by Rick Mazzola - Staff Writer

Upon remembering a small segment of conversation I had with a friend regarding the Steamboat Beer Fest, I finally found time to explore the respective site for information regarding the festival. I wanted to promote the festival as another great event for Colorado beer lovers. While I will never disclude any relevent information pertaining to beer at this site, I was a bit dissappointed to find that this year the event in Steamboat would untilize the dreaded system of tokens-for-beer.

First, I'm not going to discourage anyone from attending a beer festival. The very nature of having the distinct opportunity to savor a variety of beers from local and statewide brewers is something that, in most cirsumstances, shouldn't be missed. Additionally, Steamboat is a great place. The very idea of two great storm fronts, beer and the wilderness, colliding for all to experience should not be taken lightly.

That being said, when I found that tokens would be given out to regulate beer consumption, I was shocked and disappointed. I considered attending the festival, but become desperately discouraged at the token revelation. Also, when I mention "regulate beer consumption", I'm not simply theorizing about the coordinators motivations to encourage moderation. Jody Anagnos, founder of the organization coordinating the event, mentioned to a reporter for the Steamboat Pilot & Today newspaper, that with the beer token system, "we can control how much people drink". Unfortunately, your also controlling the ability of patrons to try all that the brewers at the festival have to offer. Unless your willing to purchase a sack full of tokens, and a wheelbarrel to haul it around in, you have to carefully, and quite ridiculously, formulate a strategy concerning what beers you want to try. You shouldn't have to plan your agenda in advance. Beer tasting is an organic experience for many, not a thoroughly analyzed system of tactics.

For years, many beer festivals in Colorado have offered unlimited tasting, in a constrained period of time, without experiencing enough alcohol induced problems to consider an alteration of the system. People will become inebriated, and some, usually a small minority, will act obnoxiously, initiate brawls (fighting was the reason the Steamboat Beer Fest was out of commision in 2006), and leave contents of the their stomach somewhere for the unsuspecting masses to trample through. The theory of punishing the whole for the lowest common denominator seems unfair and unnecessary. While volunteering at the Craft Lager Fest in Manitou Springs this summer, I was informed that a fellow, who consequently returned frequently to the Steamworks beer tent where I found myself stationed, was observed reaching the transition from rational to irrational behaviour, and escorted promptly from the premises. Now, this may seem harsh, but at an event serving unlimited portions of alcohol, such concessions of freedom seem fair. The Great American Beer Fest allows for a one price, unlimited consumption practice, and they've found some method of controlling the largest gathering of beer drinkers in the nation. The Bluegrass and Beer Fest in Keystone this summer allowed for the free flow of beer, and as far as I could determine, didn't experience any disturbances that might convince the coordinators to alter forthcoming events.

In an article regarding the 20th Annual Oregon Brewers Festival, Eddie Glick from Beerdorks.com offers this witty comparison, "four tokens'll get you a full mug, but it's the worst deal since the invention of the carpet sweeper". His displeasure mirrors my own. The token-per-beer methodology needs to be phased into obsolescence. What if you don't care for the beer you've just spent a token to sample? Your out a token that could have spent on a good beer, and you have to spend another searching blindly for something that you might enjoy. Granted, this is beer tasting environment, but you could conceivably spend all your valuable token booty on beers that rebel against your finely tuned taste buds. If you want to sample more, you have to ante-up another $1.50 per token, and pray to all the known Gods that you'll end your evening with something that leaves you satisfied and proud to live a state with such profound brewing prevelance.

This type of beer delivery can also discourage potential participants, and ultimately dwindle crowd numbers at festivals. At the beginning of the summer, when speaking with friends about the Brewers' festival in Fort Collins, they expressed their dismay that tokens would be untilized, and based their decision not to attend on this system of beer acquisition. I choose not to spend the weekend in Steamboat this year on the very same premise. Additionally, if the coordinators at such events foolishly assume that those who support unlimited tasting are also those who denegrate, and disturb the festivals, they should spend some time re-analyzing their evidence. I've attended my fair share of unlimited beer tasting festivals with friends, and none of them, including myself, have arbitrarily initiated brawls with other patrons or acted so obnoxious that they become the unknowing centerpiece of the event. Why should many be punished for the minor discrepancies of a few.

Beer tokens are a severe and unnecessary response due to bad planning by event coordinators. With good supervision, proper planning, and an overall ethos that discourages brawls and disturbances, beer festivals of any sorts can survive and prosper with unlimited tasting. Use the Great American Beer Fest as an indicator, and allow the beer to flow freely!

And, by the way, Steamboats' prices seem a bit inflated. It's $30 at the door for admission, and that includes only six tokens. SIX! And, each token only allows for a 5 oz. pour. FIVE! In startling comparison, the Oregon Brewers' Fest was free for admission, $4 for a tasting mug, and $1 for tokens.

If you find the beer token idealogy as irrational as myself, contact Jody Anagos at Blue Dog Events (this years event coordinators for the Steamboat Beer Fest), and let her know about your dismay with the constrained beer tasting methodology.

Sources:
Jody Anagnos, Blue Dog Events: steamboatbrewersfestival
Allison Plean, Steamboat Pilot & Today: kinder_gentler_beer_tasting
Eddie Glick, Beerdorks.com: beerdorks.com