38 responses to “the LA vegan beer fest is TODAY!” RSS icon

  • Hey QG, hope it was a success… but next time, warn your readers that if they don’t get tickets in advance, the prices soar at the door! We decided to buy at the door in order to avoid the convenience charge online (which was something like $3.50 a ticket) and were so shocked at the high prices that we bailed. Didn’t help that we were there for the “non beer drinker” tickets, which were $21.50 per person at the door and gave us nothing except the privilege of walking through the door, hearing bands we weren’t interested in, then standing in line to pay even more money for food.

    I know that some (how much?) of the money goes to charity, but still… I’d love to see the next Vegan Beer Fest structured so that it’s free or supacheap ($5?) admission to the parking lot for anyone who just wants to eat (after all, we’d still be paying the vendors for food), and then anyone who wants to go inside to eat, drink beer, listen to bands, get out of the sun, sit down, use the bathroom, etc. can pay admission. Some of us just want access to the yummy food – and charity or not, it’s a lot to tack on an extra $21.50 per person for that!

  • Hmm, I got my ticket from the Roxy Theatre box office a week before the event. I got a non-drinking ticket for $15 plus $1.50 service fee. I wonder why they jacked up the ticket prices on the day of the event?

    And parking was $15 in the lot around the corner. I carpooled with someone, so we split the cost of parking.

  • parking was free in the neighborhood behind 9000 sunset until 7pm.

  • i am so sorry to non-drinkers who felt the prices were unfair. we went out of our way to accommodate non-drinking people this year, and i feel bad if you guys were still unsatisfied. after all, this was a “vegan beer fest” not just a food truck event. and while the ticket proceeds charity, the food trucks and vendors kept all profits.

  • Gauri Radha गौरी राधा June 25th, 2011 at 19:42

    I couldn’t make it over to the fest today due to work, but for those of who are non-drinkers (I would’ve been in that category) I think maybe we just should be glad there was even a non-drinking ticket option. It was cool enough just to have that concession for non-alcohol people attending, perhaps complaints on top of that aren’t really warranted here? Just a thought.
    Anyways, I hope it was fun and that a good time were had by all.

  • FYI, a friend of mine who came separately to the event told me that he had called the Roxy Theatre this morning (Saturday 6/25) and specifically asked what a non-drinking ticket would cost and he said he was told $15 plus $1.50 service fee. But when he came to the event, he was charged $21.50.

  • I am glad there was non-drinking tickets available and I had an awesome time. When is the next one? Oh and chocolate covered bacon is AWESOME!

  • did he point that out to the roxy that he felt he was overcharged? this is something that would have been better addressed at the fest.

  • I had fun today at the beer fest, but to be honest I wish you wouldn’t have opened it up to nondrinkers. People who weren’t even drinking beer were hogging up space and being the typical selfcentred jerks that straigtedge people are. Tony’s comment above is proof. Complaint after complaint.

    Please, next year don’t allow nondrinkers. These people are obviously selfabsorbed.

  • I don’t know. I’ll have to get back to you on that. Nevertheless, he was charged more than what he was told on the phone. So just take it as some constructive criticism, and let people know next time that tickets are more at the door. Then there won’t be any issues. Thank you.

  • Well Jeff, your post certainly made me laugh. How about looking at it this way: Non-drinkers were making you wait less in line to get your refills of beer.

    And BTW, I’m not straightedge. I’m just not a big drinker. So it wasn’t worth it to me to purchase a general admission ticket.

    Instead I spent about $30 on food.

    And my “complaints” are intended as constructive criticism.

    Nothing wrong with a little constructive criticism, is there Jeff?

  • I’d like to also point out that I helped to promote the LA Vegan Beer Fest by posting the info on several meetup groups as well as on Facebook.

    So if I want to make a few comments, I feel that I should be able to without being attacked and called names.

  • Wow, Jeff, you talk about nondrinkers the same way that meat eaters probably talk about you.

