Hockeytown Brewhaha

The Hockeytown BrewHaHa was pretty cool. Six food stands, plus Cheli's Chili and twenty breweries made for a pretty endless possibility of combinations. I made it my personal goal to use my six beer tokens entirely on beers I had never tried before. I had some excellent beers and a couple of not so good. The food was good, all sample sized but I still ended up full. Ned's grass-fed cattle burger makes me want to seek their trailer out this summer and El Guapo's adobo chicken taco was fabulous. The arena floor was pretty crowded but the lines seemed to move fairly quickly. The tours were disorganized and rushed though. Especially bice was the tie-in with Motor City Casino Hotel, complete with shuttle.

Great fun. Food was good a great selection of craft beer and add fowling to that and you have a fun evening.

While the fowling was super fun and a great idea to have at the Joe, the lack of a diverse group of breweries was pretty disappointing. My favorite part of beer tastings is trying new breweries, but when all you have are the biggest breweries in the area, I'm not getting what I want. Who hasn't tried Bells, Founders, and the other breweries that were at the BrewHaha this year? If fowling took up too much room to have a wider variety, I'd rather have had more breweries and less fowling. The food was very good, but very heavy (what I tried at least; after two "samples" I was too full to try the other two...). I probably should have saved the mac and cheese for last. The band was fantastic and had a great set list. If you were just looking for a fun event, I'd recommend it, but if you're looking to expand your beer horizons, I'd say save your money.

exceeded our expectations food was amazing, learned a new game that we did not even know existed

This was our third BrewHaHa. While everyone seemed to enjoy the addition of Fowling, the lines for that were too long all evening. Unlike prior events, there were zero beers on tap this time (bottles and cans only). The food was average, with not enough choices. The last one we went to during the summer was held in the parking lot, and that one was MUCH better. in addition, a 6:00 start on a Friday was less convenient that the typical late Saturday afternoon on which these event had been previously held.

Great time at Joe Louis arena, the food was excellent. The beer was a wide variety and all very good. Both bands were wonderful. It was a great event and we are planning to go again with more people. Only down fall was that they didn't play the wings game.

First time to this event and it was a lot of fun. The music was great, the food was good and the beer tasting was grand. Definitely would do this again. It would be a lot of fun if you bring a group of people with you.

Overall a very enjoyable evening. MANY choices of beer to taste, and the food was GREAT! We didn't understand that the paired beer came with the food selection - we thought we had to use one of our tasting tickets. A little clearer communication would have made the evening go a bit smoother. While it was nice having music, the bands were so loud we couldn't visit with our friends. We bought these tickets as a wedding gift for friends who are beer lovers and hockey fans (a great pairing).

I thought this was a great event but with a few glitches. I don't think it was as well attended as it could have been, it was hard to find the advertising of the event. It was not well lit. The bands were great and engaging the food was phenominal. I would have planned it a little differently.

Another classy event by the RW organization! Went to the outdoor one last year, and now the dinner pairing. Loved them both. Enjoyed the food pairings and that some of it was adventerous! The bands were great, beer offerings & food! Totally five stars !!!

Excellent food, excellent beer selections. Would go again if they have it next year.

I was at first skeptical about this event because I wasn't sure what to expect. After reading the reviews from the first BrewHaHa, however, I decided to go for it and I am so glad we did. The entire event was well-organized, from the happy hour in the beer garden, to the (optional) JLA tour and sit-down dinner. During the happy hour, we were able to take photos with the lowered Lidstrom banner, which was one of the highlights! We also went on the tour of JLA and despite the overly-rowdy group we were paired with, we had a great time. Our tour guide was very educated and did an excellent job explaining JLA / Wings history. The food and beer served during dinner in the Olympia Club were very good. Each brewery and chef for each course attempted to say a few words about the beer/food pairing, however it was understandably difficult to hear them over the chatty sold-out crowd. Regardless, the staff, chefs, and brewery reps all did a wonderful job!

Great food, good tour, wonderful time with great company. Dressing room tours need to be included.

Excellent beer pairings and food selections. The organization for this event was incredible!

The Oktoberfest BrewHaHa was a great experience and great fun! Everything from the food trucks to the games and of course the beer. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take the tour of the Joe...hopefully next time!

This is the first event of this type I have been to, but I really enjoyed it.

BrewHaHa was a great success! Lots of good beer choices, something for everyone. Food very good too! Seeing Chelios was pretty spectacular too. Never too long of a wait for anything. Going again next year!

Compared to other beer Fest I have attended, very limited tickets and additional beer tickets very overpriced. Food was good but would not attend again.

This event was awesome and very well organized. We really hope they do it again. The only issues were the food lines were too long, so maybe need to add vendors. Also, some of the breweries ran out of certain beers. Otherwise, excellent event and we definitely want to go again. The band that played was also great. Please have another!

This event was set up really well! Great variety of food and drinks! The only change I would make is to the tickets - you had to tear them off in a specific order - it they were vertically attached so you could tear off any of them without detaching them from the lanyard that could have cut down on the lines at each food vendor. Everyone sort of went to the same vendors at the same time causing big lines!

What a great way to spend a fun Saturday afternoon. I had a chance to taste-test beer that I always wanted to drink - some I really liked and some not-so-much. : ) The food selections were fabulous and because of their participation in the Brewhaha, I will definitely follow some of these 'food trucks' to their next venue. Thank you!

The beer was amazing! The food was amazing! We all can't wait to go back next year!

Great beer selections, the food trucks were a tasty treat! Maybe next year (in keeping with the BrewHaHa name), some local comedians would be a fun addition. The band this year was good...played a nice selection of music for a very diverse crowd.

Overall, this was a great experience. It was a good atmosphere with even better beer and food samples. Lines moved relatively fast and there was plenty of room to grab a quick table to drink and eat. The food selection was complementary to beer drinking and they even had a ice cream vendor for the end (or whenever suited you). Just a word of warning: the sample portions are definitely sample size. They're definitely big enough to the point after you have used up all of your sample tickets, you're full enough and if you are a lightweight, a mild buzz (my girlfriend was feeling good when we left). Another added bonus was the fact it was in the Joe and on the ice rink. You could sit on the team benches or in the stands if you liked. My only gripe would be the music that was chosen for the event. They had a band playing "lovey dovey" country music. Not very fitting for a big get together of drinking and friends if you ask me. But this could be just me (or most of the people there since not a whole lot were around the stage or dancing). I would recommend this to anyone who would like to try local foods and some craft beer. It's a great time.

The event went pretty well. Food was great and there was a lot of beer to choose from. The perforated booklet with coupons was a nice alternative to a stack of coupons or handful of tokens. Only thing that was an issue was the long lines for some of the food vendors. Not sure if it was preparation time or popularity, but the line got pretty long.

What a great way to sample new and upcoming beers. Quite a few we sampled were not being released to the public for a few weeks yet. We tried beers we wouldn't normally try due to the fact that you cannot just buy a sample at the store. Found a couple of new favorites and tried some that I am glad I didn't waste money on! I think it was a great experience even if you are not a big beer drinker. The food trucks were not food trucks, just booths set up. The event was very crowded and I don't think it was expected so some lines were ridiculously long. I hope this is an annual event because I am really looking forward to next year! The tour of the arena was exciting (being a redwing fan).