Craft Beer Festival & Burger Bash

I have been to many beer festivals in my life. Including the great American beer festival many times. Well we all go to the event to enjoy beer I spent most my time walking into people. The beer tables should be in rows to allow people to walk one direction. The diamond set up was a bad idea and gave beer tables more room than they needed. It created a poor overwhelming environment.
I also never found the burgers which must have been in another room. I would have appreciated some signage or a map showing where the beers and burgers were located. Not just a list of them.

I am so sad to write this review because I loved last year’s event, minus the heat. I was so happy to hear that this event would be inside this year. That is where the excitement ended. We arrived at PGA National and walked into the lobby, there were no signs showing where Beerfest was actually being held. Myself, my husband and a few groups of other people walked straight to where a wedding was taking place. We finally found someone who could direct us on where to go. The check in lines were long and confusing.
We went into the first room, it was full, but not quite wall to wall, yet. We got into the bigger ballroom, it was packed, you couldn’t move, you had to wait in line for most beers. A lot of the vendors were giving out warm beer and cider because they couldn’t keep up with the demand.
I was so looking forward to food, and I was hugely disappointed, there was only 2 food stations (that I saw) both had lines wrapping around the room, no thanks.
We did get to try some good beers and ciders, but overall it was a terrible experience just due to the amount of people that attended. Next year they need to either hold it in a larger area or not sell so many tickets.

Unilocal was awesome enough to give us a pair of tickets for this phenomenal event, and we couldn’t have asked for more!
For starters, this was our very first time at the PGA Resort and Spa, so that in itself was a completely new experience. Then to top it all, we were taken to a couple of rooms filled with the magical elixir called «Beer». I have been to a couple of beer festivals before, but this one was completely massive!
I don’t think I have ever seen so many craft beer vendors under one roof in my life. There were both local and national breweries in the event, all giving tastings of their best creations. I first started with a sample of the Somersby Cider, and while I have previously said I did not enjoy ciders anymore, I had obviously never tasted this one. Holy Apples! This was one of the most refreshing and summery drinks I’ve had in a while, and it had the best apple taste.
My next stop was Copperpoint, where I got their B Rabbit Espresso Milk Stout, and this one was rich and very easy on the palette at the same time. I would love to say I know the order in which I tasted my beer, but after 7 samples, I couldn’t keep track anymore lol. I do know I tried samples from BadAss, Wynwood Brewing, KeyBilly, Woodchuck, and the most amazing Organic Chocolate stout from Samuel Smith’s. I know I tried almost every beer in the festival, but I can’t remember their names!
Towards the end of the festival I tried a stout that tasted just like a mix of «Snickers and Almond Joy» but I forgot to write down their name. I know their brewery is in WPB, but I can’t remember the name of, so if anyone knows about it, please give their name because I MUST GO!
I am extremely glad I got to go to this event because I was able to discover new local breweries which I am oh so excited to go to now. Yay for beer!

A little hot… but it is summertime in South Florida. The burgers were as much as you could eat as well as the beer! More tents with fans please.

Yummy burgers, tasty refreshing craft beer, who can ask for more!!!
Had to wait for a shuttle at a parking lot a mile away from he venue. Everyone had to circle to the event and were told by someone to «go park over there «kind of un organized but the shuttle bus I was on was a luxury coach bus, not bad .
Really excited and couldn’t wait to go try some new craft beers! They put a wrist band on you, and hand you a mini mug to try the beers
It was hot and smokey. Everyone was walking around dripping sweat. As he day progressed people got drunker and their T-​shirts seemed to melt to their skin with sweat.
Great live music! A couple good bands and there was Jay Cardinal a one man band based in Palm Beach. Jay was just awesome you need to take a look at his music he even did Jimmy Hendrix really well, good rock and roll.
Some of the best beers I had were at the beginning of my tent visits .
Terrapin Green was good, Innes & Gunn, Lazy Magnolia, Magic Hat, Shock Top and bought a case since then.
Magners Irish Cider was good. The winner Rekorderlig had amazing ciders. There are not too sweet and nice fruit flavours.
Now to the Burgers! So many burgers! I got to try Shake Shack for the first time and was impressed– now I know what’s up. They gave a full sized burger too! The bun is like a pastrie just so soft slightly sweet holds everything perfectly. One of the top burgers I tried.
My personal Favorite was the Shake Shack at the Cove. It had some roasted red peppers that were slightly sweet and paired well with the special sauce and yummy bun. My winner! Too bad Jupiter is so far away from me!
My fav Alternative burger was the Meatless wrap. It was similar to Indian food, it had beans and spices.
My Most Innovative burger Award goes to Bagel Boyz they had a tasty meat burger with Pulled Pork and smoked Cheddar with coleslaw. it was grown up and delicious. The bun was more like an Italian bread it was perfect .
A good mention and who probably won this year Chucks burger. It was good and I can see why they win. The burger just melts apart before it touches your mouth. The special sauce just dances around and the burger is crafted very simply. I just found Shake Shacks at the Cove had a little more going on with the toppings and overall flavor :)
–The Ale House made a Cheese Burger Egg Roll with queso dip,
–Maui (or aloha?) Burger an Asian twist — a patty (was salty) with pickled onions and rice and eat with chopsticks
–Carmela’s Ristorante had a Cheese Burger pizza and a Brie Sun dried Tomato Pizza, they feel short on taste though but were beautiful to look at (maybe cause re heated)
–Wholefoods had a cowboy burger that had Jalapeños in the meat, it was a turnoff any spicy food that day it was just too damn hot!
–Burger Bar had a little slider with fried onion straws, cheddar and an Italian bun. It was good.
–Das Biergarten had a Caramelized onion burger with cheese on a Pretzel bun. Really good, wasn’t the best here, and I think I just really love pretzel buns!
Some Metal Art Sculptures that were interesting to look at. And there were a collection of vintage cars.
–a tent with more Beers! All different kinds and the later in the day it got the more people packed into the tent. Funky Boodah was there but was sold out of samples.
If you filled out a survey they have out sample of Menchies frozen Yogurt. Watermelon, cake batter, or chocolate. The cake batter is yum, really tastes like vanilla cake.
Had to wait for the shuttle back to the car. I think it was 95 degrees and humid today. The beer was my H2O for the day, got my buzz on.
So much fun at the Craft Beer Festival! This was my first and now I can’t wait for my next one!

