What a weekend! Ray, Ryan, his epic GF LeeAnne and myself all stumbled on into Nodding Head’s Royal Stumble No. 11, themed “It’s Always Sunny at the Royal Stumble” (more on that misnomer tomorrow). We had a great time, followed by some kick ass roller derby mayhem in University City where the Broad Street Butchers beat the Philthy Britches to take home the championship trophy. You go girls (someday I will be one of you).

So, busy busy busy. While we gather our stumbling thoughts, here’s a wee bit o’ preview video for you — shot by the ever talented (and ever Scottish) Ray.

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Scintillating video that I shot with my iPhone at SAVOR 2010. Some of the language may not be safe for work depending on where you work, so make sure to turn it up super loud.

Brewfests, Craft Beer, Pairings, Tasting 1 Comment »

Yesterday Ryan started us off on his journey of trying at least 100 different beers at SAVOR. Let’s see if he made it to his goal or not.

After we got our gear, we went to the first table, which housed the Evolution Craft Brewing Co. We tried their ESB and their porter: both delicious. And we were making good time — we’d been inside the building for little more than a minute and I’d already had two beers. At first we paced ourselves, taking the time to try the food, to pair it with the different beers as suggested. For a festival with 2000 people, the lines weren’t bad. It got a bit hairy around the main supporters’ tables, with heavy hitters like Rogue, Dogfish Head, Sam Adams, New Belgium and the like — the longest line coming from Dogfish Head, who were debuting their Bitches Brew. Thankfully, we hit it early, when we could still taste things. It was delicious.

We trudged on. The tables, set up in squares, had a brewery on each side and a different finger food at each corner. Sixteen regular tables and the Supporters’ Circle in the middle, with six breweries. We began to circle the tables, orbiting around one until we had tried everything it had to offer and then swinging over to another to make our rounds once again. We tried to go in order, but we had to divert our course a few times: a trip to the bathroom, a trip to the cheese table, a trip to the oyster bar, a trip to the bathroom.

I was checking beers off furiously, putting stars next to some*. I’d let Mel and Ray go before me to the brewer and whichever beer they didn’t get, I’d ask for. If they eat got a different beer, I just asked for the one that sounded better to me and got a taste of the other. Sip. Check. Comment. Exchange. Sip. Check. Comment. Next. We worked efficiently. Near the end, we worked probably more efficiently than most people who had taken in as much alcohol as we had, maybe because I wouldn’t let the fuzzies get to me — I was on a mission, and I couldn’t let it out of my sight, even when my face began to tingle and I just wanted to lie down with one of everything from the McDonald’s menu. I would feel like a complete ass if I left SAVOR, counted up my beers, and realized I had only tried 98. That wasn’t an option.

Greg Koch of Stone, Mel, Ryan and Ray all do "the face." Well, all but Ryan.

The first time I really looked at the time was at 10pm; an hour left. I wondered aloud if I’d hit my goal and Mel assured me I had. I made a quick count to double-check: 73 beers. An hour to go and I needed 30 more beers, which might prove difficult. We were starting to get tipsy — most notably Ray, who hadn’t been pouring his excess beer. The guy had been drinking like a champ the entire time I had been sipping and dumping, and it was starting to catch up. To make matters worse, the tables we had left to hit were scattered throughout the long, open hall, and some brewers were beginning to run out. We had to hurry.

I began what Mel so lovingly referred to as “The Death March.” I paraded us around the hall, not stopping until I’d reached a table we had overlooked. “We need to get to table seven!” And away we’d go, Mel and Ray tagging along behind me, gracefully humoring my pseudo-clearheaded single-mindedness.

Like a salesman at the end of the month, as long as I hit my numbers I didn’t care. Mel and I moved with the precision of a snake. My eyes had started to blur, so I had to rely on her for some info. Ray followed behind, not seeming to care much what we did. “Which one is this?” She’d name the brewery, I’d clumsily flip to the page in the program. “Okay. You get the IPA, I’ll get the saison.” I would take a sip, check it off, we’d switch and take a sip, check it off, and dump the rest. They were all starting to taste the same, so it didn’t matter what I was tasting. Dubbel, tripel, quadrupel, didn’t matter. IPA, double IPA, ESB, whatever. Sip, dump, check. I felt, near the end, that I should probably start asking for lesser pours, but didn’t bother. I just had to hit my mark.

