I got the Friday night VIP ticket for $55 which included a beer glass, T-shirt and food ticket. Parking was $10, but I got dropped off at the entrance. They didn’t oversell for the event so the lines weren’t too long to get in.

When you first arrive, you’ll get your ID checked, then get your name checked against a list. I think if you didn’t pre-order your ticket you’re going to be SOL for this event. You get a ticket that tears off into 3 pieces, depending upon what you’ve ordered. One piece is for your glass when you come in. It’s like a large shot glass that holds 4 oz. The next piece is for your T-shirt, which comes in many sizes. It’s just a plain white T-shirt with a black phrase on the front and black logo on the back. The last chunk of your ticket is for your food. I recommend looking at several different BBQ booths before you choose where to eat. Some of them even offered drinks, snacks or other cool things with the meal.

I picked Big Al’s randomly, not knowing that you can only get food once for the ticket. I thought it was unlimited food… The dish came with BBQ pork, beans, coleslaw and 2 pieces of white bread. I opted for no bread. The BBQ was good but had a few gristly bits in it. The beans went really well with the BBQ. The coleslaw had a bit too much pepper for my taste, but I ate most of it anyway. Afterward I browsed through some of the other food booths and saw one with sweet corn and sweet potatoes, I think that one might have been better.

There was an impressive beer selection there. I tried to try what I could, but I don’t think it’s possible for a single human to try them all in one day. Each booth has at least 2 different varieties of beer, and there were so many booths. Of course they had bourbon there too, all different kinds of bourbon. But I’m not much of a bourbon person, all I tried was one of the honey bourbons and it was a bit tough for me. But they had a lot more too! Sweet tea vodkas, other vodkas, boxed margaritas, rum and mixers, Jager bombs, and others I didn’t get around to.

About halfway through the evening they brought out a large pig for everyone to eat off of. It was near the front by the live music. It wasn’t the greatest entertainment, but people were here for the booze, not the entertainment.

There were also booths with other things like drawings, ice cream, cigars, barrel moonshine kits, clothes, jewelry, and many other non-beer related things.

I think it was a really well-organized, well-controlled event. The lines were all really short, and I don’t think I waited in a line more than 5 people long for any beer. I think it was a really good time and I look forward to going again next year.

http://www.beerandbourbon.com/cary/show-info