Barleywine Festival starts February 17th at the Toronado. In theory it lasts a week, but they start running out of some of the selections on the first day. They usually have 40+ (one year, I believe they had 55) barleywines. One of the best/ugliest events at the Toronado.

In theory, they open at 11:30 on Saturday, but always open the doors a bit earlier (possibly as early as 10). It's best to get there early and stake out a spot and get out before you end up a sacrifice to the BW gods. It's crazy busy for the bartenders (busiest shifts of the year, especially since they serve three sizes of each beer and people will order 4, 5 even 10 at one time), so be patient, be prepared and tip well (per beer, not by cost).

The mayhem is much reduced by Sunday (as is the selection of barleywines), so if you want something a little more mellow, just wait a day. You probably won't get a chance to try the top three barleywines, but there will still be an excellent selection. But if you haven't been to the first day before, it is quite a sight.

I'll be judging Saturday morning (barleywine at 9AM...woo hoo) and hanging out to try some of the others. Stop by if you dare.

--Tim