The end finally came and we had to leave. I hadn’t counted my beers since 10, so I wasn’t sure if I’d had 100 or not. I wasn’t clear-headed enough to really mind as we walked out, Ray and I speaking in Scottish accents that sounded spot-on at the time. As soon as we sat down on the train, I went through and counted 103. Considering myself lucky that I could even count that high, I registered the victory and congratulated myself. Hopefully, when I was sober, I would be able to count it again and get the same number.

As it turned out, with the re-count I got 102, which was 73% of the beers on offer. I had just barely surpassed my goal, but the key word was “surpassed.” With all that behind me, though, it is now time to start looking to the future. What will next year’s SAVOR bring? Maybe I’ll try for all 140. Or maybe there will be even more than that. Hopefully Mel and Ray will be as accommodating of my Death Marches and slurred directions. The only sure thing, though, is that I will definitely need to work on my Scottish accent.

* The stars were my way of remembering which beers were the real standouts.  The only problem was near the end when I stopped tasting things, I had to put stars next to the beers other people said were good.  They all started to blend together in the last hour.

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Let me introduce Bathtub’s newest contributor, our guest blogger Ryan. Ryan is an avid eater and drinker who is currently working on the opposing goals of drinking his 500^th different beer and maintaining his path on the South Beach diet, which is being chronicled on his blog The Healthy Hog.

For whatever reason, my entire beer-loving experience has been based on milestones. When I first started to realize all of what beer had to offer — when I really started getting into it and paying attention, when I began to learn that there was more to exotic beer than Guinness and Killian’s, that there was even a world beyond the rare* Magic Hat #9 — I set a goal for myself: I wanted to try 200 different beers by the time I turned 40. At that point, age 25, I think I’d tried somewhere in the mid-40s, and it seemed like I was falling behind. I hit 200 in the waning days of 2009, right before I turned 28.

But by then I lived in Philadelphia. The options were endless. Trying a variety of different beers was no longer a challenge when there were bars with 200 on their list and stores that sold individual bottles of beer I’d never even heard of. I hit 300 in the four months after reaching 200 thanks to a small beer festival and a beer-swilling trip through Australia and New Zealand. This was easy now. I needed something else.

How about 100 different beers in three-and-a-half hours at the SAVOR craft beer festival? After missing out on the ten minute ticket sale, Mel and Ray had come up with an extra ticket that I’d jumped on. So, despite my hatred of math, I went through some numbers.

• The festival is 210 minutes long.
• The beers come in 2-ounce pours.
• There are 70 breweries, 2 beers each: 140 different beers.
• 100 beers is 71% of the beers present.
• 2-ounce pours x 100 = 200 ounces of beer, or 16.6 12-ounce cans of beer.

I would potentially be drinking 2/3 of a case of beer in 3.5 hours, or a can of beer every 12.6 minutes. While I think I could do that for a little while — a beer every 12 minutes doesn’t sound too outrageous — I knew if I tried to maintain that pace all night I’d either pass out, throw up, or black out and do something to get myself arrested. Or maybe all three. I knew ahead of time I would have to sip and dump; after all, all I’d ever required of my beer milestones were a sip, a taste, and quick idea of what the beer was.

We arrived inside the festival after standing outside in the DC heat for maybe half an hour; now I had worked up a physical thirst to drink a lot of beer to match my metaphorical thirst to drink a lot of beer. We got our complimentary SAVOR snifter glass for our beer, a little complementary wooden spork for the food, and — thankfully — a program that listed all the breweries and the beers they had on offer. I’m glad all I had to do was check off beers as we went rather than write them down; I knew the longer we were there, the more my writing would begin to resemble George Lucas dialogue**. As it happened, even my check marks began to look illegible as the night went on. Come back tomorrow for part II, where things really start getting interesting

* In Bluefield, West Virginia, you won’t even find Guinness on tap.  Killian’s is what you buy when you’ve got a few extra dollars. Forget seeing anything from even Magic Hat in a bar, let alone in the grocery store.  If you’re lucky there, you’ll get a crack at a Sam Adams’ seasonal every once in a while.
** Think crayon scribblings from a mentally challenged chimpanzee.

