Brewfest 2018

Words for the day

One of the awesome food trucks serving up fantastic food.

Thunder, lightening, pouring rain and pouring beer, comfort food, tie dye, kilts, rock n roll and people watching were just a few highlights of Brew Fest 2018 at Boathouse Beer Garden in Romulus NY along Seneca Lake.

We had the good fortune to spend the night before, and even better, the night after on property, because Boathouse is a Harvest Host. How great is it to taste and drink beer to your heart’s content, knowing you don’t have to drive home? This pleasure was not just for us, although we chose the high ground with a view, and the others were down in the parking lot. For a 35 dollar fee, patrons could spend the night in their tent or RV.

In spite of pouring rain on and off, it was actually a very nice day. People were wearing shorts, t-shirts, flip flops, jeans, boots, dresses, sleeveless tunics and more. There were plenty of puppies and dogs hanging out and making new friends. The host dog is a white Scottish terrier; very friendly with a never ending appetite who wandered around eating off the floor all day.

But you don’t really need all these details. You want to know about the beer, right? Well, right you are. There were over 30 New York breweries represented, from as far away as Brooklyn, to right around the corner. There were brown ales, and pumpkin, stouts and porters, IPAs and double IPAs, Lagers and Pilsners too! I had a Glacial Grind Coffee Porter, a Russian Imperial Stout aged for a year in a Bourbon soaked oak barrel, just to name a couple!

Food options were diverse, but completely not healthy. Comfort food was the name of the game today. Fried chicken with gravy, cornbread with honey butter, mac n cheese, pulled pork, steamed clams (Ok, those are probably healthy!), jalapeño poppers...are you feeling hungry yet? The food vendors were local, and you couldn’t go wrong with Silo Food Truck , Martin’s BBQ, Grillin’ and Chillin’ or Anna Rae’s Kitchen.

There were three live bands on stage during the day, with a Scottish band from Syracuse NY called the Highland Pipe Band in kilts during the intermission. Los Blancos, as their name suggests, was a band of older white guys who played great rock n roll for almost 3 hours. The Lightkeepers had a lead singer with a Janis Joplin voice, who played 1960s rock. Great band, but the sound system was not in sync which made it very difficult to hear “Janis: sing. The last band from 6-9 pm was the Prezence, a Led Zeppelin cover band. We took a break in the RV, but could hear them just fine!

The event ticket’s were $29 in advance, and $35 day of the event. The ticket entitled you to a small beer tasting glass and 12 tickets. Each very healthy pour/taste was a ticket, and 3 tickets got you a draft or bottle or can of beer.

This is a great example of how much fun you can have on the road, when you have no deadlines and no schedules...we had no idea when we decided to check in here that the next day would be this great event. Life is better on the road!

The BEST Fried Chicken, really!

Boathouse museum, really beer and boats…