I love this idea. Everyone gets together, eats a whole bunch of burger samples and drinks beer. The reason it has disappointed me is because
#1: the price.
When I went to the first event it was $ 35, and now its $ 50. It may have gotten some new brewery’s and food trucks attention but it’s barely any larger than when it cost $ 35.
For #2: it’s just so darn hot. It’s really hard to enjoy yourself when it’s blazing hot. I know it’s not their fault and it’s a summer event but when you eat so much food, no amount of beer will cool you down.
I really do love to discover new beers and burgers, but these two things have me disheartened. If they kept it at the same price as the first event, then I’d love to come back, but I don’t see this as being worth $ 50. I just can’t review it as a 4 because I“m not «Yay! I’m a fan.» But I would like to rate it as 3.5, as «I love the concept, but I wish it wasn’t so hot and that much money.»

So glad I was able to attend the festival this 2014 year. AND that it didn’t rain, as it was supposed to! Thanks, bipolar Florida weather!
The weather was just the opposite: hot, hot sun! That didn’t stop Lora P. and I from enjoying all the burgers and beverages our stomachs could hold! This festival is a great way to discover restaurants and what they have to offer, as well as new favorite beers and/​or ciders!
Even before we arrived, I told Lora that any burger with bacon will win my vote. We had praises for almost every burger we sampled, but only one had the bacon I was looking for. It also had shredded pork on top, with a bbq sauce made out of a porter beer. That took the cake for me! Unfortunately, I was so in awe of the burger that I’ve completely forgotten the restaurant. Oops. =X
One name I DO remember is Rekorderlig, who produces the best ciders I have ever tasted! All three flavors (strawberry lime, berries, and pear) were amazing! It’s like you’re actually eating that fruit. Warning: you can’t taste the alcohol in these… aka they’re deliciously dangerous!
Keurig also wow-​ed me with their strawberry pomegranate tea. VERY sweet as-​is and perfect for the hot summer day.
Props to the organizers of this festival and for all vendors present. It was a very organized and enjoyable event. I would love to go again next year!

First, the good:
1. GREAT handling of the line of folks waiting to get in. Really efficient and quick! The best I’ve ever seen at a beer fest.
2. The burgers! Wow! Some really good food, which is something you don’t see a lot with beer festivals.
3. The layout of the festival was very nice. Not too crowded at all.
Room for improvement:
1. More shade and misters, please! It was brutally hot on that asphalt!
2. It would be great if more breweries themselves were there. Most of the beers were provided/​served by a local distributor, and most of the pourers knew little about the beers.

Crazy hot Florida summer heat mixed with creative craft brews, unique burger samples and lively musical entertainment made this day one heck of a party!
After finding parking, I grabbed my tickets from will call and headed into the fest. Shout out to Blue A. for giving my sister and I a Unilocal paper fan; the heat was not fun and to at least have a little breeze «handy» was welcoming.
Donning our micro beer cups, my sister and I ran around to all the beer spots and enjoyed every little fizzy sip we could swallow — we even tried some incredible organic wine, but the vendor didn’t have business cards or an e-​mail list… we wanted to buy a bottle or two online! Oh well.
The misting tent was a popular spot, as it should have been. Personally, I think there should have been more shade, but the event was spaced out flawlessly — not one vendor was left in BFE.
Overall, this event was successful and fun — if it weren’t for the nasty heat, I would have stayed all day. Cheers!