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On Saturday, Ray and I and our two lovely friends LeeAnne and Ryan battled the bone-numbing cold to partake in High Street Grill’s Second Annual Winterfest. Drawn by promises of 40 different beers from 20 breweries, we were ready to sample til our hearts’ content — well, sample for 1 3/4 hours at least.

High Street offered 2 sessions –  one at 1 PM and the other at 3 PM — located in the enclosed and heated tent behind the restaurant in the municipal parking lot. And while there are MAJOR bonus points for keeping the tent nice and toasty, there were definitely two problems:

1. The 1 PM session, which we attended, was severely overcrowded. And unfortunately, overcrowded with a fair amount of people in their twenties who acted like loud, beer-swilling buffoons. The latter was not High Street’s problem (no fest organizer interviews ticket buyers to see if they are of the right “caliber”), however, getting a larger tent (and more room) would have made this an excellent fest, rather than simply good.
2. 1 3/4 hours for 40 samples just isn’t enough time. Factor in a supremely crowded space, and it’s damn near impossible to hit all the tables, chat with the brewers/brewery representatives and take thorough tasting notes. Sorry, we weren’t there to guzzle beer sample after beer sample; we were there to find new beers, chat with the breweries, and introduce our soon-to-be-homebrewing friend Ryan to a beer festival. If High Street could have swung two sessions that were at 12 PM and 3 PM, that might have worked out to everyone’s benefit.

But enough about the crowd. Let’s talk about the beers!

It was nice to see the Philly Metro area’s usual suspects: Victory, Sly Fox, Troeg’s and Yards. But what was even better? Drinking a sample of Oskar Blues’ Gordon, sipping some of Founder’s Imperial Stout, and snagging a pour of Left Hand’s Fade to Black seasonal. Notice something? These breweries are from Colorado, Michigan and Colorado, respectively. San Diego metro-based Stone Brewing was pouring some crowd favorites, Oaked Arrogant Bastard and the Pale Ale, while Fort Bragg Calif.’s North Coast Brewing Co. had samples of Red Seal and the wickedly delicious Old No. 38 on tap.

But back on our side of the Mississippi, it was great to see Jersey’s Riverhorse pouring the Oatmeal Milk Stout (one of our all-time favorites), as well as the Belgian Freeze, which was perfect for the weather. Our buddies from Stoudt’s were across the tent, pouring generous glasses of Old Fat Dog imperial oatmeal stout (nothing beats the Dog, nothing!) and the Winter Ale, which is a hoppy red for this season (we have a partially-decimated sixer chilling in our fridge currently). I got to chat with amicable Mike of Stoudts, where we had a Twitter connection — he had noticed me tweeting about the fest and how Ray and I recently got married at their brewery, so upon meeting there was an “Oh it’s you!” moment. Very cool. Great guy, phenomenal beers.

Major props have to go to the fellas manning Flying Dog’s table: up for grabs were the Gonzo imperial porter (soooo rich and chocolatey) and Raging Bitch, a Belgian-style IPA for their 20th anniversary that was so many kinds of right. Now, when going for my first Doggie sample, I snagged the porter, which I had yet to taste. The guys were telling me about the Bitch, and I said I would come back. Well, by the time I had the chance, the breweries were signaling the end of the session. Now, I’m not one to usually pull the girl card, but I wrestled through the crowd to get back to FD’s table. I met the guys with a small smile and signaled “just a little” towards my glass. They smiled and kindly gave me a half-pour so I could finally see what all the rage was about –  and let me tell you, it was good. Despite the wild name, the beer is balanced with its sweetness and hoppiness. A really nice end to the day.

However, I think the highlight of the entire fest had to be Boaks Beer, which we had never heard of — and they’re even from NJ! Boaks had 3 taps to offer: Monster Mash, a Russian imperial stout; 2 Blind Monks, a Belgian dubbel; and Abbey Brown, a Belgian brown ale. Ray, Ryan and I made quick work of this, each getting a different sample. I found Monster Mash to be a little odd — something about the nose. 2 Blind Monks was nice, but I think my sample of Abbey Brown stole the show, with a funky nose and little sourness in the mouth.

