The Great American Beer Festival: 3 days, 450 breweries, 2,000 beers. And when it came to beers that were judged, we’re talking about 3 medal types,  79 categories, 519 competing breweries, 133 judges from across the globe and 3,601 beers judged. Hot damn!

We attended the Saturday afternoon members-only session, which gave us the opportunity to mingle with fellow AHA members for 4 hours. You do no consume 2,000 beers in 4 hours; this is why many people buy multiple session tickets, but we felt one was enough.

Below is a list of beers Ray and I tried (alpha by brewery name); some breweries wowed us enough to try all their offerings, but usually we managed 2 per brewery visited. And we skipped any beer we have had previously.

1. Mo’TCHO Risin (21st Amendment)
2. Back in Black (21st Amendment)
3. Volksbier (Bear Republic Brewing Co.)
4. Cuvee de Bubba (Bear Republic Brewing Co.)
5. Le Contrebassiste (Bell’s Brewery)
6. Bison Organic Chocolate Stout (Bison Brewing Co.)
7. Bison Organic IPA (Bison Brewing Co.)
8. Bad Knees (Cambridge Brewing Co.)
9. CaCow! (Cambridge Brewing Co.) This was my first beer of the fest and it completely blew me away with it’s amazing chocolatey goodness. A strong rival to the pint of Rogue’s Double Chocolate Stout that I had Friday evening.
10. Arquebus (Cambridge Brewing Co.)
11. The Colonel (Cambridge Brewing Co.)
12. 1919 choc Beer (Choc Beer Co.)
13. Signature Dubbel (Choc Beer Co.)
14. Signature Quad (Choc Beer Co.)
15. Shillelagh Stout (Cooper Canyon Brewery)
16. Tamarillo (Dogfish Head)
17. GraintoGlass (Dogfish Head)
18. Canadian Breakfast Stout (Founders Brewing Co.) Woo-hoo whiskey!
19. Devil Dancer (Founders Brewing Co.)
20. Ad Astra Ale (Free State Brewing Co.)
21. Stormwatch Ale (Free State Brewing Co.)
22. Matilda (Goose Island Beer Co.)
23. Bourbon Country Brand Coffee Stout (Goose Island Beer Co.) BRONZE MEDAL
24. Colette (Great Divide Brewing Co.) SILVER MEDAL
25. Hades (Great Divide Brewing Co.)
26. Belgica (Great Divide Brewing Co.)
27. Aged Hibernation (Great Divide Brewing Co.)
28. Glockenspiel (Great Lakes Brewing Co.) A tasty weizenbock
29. Rye of the Tiger (Great Lakes Brewing Co.) A rye IPA, possibly my new favorite style.
30. Bourbon Barrel Stout (Green Flash Brewing Co.)
31. Le Freak (Green Flash Brewing Co.)
32. Maggie (Grumpy Troll Brewery, Restaurant & Pizzeria) Okay, so I had to try a beer that has the same name as my parents’ rambunctious yellow lab. Maggie is a double ESB that impressed both of us.
33. Iroquois Wheat Beer (Horseheads Brewing)
34. Horseheads IPA (Horseheads Brewing)
35. Hot-Jala-Heim Beer (Horseheads Brewing) I picked this beer up, but after finding the flavor to be too peppery for my tastes, I passed it along to Ray, who LOVED it. He found there to be a lot of chile aroma in the nose and a nice slow burn.
36. Blanche de Hill (Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant)
37. The Cannibal (Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant)
38. LeBleu (Ithaca Beer Co.)
39. Super Friends (Ithaca Beer Co.) Collaboration beer with Brewery Ommegang, Captain Lawrence Brewing Co., Flying Fish Brewing Co., Southampton Publick House and Valley Brewing Co., producing an American IPA fermented solely with Brett.
40. Wee Heavy (Mad Fox Brewing Co.)
41. Rauch E. Balboa (Manayunk Brewing Co.)
42. Tritessa (McKenzie Brew House)
43. La Folie Sour Brown Ale (New Belgium Brewing Co.)
44. Imperial Berliner-Style Ale (New Belgium Brewing Co.)
45. Garden State Stout (New Jersey Beer Co.) Ray was pleasantly surprised by this beer from North Jersey, his old stomping grounds.
46. Tread Lightly Ale (New Planet Beer Co.)
47. 3R Raspberry Ale (New Planet Beer Co.) BRONZE MEDAL
48. Green Menace IPA (North by Northwest Restaurant & Brewery)
49. Espresso Imperial Stout (North by Northwest Restaurant & Brewery)
50. Bourbon Barrel Stout (Odell Brewing Co.)
51. Friek (Odell Brewing Co.)
52. Woodcut #4 (Odell Brewing Co.)
53. Deconstruction (Odell Brewing Co.)
54. Coconut Porter (Pagosa Brewing Co.) The coconut comes out immediately in the nose, and better yet, it follows through for the entire time it’s in your mouth. It also tastes like real, fresh coconut, not some plasticky extract. Ray and I were both pleasantly surprised. This would make an excellent stout float. SILVER MEDAL
55. Soaker’s Stout (Pagosa Brewing Co.)
56. Poor Richard’s Ale (Pagosa Brewing Co.)
57. Milk Stout (Portsmouth Brewery)
58. Rye Not (Portsmouth Brewery)
59. Whipper Snapper (Portsmouth Brewery)
60. Gose (Portsmouth Brewery)
61. Bitto Honey IPA (Prism Brewing Co.)
62. Tea Party Pale Ale (Prism Brewing Co.) Ray tried to joke with the volunteer about the unfortunate name of this beer (brewed with tea), but got the surly response of “Not my beer” in return. Oh well.
63. Ugly Pug (Rahr & Sons Brewery)
64. Superfly Dunkel Rye (Ram Restaurant & Brewery)
65. Sunshine Nectar (Redstone Meadery) A lovely session mead made with apricots. Bright and smooth.
66. Nectar of Hops (Redstone Meadery) Yes that’s right, this is a session mead made with hops. The flavor is mellow and slightly sweet, and the hop flavor shines.
67. Black Raspberry Nectar (Redstone Meadery) Lovely purpley-pink and slightly tart.
68. Simcoe IPA (Rock Bottom Breweries)
69. XXXX IPA (Shipyard Brewing Co.)
70. Smashed Pumpkin Ale (Shipyard Brewing Co.) My first pumpkin of the fest … really knocked it out of the park with the nose and flavor.
71. Cherry Bomb (Strange Brewing Co.)
72. Cherry Kriek (Strange Brewing Co.)
73. Buffalo Sweat (Tall Grass Brewing Co.)
74. Oasis (Tall Grass Brewing Co.)
75. Munsterfest (Three Floyds Brewing Co.) BRONZE MEDAL
76. Bin ich schwarz genug fur dich? (Three Floyds Brewing Co.) This takes the cake for funkiest name. A decent Schwarzbier.
77. Butthead Bock (Tommyknocker Brewery)
78. Maple Nut Brown Ale (Tommyknocker Brewery)
79. TPS Report (Trinity Brewing Co).
80. The Flavor (Trinity Brewing Co.)
81. Old Growth (Trinity Brewing Co.)
82. Stop Making Sense (Trinity Brewing Co.)
83. Jewish Rye Beer (Triumph Brewing Co. of Princeton) Possibly the BEST rye we’ve ever had. It tasted like someone put a fresh-baked slice of rye bread in the glass. SO GOOD.
84. Flying Mouflan (Troegs Brewery) GOLD MEDAL
85. Northstar Imperial Porter (Twisted Pine Brewing Co.)
86. Big Shot Espresso Stout (Twisted Pine Brewing Co.) BRONZE MEDAL
87. Fifteen (Weyerbacher Brewing Co.)
88. Lima (Weyerbacher Brewing Co.)
89. Jormungandr’s Revenge (Pro-Am competition entry between Dogfish Head and homebrewers Kyle Kernozek and Michelle Dickey)
90. Red Velvet (Pro-Am competition entry between Eagle Rock Brewery and homebrewer Donny Hummel) GOLD MEDAL
91. Ryed Hard and Put Away Wet (Pro-Am competition entry between Rockyeard Brewing Co. and homebrewer Adam Glasser) SILVER MEDAL

