The Great American Beer Festival in Denver, CO which is taking place September 29 – October 1 has been sold out for awhile. I wish I was going but I have a prior engagement. Anyways, I was searching on Ticket Liquidator this morning for Seahawks tickets and checked and see that they have tickets to GABF for sale. While the cost is a bit steep starting at $150 for a day, if you are really…

Yesterday was the first official day of the Beer Bloggers Conference which took place here in Portland, Oregon and I was lucky enough to be able to attend at least one day of the event (although I’m currently in the air flying to New York for another conference, non beer related so I had to cut my time at BBC short).

First of all, I think it’s pretty amazing that the craft beer industry has grown so much that there warrants a need for a conference just for beer bloggers. Over 80 people attended the event and I’m sure it will grow as the years go on. With over 1700 breweries and about 700 more planned in the U.S. alone, there is a lot of blogging to be done.

The event started off with some beer samples from Pyramid (a black IPA), Widmer (an IPA from their rotator series), and Sierra Nevada (a brown ale and something else that I didn’t try). Not a bad way to start a conference, although I forgot to eat lunch which would have helped a ton.

Next week, May 16-22, people from all over the country will be celebrating American Craft Beer Week.  In fact there are official events being hosted in all 50 states for the very first time (very cool). The event was designed to honor the more than 1700 craft breweries currently operating in the U.S. “There’s no doubt about it—nationally, appreciation for craft brewing has reached new heights of popularity, with celebrations in all 50 states, American…

Editor’s Note: The following is a guest post by Jason Jewett. Jason is a 27 year old regular guy in Denver, CO who happens to be a media, beer, books and politics addict. He likes long walks on the beach, a quiet sunset, and stouts that you have to chew to swallow.

I saw a guy dressed as Captain America. I saw a group of men and women dressed as monks. I saw a few beer wenches, I saw walking hot dogs, I saw a group of girls dressed like hooters waitresses, and I saw a group of guys in velvet track suits with wigs, headbands and wristbands. I know what you’re thinking, “That sounds like the best Tea Party Convention ever!.” Oh, my sweet sweet friend – it was the Great American Beer Festival!

It’s 29th iteration, and 10th in its current location at the Denver Convention Center, the Great American Beer Festival, or GABF, as it’s more colloquially referred to, has expanded since it’s first ever appearance at the Harvest House Hotel in Boulder, CO in 1982. The 2010 GABF featured more than 2,200 beers from 450+ breweries across the country, just waiting to fix that unfortunate condition known as “sobriety” for an estimated 49,000 attendees.

I’d been before, with the sole purpose of sampling as many fine beers as I could. I’d been before with the intent to attack a particular style or region as well, but I decided this year that I’d try my hand at the GABF from the other side of the table: Volunteering for the Brew Crew, the folks who pour the beer! Volunteering is easy, it’s satisfying, it’s charitable, and you get some free stuff. But best of all, you get plenty of breaks to walk around and try beer.

Taking public transportation downtown, I encountered more than a few people assembling their pretzel necklaces during the trip. Some went above and beyond, to create a bit of an appetizer sampler necklace, including string cheese, slim jims, and a little baggie with wheat thins. Seems like one would need a sherpa to lug around that much snackfood, but having experienced the GABF with little to no food in the gullet, understand the necessity of being your own food truck.

This post is (mostly) unrelated to beer, except that I’ll “check in” at beer-related venues and beer-related events as much as possible. That and I like to build a community among the BlogAboutBeer.com readers as much as possible, too. Therefore, I signed up for foursquare.com a few days ago and added their BlackBerry application so that I can “check in” on the go. If you use Foursquare yourself, please become my friend @livingstonmedia (the same…

Registration for the 2010 Trails To Ale 10k road race along the oceanfront here in beautiful Portland, Maine opens tomorrow, Saturday March 27th. The Portland Trails race, which is set to take place on Sunday, September 19, 2010, is a full 10k road race along the Eastern Prom trail and around Back Bay, ending at the Portland Company on outer Fore Street in the East End. But what makes this event both fun and unique…

Thanks to a ticket hookup from my friend Ally over at WhereMaineEats.com (under construction), I was able to attend the Maine Bartenders Bash this past Monday night (a helluva way to end a day which began with a 4am trip to Kate Day…). I’m not usually one for vodka but I must admit that nearly all of the cocktails served at the “bash” (more of a cocktail tasting than a bash, I have to admit.…