Snallygaster DC

2015 Review: Last year I got the non-​VIP tickets, and all of the beers I was excited to try were tapped out by the time I entered the event. I didn’t make the mistake again this year. If you know you want something in high demand that isn’t sold in DC, you’re going to need to splurge to get the VIP tickets and then RUN (don’t walk) to get to the line once inside. I saw plenty of VIP ticket holders that didn’t run or just didn’t get to the event in time and wound up at the end of a very long line of people, only to have those special beers tapped out. If you are going to try other beers that aren’t necessarily ‘high demand’ i.e.sours, saisons, ciders, even ales, you’ll probably be fine getting the standard tickets.

This is my second year at Snally. Had some amazing brews. We bought general admission tickets and they ended up letting us in an hour early. We rushed over to get the CBS, but it was gone. If I had purchased a VIP ticket, I’d have been upset. As it was, I couldn’t complain. Got to try everything else on our list. It rained again, but hey, what can you do. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone else. Why 4 stars? Well the whole VIP thing is starting to turn into a cash grab. $ 35 for a ticket is more than enough.

VIP doesn’t mean quite the same thing as it used to. At Snallygaster 2014, it meant early entry by an hour and a half at an upcharge of $ 10 per hour, a gold VIP wristband (accidentally given to me as a blue one at first, which caused me to have to jump out of line), and the honor of walking into the event at 11:29 while less honorable souls hopped the fence (no, wait, there really was no fence) and sprinted to the rarest of rare beers offered at the event. The number of persons sold VIP wristbands rivaled the total attendance at many smaller festivals and led to a couple 100+ person lines, at least 50% of which was left wanting for the beer they’d waited for when the kegs kicked less than a half hour in. Attendees who followed protocol and walked through the front gate, even from my position about 25 persons deep into the early VIP line, were guaranteed to have missed at least one of the more desirable rare beers offered at Snallygaster. That many of the beers themselves were even available is feat enough, but dangling such tempting fruit in front of lustful beer drinkers, only to snatch it away from those who weren’t track stars in high school, feels like a big organizational miss.
Snallygaster also happens to rank as the most expensive beer festival I’ve been to by a fair margin when I checked the damage at the end of the event. Perhaps I’m simply used to festivals where all the beers are available for a high but set price, or where drink tickets get you equal pours of whatever it is you want without the variable stress of this sample costing 7 tickets and that sample costing 12. The craftier beer aficionados at this event will have run through their $ 25 Snallybuck stipend before getting through three samples. It is perhaps necessary to breathe in hard, surrender your wallet and simply let the beer gods have their sacrifice, but it’s a little disconcerting to have to run back to an ATM within an hour of a six plus hour event so you aren’t that guy bumming sips out of other people’s cups.
Organizational and financial criticisms aside, there are still plenty of reasons this was nearly a four star event — copious beer options, plentiful porta potties, good food options, a fully organized beer list before the event, a band I happen to love in !!!/​ChkChkChk (but missed because of the rain), a fairly well organized early check-​in system and myriad other positives. These nearly outweighed the smoldering hole in my wallet and lack for a few of the beers that sold out in a blink. A better thought out VIP strategy would be enough, and perhaps a reconsideration of some of the more eyeball-​gouging beer price points might get it to the fabled five stars we all hope for out of these events.

