Last week, I attended the 8th annual Beer Bloggers & Writers Conference (BBC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Yes, there is a conference dedicated to beer bloggers! And yes, beer flows endlessly at this magical place! This was my fourth visit to BBC, with previous visits in Boulder, Boston, and my hometown Portland.
From a drinking perspective, it's best to approach the conference as a marathon, rather than a sprint. I opt for small tastes and plenty of water. Anyway, while conference organizers and brewery sponsors provide more beer than attendees can possibly consume, most attendees also bring their own beer to share and exchange with fellow bloggers. Conference attendees are largely beer geeks thrilled by the prospect of tasting beers we can't find at home.
With that in mind, I raided by beer fridge and selected a handful of Oregon bottles and cans that are difficult to find outside of the Northwest.
I carefully packed the beer from The Commons Brewery, Wolves & People Farmhouse Brewery, and Alesong Brewing & Blending in my suitcase. Protected by the force field of three large "Fragile" stickers my beer survived United Airlines and a transfer in Chicago. As far as I'm aware, it wasn't dragged off the plane in a state of diminished consciousness and arrived in Milwaukee in with it's precious cargo intact!
Over the next week or two, I'll share more details about the conference including the breweries visited. For now, I'll simply conclude the tale of my suitcase. Although I gifted or shared my fine Oregon exports with fellow bloggers, I still returned home with plenty of beer. I only purchased three of the cans pictured. The rest were given to me by fellow bloggers or were unconsumed brewery samples. Leftovers never tasted so good!