Uncasked: A Neigborhood Craft Beer Fest

Way better organized this year than the inaugural event. Pretty well priced for all the beer and appetizers you get. My review is actually for the customer service of the organizers. They offered free über ride codes, but mine wasn’t working and I ended paying for a ride. Brought this up to the organizer and she gave me a promo code to use for later on. Definitely made up for the technical glitch in the über system. Look forward to going to this every year!

Although I didn’t have the best time at this event, I’d like to think they did their best to put on a nice venue for everyone. Plus, when was the last time you read a review for a beer fest from a non-​beer loving gal.
This is what the event pitched:
$ 20 Entrance Fee Includes:
A Branded Beer Glass
Uncasked Tasting Guide
Unlimited Bites
10 Drink Tickets
Participating Breweries: Karl Strauss Brewing Company, Helms Brewing Co., Acoustic Ales Brewing Experiment, Rough Draft Brewing Co., Stone Brewing Co., Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery La Jolla, Mike Hess Brewing Company and Mother Earth Brew Co.
Participating Restaurants: Seasons 52, Tender Greens La Jolla-​UTC, Eureka! Gourmet Burgers & Craft Beer — UTC and Pirch.
Even though I don’t drink much beer, this event had me sold on Unlimited Bites. This foodie blogger likes that part.
The event was slated to go from 4p-​7p. We got there about 4:15p. The instructions were to find the white tent, close to fountain display in the middle of mall, and check in there.
We knew immediately this event would be questionable b/​c the line to JUST CHECK IN was a mile long. There seemed to be only two workers checking everyone in that day. That means checking your ticket, then your ID, then putting tag around your wrist, then handing you beer mug and gift bag.
Nothing was explained to us on how this tasting would work. But we figured out that four beer garden-​ish stations would be set up in different areas of the mall. The restaurants would be prepping their food outside. It will then be paired with whatever beer.
Great. I would have LOVED to have known all that before I purchased these tickets. I thought the tastings would be at each specified restaurant (vs at a staged beer garden).
Overall, the food served was alright (PIRCH was our favorite w/​their filet mignon skewers). But the line to GET THE FOOD and to get the beer was insane in each beer garden. We weren’t even able to sample any food in the last garden b/​c there were just TOO many people.
I know I shouldn’t have felt bad about my experience at the event. But, I just SO hoped it would be different. They didn’t organize it well, probably sold too many event tickets, and it was inefficiently controlled.
But, again, I think this event has potential if it was controlled in a different manner. I honestly wanted to give this event 1 or 2 stars but thought the organizers worked hard to put this event together.
Did I get my $ 20 bucks worth. Probably not. But my friend thought she got her money’s worth but just barely. So keep that in mind if you consider this event in the future.