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RAIN RAIN GO AWAY, COME AGAIN ANOTHER DAY
It doesn’t matter — The Boys (and girls – Don’t want to be accused of gender bias here) did another great job. Bringing it back to the Navy Yard was the RIGHT thing to do. Does it have something to do with the fact that BlueJacket is 10 steps away… maybe but still having this right next to public transportation (TRAINS, not buses) is the proper way to run this – the best beer event on the east coast.
The rain did come down and it did come down hard yesterday but that did not stop the many many many craft beer lovers in the area from coming out and enjoying the event.
LOGISTICS:
Website: Set up with MAPS & Beer Lists early!
Port-​o-​Johns: PLENTY
App: A little confusing and slow but not a downer, plenty of people killed trees and printed out the map
Volunteers: Great and generally friendly
FOOD:
Multiple food trucks-​who came for the food. I would have liked to seen better but this is by far better than 95% of the other beer festivals. GBD had a pretty good day with the chicken but ran out of doughnuts. again, the chicken was damn good!
Oh, wait, did I say BEER at SNALLYGASTER! Over 250 – I believe the final tally was 273 to be exact. So many to choose from. The cask tent was out of this world. There are beers here that you cannot find anywhere else. Plain & Simple – Great JOB!
The GOOD (or shall i say the GREAT): 273 types of BEER. Yes, towards the end of the day there were the drunks who came to get drunk and not to taste amazing craft beer. Security and NRG handled these people with grace and this event was a hit. i think this was the best of the three years so far!
The Bad: As Usual, the cost but if a craft beer drinker accepts this fact that each beer will cost $ 4-​$ 10 and this event will cost $ 100+ then people will enjoy this day. This beer festival is not for the average beer drinker and is more expensive.
The Ugly: It rains sometimes. But NRG ran with it and it was great.
Overall, I can’t wait to see what NRG does next year. great job NRG and great job Greg!
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The rain was a bit of a bummer and it seems to get pretty crowded even with rain. This year they had an early check in where you could go to Bluejacket and check in the night before or the morning of. That saved a lot of waiting in line to have your ID checked and get your tasting glass. They had something like 275 beers, but the interesting and unique thing about this beer festival is that it’s not sponsored by the breweries themselves. Bluejacket hosts the entire thing and procures the beer. Thus, they charge a certain number of tickets for each pour. For most you can get either a taster or a full pour, but the number of tickets will vary. Most tasters seemed to be about 3 or 4 tickets, but special beers could be 7 or 8. That equates to $ 7 – 8 for a 3 – 4 oz. taster. A little pricey considering other beer festivals hosted by breweries are often drink as much you want for the price of admission. Your admission here gets you 25 tickets, so just a few of the expensive tasters and you’re tapped out. Also one technique I have for tasting lots of beer at other festivals is to spill ones I don’t love. Here, I was more hesitant where I was more conscious how much each one cost. The food is also a little pricey. That said, the quality of everything was very good and the festival was very well organized. Service was very friendly and, even though some lines were long, they always moved pretty fast. There were also plenty of port-​a-​potties. Overall, I generally prefer the festivals where the breweries host and you can taste as much as you want like the Virginia Craft Brewfest in Nelson County. However, this was fun and they really had a great selection of beers that would be hard to find anywhere else.

Four words (one for every star): pumpkin stout with coffee.
AKA Elysian Punkaccino
Short story long…
I could say a ton of great things have happened in my life in the past year — and there have certainly been a lot — but the morning of Snallygaster 2013, the thing I was most grateful for was having a new job that meant I no longer work on weekends and could go to Snallygaster! The Elysian Punkaccino (5% ABV, Seattle) made me that much more thankful. It was like Thanksgiving, for so many reasons.
I fully admit that I am both a beer and a coffee snob (though much more willing to drink bad coffee… sometimes you have to give up quality to get your fix) but we all have exceptions to our rules. My biggest exception: every fall I go to Starbucks for a pumpkin spice latte; I’ve already had one this year. If you combine the coffee and pumpkin in the pumpkin spice latte with BEER you get the Elysian Punkaccino… but the greatness is exponentially better. I think it’s bumped off Founders Frangelic Mountain Brown as my new favorite beer.
Enough salivating. Really the four stars are for Snallygaster the event, not the beer (because clearly the beer tops the charts). Snally itself was a good time. There were apparently a ton more people this year compared to last and in a smaller space which caused some heartburn but the lines to get beer went quickly and getting your wristband and additional tickets was managed so well that there was no line. It would have been nice to have a bit more space but as long as no one spilled my Punkaccino, it wasn’t that big of a deal. People bringing children to drinking events is a personal pet peeve of mine but it’s bound to happen at events like this… so when it did I was at least glad that there was a kid area in the back by the toilets so they weren’t in everyone’s way.
The one flaw of Snallygaster 2013 was the ratio of food options to people. The event had a couple of their own stands selling food amidst the beer and then there were a handful of food trucks. Waiting in line for 45 minutes to get food killed what little buzz I had and was prime time lost getting the best beers while they were still available. Going into Union Market would have been another option for food but would have been as useless since the lines would have posed the same issues. I would highly recommend having more food trucks next year and/​or having people from the beer stands come take orders and serve to those in line (seriously, if one vendor had done this, they would have made bank from all of the people who didn’t want to get out of line, totally would have cornered the market).
Oh and Snally even made an appearance at the event!

