Wazoo: Beer in the zoo
I had the pleasure of attending Wazoo a couple weeks ago, a beer festival held annually as a fund raiser for Lowry Park Zoo. Hats off to the zoo for a great development idea. Tickets weren’t cheap: $65 or $70 the day of. A friend obtained tickets, and I must say I’d consider buying tickets next time. There was a huge variety of beer, from Miller Lite to strange artisan brews.
There was also free food supplied by 20 restaurants. Shula’s proved to be the stand out, giving away steak sandwiches and jumbo shrimp. Five Guys Burger and Fries was the loser of the restaurants, as they couldn’t be bothered to give away fries. They only ran a basket at a time while the line to their booth lengthened. Their fries are not worth that kind of wait—- they’re never crispy enough. Besides, it was probably healthier to drink a beer instead.
Of course, the food was not the draw—- the beer was. And the beer did not disappoint. I mostly avoided the beer I was already familiar with. I also avoided all beers that are brewed with sweet fruit. Call me old fashioned, but beer should be liquid bread, and the fruit and vegetable groups have no place in my mug. That said, I find it acceptable to garnish certain beers with fruit. Blue Moon sure tastes nice with orange, and lime with Corona is refreshing. I approach beverages the same way as food: I’m not a snob, there is a place for cheap stuff, I appreciate the finer things, but high prices do not impress me.
It was easy to get drinks, as the beer was so spread out that long lines tended to be for food rather than beer. I probably sampled 50 or 60 brews, and I took pictures of my favorites. I would buy or recommend any of these beers: Red Sky at Night, Loose Cannon, Saranac (which i was already familiar with), Fire Rock, Long Board, and Ephemere. There were many other worthy beers.
At one point in the evening, I stood at a urinal thinking that WaZoo is as much a pissing festival as a beer event. I took many a Wazoo that night, but I also paced myself. The event organizers build two very important caveats into the evening. First, it only lasts three hours, right about the time that drunks become obnoxious. Second, they made a deal with a local taxi company to provide people with free rides. Through a little hustling, I got a cab at 10:30, the festival’s end and the height of demand.
August 26th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
I’m a cautious fan of the Red Sky at Night and Loose Cannon- I got sucked in by the sampler packaging at Publix a few months ago. Their lighter beers aren’t so great – give me a Corona Light instead and I’m just as happy, maybe more so – but I liked the red.
Charming visual of you at a urinal, BTW.