Departure
Since getting my pocket picked in Athens, I am just ever vigilant and ever on the lookout for suspicious behavior and activities when shucking and jiving around town. When I enter a car on the metro, I immediately try to get a lay of the land and identify anything that looks out of place or suspicious and I’ve deputized myself to make a citizen’s arrest if needed. Today, I am going to the Barcelona Beer Festival (BBF) at the Fira Montjuic, and I have everything tethered to me (wallet, keys, phone). In that respect, I’m good to go.
When you think about it, it only costs 6-euros to attend the BBF. Depending on how many people are in attendance, it seems like a very opportune place for a pickpocket to get into some pockets and purses on a lovely Sunday afternoon. The addition of alcohol to lower inhibitions, could make this a perfect soft target. Pickpockets could easily come in here and start lifting wallets and purses and disappear quickly into the ether. As you can see, it’s clear that I am still suffering from some PTSD from my own pocket getting picked a month ago. I think it’s time for me to stop entertaining my paranoid fantasies of an oncoming pickpocalypse.
Disclaimer
When I go to these types of larger events, I just assume for the worst from an organizational standpoint. We went to Metallica at the Estadi Olimpic a few years back where it felt like there was just one bathroom for the 30,000 people in attendance. We paid extra for tickets up front in the snake pit where there were no bathrooms or vendors anywhere to be found. Poor Rosalia had to go and beg the security guy to let her use the bathroom in the seated area that day. Most people pissed in a cup and I saw a few women do the squat. With that said, you show up in these events hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. There’s no reason why you must pay so much for a concert ticket and pay an additional cost of losing some of your dignity in the process.
Pre-Planning & Pre-Gaming
With the knowledge gained from unfortunate past experiences, I am a fan of pre-planning and pre-gaming. For the BBF, I stopped at the mini-market for some salty snacks and a few beers that I can keep cold in my Yeti mug for the day. The first order of business was getting a ticket to the event. I bought my admission ticket and they gave me a map of the event space and a bracelet to charge with cash to buy beers so I took this opportunity to find a park bench to drink one of my roadies and study the map of beer vendors before entering the BBF. I put together my game plan and I now know where the bathrooms are. I finished my Estrella tall boy and journeyed back to the BBF where a long line had quickly formed in the 30 minutes I had been away. I walked right in the door, flashing my bracelet like a hippie at a Dead show.
A Note on Recyclables, Glassware, Etc.
I forgot to mention that the BBF gave me a commemorative glass when I bought my admission that I used to refill my beers throughout the day. They also have glass cleaning stations to rinse may glass after each beer. This is an excellent perk for beer lovers. I know that events can create a remarkable amount of waste. Doing the right thing and recycling is a no brainer. Eliminating single use plastic is an even better idea. I’ve gone to a few events over the years in Barcelona where they sell you a plastic cup for 1 euro on your first beer that you use throughout the event. After the event is over, the following 3 scenarios play out:
- They take the cup back and return you the 1 euro, (this is the most optimal)
- They take the cup back and say thank you and tell you about how the 1 euro is a donation to a just cause. (this is the most shady and scummy way of screwing someone out of 1 euro)
- They tell you to keep the cup and fuck off (this the “pay to play” scenario)
At home, we currently have about a dozen of these “fuck off” cups accumulated over the years and nesting into one silo. They’re always the same sized cup and every time we go a new event, we always forget to take the cup with us to avoid buying another cup and ending this 1-euro death spiral. I would gladly give these away to people at the next event to avoid 12 more plastic cups making their way into our seas.
I Digress
Part of the motivation of going to events like the BBF is to start learning about all the ways I can capture audio, images, video, and test out some of my equipment as we’re going into the spring months. Most importantly is I need to figure out how audio works now that I have a Zoom H1N digital video recorder. I also have a Sony UX-570 digital pocket recorder that I can transcribe voice notes easily into a word document (I’m actually editing my voice notes as I type). I’m hoping the combination of voice recognition software and a nice import from the digital video player will allow me to create content quicker than sitting down and trying to type it all out and try to remember what I did after drinking a bunch of beers at the BBF.
Most importantly it was good to be with my Canon G7X Mark ii after a scare I had in Delphi a few weeks back. I left my backpack with the camera in it at a taverna and Arachova. We called the tavern and the owner told us not to worry. He arranged for a courier to pick it up send it to our Hotel in Athens for a grand total of €11.40. Crisis averted.
