A week from tomorrow then PLM? I'll try and remember to take a peek at the tap list online closer to Saturday and post some thoughts.
sounds great. i've got to start budgeting for beer now lol
yup. I'm lucky in that living at home and not having a car means I have no expenses besides beer
I'm having a Tyskie right now, and realizing that I really need to try more eastern european lagers. I think a trip to Poland or the Czech Republic over spring break is in order.
I haven't really explored the world of lagers a ton. The most prominent kind (pilsner) is probably the only style I've found that I'm really not a fan of, and I'm more fond of the more interesting flavors one can find in an ale.
Just finnished the leaf blowing/raking anf putting up the gutters. This called for a Brooklyn #2 and it tastes like victory.
I think that's how I'd describe the house taste to Brooklyn's beers, victory
and now, the thrilling conclusion of Bill Goes to Belgian Beer Fest...
I was up early Saturday morning to head back to the venue for setup for the Saturday sessions. Spent a while lugging kegs and cases of beer to various tables. I was on wristbanding duty again for the first session, but as this was my fourth straight session (going back to the last fest in June) wristbanding, my relative seniority started to reap benefits. I was pulled a half hour after the door opened to help get ready and then work pouring for the Saturday afternoon session speaker panel. This one was billed as "An Intimate Afternoon with Allagash" and featured their founder (Rob Todd) and head brewer.We had four beers lined up from the festival: Big Little, Little Big, Lawrence, and Interlude (another wild ale from Allagash). We also had three panel exclusives lined up: Victor Francenstein (a sour version of Allagash's Victor, aged in barrels on grapes), Coolship Cerise (another Coolship beer, this one I believe aged on cherries), and a
6 liter bottle of 2010 Fluxus (a big stout brewed with a ton of cocoa nibs). We poured almost everything, but ran out of time and had to skip the Coolship beer. Myself and the other two volunteers working the panel had to pour for all the guests first, but then had plenty left for ourselves. We were bummed at not getting to try the Cerise, but when Rob Todd came back to collect what was left after the discussion he gave us one bottle to split and try. The coolship beer was good, but not overwhelming. Victor Francenstein, on the other hand, was absolutely phenomenal and running neck and neck with Frute for my favorite beer of the weekend. It's a shame it was a mini, 500 bottle release at the brewery. The other major standout of the day was Lost Abbey's Framboise de Amorosa, a sour ale aged on raspberries. It was released in bottles, but the tap version brought to the fest was a special "double fruited" version that was fantastic, I must have gone back to the Lost Abbey table 4-5 times that night for more samples. Sam Adams brought a super cool surprise, some of a beer they call their "Old Lambic". It was brewed in 2003 and the unfermented wort was brought up to an apple orchard in New Hampshire and left out to be naturally fermented, and has spent it's time since then sitting in oak barrels. Seven years later it's super tart and super tasty. Only 53 gallons were made, so I may well never seen it again. There was also a collaboration brew from Bell's and the Belgian brewery De Proef. It was a sour dubbel/porter aged on cherries, and just very well executed, all aspects of the beer shone through. The fest closed down at 10 and cleanup was done at 10:30. A few kegs were left out for us to enjoy, and a few rounds of that and a group rendition of the Bed Intruder song later it was time to collect my bottles and head out. I guess there were a lot of half empty cases for them to give out, because I ended up leaving with three 12oz bottles and five(!) 750mL bottles. Sunday morning was the post fest brunch at The Asgard, with $25 of my bill being covered by Beer Advocate as a thank you for volunteering. My buddy and I went and each had a big plate of breakfast as well as three beers. I started with an Allagash White, then an Allagash Curieux (
that beer), and then when I realized I had some more time before I had to leave I ordered some Allagash Black. I thought it would be an 8 or 12oz pour, but was served this Belgian stout in a 20oz pint
All in all it was an incredible weekend, I can honestly say my only problem the whole time was having to figure out transporting all the beer I had amassed by Sunday morning (half of it is still in MA with family, and I will be reunited with in when said family comes down for Thanksgiving). I'm very much looking forward to doing it all again for Extreme Beer Fest next year (king, it's March 11th and 12th).
This weekend's featured a couple phenomenal new IPAs I got as extras in a recent trade. Nelson is an IPA from Alpine that uses rye in the malt bill and an unusual new hop from New Zealand. It tasted absolutely phenomenal, but was a bit of a miss in the looks/mouthfeel departments. Kern River's Just Outstanding IPA is good, but straightforward IPA brewed with classic american hops (Simcoe and Amarillo figure prominently), but it was absolutely gorgeous looking and nailed the body/carbonation. If I could somehow fuse the best parts of these two beers I'd have just about the best IPA ever
Topic: The Beer Thread: Mach 2 (Read 99659 times)