  • You have to admit that $43 for a couple is a lot to ask, just for the privilege of walking out to the parking lot to pay more money for food.

    Sorry, QG, I was really looking forward to coming and eating (and to apparently being a self centered jerk, based on the fact that I don’t drink beer), but we were not prepared for that huge ticket mark up at the door, so we got annoyed and left.

    You’re right, though. It’s a “beer fest” and hence, not a place for me, vegan or not. Oh well. Maybe one day there will be a vegan event that has a reasonable entrance fee and is not centered around stupid beer. I’ll plan on attending that one in the future.

  • CHILL OUT, PEOPLE! we don’t have to start calling each other names! i am really sorry to anyone who had a bad time. until i read this comment thread, i only ran into people like veggienerd above who were having a blast, and i thought the day was a success.

  • oh and i want to address the suggestion that we make non-drinker tickets as cheap as $5. if we did that, the fest would be flooded with non-drinkers and we wouldn’t be able to sell tickets to people who want beer. it was sold out as is, and if we had a $5 ticket the beer would probably be an after thought. if we had a huge space, that would be possible…but the roxy is small.

  • I paid for a non-drinker ticket and I think it was definitely worth it, because the bands were so good.

  • Quarrygirl: Maybe we should have a vegan food fest, then, as an excuse to do something like this twice a year ;P.

    As non-drinkers and food enthusiasts, we were stoked about the non-drinking tickets this year! Such a big part of the community is straight edge and the like, so it seemed like a great idea! Don’t be discouraged, there’s always going to be complaints/criticism for anything one does.

    Thanks for the fun!

  • I had a great time at the fest as a beer drinker. I was somewhat annoyed by the long lines at the food carts, but I got over it quickly. It is nice to see vegan businesses doing well. I have a couple of comments about the VIP situation, but I will save that for email.

  • For the record, the tickets for beer drinkers were also jacked up by $5.50 at the door. All I was saying is that in the future, you should ask the Roxy what prices they’re going to charge on the day of the event, so you can warn your readers in advance. That’s all. (Did the Roxy give any of that extra door money to your charity?) It would make it a good incentive for people to buy their tickets early! After all, we were OK with paying $15 for admission, even though we knew it would just give us access to bands and the parking lot. But everybody draws a line somewhere, and $21.50 per person crossed that line.

    I agree 100% with Doomie – there’s plenty of room for a vegan beer fest AND a vegan food fest! Or hell, what’s the harm in just phoning up those food trucks – obviously you know how to contact them – and schedule an informal vegan food fest, i.e. tell the 4-5 trucks to park on a certain empty street in LA at a certain time some weekend, and tell your readers to rendezvous! Who wouldn’t love that? A great opportunity to sample all these people’s wares at the same time, and it takes very little organizing on your part – and costs no extra money on anyone’s part.

  • i think a vegan food fest is a great idea. that’s kinda how the vegan cinco de mayo was. it was at a bar, but it was in the parking lot so you could go in and drink if you wanted…or just stay outside and eat food.

  • Erica Johnson June 26th, 2011 at 09:21

    I also called the Roxy the day of the event. The dude I spoke to said there would be a 1.50 charge at the door over the 15 dollar price. I even clarified it with him to make sure I understood that there would not be any extra fees the day of the show if I were to pick up tickets at the door. When I got there, they were charging around 21 bucks instead of 16.50. I ended up going in anyway with 2 of my girlfriends, as I wanted to support the charity and the vegan movement. The woman at the door said the prices were higher because it was the day of the event. I told her that a guy told me otherwise just an hour before. She asked who I spoke with, and I didn’t know his name. One suggestion…a smoothie truck for non-drinkers? I know it was a beer fest, but because the event was also open to those who weren’t drinking, I feel if all of the people are paying to get it, it would be nice to be able to have something to drink other than bottled water (which I found out after I left was available at the bar). The vendors like Veg It Out said that they weren’t allowed to offer the drinks on their menu, but didn’t mention that there was water at the bar. My friends and I left early to get some smoothies. Just a suggestion. Thanks.