The BBF
After you get through the security, which is pretty much non-existent. They didn’t check my bag for any extra beers, water, and snacks. It’s pretty funny because the moment you get past security, it’s just like a long walk (~2 minutes) to get you thirsty for your first beer. Good call on that BBF! Let’s cut to the chase and talk about all the beers I enjoyed at the BBF.
The first beer that I got this afternoon was a Django Weizen Doppelbock a from Napabier. It’s a dark beer. Looks pretty good; actually, damn good and comes in about 8.3% alcohol to get the juices flowing. The whole idea about going to a beer festival is trying new beers. I don’t see the logic of imbibing in a Stella Artois or a Sierra Nevada. I’m not in the US anymore and the temptation to get a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale carries a high opportunity cost. I have to give up any number of beers I haven’t tasted to get one that I have tasted so it’s not a good trade off. Below is a list of all the beers (and one cider) I tasted (minus my 2 backpack beers, Shush!) at the BBF. I’m not even going to pretend to tell you how each tasted. My selection was based off of the following criteria. If I walked by a brewery and there was a long line, I made a mental note of that brewery and I took a stroll. If there was no line when I returned, I tasted that beer. Ouila! I figured those beer drinkers knew what they were drinking.
| # | Brewery | Name | Type | ABV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Napabier | Die Ziege | Weizen Doppelbock | 8.3% |
| 2 | 1906 | 1906 de bodega | Helles Bock | 6.5% |
| 3 | Tito Blas | Green Fellah | Belgian Pale Ale | 6% |
| 4 | Zapiain | Sidra del pais Vasco | Premium Cidra | 6.7% |
| 5 | Budvar | Budvar B: Original | Czech Premium Pale Lager | 5% |
| 6 | Basqueland Brewing | El Suave | Double IPA | 8% |
| 7 | Deya Brewing Co. | Better Daze | Hazy IPA | 6.5% |
The Landscape
Probably the most weirdest part of the whole Barcelona Beer Festival was seeing a guy walking around here with a Milwaukee Brewers jersey. The irony of the whole situation is that before I left the house, I was wearing a Milwaukee Bucks hat and Rosalia said, “Don’t go there wearing your hat. You look like a tourist and an easy mark for pickpockets.” She totally preyed on my insecurities about pick pockets (this is turning into an unhealthy obsession). Hindsight being 20/20, you probably want to wear an identifying hat or t-shirt to these kinds of events, because it’s a lot easier to strike up a conversation with people.
When you think about it, of all things you do Barcelona this weekend, the BBF has to be #1 on anyone’s list. I mean, this has been going on since Friday, so had I known it was this cool of an event I would have paid for the highest level of access and attended all the tastings and nerdy beer stuff that I’m into. Looking forward to next year!
I’m about four beers into the BBF and I remember my snacks and extra beers in my bag, because I spy with my one good eye a couple eating sad sandwiches the brought from home with big smiles on their faces across the way. All the frowns are found in the long lines for pizza and croquettes. Backpack snacks is a healthy sign a couple is going to go the distance. Fail to plan, plan to fail. I raise my glass to them and they; in turn, raise their glass to me when they see my can of Pringles on the table. Just kidding! That would be creepy AF.
The Activities
In terms of activities beyond drinking all the beers your heart desires, they had foosball and corn hole here. I have an affinity to foosball. It was a sport that I always thought I could go pro. I played foosball everyday in college during the long cold winter stretches in Minnesota. Every time I see a foosball table, I get nostalgic for a bygone era where I was the king of my domain. Foosball is the most aristocratic sport in all of the college bar sports. A good foosball player is diplomatic and knows how to build bridges, since foosball cuts straight across nationalities and cultures. When i was riding high on hubris, some asian or middle eastern students would show up and put a world of hurt on us at the foosball table. One time these two Turkish kids just destroyed us. I went home and thought about their moves, took the emotion out of it, and completely destroyed them then next time we crossed paths. It’s becoming increasingly hard to find foosball in bars like “back in the day”; but, it’s nice to see it maintaining its status in Europe.
In Conclusion
I know I’m not going to win a pulitzer prize from my writing, but it’s a fun past time. I am so influenced by the gonzo styles of Hunter S. Thompson and George Plimpton where they get to be immersed and embed themselves to report to the outside world from the inside. Hunter S. Thompson famously rode and reported on the Hell’s Angels where George Plimpton famously joined the Detroit Lions as a Quarterback in his book Paper Lion. It seems like the easiest route to take is snap a selfie and throw any number of #hashtags behind a mindless instagram post. In many respects the BBF gives me the opportunity to continue writing and honing my craft while enjoying some craft beer. See how “crafty” I can be?!?!? Not a bad way to spend a Sunday.
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