Great ****ing Taste 2018

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Where do all of you line up for tickets? Or is buying tickets only for beta-plebs like old Nate Nelson?

Related: apparently Star Liquor is permanently closed and Wine & Hop Shop won't be selling tickets this year due to heavy constriction on Monroe St.
 
Where do all of you line up for tickets? Or is buying tickets only for beta-plebs like old Nate Nelson?

Related: apparently Star Liquor is permanently closed and Wine & Hop Shop won't be selling tickets this year due to heavy constriction on Monroe St.
I usually let rmalinowski4 handle the logistics but since he's out this year, I'm also interested to hear the answer. Don't think I'll be back to Vintage after last year's tent city debacle.
 
I usually let rmalinowski4 handle the logistics but since he's out this year, I'm also interested to hear the answer. Don't think I'll be back to Vintage after last year's tent city debacle.

I don't like Vintage, but I also think it might be the least worst option:
  • Nobody in line ever gets turned away
  • Across from a 24Hr Hy-Vee with a public toilet
If I need to endure sleeping in a parking lot with a bunch of amateur drinkers I at least want guaranteed tickets and access to a real toilet if I need to poop. Some of those places don't even set up portas.
 
We used to go to Steve's when it had the lovely green space next to it; we've been at Vintage the past few years.

Not only is there the Hy-Vee, but you can walk 20 feet & get a real meal & they generally wheel out some solid beer for the weekend. There does seem to be a lot less random stranger sharing here than other places we've been, I have no idea why. It's worked for us.
 
I also lined up at Steve's a few years ago with trickytunadicky and I definitely remember no portas and the nearest toilet was the Target across the street...once it opened at 8AM.
There were portas. But only like 2 and it was freezing. I never left the parking lot, for sure.

And we waited at Vintage, not Steve’s. I have only lined for tickets once. :oops:
 
There were portas. But only like 2 and it was freezing. I never left the parking lot, for sure.

And we waited at Vintage, not Steve’s. I have only lined for tickets once. :oops:

Okay, now I remember: it was Steve's, but I was with Gonzoillini and dvelcich. And there were definitely no portas because I accidentally made eye contact with a girl squatting as I was walking back from peeing behind a neighboring building. This was... 2013?
 
Bump


Capital Brewery (500 tickets)
7734 Terrace Ave. – Middleton
Please do not line up for tickets before 10:00pm on Saturday, May 5.
Cork ‘N Bottle (350 tickets)
855 E. Johnson St. – Madison
Karben4 (400 tickets)
3698 Kinsman Blvd. – Madison
Steve’s Liquor-University Avenue (450 tickets)
3618 University Ave. – Madison
Steve’s Liquor-Junction Road (450 tickets)
122 Junction Rd. – Madison
The Malt House (400 tickets)
2609 E. Washington Ave. – Madison
Vintage Brewing Company (450 tickets)
674 S. Whitney Way – Madison


Mail Orders
Mail orders that are postmarked on the first Monday in May immediately following onsite ticket sales* will be processed via a lottery system.

Any mail orders postmarked after the first Monday immediately following Sunday ticket sales are unlikely to be filled. You must include a self-addressed stamped envelope along with a check (payable to MHTG) or money order.

*Mail orders postmarked before the Monday immediately following onsite ticket sales will be rejected

Mail orders can be sent to:
Great Taste of the Midwest
Madison Homebrewers and Tasters Guild (MHTG)
Post Office Box 1365
Madison, Wisconsin 53701-1365
 
Has anybody here camped for tickets at Capital Brewing? I had intended to get tickets there two years ago, but when I showed up (early evening, still lots of daylight) the taproom was closed, there were no employees, no portas, and really nothing to suggest they were even selling tickets the next day other than the confirmation on the GTOMW homepage and a hand-scrawled "Line Starts Here" sign in sharpie on an 8"x10" sheet of paper clothes-pinned to a chain-link fence above a 4" pool of standing water in their parking lot.

After a look of concern shot at me from a local resident I decided to do an about-face and stick with the devil I know.
 
Has anybody here camped for tickets at Capital Brewing? I had intended to get tickets there two years ago, but when I showed up (early evening, still lots of daylight) the taproom was closed, there were no employees, no portas, and really nothing to suggest they were even selling tickets the next day other than the confirmation on the GTOMW homepage and a hand-scrawled "Line Starts Here" sign in sharpie on an 8"x10" sheet of paper clothes-pinned to a chain-link fence above a 4" pool of standing water in their parking lot.

After a look of concern shot at me from a local resident I decided to do an about-face and stick with the devil I know.

went to Capital maybe ...... 6-7 years ago (more?), i think flyingbison

it was probably my least favorite. really not close to anything that's open. one porta-potty, there for some construction project not tied to the brewery, that looked like it was a homeless encampment.

gates to the grounds opened at, i think, 11 otherwise we just stood on the sidewalk and waited. we didn't camp overnight but there were small personal tents there and plenty of people in reclining lawn chairs with sleeping bags.
 
went to Capital maybe ...... 6-7 years ago (more?), i think flyingbison

it was probably my least favorite. really not close to anything that's open. one porta-potty, there for some construction project not tied to the brewery, that looked like it was a homeless encampment.

gates to the grounds opened at, i think, 11 otherwise we just stood on the sidewalk and waited. we didn't camp overnight but there were small personal tents there and plenty of people in reclining lawn chairs with sleeping bags.