Following the fest, we wandered up and down High Street, where the annual Fire & Ice fest was taking place. It was fascinating to see the various ice sculptures, but I think this one takes the cake.

LeeAnne rocks the plunger

I bet that's cold on the butt

After this photo, we all had AMAZING cake and coffee at Robin’s Nest. `Cuz that’s what you do after festing on the coldest day in January.

Brewfests, Craft Beer 3 Comments »

On Saturday, Ray and I attended the 2009 Brandywine Craft Brewers’ Festival, which featured “25 regional breweries. No monotony. Lotsa porta-potties.” So true. The 2007 fest was the first brew fest I had ever gone to (my first beer that day was Iron Hill’s Cherry Wheat and Ray had me take notes on the program about what I liked or didn’t like and why), and if you ask Ray, it was also the place where we fell in love.

This year’s event ended up selling out shortly before Saturday, with proceeds benefiting the Media Youth Center. I always love a brew fest that supports a cause!

We immediately made it over to Riverhorse, where I sampled the much beloved Double Wit, complete with new packaging (I love the new hippo…he looks so cute and badass), while Ray had the Hop Hazard, also a winner.

I was surprised by Lancaster Brewing Co.’s Strawberry Wheat — when I’ve had this beer in bottles, it never wows me, but when served on draught you could really pick up the strawberry notes. Lancaster also had its milk stout available, but in my opinion not much can beat Left Hand when it comes to a milk stout … unless we want to talk about Riverhorse’s Brewer’s Reserve Oatmeal Milk Stout, which is liquid euphoria.

I had the chance to try a simcoe IPA from Triumph, but Ray and I determined that it doesn’t quite hold a candle to Weyerbacher’s Double Simcoe IPA. Weyerbacher was there of course, pouring Double Simcoe from bottles, and Merry Monks and Muse from draught. Definitely pleasant surprises for Ray, since he loves Monks and Muse.

We kept an eye on time so that we could be at Iron Hill’s table for the 2:30 pouring of a 2006 3L bottle of Russian Imperial Stout. It was perfect in every way, and the crowd went nuts for it. At 3:00 we swung back over to Triumph for its Belgian Le Cinq. What is that? Think about it — dubbel, tripel, quad … and then you have a cinq, the French word for five. Prior to the special pouring, I got a sample of their Gothic Ale, which is a gruit — my first one ever. I appreciated the creativity, but I wanted to cook with it more than drink a pint. Ray thought differently. Notes of rosemary and spruce tips were evident.

We also ran into our friends Amanda and Keith, fellow homebrewers, and had fun comparing notes on the different beers. We missed out on Yards, who kicked all of their kegs before we got to them, and went back multiple times to Nodding Head, who had 3C on cask, Monkey Knife Fight, Ich bin ein Berliner Weisse, Grog, and BPA available to quench our thirsts. You know we love our Nodding Head.

Lastly, according to head brewer Larry over at Iron Hill West Chester, Drew Carey was lurking amongst us beer addled folks. We had no clue! Then again, there was a ton of people — the open air venue kept things reasonable — so I’m not super surprised we didn’t spot him.

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Roughly two weeks ago, the day after Ray got on bended knee and asked me to shack up with him forever til one of us kicks, the four of us (Ray, Steph, Tim, and me) headed along I-76 to Adamstown to attend the 12-4p.m. session of Stoudt’s 17th annual microfest, with proceeds going to the Alzheimer’s Association. This was our first time at Stoudt’s Brewery, and I think we may have fallen in love.

First, I really appreciate the way the beer hall is designed, with 2 open-air courtyards and a large hall with a raised dance floor and stage. The ceilings are high and decorated with vintage posters and the most gorgeous Victorian (or perhaps they’re more Art Deco) chandeliers that the four of us have laid eyes on. Breweries were lined along the perimeter of the beer hall, as well as along one wall of the larger courtyard. In the middle of that courtyard was table after table of German food, as well as some staple drinking cuisine such as pizza, chips, and pretzels. We each had a hearty plate full of sausages, sauerkraut, pizza, nachos, etc., and everything was excellent! There was even fresh bread, which I presume was baked on the premises, since there is a bakery, Eddie’s Breads, on location.

