DerekRx Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 This evening was another firkin night of Nugget Nectar at a fairly nearby establishment we frequent enough for them to know us by name. But first, I decided it was a perfect time to break out my newly arrived Deschutes goodness for the beer elite to enjoy, thanks to Justin. and we'll just end this by saying Cask Nugget Nectar is one of the finest hop bombs there shall ever be. Plenty of flavors of cut grass, pine, citrus, malt, etc all slapped together into one awesome rare brew. When is the next sighting of this?? This is what we call a firkin, my friends. It sits there at room temperature and just pours into your glass, with no extra carbonation or anything Finally, back at Union Jacks, where Heath hasn't been for almost 9 months to enjoy some Troegs Nugget Nectar, as cask as it gets Lemon and orange combined with banana, clove, and bready yeast, but this one pretty much left us feeling it was a wheat with lots of alcohol dumped on top As usual, when we have something truly awesome, we have to follow it up with some Southern Tier, this time the Heavy Weizen is our unfortunate selection Yup, deserving of it's status. Lots of oak in here, as well as coffee, licorice, chocolate, and some molasses. Smooth and creamy, and hiding its 11%ABV very well, tasty stuff indeed! and so, here it is, The Abyss, Deschutes version of an Imperial Stout aged in Oak Barrels for a good amount of time. #8 on the top beers of the world, #6 of Americans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugged One Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 So to do something fun leading up to the Extreme Beer Fest next weekend, I'm going to bust out a beer each night from the Beer Advocate Top 100 list. Â I thought tonight's would be a nice one for Kim and I to share since it's our Anniversary. Wow! We really liked this one (especially Kim, since it was really sour!). Lots of cherry, raspberries, and other fruit notes blended just right with that intense tartness and Belgian funkiness. A very nice Sour Lambic! Kriek De Ranke. The #80 beer in the world. It's a mixture of two blended soured pale ales and Girardin lambic, all steeped in whole fresh cherries from Poland and then aged for six months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubba83 Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 ^^ I am super jealous about the Nugget Nectar on Cask. I want to try Nugget Nectar pretty bad! Oh and... I am super glad to hear Abyss held up to its ranking since there was an "overrated" review streak going on BA for a little while. Â ^ Happy Anniversary, glad to hear the Kriek stood up to its rank! I've never even had a kriek yet... I think the Boon Kriek ones are carried at BevMo though so I might give that a whirl. Â And now for some uninteresting beers we have every weekend, with a few interesting stuff thrown in this go around... And the last picture of the night I leave you with my first homebrew ever, a now fermenting for about 48 hours London Porter. I hope it turns out okay! It tasted a bit different to me too, the floralness and dankness in the hops came through a bit better than the bottle last night. My uncle actually said this bottle tasted a bit better as well, so maybe my senses haven't changed too much. Then we had another Harvest... Smelling this after brewing all day actually smelled a bit different than it usually does, I swear the way your senses perceive things changes! Despite its rather dark cola color, the flavor comes off a lot more like a Belgian Strong Pale Ale. There is quite a bit of yeasty character that zips around on the tongue, followed by a nice pear sweetness and belgian funk. Overall I was pretty impressed. Pierre Celis' Signature Selection Grotten Brown. Brewed by St. Bernardus and listed as a retired Belgian Strong Dark Ale on BA. 6.7% ABV. A nice pour with rather large bubbles and moderate lacing. After brewing all day before this and having a better idea of the individual smells and flavors, the yeast in the nose was overwhelming. I actually thought the flavor was a bit too yeasty, I couldn't taste the malt backbone, just the yeast... Moving on to saturday night, my uncle decided to pick up two belgian 750mls for us to try. Here is one I've heard good things about and have always wanted to try, Chimay Grande Reserve. 