YES. Now I remember. There was one oddly placed porta, like, a block away from the property. Very sketch.
 
yep
thing was a war zone

we wound up going to the coffee shop (Barriques??) after it opened

Yep, when Travis still worked there.

ETA: Are people really lining up the night before now? I don't think we ever got in line before 3 or 4 am, but that was a lot of years ago. Thank jeebus I'm too old for that **** anymore.
 
Yep, when Travis still worked there.

ETA: Are people really lining up the night before now? I don't think we ever got in line before 3 or 4 am, but that was a lot of years ago. Thank jeebus I'm too old for that **** anymore.

Looking at my "on this day" reminders from Facebook, trickytunadicky fear025 rmalinowski4 and myself all did an overnight at Vintage Brewing in 2015 (which was also the last year I waited in line for tickets). And we were numbers 113 - 116 at that time, so it's not necessarily a new thing.
 
Looking at my "on this day" reminders from Facebook, trickytunadicky fear025 rmalinowski4 and myself all did an overnight at Vintage Brewing in 2015 (which was also the last year I waited in line for tickets). And we were numbers 113 - 116 at that time, so it's not necessarily a new thing.
We showed up after Mayweather Pacquio, so it was like 2 we got in line.
 
Sooo I have been trying to restrain myself because I should adult and cut back.... anyone headed toward Milwaukee immediately after GTMW? The Wisconsin State Fair Maybe?

Anyone headed back to Madison after Hanson finishes their set at the end of the night? Asking for me.
 
Confirmed today I'll be heading up again this year, and thinking about changing up my normal routine by skipping New Glarus in the morning, getting loaded into the festival, and then hitting up a couple of events before going to the Children's Museum industry thing that LT wants to hit up.

Also learned that breweries (at least some of them) went through a lottery process this year which returning folks have never done before. Hoping that doesn't impact some of the smaller places I love hitting up every year (White Winter Meadery, Blind Pig Brewery, etc...) as I'm sure that the big players (New Glarus, Revolution, insert large independent players here) didn't have to deal with.
 
Going to post in the trading forums, but if anyone in here has (or has a line on) 1-2 extra tickets, looking for 2 to help out a couple friends planning to come this year.
 
Table assignments came out for participating breweries today, and we (Imperial Oak Brewing) are next to Half Acre (who is on the corner) this year which should be advantageous as they usually bring it strong for Great Taste.

The 1-2 punch of National Mead Day (Schramms / Cellarmens in Ferndale MI for this guy) and Great Taste on subsequent weekends is always rough on the liver, but I'm pumped nonetheless.
 
From FFG:

Thursday Bottle Release - Aug 9th 5:00pm - FB event page
Abrikoos en Hop - A two year old Methode Traditionnelle base refermented on apricots and then dry-hopped with Nelson Sauvin.
125 bottles, 1 per person, $30

Arnold Palmer Meerts - Meerts steeped on Macha Tea's Nilgiri blend, lemon myrtle, and fresh lemon zest.
386 bottles, 2 per person, $15ea

Friday Bottle Release - Aug 10th 10:00am - FB event page
Frampaars - Surprise! Frampaars is back! A blend of Methode Traditionnelle barrels averaging 2 years, then refermented with purple raspberries. Unfortunately the purple raspberry crop in 2017 wasn't that big, so we were only able to do half the batch that we did of Framrood.
350 bottles, 2 per person*, $30

Foeder Saison - Dry Hopped - Saison fermented in foeders for 6 months and then dry hopped with Amarillo.
350 bottles, 2 per person*, $15

Mango Pink Guava Meerts - Meerts refermented on 2lbs/gal mangoes and pink guava!
400 bottles, 2 per person*, $15

*bottle limit subject to change day of.

The Taproom will be open from 9am-Noon on Friday for you to enjoy these beers and/or get merch before the pre-party madness! The taproom will shut down at Noon to get ready for the pre-party.


FFG & Friends GTMW Pre-Party! - FB event page

Friday, August 10th, 3pm-9pm

For the third year in a row, we're hosting the largest Great Taste of the Midwest pre-party in town! We've invited 15+ of our brewery friends from near and far to pour some distinct beverages for your drinking pleasure.

It's Good For You wood fire pizza and Umami Ramen & Dumpling Bar food carts will be serving up their delectable dishes to keep you energized from 3-8pm. To keep the vibe real funky, we have Jonathan Hoel Quartet playing tunes throughout the fest. Join us in the fun!


Angry Chair, Brewing Projekt, Eagle Park, Fair State, Forager, Hailstorm, HORUS, Macha Tea, Mikerphone, Nessalla Kombucha, Octopi, Off Color, Penrose, Perennial, Pulpit Rock, Une Année, Untitled Art, Voodoo.

Taproom is open Tuesday-Thursday normal hours.
 
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