We all agreed that this was one of the best fests yet. Barely any lines (yet there was still a good crowd, full of nice folks), an excellent selection of brewers and beers, great food, an excellent band — who even played my song, “Melissa” by the Allman Brothers — and possibly the biggest plus, which was Stoudt’s beers themselves. Stoudt’s was beyond generous and made ALL of their beers on tap available for sampling. ALL. If I had to guess, that meant that there were at least 7-8 at the main bar that had several friendly bartenders working the taps, as well as a table in the courtyard serving up 2-3 more brews, including a dark IPA that I think was called Black Eyed PA (I searched the Web site a bunch, but I believe it was a seasonal that made its summer exit; nevertheless, it was delish with quite the alcohol and hop kick).

After the fest, we headed over to Stoudt’s Brewpub, were quickly seated, and continued our reverence to some of the best brews we’ve ever tasted. I think my favorite was Fat Dog Stout, but they have so many to choose from and love.

So, enough of the gushing. Time for some pictures!

These fermenters stand directly outside of the brewery and were effective in getting us uber excited for the fest. Look at the hops!!!

I want that chandelier for my living room. It is that awesome.

The roof keeps the weather extremes at bay, while still providing plenty of natural light. And look at the trees! And the greenery!

We had such fun. Thank you Stoudt’s.

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This past Saturday (the 12th) was the day of 2008′s Royal Stumble at Nodding Head Brewpub (warning: link resizes your window) at 1516 Sansom in Philly. It was what one might call the best damn fest I’ve ever been to as long as you don’t count Savor.

The Royal Stumble is a unique brew fest in that attendees get to stay in one spot and eat and drink while the exhibiting breweries send staff armed with pitchers to fill up everybody’s tasters. Each brewery was allowed to bring two staffers and one keg of beer. First brewery to kick a keg wins! Ah, Nodding Head, always so weird.

We arrived at the brewpub at 11am to get in line. Our friends had warned us to show up early so we’d be able to get a good table — good advice. The line stretched all the way down the block and up 16th Street by the time the doors opened up at 1pm.

As the second group into the pub, we had our pick of the tables. After being accosted at the entrance by Triumph Brewing Company’s Beer Bitches (Don’t look at me like that. It said that on their shirts.) and being served a sample of Triumph’s delicious Saison, we made a quick left turn into the back room behind the bar and staked out a soon-to-be-sticky high-top table at the end of a converted church pew.

It was but moments before the sweet smells of the buffet lured us toward the northern end of the pub. There, we found a nice selection of typical barbeque buffet food: among other things, there was fried chicken, cole slaw, pasta salad, and some of the best pulled pork I have ever tasted in my 27 years, sweet, dripping with juice, and spiced liberally with cinnamon.

Eating that thing was obviously very important to me.
Photo credit to Stephanie Weber.

Also near the buffet, in the northeast corner of the pub by the bay windows, was the band. I have no idea what their name was, but they were great fun to listen to. Jammy and long winded, they reminded me a lot of The Slip before they started doing nothing but indie rock.

He is probably a lot better than I am at bass. I am not very good at bass at all.
Photo credit to Stephanie Weber.

As we finished our first tasters back at our table, further armies of beer pourers zeroed in on our empty glasses. Within the next ten minutes, we got to try Doc Street Brewpub’s Chupar un Limon, a lemon and lime infused Kölsch that reminded me a little too much of rosemary, Sly Fox’s spicy and refreshing Whitehorse Wit, and Flying Fish’s beautifully complex X-Perimental Pale Ale, a new personal favorite of mine that featured no fewer than five different hop varieties.

You can’t seeeee meeeee….
Photo. Stephanie.

By 2:30, Triumph had already managed to kick their keg, which surprised no one, as they had boobs running around pouring beer for them. Cheap. Everyone who was able to make it out to the fest had arrived by then, and even with a full crowd, the pub was never unnavigable. At this point, the four of us began to take turns getting up from the table to explore the rest of the breweries.

Yeah, I dunno. I figure someone must’ve stepped on my foot, maybe?
Not Stephanie Weber, but it was her camera, so yeah.

