Event Recap | 2018 Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywines Brings Out Country’s Best

January 12, 2018 | Kara Loo and Kelissa Hieber

Take Great American Beer Festival, skim the layer of cream off the top, and you get the Big Beers, Belgians, and Barleywines festival, held annually the first weekend in January in Breckenridge, Colorado. The “cream” metaphor is literal; by far, only the deepest, richest, dankest or most prolific beers make the cut as offerings from the breweries involved. This festival is truly not for the faint of heart. Sling back a few too many mini-pours consisting predominantly of 7% ABV and above beers, factor in the elevation (over 9000 feet at the venue location), account for a probable lack of sleep from event-hopping all weekend, and you’re likely in for one wickedly miserable end-of-weekend hangover. But this past weekend was the 18th consecutive Big Beers fest, proving that a wide range of beer lovers, both industry members and consumers alike, love coming back to challenge their palettes (and drinking prowess) time and time again.

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