So I will preface this by saying that I am not sure it is possible to have a bad time at a beer festival. I actually overall had a great time here, but am not sure I will do it again next year.
The pros:
–The beer selection was very impressive. I consider myself pretty familiar with craft beer and had not tried the vast majority of what was offered.
–The staff. Everyone working there seemed to be working hard to make things run smoothly and quickly. Even the extremely long lines (see cons) moved relatives quickly.
–The extras. There was a lot of other non-​beer stuff here (I debated for awhile whether this was a pro or a con) that was convenient. Lots of food choices, a couple DJs, and area for kids, some stadium seating etc all of which added to the fun
The Cons:
–THE PEOPLE. There were so many people there. I don’t know if there were a limit on how many tickets were sold, but if there was they definitely put the limit to high. The lines were all extremely long and then it was hard to find a good place to stand with a group of people without people bumping past you constantly. Don’t even get me started on trying to find a place to use the bathroom…
–The Price. Usually I feel as though I am getting a good deal at beer festivals. The basic idea is I guarantee spending $ 30 – 50 and in return beer is cheaper (or unlimited). At Snallygaster it seemed like the beer prices were similar to what I would expect at a restaurant in DC ($ 4 – 6 for 8 OZ and $ 6 – 9 for 16 Oz). If you got the Kraken package that means you paid $ 35 for 3 – 4 16 OZ beers.
At the end of the day I still had a good time and got to try and lot of different beers (because I had a lot more than 25 tickets), but I am not sure I will be back.

Oh how the mighty have fallen…
Adam W.‘s review pretty much nailed it. Snallygaster 2012 was basically the greatest beer drinking event of all time. Snallygaster 2013 was clearly a victim of its own success.
The truth is that the location change was the ultimate downfall. Yards Park is the ideal location for this kind of event; whereas the fenced in parking lot at Union Market felt like a cage, and all-​too-​familiar to the many beer drinking events in DC that are just horrible.
The VIP hour was how an event like this should be… but by 1pm the masses arrived, and Snallygaster became more like a Saturday night at Churchkey. Yes, there were lots of beers, lots of awesome beers; but waiting forever to get your drink, then standing shoulder to shoulder, getting jostled and bumped and knocked around is no way to enjoy them.
The «taster» portions were advertised as being 6oz pours. By 2pm they were giving you about half that in a «taste». I get that the more popular beers were probably running low, but they shouldn’t advertise what they can’t deliver.
Not sure I’d go to Snallygaster again if they have one in 2014. There are better ways to enjoy good beer. I do like that the event’s proceeds benefit a good cause, rather than the bottom line of the company running it. So for that reason I’ll give it a bonus star. Otherwise, I walked away this year feeling awfully underwhelmed.

So-​so. The good: tons of beer selections, decent food and lots of variety of choices. The bad: lines were disorganized. The taster pours were advertised as 6 oz, but in reality many were barely 2 or 3 oz. So what would have been a decent deal on paper became a rip-​off in reality. Lines for the only real restrooms inside Union Market were over 20 min for men, even longer for women. Yes, there were port-​o-​johns outside, but sometimes you might like to wash your hands after using the restroom. Overall, the event was fun but the value jsut wasn’t there. Also, the advance ticket option on the website wasn’t working the day before. Finally, the venue was too crowded and the amount of seating (to eat) was insufficient.

