Last week, at this time, I was recovering from the Bacon and Beer Classic at New York's Citi Field. As Charles Dickens would say - it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
The beer gods smiled upon me and granted me two free tickets to the evening session (check the first blog post). I got there a little after the 7pm start time. Since it was scheduled to last until 10pm, I wasn't really worried about the timing. I wasn't really worried about how many people would be there either. I thought, It's a big stadium, there are a ton of vendors, there will be enough bacon and beer for everyone!
Ok, so I probably should have worried a little bit more about the time and about the crowd this event would draw. There were so many people! Rightfully so, rightfully so. But the lines to get beer samples and bacon treats were definitely a bit overwhelming. After waiting longer than I wanted on a few lines, I decided it was better to go for the vendors with the shorter lines.
Long lines aside, there really are a ton of restaurants/chefs and breweries there. If you don't mind waiting a bit and you're strategic, you can try bacon cooked in unusually cool ways and wash it down with beer you're probably not familiar with. It definitely introduced me to some breweries I'd like to visit over the next few months. Perhaps next year I'll try to get my hands on the VIP tickets. The VIP tickets get you in an hour earlier before the main crowd. My guess is that this allows you to try more food/beer with ease. And more is always better! At least when it comes to bacon and beer.
How was your experience? Did you get to drink more beer than I did? If so, tell me your secret!
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