  • “Maybe one day there will be a vegan event that has a reasonable entrance fee and is not centered around stupid beer.”

    We already have that; it’s call WorldFest! Also, let’s not disrespect beer, alright? Beer did nothing wrong.

  • “How about looking at it this way: Non-drinkers were making you wait less in line to get your refills of beer.”

    That is not actually true at all. I probably spent, at least a half hour total just waiting in line for food. And this is on the low end. Had I not had to wait in longer food lines, I could have gotten to try more beers in that time. Instead, I ended up missing out on several of the tents and breweries that I never even had time to visit. I’m not saying non-drinkers were not welcome, but let’s not pretend that the dry squad did the rest of us some kind of favor.

    That said, I knew the tickets would be considerably higher at the door because i purchased my ticket at the door for the last one. This year i made sure to purchase my ticket in advance. I agree that $21 is steep to attend LA Vegan BeerFest if you are not drinking and refuse to try and enjoy great craft beer. However, the BEER festival really had no reasonable way to accommodate people who decided ahead of time that they do not like beer.

  • I was getting dehydrated after several hours in the hot sun. It was hard to find a shady spot unless you went inside. Maybe next year there could be a few umbrellas set up outside? I started to feel a little bit sick and I wasn’t even drinking alcohol. All the fried food I was eating probably didn’t help. I also asked the Ve-I-Up truck for some water and they also told me that they weren’t allowed to sell drinks and that I could get water at the bar. So I went to the bar and got a small bottle of water (which they charged $2 for). I felt better after drinking the water. I realize the bar wants to make money, but it would be nice (and a health/safety precaution) if there was at least one water cooler dispenser outside. When people are drinking alcohol, especially when it’s hot outside, they are going to get dehydrated. Alcohol is a diuretic; it makes you urinate and flushes fluids from the body. I have read online that to avoid getting a hangover people should drink a glass of water between each beer. Just some suggestions. Hopefully Jeff or anyone else won’t attack me or call me any names for making these comments. Thank you.

  • i should correct that. I mean that there is no reasonable way to accommodate non-drinkers that would make you happy without hurting the beer experience.

  • NOW you tell me?! haha

  • “Beer did nothing wrong.”

    LOL

  • I had a great time! I only wish it didn’t have to end, there was still so much beer and food i never got to. I read through all of the comments and I will point a few things out that i noticed from last year to this year.

    First, last year had no non-drinking ticket available. The vibe was a little different, from the both years but both were a lot of fun. The non-drinker ticket did do something that i did not think about, and that was give an audience to the bands. Last year the bands were pretty much playing to an empty stage while everyone else was outside hitting up every beer tent and grabbing food.

    For the bands, I think this actually made it kind of nice because they had fun and gave the non-drinkers something to do rather than watch people drink glorious craft beer. haha. When the bands had more fun it was more engaging overall. This is also, i’m sure in large part to their personalities but they came out and played acoustic outside which was enjoyable. None of that last year. The bands seemed kind of down and not into it last year.

    On the negative; food lines were longer, the wait for the food to get prepared was longer and some places ran out of certain items sooner! Seabirds, for example ran out of the beer-battered avocado tacos way early.

    Other things. The serving glass! This year the glass was less fancy but a LOT more functional. The wider glass made pours a lot better, keeping over-foaming to a minimum.

    Shhh… Secret Beers!
    One thing to look for when attending a beerfest is which places will have special beers hidden behind their table and not displayed for serving. Last year i managed a couple finds which make the experience just that much more special. This year the guy from Karl Strauss brought a LOT of great beers besides the two he had on tap. If you knew to ask, you could have tried their bottles of Blackball Belgian IPA, their Big Barrel IIPA, a special growler of there not yet released Rye IIPA and a growler of their seasonal Berliner Weisse that he tops off with a hint of their raspberry puree in each glass. Were there others? If you don’t know then i am not going to say. haha. Next year you will just have to find me and ask where to go and what to ask for.

