Festival brews contentment
Marcinda Coil
Issue date: 5/7/08 Section: Features
Cold, carbonated and perhaps translucent liquid rushed down tight throats during an 87-degree warm-up in Bakersfield April 26, the day in which the 16th Annual Festival of Beers was celebrated.
The smell of beer was in the air even before the line of people came in and gulped it down.
"We are officially open," said the announcer as Stramler Park began to fill up with soon-to-be stumbling people.
However, black boxes of pizzas were lined up and stacked for guests to sample, along with BJ's Restaurant and Brewery's Beer. Grills Gone Wild Catering and Champs BBQ were also present to provide food to help patrons soak up alcohol.
An abundance of volunteers supervised the handling of beer and made sure that each sample taken was marked by a hole punch in sample cards.
Festival of Beers, which was put on by the Active 20-30 Club of Bakersfield, hosted numerous booths of beer to sample, such as Samuel Adams, Sapporo, Sierra Nevada, Sparks and Stone.
After 45 minutes worth of sampling 10 beers, Heather Zunton prefers Sierra Nevada.
"(I like) all of them," said Zunton's fellow beer buddy Sara L'Angooin as she giggled. "I'm a connoisseur. I don't have a favorite, but I like the energy drinks. Sparks is really good."
Many uncommon beers were sampled as well, such as Newcastle Brown Ale, Anchor and Rogue beers. American Laser Center participated by handing out various Pyramid beers.
However, there were also more common alcohols present for the uncommon taste buds such as Miller, Budweiser, Corona, Tequiza, Smirnoff, Fosters, Coors, Icehouse, Mickey's and Mike's various lemonades.
L'Angooin, though, did not care for Miller Light nor Miller Genuine Draft.
Others, such as Zunton, could not remember the name of the worst beer sample.
"I forgot the name of it," said Angel, who was currently on his sixth sample. "It was some (red) wine back there." According to an article in Bakotopia, Fetzer Vineyards debuted this year, showcasing their wines to beer connoisseurs.
The smell of beer was in the air even before the line of people came in and gulped it down.
"We are officially open," said the announcer as Stramler Park began to fill up with soon-to-be stumbling people.
However, black boxes of pizzas were lined up and stacked for guests to sample, along with BJ's Restaurant and Brewery's Beer. Grills Gone Wild Catering and Champs BBQ were also present to provide food to help patrons soak up alcohol.
An abundance of volunteers supervised the handling of beer and made sure that each sample taken was marked by a hole punch in sample cards.
Festival of Beers, which was put on by the Active 20-30 Club of Bakersfield, hosted numerous booths of beer to sample, such as Samuel Adams, Sapporo, Sierra Nevada, Sparks and Stone.
After 45 minutes worth of sampling 10 beers, Heather Zunton prefers Sierra Nevada.
"(I like) all of them," said Zunton's fellow beer buddy Sara L'Angooin as she giggled. "I'm a connoisseur. I don't have a favorite, but I like the energy drinks. Sparks is really good."
Many uncommon beers were sampled as well, such as Newcastle Brown Ale, Anchor and Rogue beers. American Laser Center participated by handing out various Pyramid beers.
However, there were also more common alcohols present for the uncommon taste buds such as Miller, Budweiser, Corona, Tequiza, Smirnoff, Fosters, Coors, Icehouse, Mickey's and Mike's various lemonades.
L'Angooin, though, did not care for Miller Light nor Miller Genuine Draft.
Others, such as Zunton, could not remember the name of the worst beer sample.
"I forgot the name of it," said Angel, who was currently on his sixth sample. "It was some (red) wine back there." According to an article in Bakotopia, Fetzer Vineyards debuted this year, showcasing their wines to beer connoisseurs.
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