OC Brew Ha Ha celebrated their 10-year anniversary this past Saturday with more than 80 breweries pouring more than 160 craft beers, renowned food trucks, and performances by: The Aquabats, Save Ferris, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Suburban Legends, Skapeche Mode, CodeName: Rocky, and Half Past Two. Unlimited craft beer tastings were available from 12:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. VIP tickets included entry to the festival at 11:00 a.m., and access to tastings in the rare beer section.
With more than 160 craft beers available, there was sure to be something for everyone to enjoy. The breweries were pouring everything from hard seltzer to peanut butter milk stout, and hard kombucha to IPA. Some of the breweries who were pouring at the event included: Artifex Brewing Co, Bottle Logic, Pizza Port, Noble Aleworks, Great Divide, and Three Weavers. Two collaboration beers were created in honor of this event – a west-coast India pale lager developed by TAPS and Beachwood Brewing, “\M/(-_-)\M/”, and a pale ale developed by Docent Brewing, Pizza Port Brewing and RIIP Beer Co, “Skanks For The Memories”.
CodeName: Rocky followed Half Past Two, and performed “All Those Years” and “My Boss Sucks” from their debut album “No Time To Waste”. This year marks the albums 20th anniversary, and to celebrate the milestone CodeName: Rocky will be performing “No Time To Waste” in its entirety at Chain Reaction on Friday, October 11.
Next up was Skapeche Mode, who did an excellent job of combining ska and classic 80s hits, and Suburban Legends. Suburban Legends have become quite the staple at a Disneyland, so it was no surprise that their set featured of number of hits from classic animated Disney movies, including: “You’ve Got A Friend In Me”, “Kiss the Girl”, and “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King”.
By far the heaviest band of the day was Voodoo Glow Skulls, so anyone who may have been dosing off after a day of beer tasting was quickly woken up. Then it was time for Save Ferris with very energetic front woman Monique Powell. They performed a number of their hits, including: “What You See Is What You Get” and “Little Differences”. Save Ferris will be performing at Riot Fest in Chicago this weekend, and at Garden Amphitheater on November 16.
The event concluded with a performance by The Aquabats, who always put on a great, but unique, show. They started their performance with the song “The Shark Fighter!”, and a bunch of inflatable sharks were tossed out into the crowd. A short time later, a giant chicken danced on stage with the band while they played “Magic Chicken”. As strange as a performance by The Aquabats may sound, they’re a lot of fun to see live.
This was my first time attending OC Brew Ha Ha, and I have to say I was incredibly impressed by the level of planning that went into this event. The beer tents were spread out, but not too far from one another, which kept the tasting lines short. Restrooms and water stations were also distributed throughout the event space, and well maintained for the duration of the event. I had a great time at OC Brew Ha Ha, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with for next year’s event!
In the meantime, I recommend checking out Boo Ha Ha – A Haunted Oktoberfest on October 25th and 26th at the OC Fair & Event Center. This event will have a strong focus on Oktoberfest and German style lagers, but will also have all the west coast favorites too. The event will feature performances by Dead Man’s Party on Friday, October 25th and Metalachi on Saturday, October 26th. Visit www.theboohaha.com for more information and to purchase tickets.
Volted magazine 