    Overall, i think i am just grateful that people care enough to put something like this on. I don’t just mean that they care about having a good time but if you talk to the people that put this on, you know that they are passionate about beer. To some of you this might seem silly, but this is first and foremost a BEER festival and you would be surprised by the number of non-vegans that attended just because of the breweries that were here. When the promoters and organizers care about what they are doing, passionate about creating Los Angele’s new craft beer culture, it really comes through in the atmosphere of the event and that’s what they did.

    Thanks to Tony’s, QG and the Roxy! By bringing the vegan fans of great craft beer their own festival you have made important steps in the framework of LA’s very young but growing craft beer scene.

  • Damn, I’m disappointed I missed the berlinerweisse; one of my all-time favorite styles, and so few American breweries do it (right.)

  • Few people knew about it, I told a few people i thought would be interested. I think i got the first pours of those beers. I think Karl Strauss might still have it available on their seasonal taps. Check out Citywalk.

  • Hey there! We just wanted to stop by to say how much fun we had! We somehow didn’t hear about Beerfest until a couple of days ago but then were lucky enough to win tickets from Drink Eat Travel! It was amazing and we would have happily (and will happily next year) bought tickets! We brought some non-vegan but fellow beer loving friends and we all had a blast. We were sad that we didn’t snag a shirt but it’s just motivation to get there early next year! Gave your amazing planning work a shout on the blog! Cheers! You rock!

  • Jeff is cool.

  • “How about looking at it this way: Non-drinkers were making you wait less in line to get your refills of beer.”

    I stand by my statement.

    I saw many people in the food lines holding/drinking beer. So are you telling me you didn’t drink beer while standing in the food lines?

    And if you finished your glass of beer while standing in the food line, you could have gotten a refill by having someone hold your place in line, or if you were with someone, they or you could have gotten refills of beer while one of you waited in the food line.

  • I just wanted to add my two cents that the Fest was awesome. I volunteered at the event, so I spent the whole day pouring, and I met so many nice people, learned a lot about the beer I was pouring, and had a great time. I was surprised by the number of non-vegans there, and they all enjoyed the food trucks — it’s a great way to introduce non-vegans to vegan deliciousness.
    Can’t wait for next year!

  • You can stand by your statement, but it’s false. It’s not even logical. How could adding non-drinkers speed up any line? How can ADDING people at the fest make anything faster? This makes no sense. I can only assume that your point is, that had you been drinking beer that lines for beer would be longer. Is this where you are going?

    Well, had you no non-drinker ticket option you would likely had not come at all. If no non-drinker tickets were available, this actually would make things faster. I know because i also attended the last LA Vegan Beerfest where everyone there was drinking beer and the longest lines had one person in front of you.

    Drinking beer in line is a non-point because pours are only 2oz. You could say that those people that came in groups may have made a little line holding and beer retrieving system but how is that faster? If you argue that it is faster, how is it a result of you being there?

    Again, i don’t care that people were there and not enjoying beer, I’m just saying that you did not speed anything up. The presence of non-drinkers only made food lines longer and popular menu items run out sooner.

  • I actually decided to forget trying to order food because things i wanted were gone and too many people were ahead of me. I was there for beer, after all but even with VIP i missed out on the avocado tacos and cupcakes and stuff i didn’t even know about because it was gone before i knew it existed.

  • I’m from Philly; I’m two days removed from my trip to cali, so no Karl Strauss visits for me 🙁


1 Trackbacks / Pingbacks

Leave a reply

Let’s stay in touch

This blog is no longer updated, but for the latest vegan news and updates, follow me on Twitter:

Blog categories

Designed by AZ Money

Powered by WordPress