This was my first beer festival experience in DC and I have to say that it was a great one. I had heard horrible tales from friends about poorly organized beer festivals and luckily Snallygaster was not one.
I bought the $ 30 Kraken ticket beforehand, but I was with a friend who hadn’t bought a ticket in advance. We arrived around 1:30 and the ID check was super fast, and we got our tickets in record time. Her line was actually shorter than mine, but I think/​hope I still got a better deal by buying my ticket in advance. At the beginning, the beer lines were long and it seemed really crowded, but as the day wore one, the crowds disappeared and I don’t really remember waiting in many lines after the first one.
The beer selection was great as well. I don’t know much about beer, but my friends who do know things about beer assured me that there were good options. Toward the end of the day some favorites had run out, including a banana bread flavored beer and the Allagash (one of my favorites). We did manage to try the 14% beer, which was surprisingly tasty (although at that point I was a little tipsy so my memory shouldn’t be trusted). Food options were also good — I got a brat and managed to drop it on the ground halfway through eating it, so the nice men at the brat booth gave me another for free!
My only complaints are that the bathroom lines were insanely long, the crowds were a little thick at the beginning, and I wish the beers hadn’t run out. BUT I will definitely be going back next year. Also I got one of the great t-​shirts with my left over drink tickets, extending the fun well into the night as friends and strangers asked me what a Snallygaster was and I got to explain.

My first DC Snallygaster! I read that last year’s event was awesome and I was excited to see what they had up their sleeve for this year’s festival.
First, I was relieved to be able to get tickets on-​line the day before, since attending was sorta a last minute decision. I thought the $ 30/​person entrance fee was fair, which included a souvenir Snallygaster mug, as well as 25 drink tickets. For $ 50, you could start sampling an hour earlier, at noon, but I really didn’t see the value in that, even knowing it would be a busy day with plenty of people.
And busy it was! We arrived via the Metro a little after 1pm, following the line of attendees into the outdoor venue at Union Market. I was happy with how well the ID check, ticket scans and mug/​wristband distribution was organized. I’ve definitely experienced worse elsewhere.
Once inside, I felt happily overwhelmed by the number of beers available, either for tastings (3 – 4 tickets) or full pours (7 – 9 tickets). With a limited number of initial tickets, we had to choose wisely, trying to find some unique and new (at least to me) local flavors, including some really good seasonals and pumpkin brews. Naturally, they had some tables scattered throughout the yard where you could by additional drink tickets (Smart!) if you wanted to extend your afternoon further.
There were also a number of food trucks and merchandise vendors set up along the perimeter and among the beer tents, as well as a couple of DJs playing music for the masses. There were even some kids activities near the back corner bleachers for those parents who were stupid enough to bring them along to this kind of event.
Even though the outdoor venue was completely packed with a ton of people, I still thought it was a fun event and great way to spend a decent Fall afternoon, trying some new and tasty brews. Plus, the name of this is just too damn cool. 3.5 Stars.

This was a great event hosted by Churchkey at the Union Market in NoMA. Theres were countless kinds of beers organzied into 4 or 5 separate areas, two DJ booths on opposite ends of the marlet, about 8 food trucks/​vendors bleachers, games (corhole, bicce, etc) and a kids section (I got tmy face paintes by a volunteer… it was awesome).
The check in ran pretty smoothly, with volunteers using handheld devices to scan tickets from your phone (its the 21^st century… paper ticketsare no longer necessary!). The lines were a bit disorganized but I’m sure they will fix that next year. For the $ 30 advance ticket purchase, we got 25 tickets, a 1pm entry time, and an awesome mug ($ 50 will get you a few more tickets and a 1 hour earlier entry time). I didn’t have to wait more than 5 minutes for a beer, and only 1 if my choices ran out all day (devil’s backbone).
Overall, the service, drinks and choices, food, and people were awesome. I will definitely be back next year!

3 ½ stars for Snallygaster 2013 because 2012 set the bar so high.
I had a great time and enjoyed many great beers, but compared to last year’s event this one was slightly lacking. The grassy waterfront location of 2012, with its open spaces and pleasant views, was sorely missed as the event was moved to Union Market’s fenced-​in parking lot. Union Market is nice — enjoyed a couple of beers and a sandwich at Red Apron beforehand — but it’s not in a great area and there were simply too many people packed in too small a space. I really hope that next year they’ll move back to the original location or find something similar (even if they have to take it into VA or MD).

