[Part II will hopefully be up in just a couple hours so check back!]

(Denver, CO) – The 2008 Great American Beer Festival, or GABF, starts tonight even though events have been kicking in high gear all week long. What I have done here is try to compile some resources the best that I can for those interested. Also, I will attempt to do some live blogging for the first time on Saturday so make sure to check in starting early in the afternoon for you East Coasters (more like the AM for West Coasters). Without further ado, check out these links.

Above all, The Brewing Network. A good number of us won’t be anywhere near Denver this weekend unfortunately. These guys will be doing live broadcasts each day so you can get some sense of what the fest is like. They will also be live during the awards ceremony on Saturday.

Official Great American Beer Fest website – Good for getting some background, attendance/beer stats, seeing the stuff going on inside the fest this weekend, participating breweries, etc.

What people are writing about the fest in the BA Mountain Forums – lots of good local info here

Ratebeerians that are attending

An events list posted at RateBeer and Colorado events this weekend via Beer Advocate – You will need to click on Colorado in the ‘States’ dropdown list :/

What beer bloggers have been writing about it all week – Nearly thirty blog posts since Sunday

GABF 2008 in the mainstream media – (Google News Search), Let’s face it. They are still way behind but they are getting better.

Chipper Dave, as a Colorado resident for over 25 years and a fest veteran, has some general tips for festgoers over at The Examiner.