Now I know what you are thinking. Only 18 samples at a festival with unlimited sampling and over 50 breweries in attendance? What a lame ass! But truthfully, my goal was to try as many new beers as possible, still be able to safely drive home, AND remember a little something about the beers! As former President G.W. Bush would say (or post on a really big sign): MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
Surprisingly my two favorite beers at the festival were NOT IPAs. In fact, there wasn't one IPA that really wowed me (palate fatigue?-super beer dork term to describe boredom with your beer of choice). However, my favorite festival beer needs to be mentioned with an asterisk, because I had tried it before from a 22 oz. bomber, but this one was on cask (for more info on cask ales try http://www.camra.org.uk/). It was Williamsburg Alewerks Bourbon Barrel Porter, and if I hadn't been getting ready to drive home, I would have had many more two ounce samples...this beer was damn good out of a bottle, and ridiculously good on cask. The flavor was amazing, with the bourbon more dominant than I remember from my first bottle tasting.
My second favorite (don't worry, I'm only giving details on the top two, the rest I'll just list with a note or two...) was Buffalo Sweat Stout by Tallgrass Brewing out of Manhattan, KS. With a name like Buffalo Sweat, I of course had to try it! It was a creamy, sweet stout without the sometimes overpowering roasted flavor of stouts. Just my style! It has the sweetness of a milk stout, but the flavor was not quite the same. Can't put my finger on the difference, but I can assure you that a comparison tasting is in my future! Another thing that made this one of my favorites was the staff at the booth! Now, I'm not sure if the gentleman at the booth was an employee of Tallgrass or not, but he was very eager (not annoyingly so like some beer geeks) to share information about the beer, and actually seemed interested in whether or not I liked it. Refreshing! Up to that point very few of the individuals pouring even bothered with a friendly Cheers!, or Enjoy!, never mind actually telling me anything about the beer. When I met up with Matt (http://www.staythirstyblog.com/), the generous provider of my festival ticket, he pointed out that many of those pouring were probably volunteers or distributors, and not actually employees of the brewing companies. Well, I hadn't really thought of that (duh) but here are my thoughts on that (because I know you care...): 1) Is it really that friggin' hard to be FRIENDLY? I'm not asking for a hug, just be nice! 2) You are pouring (and probably drinking for free) great beer! How can you not be having a blast?! and 3) Hey beer companies, do you realize that the perception of your beer can be influenced, for better or worse, by the people who represent it at any and all times?
Overall, I thought the festival was great! It ran smoothly and, strangely enough, there was rarely a wait at all for beer. It was well organized and easy to find the breweries I was interested in trying. I was very thankful for the slice of pizza halfway through the day, otherwise things could have gone a little differently!
It was great to catch up with Matt and his cohorts for the day. Thankfully they were the ones who insisted I head over to the Cask Garden, which I had been avoiding due to the constant throng of people. It was also fun attending different beer festivals together with my good friend Dottie! She had a DD so she doesn't remember any of the beer she tried...
Below are some pictures from the festival in case you care to see what you missed...wish I had gotten more and better, but it was hard to juggle the camera, my beer, the map, and my phone (and yes, I was one of those annoying people wandering around while texting...29 times to be exact according to Dottie). Oh, and the list of the OTHER 16 beers that I sampled that day follows. Cheers!!
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| I have no idea who Bob Fenwick is, but I think his sign holders ditched to go to the festival. |
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| Family of railroaders, so this one was of interest. Decent beer. Unfriendly people. |
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| What's with all the plaid? |
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| The V.I.P section. Screw them. |
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| Random corn hole boards. |
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| I think Starr Hill was there, but I'm not sure. The other 16 beers, in no particular order: Clawhammer Oktoberfest-Highland Brewing Co, Asheville, NC Vienna Lager-Devil's Backbone Brewing, Roseland, VA Black Lighting IPA-Duclaw Brewing, Abingdon, MD Hoppyum IPA-Foothills Brewing, Winson Salem, NC Oktoberfest-Foothills Brewing, Winston Salem, NC Tasgall Ale-Highland Brewing, Asheville, NC (I really like this one too. It could easily have been in the top 2) Double IPA-Long Trail Brewing, Bridgewater Corners, VT (so disappointed. Tasted like penicillin-only beer dumped) Old Rasputin-North Coast Brewing, Fort Bragg, CA Railhouse IPA-Roanoke Railhouse Brewery, Roanoke, VT Boxcar Pumpkin-Star Hill Brewing, Charlottesville, VA Oasis-Tallgrass Brewing, Manhattan, KS Alpha Ale-Wild Wolf Brewing Co., Nellysford, VA The Next 4 were all cask ales Doggie Style IPA-Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick, MD IPA-St. George Brewing Company, Hampton, VA 471 Double IPA-Breckenridge Brewery, Denver, CO Espresso Stout-South Street Brewery, Charlottesville, VA Already looking forward to next year's Top of the Hops! Who's in? |
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