ethan barbee

Ethan Barbee: It’ll be Oct. 15, noon to 5. We’re not doing a VIP; there’s just one ticket to purchase, where everybody gets five hours. We want everybody to feel like it’s a VIP experience. You get the same access to the same beers.

UnCapped: The way you have everything laid out, it never felt crowded, and there really weren’t any lines where you had to wait to get beer. Normally, I’m a huge advocate for VIP hour because once there’s general admission, it’s miserable. But it never hit that point at the invitational last year.

Barbee: I think we’re lucky enough that we have such a large space, we can spread around and do some things to alleviate that congestion. This year even more, we’re adding a parking lot that we can use to add even more people. Part of the idea of adding more tickets was we wanted to keep that sam feel. We felt like there was room for us to grow a little bit because of what you just said: It never felt too crowded or you were waiting too long for a beer. We have an opportunity to fit more people in there, and that’s what we want to do — get as many people in there drinking the amazing beer from the amazing breweries we have coming.

UnCapped: Will the disc golf course be open?

Barbee: That’s hard to say. We’ve had to stall a little bit because of a negotiation with our landlord and the landowner. I do think there’s an opportunity for us to get that done in the next four to five months.

UnCapped: It’s a sport where the popularity just seems to keep growing and growing.

Barbee: It really is because it’s such an easy thing that basically anyone can do. You have all of these courses around here. We have a million public courses that are free to play — so you can go to Play It Again Sports and get three discs for under $20, and you’re playing disc golf. You go out to a free course, walk in and get some exercise and have some fun. I’ve picked it up a lot this year. Tyler White — who does all of our social media and artwork and labels, and he’s the head man for the festival, as well — he’s a really good player. He has a nine-hole course in his backyard.

UnCapped: That’s dedication.

Barbee: Yeah, and it’s not a putting course. He’s got a couple acres back there. It’s very nice, but it’s a lot of work, too. That’s something we know — once we do it, it’s still a lot of work to maintain to keep going. But I think you’re right about the market for that. There’s just so many people playing now. So you add that into being at a brewery — it’s like things that go hand in hand. It feels like disc golf and craft beers are neighbors, to some extent, in this world.

UnCapped: I bet I can prove you wrong on your statement “anyone can do it.”

Barbee: Well, I didn’t say anyone could do it well. I can hit trees all day with discs. I’m really good at that.