My husband and I had been looking forward to this for a couple of months and bought our tickets well in advance. The weather, though not overly pleasant, held out enough not to rain more than a few drops on our heads. There was a huge turnout and many things to see and do. There were two DJs set up on opposite sides of the fenced in area. There were many booths with what seemed like endless beer possibilities. The beer selection was stellar, but we expect nothing less from the masterminds from Churchkey. We finally made it over to the fun area where the bleachers were. In that area there were games set up such as bocce, cornhole, ball and bucket games and a kids area. The DJ on that side of the fence was, for lack of better words, rocking out. He had a whole crowd dancing and having fun.
The overall execution of the event was great, but there were so many people there could have been more space alloted. It was overly packed around the booths, to the point where we would be forced to stop in our tracks because there was no where to go. We were stuck and squished together as if in a can of sardines.
But that was all part of the event. I am so glad to see my beloved union market get so much attention and so many guests. There were many portapotties, and although the lines were always a mile long, they moved quickly. The event staff and volunteers were friendly and everyone seemed to be having fun… but beer was involved, so that part was easy. As an orderly person, I would have appreciated less chaos when it came to lines for beer, or lack there of. There was no line system and I think the format and placing of some of the booths could have been thought about a little more to alleviate congestion and people just standing in circles in front of the booths. We did not know if they were in line or just standing around. We did have a great time and will return next year, hopefully they will hold it in a much bigger space. P. s. they were apparently selling pretzel necklaces! We never found them. but thought they were a great idea.

2012
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Avery Brewing Uncle Jacob’s Stout, I have never been so in love. The comparative ticket markup was totally worth it, and the food options were better than other beer festival events. Lines stayed pretty manageable on all fronts, so early admission was nice but unnecessary. Idling near the exit allowed me to score extra drink tickets from livers calling it quits. The quality and variety of beer was mad respectable, and seating availability was reasonable. The club staffers rocking out to the music by themselves was borderline sad, but I’m happy when that’s my only complaint at a convention for alcoholic mythology buffs. I’m already getting pumped for 2013, hope we see cooler shirt designs (mug package was the better value) and the Snallygaster with GoPro chest cam again.
2013
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Much more crowded this year. Brooklyn Cuvee La Boîte came a close second to my ABUJS pedestal, with Van Steenberge Gulden Draak on its heels. Honorary mentions to the Elysian & 21^st Amendment collaborations. DJ was better thought out, and a kiddie section added. Dogs around despite FAQ warning of paved ground this year. Food trucks repped harder, but Red Apron filled in gaps in the tents. As always, coming early to beat crowds and kicked kegs is critical.
2014
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Hardywood Gingerbread Stout takes the new crown. Great food trucks, the app map was a clutch paperless option, and the rain kept the crowds manageable. !!! put on an amazing show– intimate outdoor venue? Yes, please!

«I’ve made a huge mistake.»
Gob’s words played over and over in my head as we stood in the crazy line to get into Snallygaster (October 2012, I’m a little late in posting my review). Knowing it was the inaugural year, I expected a lot of kinks, and the huge line made me wonder if it was even going to be worth it or if it would just be a giant mess of people akin to the Virgin FreeFest debacle I’d endured the weekend before.
By the time my husband convinced me that this event was worth skipping a day of studying it was too late to buy advance tickets, so we got to wait in the neverending line with all the other jerks who didn’t plan ahead. Festival staff did their best to make the line look less menacing by splitting it into smaller lines, and even sent a guy out to ID everyone in advance and give us bracelets. While the will-​call line was much shorter, it also seemed to be moving a lot slower, probably because they had to send extra staff over to tame the longer line. Sorry guys– I will definitely buy in advance next year!
Since the VIPs had been going at it since noon, lots of the limited edition stuff had kicked before 2:30 (which was when we finally got in.) It was disappointing, but fortunately there were plenty of amazing beers left (including Avery’s Lilikoi Kepolo Wit– my fave of the day) to lift our spirits. The food, on the other hand, was a bit of a letdown with few choices, long lines, and little flavor. It was a gorgeous day, so the outdoor venue was perfect.
Overall, it was a great event! I had a lovely time, met some lovely people, and look forward to going back next year.

