Jerusalem Beer Festival

[Mat94]

hey guys,
2 of my friends just came back from the Jerusalem beer festival, they said it was great!
i know its not as good as the more famous beer fests, which are well known for its huge capacity of people and beer, but i think there is also something attractive in the sameller more intimate beer fests like the one in jerusalem, its less crowded and calmer, (but i bet there is nothing like the atmosphere in Octoberfest for example).
anyways, here are two videos of the festival-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuPr7kCa ... ure=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBmRafwN11Q&feature=plcp

please share your impression from the video, if you think the festival looks nice or not so much.

and if you've been to other beer fests, write about your experiences from there and share the videos or pics, and recommendation- any other good beer fests??

[theobrew]

I was Just in Jerusalem in January and the craft beer scene was very minimal. In fact I could only find two local brews. One was Goldstar and was a general amber lager and the other that I can't remember the name of was brewed by the same company and was just a light lager.

All the locals I drank with preferred Carlsberg.

Beautiful country with some delicious food! But didn't find any good beer so I wish I could have tried some of the beers talked about in the second video.

[Mat94]

what did you do in Jerusalem?
yeah i know the beer scene is pretty minimal, but i think there are a few good bars in Jerusalem.
The night scene is pretty dull, but i found the Zabotinski bar quite nice for example. Also, there are pretty good people there and its a special and pretty city at night don't you think?

[theobrew]

Yea it was very pretty. My first couple nights we spent on the coast just north of tel aviv in netanya. Then we spent 6 nights in Jerusalem. I was with a tour group/conference with my seminary so we didn't get a lot of time to go out. We were able to find 2 nights to go out for drinks and our guide came with us (partly because he was flirting with some of the female students) but we just followed his lead so I'm not sure where we went exactly.

Unfortunately our group totaled 150 and had some VERY conservative folks and the students were in charge of helping with some of the conference duties. That cause us to have a very cookie cutter tour with little time to get out and meet the locals and really experience the culture and I regret that. I loved what little time I got to go out on our own and would love to go back with just a couple friends without a tour.

[Mat94]

I definitely recommend to come again to israel and really experience the culture and the country better with a couple of mates, its great.
and by the way where are you from? and what kinda of seminary are or were you in? christian, jewish..?

[theobrew]

I'm from fl. Tampa to be exact. I just graduated from a Christian seminary in Atlanta. I'd love to have a chance to make it back one day I really enjoyed it. I also never got to see tel aviv and that was a bummer. I would also really like to visit a couple of friends in Jordan if I got a chance to go back.

[Mat94]

Where is tampa and how's that like there?
Dude i this is a great video to describe what Tel Aviv really is, such a crazy city- and its only getting better!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyKFoi2qfME
and if you like sushi... this is for you! (another reason to come to Tel Aviv) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aV8S-F7Pgc