This list doesn’t include the 2 beers we had from the Colorado Guild table (not listed in the program), but still, 90+ beers in 4 hours time. Wow. And a lot were medal winners (medals were announced starting at 1:30, so as winners were announced, suddenly those kegs were sucked dry).

We were floored by Jewish Rye from Princeton's Triumph (NJ represent!)

We saw a lot of ryes out there, which were fantastic. The sours were out in full force, with someone asking me “Are sours the new thing?” I’ve been on the sour bus for a solid 3+ years now, but I do think they are uncharted territory for some.

However, I have to mention Trinity Brewing: Almost all of their beers tasted the of the same sourness. And not in a good way. I actually began feeling sick to my stomach, and we were only 30 minutes into the fest at that point. Ray and I feel that something let loose through that brewery, rendering the same off, highly-acetic flavor in their offerings. It was a shame. But in better news, Ithaca Beer’s Brute took gold for the American-style sour, which made me happy. They’re a great brewery.

Cambridge Brewing Co. wowed us, as well as their neighbor at the next table, Portsmouth Brewery. And Odells…nicely done with your offerings!

Ray declared GABF better than SAVOR 2010, and in some cases I have to agree with him. SAVOR did not bring its A-game this year, which definitely brings it down a notch. Also, the space was a bit tighter than GABF, and open space is always a good thing to have at a fest. Nevertheless, we had a great time and will be back for the GABF’s 30th anniversary in 2011.

Breweries, Brewfests, Brewpubs, Craft Beer, Denver 2010 8 Comments »