If you weren’t at this years ‘Brew at the Zoo’ make sure to make plans to be at next years. This event was a blast to say the least. They had everything… beer tasting stations from several breweries, wine tasting stations for those who wanted a beer alternative, several small bands playing live music throughout the zoo, a huge tent with DJ’s playing until 9:30pm and under the tent… more beer tasting stations, beer pong table sponsored by the Atlanta Hawks (in which you win prizes, we got a few) , lots of free Powerade & water from Dasani (to help you sober up before the drive home) and my favorite… a giant blow up Skeeball (which I sincerely hope they have again next year), and off course WILD ANIMALS.
What we expected was a nice leisurely walk through the zoo while sipping on some brews, what we got was a night of fun, humor and entertainment. About the only complaint I have, was the food. Food was available for the hungry masses, but choices were few and prices were steep. Over $16 for one bun and two patties with cheese thrown on top, is a bit over what I prefer to pay. The burgers were not delicious, but merely substance to curb further intoxication. My advice for next year, try not to eat there – eat before and after if you can; but I realize for many, this will not be an option. My advice to the venue, bring in food trucks. The event managers did such a great job at offering a variety of different brews and entertainment, but completely dropped the ball on food. Even though I was highly disappointed about menu choices, the event was all in all a success and we will be back next year.
We arrived right before 5:30pm and waited for the gates to open eagerly with everyone else. When at last the gates did open, a flood of people headed strait towards the first beer station, containing brews by Sweetwater brewery (a group favorite). We quickly realized that if we stayed there, we’d be in line forever. The plan then became to get towards the back of the zoo as fast as possible, where the hope was, lines would be shorter. At first the plan worked, but it didn’t take long before other people had the same idea.
The event was advertised to be from 5:30pm – 9:30PM but we noticed that many of the sample stations towards the back of the Zoo had a last call time of 7:45pm , this was disappointing at first since we soon realized that due to wait times in line, there was no way we could ever stop by all the sample stations, but as the night went on… and people reached their limits, disappointments soon faded. We took our time walking around, looking at animals and taking pictures and eventually ended up back in front where the Sweetwater brewery station was. There we enjoyed a couple more drinks, some live music and got a few souvenirs from the gift shop.
Even though the Sweetwater station had a later last call time, we decided to head toward the big white tent where a lot a sound was coming from, after hearing that’s where all the action was. After getting inside the tent and seeing all of it’s offerings, we stayed there for a while before deciding to get a bit to eat and then heading back to finish out the night. The energy throughout the park was great, everyone seemed to be having a good time and I have to admit , some of the comments I heard people say while slightly intoxicated and staring at animals where hilarious. Although a few people took it way to far (ie. one girl on her hands and knees throwing up in the bushes) most people where aware of their limits and headed them.
Check out more pics from this years event here: https://ontapoftheworld.net/2016-brew-at-the-zoo/
