Quivey's Grove beer fest ... the carefully posed photo:

And what we really looked like:
(blurred vision and all)

I tried to take a couple photos of our beer-guzzling group by holding the camera at arm's length and snapping away. A fellow taster, passing by, offered to take a proper shot of us. He did a great job (and thanks very much), but I can't help feeling that the bottom photo better captured the mood, the action and the fuzzy-headedness of the event.

The beer fest at Quivey's Grove is one big tent (as opposed to three big ones and several smaller ones at the Great Taste of the Midwest). The brewers set up on tables around the outer edge of the tent so you can circle it once around the inside to make sure you try everything, a pretty clever way to keep things simple for twenty-five hundred soon-to-be-drunken ticket holders.

I made it all the way around the tent this year and tried at least one beer from every vendor. I think Jim and Gabe may have tried every beer, but I haven't had a chance to confirm that. It's too early in the morning to risk waking them from what I'm sure is much-needed sleep.