Beerfest!

I went to Beerfest this year with one goal in mind: bankrupting Bavik.  This was because in the hours before, while I waited at work for my shift to end with baited breath, when I ran into Anton.  Or maybe I walked over to Anton's desk.  I don't remember that part.  Anyhow, I rubbed it in that I was going to be drinking beer and having fun at beerfest while he was looking after his children and maybe having sex with his wife, or whatever the hell else married couples do.  And he being also bored and liking beer read about this brewery from Belgium who apparently was losing money showing up at beerfest because the cost there was cheaper than what they would normally charge for their beer.

Well hello Bavik, and so when I met my friends at the gate, I told them my plan: I would drink all of their deliciously overpriced beer all the while celebrating the fact that Bavik was making somewhat less profitable business soliciting in my country.
Well after that we waited in line and got some tokens, and looking at the map set my scopes on booth 49.  But WOOOOAAAH!  We get there and what is going on, but their beer costs 2 tokens ($2.50 for 4oz of beer).  Everyone decided that getting beer from here would be nonproductive compared to all the 1 token beer they could drink.  So I conceded to the economic reality and we went off to drink some perfectly good one token beer.  And we did.  But of course, after a few beers I became disillusioned by the one token beer.  And I got all introspective and shit about what beerfest is all about...drinking really good beer.  So I went to the Bavik, alone, and got me a double bruin.  And guess what - even in my drunken state, it was some of the best goddamn beer I ever had.  It didn't even taste like beer.  All other beer I had had up to this point was piss before it.  I let the word out (and shared my beer with a lot of people) and it turns out everyone liked the beer so much we headed over there.  I had Witterkike Rose (made with fruits and vegetables, apparently) and that was awesome too.  I had other good times at beerfest, but I guess the lesson to be learned is that it pays to try and screw over breweries.

The best part of Beerfest was the last hour.  Much like the last hour at a bar, it is as if alcohol lets loose the hounds of hell.  I was tokenless by this time, but a friend of a friend, Lee-Anne had bought way more tickets than I think she could possibly spend without needing to ride out on a wheelbarrow, so I decided to see if I could buy some off her.  When I found her she was with this other guy we knew, Chris.  I offered some change and she said she would give me a token if I would hug copper cowgirl and get my picture taken with her.  I happily agreed, and we were off in search of her, which we eventually found talking to plaster man.  She wasn't posing like a statue anymore, but agreed to the picture.  Lee-Anne got caught up in the moment and decided instead to get her own picture taken with both copper cowgirl and plaster man.  The dude took the photos and I just hung out awhile admiring the spectacle, when after the picture he looked quite dismayed.

"Aw crap" Chris said with a note of shame "I put down our beer glasses to take the picture, and someone took them!  I put them down for like 30 seconds!"

"Bastards" I cried.  Who would do such a thing?  Not wanting to leave these nice people without a glass, I gave them mine to share, while I would track down my friends and share one of theirs.  They thank me and I wandered off, token in hand.

Around this time I finally ran into my buddy Kyle.  Now I had seen him earlier, but decided not to approach since at that exact moment a girl had her hand up his shirt.  Now, he was alone, and I needed a glass.  We exchanged pleasantries and I explained my glassless situation, flashing him my lonely token.  He was happy to help out.

"What do you wanna drink man.  I know where every single good beer is in this dump."

I suddenly decided I wanted an espresso stout.

"Yep I know exactly where the best one is" and we were off to Steamworks at booth 26.  I got my drink, but out of devious desperation I palmed my token, and noone asked for it.  So, I still had a token!  Yes, more beer was in my future!

I decided to go to get some Maple syrup beer from Bravo Brewery.

"That's 2 tokens man" he said to my rapidly falling face.
"But wait...I still have 2 tokens, lets go talk them into doing 2 for 3.  Its the end of the night, they'll go for it."

"Ah good idea." Normally I wouldn't have that much faith in talking a bartender into free beer, but Kyle has magic powers.  The man can sell arms to an octopus, so we marched over to booth 2.
Waiting in line, we realized we only have one cup!  This will make convincing him to give us 2 drinks great difficulty.  As we were fretting over this, this jovial pot bellied man passed us his cup.

"Here guys take this one.  I dun need it no more" he slurred.

We thanked him profusely and forged onward in line, a look of determination in Kyle's glassy eyes.  At the front of the line was our server, a nice enough looking chap, tall, long hair and glasses.  He gave us the "What'll it be" in a not unpleasant voice.

"We were after your maple syrup beer" Kyle said as the bartender cracked a beer to start pouring.  Kyle started fumbling around and looked surpised.

"Oh crap.  I guess we only have three tokens.  Can you do 2 beers for 3 tokens?"

The guy, still having a neutral expression, looked up from his pour.

"I can't do that man, it doesn't work that way, we got rules..."

He drawled on a bit, and Kyle, not exactly cutting him off and not talking over him started to speak as well, while fumbling through his pockets some more:

"We can give you some money...do you want some money...can you just do 2 for 3...come on man, 2 for 3, can you do it?"

This probably went on a lot less longer than it seemed, because the glasses dont' take that long to pour, and the guy, still looking down, started hissing in a stage whisper

"Gimmie your glass.  Forget it, just gimmie the other glass quick"

He filled the glass and we thanked him profusely.

I still had one token left.  I decided to spend it on a Lindemans Peche from the nearby booth one, and it was okay, but it didn't taste as good as the maple beer!  That beer was awesome and I would actually like some more.