at 10:37 PM
My girlfriend and I were turned away at the door at around 8pm. (Spent the rest of the night eating overcooked meat at Greenfield's.)
We were told we'd be refunded, so I sent an email to Shoreline. We'll see what happens.
Posted by: Bill | May 14, 2006 at 07:42 AM
Same here. I have already contacted my credit card company. I was THIS CLOSE to calling the fire department and reporting the event until they announced the refund.
Still no mention of refund on the website.
Posted by: gary | May 15, 2006 at 01:18 PM
Okay, let's not get all hopped up over this. You'll get a refund.
Just call ClicknPrint Tickets, 1-888-695-0888 and ask. They'll need your ticket number(s) or transaction ID. It's that simple.
Yeah, the event s*cked...but there is a contact button on their website. I used it and they sent me the refund info.
Maybe next year they'll get it right.
Posted by: Bill | May 15, 2006 at 02:31 PM
The event was a madhouse, sooo many people didn't get in. The neighboring parking lots were overflowing and being monitored. We were told we'd be towed. Our group of nine didn't even make it inside... and that was at 7:15pm!!! People were walking out saying it wasn't even worth going in (one person had had a VIP ticket). Awful planning.
Posted by: Liz | May 15, 2006 at 02:42 PM
My wife and I got turned away too. So much for buying tickets two months early. There has been a good deal of discussion in the beer-blog-o-sphere about the failure of this event and what could be done to improve future beer festivals. As I was driving away from the Beer Festival after being turned away, I couldn't stop thinking that this wouldn't have happened at a wine festival, or am I kidding myself?
Posted by: Donavan Hall | May 17, 2006 at 07:21 AM
I went to that festival too. It was "ghost organized" by Andy Calimano of Starfish Junction, a guy with a sad history of trying to rip people off for maximum gain. I didn't know this until I saw him running the show. I was one of those who got in early, nearly the first on line. After 45 minutes I couldn't take the crowding and had to leave. What a fiasco. Andy used to be a part of the team that organizes the highly successful Brewtopia Great World Beer Festival in NYC, and from what I know he robbed and screwed the main organizers. A really, really bad egg. http://www.worldbeerfest.com
Posted by: Hank Slavine | May 21, 2006 at 10:11 AM