Stoudt’s had their hefeweizen, which Ale Street News had rightfully named the best hefe in the US. Weyerbacher’s Muse farmhouse ale was one that I was already familiar with, but given that Weyerbacher is probably my favorite brewery, I had to have some. Victory had their Braumeister Pils, one in their series of single hop focused brews, this one featuring Hallertauer mf.

The big standout of the entire fest for me was General Lafayette Inn’s Lafayette’s Escape. Despite being a mere 1.9% ABV, this beer was darker than mulch and roastier than coffee. We were all dumbfounded to consider how this was possible! I spent a good half hour talking about brewing with Lafayette’s Assistant Brewer, Russ Czajka, who explained to me that the combination of low alcohol and big flavor had been achieved by using a fairly small amount of malts, but mashing at a higher temperature than normal, allowing them to extract a wide variety of flavor components from a light grain bill. It made sense to me: The noticeable, but oddly delicious in this case, tannin flavors in the beer should have tipped me off. I think I refilled my glass eight or nine times while standing at that table.

South of Lafayette’s table was the hallway leading to Nodding Head’s brew rooms, which were vacant enough for us to explore for a few minutes. Tim and I came across a gorgeous little barrel that beckoned us to put our hands on it and feel the power. I’d sure like to know what was in there.

Tim was attracted by the cosmic energy.
Photo credit goes to me for once.

The two-person limit that was imposed on the breweries meant that most companies sent their most knowledgeable people. There were more than a few brewmasters present, along with local beer authors Don Russell and Lew Bryson, beer lass and lovely Sly Fox lady Suzanne from In Pursuit of Ale (warning: MySpace link), and Bobby from Ale Street News. Steph and Tim spent almost half of the fest networking, and Mel and I found several opportunities to put Bathtub Brewery’s URL in a few important hands.

The combination of delicious food, excellent beer, and local luminaries with Nodding Head’s bizarre yet somehow old fashioned atmosphere made for one of the most unique and fun brew fest experiences we’ve ever come across. I cannot recommend the Royal Stumble enough. If you want to come out next year, show up early so you can stake out a good table.

If you can’t make it to next year’s Stumble, then at least pay a visit to Nodding Head for dinner some night. They have some of the most creative brews in the Philly area, and some brilliant food to go with it. It’s easy enough to find: Just take the PATCO train to 15th & 16th, and head south on 16th when you get to street level. Turn left at Sansom, and you’ll see Nodding Head’s entrance tucked behind a cigar shop on the right side of the street about an eighth of a mile up.

Our photo gallery

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Editor’s Note: This was posted on my personal site (Hindrances to Progress) a few weeks ago. I decided it should also exist here. Some of what’s being said may be out of date. For example, Savor was not two weekends ago, because that is not when May 17th was. You get the idea. Anyway.

Savor was two weekends ago, and of course I was there. Together with Steph (my sister), Tim (her husband), and Mel (my girlfriend), we pounded the floors of the Andrew Mellon Auditorium in Washington D.C. until they crumbled under the weight of our thundering enthusiasm, which was an unfair thing for us to do. The building literally fell to rubble.

For the uninitiated, Savor, which was held for the very first time this year, is like an upscale craft brew fest, with special emphasis placed on food and beer pairings. There were 48 breweries present, each exhibiting two of their finest beers. Each beer was paired with one of 30-40 appetizers and desserts.

The typical frat boys and their light-lager sipping blonde girlfriends were nowhere to be seen. The crowds, the noise, the heat — no concern of ours. The traditional pace of waiting in a line, getting a pour, and then hightailing it to the next line while you drank it gave way to a relaxed, thoughtful afternoon of meandering. This event was about far more than sampling unfamiliar brews; every fest I’ve been to prior has handled that just fine. Savor was about appreciation.

The exhibitors almost always had their brewmasters and brewmistresses present at their tables. Craft brewing bigwigs like Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head and Garrett Oliver of The Brooklyn Brewery were there to man their company’s taps. There were even more than a few company presidents there (Mel and I actually spent a good ten minutes talking to the president of Stoudt’s without realizing who she was). Because of this, it was generally perfectly reasonable to ask the person serving your beer, “What can you tell me about this?” and get a detailed answer. This contrasted from most fests where the servers are usually just lower-level employees of the breweries — I made sure to ask every server about what he or she was pouring for me, and very close to all of them had something interesting to say.