9.0% ABV. All in all, a pretty decent hefeweizen with a good yeast to malt ratio. We end the night with Pyramid's Hefeweizen. It was a little bit watery, a very thin mouthfeel. The flavor was actually pretty nice and reminded me a lot of Wychwood's Hobgoblin. But overall it was just a lot less flavorful than Hobgoblin. We should have drank this one before the hop monsters. My uncle picked it up because we hadn't tried it yet. Boddingtons Pub Ale, an English Pale Ale at 4.7% It's still almost cloyingly bitter. At only 68 IBUs it's kind of hard to imagine this much bitterness. I think the IBU system doesn't really do much for me in identifying how bitter a beer comes off. Still a great beer though as it borders on destroying your palate for the night. Speaking of Celebration, I decided to pick up a sixer at the local Safeway. My uncle found that coaster in the gutter about 6 months ago. Enjoyed this bottle a lot. This beer in its late stages is actually reminding me a lot of Celebration. We'll start off on Friday with a Sierra Nevada Harvest. Still a nice pour with excellent lacing and a pillowy head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcjaco Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Since Bubba claims I don't take pictures.....I beg to differ, I take them, I just never post them. Here's what I've been up to the past few weeks.....errr hours. For a macrobrew. Not bad. Big kick of caramel and alcohol at the end. Finally Sam Adam's Double Bock. A heavy hitter at 8.8%. At least for them. Meh. Nothing spectacular. Dogfishhead's Chickory Stout. Got a moosh, got a moosh. Will you do the fandago. Send a bolt of lightning, very, very frightening. Bell's Winter Ale. A fine wheat if I do say so myself. Way too much Java, not enough stout. This sixer took about eight weeks to dispose of. Not a fan. Bell's Java Stout. I'm not a big fan of red's but this was one smooth brew. In preperation for St. Patty's Day, Goose Island's Kilgubbin Red Ale. I rate it just ordinary. Southern Tier's Phin and Matt's Extraordinary Ale. Goose Island's Bourbon County Stout. This is my number one hands down. This one didn't live up to my recollection. No nuttiness....there was just something missing. Rogue's Hazelnut Brown. I really enjoyed this at a tasting a few months back. That's the shiznit. New Glarus Belgian Red. Think their Raspberry Tart with cherries. Mmmmm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
65skylark Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Matt's funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugged One Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 I chose another import for tonights "Best of BA" pick. It was a good one. OMG! I think that this has to one, if not the best, of this style that I've had. It starts out kind of sweet and thick with malt up front but then segues in to this awesome combo of toasted malts, cocoa powder, and dark fruits. Incredibly clean and drinkable for it's size, this is definitely a top beer! The #32 beer in the world. The Ayinger Celebrator Doppellbock. Surprisingly, I have not yet had this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParkTrips Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 clean is such a good word to describe the Celebrator, and Im surprised you've never had it! Â I had one beer last night... and it was a damn good one. WAY over my expectations. This beer hit the sweet spot. A heavy 11+% with good barley wine sweetness... and then the flavor of whiskey on top of things to make it go down in one amazing, smooth taste. This thing really warmed me up and had a mouthfeel that few beers match. Overall I'd put it in the top 10 beers I've had so far, possibly top 5 if I were to really think about it. An awesome beer, thank you Derek!! My beer - Weyerbacher's Insanity. One of the last remaining beers I got int he trade with Derek last summer. This barley wine ended up being the best thing I got out of that trade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcjaco Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Matt's funny. Â I try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubba83 Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 ^^^ I am also surprised you hadn't had Celebrator before. I think the main thing that sets it apart for me is the dark fruits that come through a bit while it warms. It is the best dopple bock I have had by a landslide so far. Â ^^ Interesting I have not yet heard of that Barley Wine yet. I'm looking to get my hands on some Big Foot pretty soon here, and perhaps Old Guardian too. Â ^ Thanks for finally posting some pictures, I liked the "I find it just ordinary." Â I don't know why I failed so epically as far as documenting my brewing experience, but I forgot my camera going to the really great homebrew shop near me, and also was a bit too flustered to remember to take pictures during the actual process. I will try to take some pictures of me bottling the stuff in ~10 days. And take pictures of the homebrew shop next time I go back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Glad you liked the Insanity, Joe. Maybe next time I'll send you some Blasphemy and Prophesy (barrel aged QUAD and barrel aged Tripel). Course there's also the Heresy (barrel aged Imperial Stout). Those folks at Weyerbacher are pretty sick! Â While Heath is going for a BeerAdvocate's Top 100 theme in anticipation of this weekend's Extreme Beer Fest up in Boston, I've decided to keep my week's theme at the Extreme, meaning all beers at least 