Urbanrest Brewing Co.

This weekend, I had an opportunity to attend the soft opening for Urbanrest Brewing Co. in Ferndale. My friend Bryan had a connection to the brewer from his homebrew days, and was also a kickstarter backer, which got him invited +5 to opening night. I was very impressed with the space and the beer, as well as learning about their open fermentation process from the brewmaster himself, but more than anything, it was amazing to see his dream come true all around us. No tours of the facility were available on Friday, but I at least got to capture the people enjoying what they do.

Royal Oak Craft Beer Festival 2014

It never hurts to ask -- sure, this event was covered by a Free Press photographer that was kind enough to chat with me for a few minutes, but events love coverage, so when I emailed the promoter to ask for a press pass, he was happy to oblige.

Everyone loves a marquee. However, this does leave some confusion, since there was a "beer fest" the week before at the farmer's market, and this one stands out as a craft beer fest. It's right there in the fantastic website: http://royaloakcraftbeerfest.com/

The various logos of participating breweries were projected on the screen all night, looping. The stage was also one of several areas for breweries to set up.

And I do mean several. What this did, however, was spread the event across the whole of the place. It was a very well-attended event, but there was enough space and staggering so that you never waited in line for long. 

Between these gentlemen, Yorg and Sheehan, and the DJ, there was music I could hear over the talking all night. Obviously the place was built for great acoustics, but I was surprised how well they filled the place.

  

Here's a shot from the stage looking up. I was dealing with a lot of red light in the place, so my post-process/editing went down like this -- I shifted the red level in curves, and then brought up overall brightness. Getting better at it -- bad pictures give me an opportunity.

From the Balcony, which was open to VIP only for  a while, here's the floor and sound booth. Anyone with a western shirt and cowboy style hat are volunteers furthering those that benefit from the event -- Camp Casey, a local charity that uses horseback riding as a healing tool for children with cancer.