The event was incredibly social. For someone like me, who doesn’t tend to do well around strangers, to be in the mood to go around shaking hands with random people and saying such things as “hi,” there needs to be some kind of magic in the air. Okay, maybe I was a little loose from all the beer and food, but you could see on every face in that hall that everybody, brewer and attendee alike, was extremely happy and excited to be there.

It made for a fantastic tasting routine. Spot a beer you want to try, and then wait in no more than a one- or two-person line to get it. Have a few words with the exhibitor while you sip, pick up the food pairing, and finally retreat to one of the nearby tables to enjoy and discuss every tiny detail of the experience with your fellows before moving on to the next one:

“The oak is a lot more subtle than I expected. It’s almost velvety. Ooh, yeah, you’re right, the vanilla notes come out a lot more after you take a bite of the brownie. Is that coriander? It really compliments the duck. Oh, look, it’s Charlie Papazian. Eep! It’s Charlie Papazian!”

Did I neglect to mention?

The High Imperial Granddaddy of homebrewing, Charlie Papazian could be seen all afternoon, wandering the floor, sampling this and that, and basically being his unassuming little self when Steph skipped up to him with her hand out, squeaking, “Hi! I’m Stephanie! I’ve read all your books!”

His response: “Mmf… Muh mouf iff fuww…” This basically made Steph’s weekend.

To most other people, he was just another guy with a STAFF badge on. Those who understood the man’s importance, however, were in for a treat. Getting to stand around and shoot the breeze with possibly the most important person in modern brewing is hard to describe. You could tell that Charlie was having a great time, perfectly content to spend his day eating, drinking, and chatting, and we were all too happy to indulge him.

I think it goes without saying that photos were in order.

Charlie with Steph and Tim. He was relaxed. He was not worried.

And now with me and Mel. Interesting side note: I said, “It’s an honor to meet you,” when I shook Charlie’s hand. I’d never said that to anyone before.

What Savor accomplished above all else was to open, or at least further proliferate, the greater discussion of beer’s place in fine cuisine. Right now, the dialog doesn’t extend far beyond the beer snobs like us, and while Savor won’t have done much to spread the word directly, the people who made the trip to D.C. came away armed with new passion and education with which to create new snobs. Craft beer is a bigger world now because of Savor.

Breweries, Brewfests, Craft Beer, Pairings 1 Comment »

On Saturday, June 21, Ray, his sister Steph, her husband Tim, and I went to the 12th Annual Craft Brewers Festival, hosted on the Battleship New Jersey. We were pumped. A brewfest on a battleship. How could this not be fun?

Ray, Mel, Steph and Tim in front of the Battleship New Jersey.
Photo credit, Stephanie Weber.

Sigh.

Steph had ordered the tickets months ago and we had them in hand. However, the green tickets we had needed to be traded in for another set, so we waited in Line #1 to do that. We were also given stickers that we had to display somewhere on our bodies… stickers that were roughly 3″-4″ in diameter. After chucking them into Ray’s bag, we moved to Line #2, where we had to show the new tickets in order to pick up a coupon for our tasting glasses, and get our wristbands. As we approached the ship, an older woman on the staff with freakishly long aqua blue nails insisted we put on our stickers.

Why couldn’t we have just given them our green tickets?

After a lot of “Are you kidding me?” looks between the 4 of us, we dug the stickers out of Ray’s bag and stuck them on. We then boarded in the hopes of grabbing our tasting glasses and having our first taste of some NJ brews we weren’t familiar with.

Fat chance.

First, we had to tour the battleship… up and down narrow stairs, leading in and out of various rooms, always remembering to lift our feet high enough to clear the top of the doorway. At first we laughed and took the time to check out different aspects of the ship. But that got old quick as we climbed to the top of the ship, and then began to descend. It soon became a race to just get through to the end without falling down any of the steps or tripping. The one plus was that it was a light cardio workout, but that was about it.