What a great concept – tell people that a crap load of beer will be in one place and charge them admission for the experience. I have been a fan of Neighborhood Resto Group for a number of years now since I live within spitting distance of most of their NOVA establishments. Vermillion in particular continues to be a constant haunt, but since moving to Del Ray from Old Town, Evening Star is quickly creeping up as the new favorite. Anyway what I’m trying to say is that I knew Snallygaster would be a good time because it was planned by the experts!
Although I tried to convince the fiancé to buy tickets in advance, the man hates making plans in such a fashion so instead we flew by the seat of our pants and went over there ticketless. Luckily, we were with my brother in law who travels constantly and knows how to pick the quick moving lines! We waited probably 15 – 20 minutes to get in… could have been better but no matter. Once we were in there was plenty of room to roam and choose our drink of choice!
We figured out pretty quickly that we could get more bang for our buck with the cheap tasters rather than those beers that went for 7 or 9 tickets. A taster for 3 tickets, please! Delicious. I liked every beer I sampled, including a pumpkin one and something called storm and seas. There were a ridiculous number of beer stations, so if the lines were too long at one, we simply went somewhere else. They even had a little map handy so we could plan out next area of attack. It was crowded in there, but very well managed just by the sheer number of vendors present.
My one complaint (aside from the fact that is was a pretty expensive) is the food – I wish they would have been more explicit about how this was really just a beer festival and that we were better not to come hungry. There was very little in the way of food options – I saw hot dogs, corn dogs, pickles and tots. Slim pickins and not that good. But, we saw it for what it was – just something to absorb the alcohol so we could keep sampling!
The music was super fun, too – there was a DJ towards the back and a band performing along the water in the front. The DJ was my favorite – they played such amazing tunes that totally appealed to all the Gen Y-​ers at the event. I know they spouted it to be family friendly, and I saw a lot of kids and their parents dancing, but I don’t think I would bring my kid to this thing. It wasn’t rowdy, but it was crowded and loud enough to be super overwhelming for a little kid. To each his own, I suppose.
The other great thing about Snallygaster was the amazing day. It was one of those perfect fall days, where it’s sunny and warm, but not too warm, and you’re comfy wearing a light jacket and scarf. I know this has nothing to do with the event planning, but it made it all the more enjoyable. Looking forward to next year!

«Epically unbridled hedonism: A Beer Jamboree»
One look at the Snallygaster flyer and I was sold.
Two of my favorite things in DC happen to be the beer scene and Yards Park when the weather is nice, so I knew a combination of the two would end very well. With over 100 beers to choose from, it was hard not to have a great time. The beer I tried and loved the most was Huge Malone from Allagash. A very delicious Belgian Style IPA.
Snallygaster pushed me to get out of my beer comfort zone and that is apparently where the magic happens.
My recommendations (out of love) for making it better next year (and for years to come) is to somehow ensure all the best beers don’t kick so quickly. I went too late in the day and the ones I wanted to try because everyone wouldn’t stop RAVING about how good they were, disappeared before I arrived (New Belgium Cocoa Mole Ale).
I would also lower the prices a little. Tastings averaged at $ 5 and full pours at $ 9. I saw signs saying this beer is so rare we can only offer a tasting (a rather pricy tasting at that), only to see it being poured on the floor in a slightly wasteful manner. To me the prices were a little high for beer that would come in a plastic cup, especially since I saw a lot of these choices on the Meridian Pint beer menu later that night for less.
Also, more drunk munchies would have been great! The meatball sub and bratwurst just didn’t do it for me. A few more veggie options like nachos would have been cool.
SNALLYGASTER, I can’t wait until we meet again!!!

DC’s beer festival most grand, curious what that entails?
An unprecented list by ChurchKey’s Greg Engert, with saisons, Octoberfests, and scores of pumpkin ales
Pretty confident nothing could spoil it
Til my phone met the toilet
But even that couldn’t tarnish the bourbon barrel aged stouts, nor fried piggy tails.