Beautiful blue sky, sunny, and so glad it wasn’t raining but I believe this was the hottest day of the year so far. I was melting as soon as I got out of the car… thankfully the event was well organized and the «check-​in» was a breeze. We got our tickets at the «will call» tent and in less than 2 minutes we were in. Immediately greeted with our tasking beer mug to quench the thirst.
Tents were labeled clearly, including Unilocal,first in line, helping welcome everyone. They had some tents for crafts, jewelry, and clothing vendors, as well as some wine, vodka, and tequila brands.
The breweries’ tents each had at least 2 different beers from their line for us to taste. Everyone was very friendly, explaining the differences between the beers they were offering, and some even took the time to learn a little about your beer taste to make recommendations. Was surprised how even being so hot outside, they managed to maintain the beers cold which was so much appreciated and so refreshing. Plus the amount of beer served was great, not that sip you usually get at some other tasting events, and if you liked it, you could come back for more.
I’m not too familiar with beer, just recently I started enjoying drinking it at social gatherings or with friends so I love these types of events to help me learn more and have more options for what to bring to a party or serve my friends when entertaining. Obviously I was able to find some I liked here. Between all my tastings here’s the ones I’ll be adding to my «Beer List»:
Rooney’s Old Irish Ale
Widmer Brothers Brewing Alchemy Ale
Coronado Brewing Company Idiot IPA (must admit I tried this one for the name) :p
Breckenridge Brewery SummerBright
Know Breing Wilua Ale
I loved that they had a selection of local beers on tap like Holy Mackerel, The Native, TBC and more.
Now, this was also a Burger event so of course we tried those too. I don’t know how many there were to try but I do remember my favorite ones.
Chuck, in my opinion, definitely wins the «Best Burger» title. That burger was perfection. Classic, juicy, flavorful, comforting… Not surprised at all they got the «King of all Burgers» title last year.
My «Best Alternative» went to Cha Cha’s with their slider Kale & quinoa burger with humus on whole wheat.
My last award, the «Most Innovative Burger» went to Vic & Angelo’s Saltimbocca Burger. This was a sage infused burger with black garlic aioli, sun-​dried tomato marmalade, prosciutto di parma, gorgonzola dolce and baby spinach. All I can say is I want more! Absolutely amazing that burger…
Other two worth mentioning were the ones from III Forks and Four Seasons.
This was their Second year doing this event and, by what I experienced, I’d say (and hope) they have many more years to come. It was an excellent event, fun, delicious, and great way to promote their businesses. Making a note to lookout for next year’s dates.

Best Beer And Burger Fest ever!
Like Vanessa S. who was sweet enough to invite us, I don’t want to tell you how great it was. Ha ha I kid. Like someone said to me on this day «it seems the further North you go the more organized events are». Totally agree. There was a ton of people here but you never really felt it. We never waited in long lines for food or beer. Parking was a challenge though as they really needed more.
Oh it was HOT!
So hot today I think I have a slight case of heat stroke. Was it worth it? Oh yes it was after five minutes of being there on the hot asphalt I was just a hot mess. We just went from booth to booth sampling beer from Dogfish, Colorado, Chicago, oh lots of beer and the pours were big. Heat, beer oh my! There was not one single beer I did not like.
Food oh my I thought they would be serving tiny bites of burgers. Boy was I ever wrong. These burgers were huge. So much of a variety. My favorite was the smothered garlic burger, and the prosciutto and spinach burger. Oh wow great quality meat, super juicy with great flavors. I even tried a bite of a BBQ burger, delish!
They had vendors with gorgeous jewelry, vodka, rum runners, and my favorite wine bottle koozies with bling. Just had to purchase a few.
Every single vendor was so friendly and all of them worked in the heat so hard.
My only wish is if I could have ate more. I was so sweaty and hot I could no longer eat.
Then we spot the Unilocal table where Blue was working hard telling everyone about Unilocal.You want a Unilocal fan? Oh you had better write your email down. Haha love the Unilocal fan. My only save from the wicked heat.
Fabulous event, delicious food and beer, live entertainment, and very friendly vendors. I am so going back next year. Can’t wait.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself at this event. There were so many burger samples, and all sorts of varieties, that it was impossible to just love one. It was very well organized and the ambiance was great too. Good live music, mostly all adults, and everything pretty much flowed for the whole event. I also couldn’t get enough of the different choices for beer samples. It was a perfect day too, no rain, and pure scorching south florida sun. I hope that this event continues and stays where it’s at. I’d definitely recommend it to all of my friends!

I’m a little worried about reviewing this event. I mean, I don’t want too many more people knowing how awesome it was or it might get too crowded next year.
Despite what felt like record heat today this event was great! Everyone from patrons to vendors was really friendly and didn’t let the heat get them down. We were all just pretty happy it wasn’t raining.
So many local burgers to try and delicious beers to drink, it’s hard work ya know! So some friends and I made our way through the event tasting everything that was put in front of us. Sure, not all were killer amazing oh-my-god-i’m-dying good but none of them were bad.
The beers flowed and flowed and flowed throughout the event with something for every type of beer drinker.
This event was really well organized and I will definitely be bookmarking it in my calendar for next year!