FINALLY we made it to the fest, traded in our tasting glass coupons for plastic cups with the words “NJ Beer Goes Here” (it kind of makes me think of a a t-shirt that a middle-aged guy with beer gut would wear). Originally there should have been 16 NJ breweries, live music, and some food. Not all the breweries showed up, and we weren’t too interested in either the music or food.

I don’t feel like rambling about the beers we weren’t too impressed with, but it was nice to see old favorites (Flying Fish, Triumph and River Horse) as well as a few other we hadn’t heard of before, but now after tasting some of their brews, have definitely made a splash on our radar.

So, in no particular order, here are some of our favorites:

• Gaslight Brewery: They had a really tasty Belgian White that had a great flavor that Tim and I recognized as honeysuckle. It totally brought back memories of being a kid in the summer and ransacking the honeysuckle bushes in my yard for the tiny drops of sweet honey.
• Harvest Moon: They had an excellent brew called the Moonlight Kölsch. It had a beautiful pale, cloudy yellow color to it, and was extremely crisp and refreshing. A perfect brew to sip all summer long, especially in the muggy heat. They also served their Moonshine Barleywine, which according to their Web site, “is brewed with dark Munich malt and assorted rich crystal malts, resulting in a big and complex Mahogany beer that is smooth and warming. Bold but balanced hop flavor comes from Chinook and Liberty hops.” We found the hop character to be interesting.
• Basil T’s: Maxwell’s Dry Stout. There weren’t a lot of stouts to be had at this fest, but luckily there was this offering and it was pleasantly roasty. I even managed to hold it long enough to get it up to the right temperature!
• River Horse: They had their Summer Blonde and one of their Brewer’s Reserves, a Belgian Double White known as “W2″. Ray and I had been fortunate to pick up a 6-pack of the Summer Blonde previously, so we already knew how good that was, and the Double White was excellent. Beer for beer, River Horse has never disappointed us.
• Flying Fish: The 3 beers they had available we already had before: Hopfish, ESB, and Farmhouse Summer Ale. I’m not a huge fan of the Farmhouse (a little underwhelming for my tastes) but I know Ray likes it. Their ESB is solid, as is the majority of their other beer that was not featured (we’re HUGE fans of their Grand Cru Winter Reserve and the Imperial Espresso Porter).

Regarding Harvest Moon’s barleywine: I’m a big fan of barleywines, and this might now be one of my favorites. It had this nice, smooth hop flavor to it, and it finished roasty, which I thought was pleasantly unusual for this style. I hope I can find it in our local liquor store!

Tun Tavern was also there, and they had a fantastic hefeweizen at their table. Next to that, they had also brought a case of a super-alcoholic special reserve that I cannot seem to recall the name or style of right now. It tasted like a plain ol’ malt beer (i.e. un-hopped). I enjoyed it, but felt that it was overaged and could use a little dry hopping. Tim loved it, though. To each his own!

However, despite these good brews, I must make a mention of Pizzeria Uno: They need to just stick to pizzas. I had an underwhelming Porter, but I can’t remember what Steph and Tim had. However, I will always have burned into the memory of my tastebuds the unfortunate Maibock Ray had. I took a sip and made an awful face, even worse than the face I made after trying scotch for the first time.

This beer was simply BAD, as in something very wrong with it. Did they use tomato sauce? I mean, god, it was awful, and I even LIKE sour beer.

It was almost as if the malts that they used had been smoked with dried oregano. I can’t imagine how anybody could have thought that monstrosity tasted good.

Enough about that.

Though the fest ran from 12PM-4PM, we were done by 2 PM, and that has NEVER happened before. We took some time to talk to Joe Sixpack, and I purchased an autographed copy of his book. More on that later. After that, we hightailed it home.

Simply put: We learned that cramming 750+ people onto a battleship on a hot day in NJ is not a wise idea. Neither is having too few brewers to keep things interested. Oh well. Lesson learned.

All four of us agreed on this: The fest was just poorly done from head to toe. Yeah, we found some new beers that we enjoyed, but the massive (and often rude) crowds coupled with the tepid beer selection removed any chance that we could have gotten our money’s worth out of it.

So cramped! Photo credit, Stephanie Weber.

Breweries, Brewfests, Craft Beer 2 Comments »