Tapped Brings Lots Of Beer, Thousands Of People To Barclays Center For Its First Beer Event

On Sunday afternoon, thousands of thirsty beer lovers packed into the Barclays Center, located on the northern end of Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood, for the sports and music venue's first major beer event, called Tapped. During two epic sessions, nearly 30 different breweries poured more than 100 beers.

The beer stations were primarily set up on the arena's floor, which became packed shortly after the doors opened, and a handful of stations were set up on either side of the arena's concourse as well. Even though it was incredibly crowded, with some guests waiting several minutes on line between pours, everyone was well-behaved and seemed to really be enjoying themselves.

There was no shortage of exciting beers on offer, even though there were fewer fall seasonal beers than expected, with nearly every exhibitor pouring an expected IPA. Brooklyn Brewery brought out their Brewmaster's Reserve I Want to Rye-It, Coney Island poured their Mermaid Pilsner and Freaktoberfest, Boulder poured Nothing Too Fancy and Hazed & Infused, Moody Tongue poured Sliced Nectarine IPA and Steeped Emperor's Lemon Saison, Free Will poured a Peach Lambic, Delirium poured Tremens and Nocturnum, and Down East poured their original and cranberry ciders.

Those who spring for VIP tickets clearly made the right decision; they had an extra half-hour with the beer before the rest of the crowd entered, and also had access to a VIP area with more than 10 specialty beers available, including Founders Redankulous, Harpoon Imperial Pumpkin, and Stone Enjoy by 10/31, with mercifully short lines.

Overall it's hard not to consider the event an overwhelming success; big crowds means that it sold well. For those who love beer and have patience for crowds, it's an event strongly worth considering attending next year.