8%ABV or higher. Wow, another great Imperial Stout, masking its ABV nicely with lots of coffee and chocolate flavors. This one also packed in some smoke, leather, and dark fruit flavors. Maybe I should just stick with the Imp Stout theme for this week, it's working out so far! Tonight's offering, Jolly Roger Imperial Stout, from Otto's up in State College, PA, weighing in at 9% ABV Maybe I should have kept the SubZero glass hidden away, as today it caused stupid snow to come to our area, but not a snowplow in sight, even now, 8 hours later when there is lots more snow on the ground. Yummy! Lots of chocolate and coffee in this bad boy, along with a good hoppy finish, and super thick, just like a milkshake! One of the best RIS's I've ever had and it's from a can!!! First up, yesterday with Oskar Blue's latest awesomeness canned, Ten FIDY, weighing in at 10%, and also on the top 100 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nay Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 I'm certainly not a beer expert, but I do enjoy it every now and then. And the reviews on here are always fun to read. Â So here's my contribution for today... I had the Karl Strauss Endless Summer Light, which I liked a lot. I was at Disney's California Adventure last week and took a nice afternoon break here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
65skylark Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 ^ I'm jealous! Last month you were running a marathon at WDW and this month your in SoCal. Â Nice to have a new poster in the beer thread though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 DerekRx wrote: Maybe I should have kept the SubZero glass hidden away, as today it caused stupid snow to come to our area, but not a snowplow in sight, even now, 8 hours later when there is lots more snow on the ground. Â When did you move to Williamsburg, Derek? That's SOP when it snows here, too. Then because they're afraid of damaging the pavement, they scrape off just the top layer, thus allowing the bottom layer to partially melt and freeze back into ice. Â Nay sure gets around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParkTrips Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Maybe next time I'll send you some Blasphemy and Prophesy (barrel aged QUAD and barrel aged Tripel). I have the tripel, which was just pushed to the front of the fridge thanks to Insanity... and you just made me realize why I love quadrupels -- its in my DNA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 Next in line for my Extreme Theme Week, my first brew out of Japan. Lots of orange peel, vanilla, nutmeg and coriander in this, and LOADS of foamy head. Hides the alcohol well though Kiuchi Brewery's Hitachino Nest Commemorative Ale 2008, a spiced wheat type Winter Warmer, coming in at 9%abv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
65skylark Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 I'm not as cool as Heath and Derek because I don't have a theme. But, this next beer would fit into both of their categories at 9% ABV and coming in as the #34 beer in the world. And Sandi picked me up this nice bottle opener as an early Valentine's present for her Portland Beer Lover. Yes, chalk another one up in the win column. Nice light brown head that actually disappears rather quickly. Very smooth with bitter dark chocolate and espresso flavors. Not as sweet as most stouts that I have had, which I liked. Very nice beer. Yet another 9 out of 10 on the Justin Beer Scale. Victory's Storm King. After being blown away by The Abyss, I thought I would start to seek out some more Imerial Stouts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coreyml Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 DO NOT drink too much when you're on crutches...  on the FB ratebeer app, i gave it a 9/10 my friend sat his down - didnt like it and picked up a coors L.. booooo   sweetwater happy ending Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParkTrips Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 beer from yesterday oh, and as for the beer, it was just ok. Far too hoppy for me to like. Something about beer produced in Colorado... its always too much of a good thing for me. oh well. I ended the night with some doggie style, which is always a great way to end the night My 2nd beer of the night came in the form of Heavy Seas' Below Decks barleywine. Being the 3rd barleywine I've had this week, I guess Insanity really got me on this kick. I was surprised when the waitress not only brought out a glass, but she brought out a good one too... not normal for Taco Mac. As for the beer, it was a solid bw. Heavy on the barley and malts, this one was great on a chilly night. Lots of alcohol that was hidden pretty well, but it went down well. Heavy Seas is definitely underrated! Corey started the night off with the Sam Adams Black Lager, a beer which he rated pretty highly. Last night it was off to