Warsteiner, Presidente, Budweiser, Sapporo and Dundee are just a few of the dozens of beers slung back by festival goers on Saturday.
Gainesville residents attended the Greater Gator Beer Festival, where, for $25, they were supplied with small plastic cups and unlimited, 2 oz. refills of international beers from places such as Russia, Japan and Spain. The festival also had Floridian beers such as Orange Blossom Pilsner and Shipyard.
Sweaty masses of people crowded the beer booths, holding out their cups and trying to catch the eye of the beer pourers to plead for refills.
Festival organizers were unsure of how many people attended but said they gave away about 2,000 beer cups. Snacking on pizza, chicken wings, shepherd's pie and chocolate-filled pastries, people swayed to Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" shouting the "bah, bah, bah" of the chorus.
Despite the economy, this year showed the greatest diversity of beer and more food than previous years, said Ricki Black, an organizer for the event. The only visible response to the downturn was that some beer vendors brought fewer cases this year, she said.
Ruben Parra, a UF telecommunications major from Spain, was disappointed with the one beer from his country, but was impressed with the festival, he said. Alhambra isn't even in the top five of Spanish beers, but the hot dogs, wings and chicken nachos made up for it, he said.
The festival provided people with a way to try beers they wouldn't venture to buy.
UF alum Karena Becker found out what she doesn't like.
"Holy Mackerel is disgusting," she said
