As thousands of athletes and sports fans flocked to Boston this weekend to participate in the city’s 111th marathon, a different crowd thirsty for competition made the same trip — but they did not come to drink Gatorade.
More than 3,000 people milled around at three sold-out sessions at the Park Plaza for the eighth annual Beer Summit at the Park Plaza, a celebration of and advertising opportunity for breweries from around the world.
“It’s about the best local, regional, national and international beer,” said Boston Beer Summit spokesman Mike Munnelly.
Attending suds fans had the opportunity to sample about 200 different brews from well-known brands like Samuel Adams and Harpoon to smaller, lesser-known producers that tried to attract new devotees with distinct tastes and labels.
“Your average corner store won’t have a lot of the stuff you’re going to find here,” Munnelly said.
The Summit holds three events annually, but these are not a “chugging thing,” Munnelly said.
Dan McPhee, spokesman for Edison, brewed in Utica, N.Y., said his brewery is trying to appeal to the college crowd with everything from unconventional additions to its label — namely caffeine, which it recently added to its Moonshot brew — to a traditional microbrew.
“We’re like the stepchild of every other brewery here,” he said.
Dave Asadoorian, a Concord Brewery spokesman, said his Massachusetts brewery took a different approach to attract a more refined bunch.
“We’re a heavier product and more about the taste,” he said. “It’s a matured-taste-buds kind of thing. You’re not going to get the people looking for a case and [saying], ‘I’ll need another one tomorrow.’ [It is] more like, ‘I want a six-pack, and maybe another next week.'”
Colleen O’Brien, a 21-year-old Bridgewater State College student and Beer Summit first-timer, showed up with 30 thirsty friends.
“I want to try everything,” she said.
John Puliot, 31, said he attended because he was interested in finding the beer that was the lightest, strongest and contained the most alcohol. He admitted he was not, however, interested in tasting all the different brews to discover their subtle differences.
“No, let’s not pretend,” he said.