Taco Mac - I started off with the newly released Red Brick Helles Bock from Atlanta Brewing Co. It was surprisingly good, better than any other ABC beer I had. A nice balance of malts and hops to produce a highly drinkable medium bodied beer. Very similar to Rogue's Dead Guy and easily on par or better. Next up was the Rude Elf strong Belgian styled ale from Bethlehem Brew Works, courtesy of Derek once again. This one was good, a nice warming mouthfeel with strong malts I started the morning off with Ommegang's 3 Philosophers, their quadrupel with a bit of Kriek lambic added in... I definitely did not like the Kreik being in there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coreyml Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 Â red brick helles or something like that - good at first then it got old Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubba83 Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Ahhh where to begin, I'm a happy beer drinker for once... Over the last week or so I have been very happy with where I am at with work, food, beer, and life in general. Nice to see coreyml trying to get into it some, even though those last 2 pics are terrible quality. Hey Joe, take pictures of his beers for him next time! Pretty cool beers being tasted lately and posted in the thread. Thanks for everyones interest in reviving the "slow for a while" thread. I cannot wait to see the pictures from the Extreme Beer Fest in Boston from Derek and Heath, infact, my leg is bouncing up and down fast just thinking about it. Â In the last week I have been absorbing all I can about more advanced brewing techniques and preparing to brew my next batch outside on a burner since my mom was pretty pissed off about the mess the condensation caused last time. I think the next beer I brew will be in about a month or so and it will most likely be some kind of IPA. Beyond that, I'm not sure... I have been reading about brett and everything, though I am probably getting way ahead of myself in that regard, messing with sour beers is extremely tedious. Â I have also had a chance to pick up a few different things because I went over to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods this past week. I hadn't been to either of these stores in a long while and was quite happy to see some new brews being rotated into their stock. I picked up some Buffalo Jerky at Trader Joe's which ended up being the best jerky I've ever eaten in my life. With that great experience, I decided to pick up some Sirloin Tip Buffalo Steaks at Whole Foods the next day, which we had on saturday. They were pretty amazing off of the BBQ, I cooked them to a nice medium-rare and as long as you don't overcook them they are close to as tender as beef, have great flavor (much like beef) and are a lot more healthy... Anyway I'm rambling so let's get to the beer shall we? My uncle said it best when he said if any beer were to be served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream in it this would be the one. Extremely chocolatey in both flavor and mouthfeel. Like velvet in the mouth, forgot just how awesome it is! That concludes Friday's festivities, I'll continue with Saturday another time as TPR's forums are taking like 5 mins per picture upload right now... Big Bear Black Stout deserves a visit and a hello from my Uncle and I. What what what??? I think I was in the process of getting a cold the first time I tried this and it didn't come off right, or something. It was actually quite excellent this time I thought. It's got some big piney hop notes up front that gradually fade into a damn nice brown ale. Let's give Lumpy Gravy another chance... Actually, I don't know if I would have bought it again but my uncle picked it up. Those crafty nutbars over at Lagunitas have actually distributed this really well in my area. There isn't really much to say about this beer. It's only got 5% ABV, which to me is too low for a Winter Warmer. What's worse is it is totally watered down and has a very muted flavor. The flavor was well in balance and nice, it just wasn't robust and full like it should have been. Young's Winter Warmer is one I wanted to find for a while but hadn't seen it until Whole Foods. This one has a lot different malts I think. It says in the description that it is an Irish inspired Oatmeal Stout, which tastes about right. There are definite qualities here from the roasted barley that I have really only tasted in other irish dry stouts. It is also quite a hoppy take on an Oatmeal Stout with a good mouthfeel. This beer really surprised me, I didn't expect much at $4.99 a sixer and it ended up being the tastier of the three Oatmeal Stouts. And we'll put it up against Stockyard's Oatmeal Stout that I picked up for $4.99 a six pack at Trader Joe's. Apparently this is brewed by Goose Island, don't ask me why we get nothing else from them out here! Having those two back to back you realize how much the flavor is alike. The flavors are really really close... The main difference is the oily mouthfeel of Samuel Smith's which I think gives it an edge. We'll follow up Young's with another from across the pond. Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout, one of my uncle's favorites. It tasted pretty nice. The flavors are pretty dead on and it's not too mellow. The mouthfeel could be improved upon though I think. We'll continue at my Uncle's with the first of many Oatmeal Stouts. Young's Oatmeal Stout, which we hadn't had for around 8 months. 5.4% ABV. Extreme Bubba face for good quality! Literally everything was better in this one than the Blue in my opinion. Better dark fruit aromas, smoother mouthfeel, and most importantly, a much better balance between yeast and malt. The yeast dances on your tongue up front and then gives way to a delicious malty backbone. I find it extraordinary. So Chimay was on sale at Whole Foods, $7.99 for a 750ml Blue, and $6.99 for the Red. I was dissapointed with blue, but decided I'd give them another whirl with the Red label for that price. Chimay Premier at 7% ABV. Pillowy head baby!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Just got back from a weekend up in Boston all revolving around the Extreme Beer Fest held by the folks at BeerAdvocate. Lots of incredible beers were had by all BACT members in attendance, and plenty of pictures were taken. It'll take some time to get everything up, but I'll do what I can per day. First up, Friday's journey up to Boston. Then Heath grew a few sizes, or just decided to get samples of the Dry Hopped Blunderbuss Barleywine and the Charles River Porter Sticking to the dark beers, Heath went with the LuvBuzz Espresso Stout and Kim went with the Cherry Stout, also both excellent I decided to grab the Chocolate Chili porter, with some nice chocolate sweetness and a big chipotle finish Lots of interesting brews here, but we've gotta take it easy for later on The place had a pretty cool vibe, and we hit it at just the right time that the place was pretty empty Next stop, lunch at Cambridge Brewing, real close to MIT The highlight was purchasing some bottles of Berkshire Brewing. I think Heath cleaned them out! Heath starts out his purchasing in the bomber section. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on things) they were out of lots of the things they had 2 months ago, so we didn't end up bringing home all that much, but at least it saved money for other things! First stop some 6 hours after leaving home, Julio's Liquors, in the suburbs of Boston and having a pretty darn good assortment of beers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 The kickoff to Extreme Beer Fest is on Friday night where every beer served has spent some time hanging out in a barrel of some sort to age, properly called "Night of the Barrels". We've never done it before, but since we had the opportunity, we decided to see what all the fuss was about. Lots of the beers are super rare, and some are even made specifically for the night. Samuel Adams made a special version of their 26% Utopias aged on cacao nibs, and some really far away breweries came out. Dark Horse, Surly, Three Floyds, Full Sail, Firestone Walker, Dogfish Head, Kuhnhenn, Ithaca, He'brew, Lagunitas, and more were among the breweries represented. and I'll end today's update with a view of downtown Boston as seen from my hotel balcony But in all honesty, all those barrel aged beers really aren't our thing, after 3 or 4 different beers aged in bourbon, they all start to taste like bourbon. The firkin of 90 Minute IPA aged in Mesquite chips was probably the most unique thing of the night. We'll probably skip it next time. We were happy to finally be getting some of Surly's Oak Aged Bender and YES you could really taste the Tabasco...even hours later! One of the craziest beers brewed was Ithaca's Gorges Smoked Porter aged in a Tabasco Barrel. They called it "Tastes Like Burning (Ralph Wiggum's Revenge)" Tickets are limited to 500, so it wasn't too crowded inside, though with a smaller beer list than on Saturday it was just as long to get a beer Aged on cacao nibs, you could really taste the chocolate. But other than that, it was just alcohol, much like a port wine Our first priority (as well as mostly everyone else) was to get some Utopias, the highest ABV beer out there, and like $150 a bottle and all the other sessions of the Extreme Beer Fest Finally at the Cyclorama again, the location of Night of the Barrels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubba83 Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 ^ Sweet action... So the one thing I am failing to get out of everyone over at BA that tried Tastes Like Burning is... How was it? I know it was spicy, but was it any good? Cool looking place by MIT. Can't wait to see the rest of the pics. Â Onto Saturday Night's Beers at my Uncle's fire. My craft brew gateway beer never dissapoints, even following that impressive lineup it holds up well with a smooth hop presence into beautiful cherry alcohol. Cheers! Why not end the night with some arrogance after those two spectacular brews? I'm feeling damn arrogant indeed. Deserving of a smile ear to ear. A pleasant dose of pine hits a familiar Sierra Nevada chord, which mellows into an intensely oily sweet plum-sugar backbone. Instantly one of my top 10 beers, and hopefully I won't touch the ones I put away under the house for a couple years... Bigfoot is on the loose! Sierra Nevada released him and now he is running rampant through the Sierra Mountains! ABV 9.6% A nice smokey nose and initial taste. My uncle didn't care for it much, stating he does not like smoke flavor in his beer. I thought it was pretty well balanced and had a nice malty background flavor. Very nice. Alaskan's Smoked Porter, 2007 edition. 6.5% ABV. A nice smooth looking head and it's black as night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Saturday it was a nice relaxing morning before heading to the Extreme Beer Fest's Session One. This day was more our style, with lots of breweries each bringing like 4 or 5 beers to the table, each of them "extreme". Having such normals as Ommegang, Allagash, Samuel Adams, Boulder, Flying Dog, Harpoon, Dogfish Head, and Magic Hat is one thing, but throw in Short's, Surly, Three Floyds, Lost Abbey/Port Brewing, Smuttynose/Portsmouth, Kuhnhenn, and more at the same place, each bringing some of their most awesome things, and you know it's gonna be a good time. With the fest over, it's time to hit the T and explore the city and so every BACT member at the fest managed to try the Dark Lord. Still excellent, but if Three Floyds continues to be high and mighty tards about it, my palette could change Luckily Kim was pretty far up in line, and knew what she was doing and this line here....Three Floyds of course. They had to be attention whores and wouldn't release the Dark Lord until the end of the fest, unlike EVERY other brewery The fest got pretty crowded with over 1000 people in the building Yup, time for Smuttynose/Portsmouth for some Oak Aged Kate the Great. Not as good as the regular, but still awesome. Enjoying some brews like Surly's Cask Furious IPA and Coffee Bender, and Oskar Blues' Ten FIDY with some of the other men of BACT Then over to He'brew for some Coney Island Freaktoberfest, a really red Oktoberfest Then back for more beer exclusives like Sam Adam's new Imperial Stout And after enjoying some, we even got stopped by the head brewer's personal assistant for some praises for representin' SoCal's awesomeness After plenty of good drinks, it was back over for our favorites, Lost Abbey's Angel's Share and Veritas 003. Thems were awesome! Ithaca was one of the sleeper hits of the weekend with their Kaffinator Dopplebock, 400 Pound Monkey oak aged IPA, Ten (double red) and Eiskaffee Cambridge broke out their Sunday Brunch offering, the Chili Willy (Big and Bloody version), a strong ale with chipotle and ancho peppers mixed with Bloody Mary mix, served with pickled veggies and all! Dark Horse was another Michigan place representing well with the Double Crooked Tree IPA. They brought their Imperial Stout too, but couldn't find it and look where they're located in Michigan! Doubt we'll ever get up there!! everything they offered was good, especially the Uber Goober Peanut Oatmeal Stout and Cuppa Joe Espresso Stout Shorts was also new to the fest, and was so exciting even Hurley showed up to try the stuff! Always popular, yet grumpy, is Kuhnhenn. This time they brought more hard hitters like Raspberry Eisbock, Tenacious Cassis, Fourth Dementia, and Bourbon Barrel Barleywine Our favorite of the fest (big shocker) was Lost Abbey, who decided to bring out Red Poppy, Veritas 003, Older Viscosity, AND a bourbon barrel Angel's Share Mark's first time at the Fest, and his first stop was Southern Tier??? At least they brought out their good stuff like Jah-va and Raspberry Porter, and he got one of their best offerings, Choklat Yeah, Darkness is well worth its top rating. Really hoppy for an Imperial Stout, almost like Storm King but thicker and with more coffee First stop, the newcomers Surly to try some of their Minnesota awesomeness, like Darkness! And then it was back to the Cyclorama for the finest beer fest there is, EBF With the Fest not starting until 1 I had plenty of time to watch tv A good night's sleep was easy in a Sleep Number bed #35 for me Morning outside my room on the 24th floor of the Radisson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyerACE1 Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Here is a photo of Ellen and I at the Fest with my hero, Jim Koch of Sam Adams fame. A little blurry I know, thanks to the drunk guy who took it, but I thought I'd share. Â The "other man of BACT"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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