Congratulations to Rhinegeist Brewery which jumped into the 33rd slot on the list of the Brewers Association top 50 brewers based on sales volume. The next closest brewery to our area on the list is Great Lakes in Cleveland which comes in at number 20.
Author: dclayton
26 Interesting Facts About Beer (Mental Floss)
2009 Great American Beer Festival Gold Winners
The Great American Beer Festival (GABF) was held in Denver last weekend – congratulations to all the winners (Gold are listed below). For the full listing, follow the link at the bottom. Anyone looking for a gift idea for me, just look below (except for the first entry).
| Brewery | Beer | State | Category |
| Anheuser-Busch, Inc. | Budweiser Select | MO | American Style Light Lager |
| Arcadia Brewing Co. | Cereal Killer Barleywine | MI | Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer |
| Avery Brewing Co. | The Kaiser | CO | German Style Doppelbock or Eisbock |
| Barley Island Brewing Co. | Dirty Helen Brown Ale | IN | American Style Brown Ale |
| Bear Republic Factory Five | Racer 5 IPA | CA | American-Style Strong Pale Ale |
| Beaver St. Brewery | Big Rapid Red | AZ | Ordinary or Special Bitter |
| Blackstone Brewing Co. | St. Charles Porter | TN | Brown Porter |
| Blind Tiger Brewery & Restaurant | County Seat Wheat | KS | American-Style Wheat Beer |
| Boulevard Brewing Co | ZON | MO | Belgian-Style Witbier |
| Breakwater Brewing Co. | Raspberry Creek | CA | Fruit Beer or Field Beer |
| Captain Lawrence Brewing Co | Rosso e Marrone | NY | American-Style Sour Ale |
| Cascade Brewery Co. LLC | Bourbonic Plague | OR | Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer |
| Chama River Brewing Co. | Herbal Joe’s Columbarillo IPA | NM | Pro-Am Competition |
| Choc Beer Co. | Signature Dubbel | OK | Belgian-Style Abbey Ale |
| Chuckanut Brewery | Dunkel | WA | European Style Dunkel |
| Chuckanut Brewery | Vienna Lager | WA | Vienna Style Lager |
| Cigar City Brewing | Humidor Series IPA | FL | Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer |
| Coors Brewing Co. | Keystone Ice | CO | American Style Specialty Lager |
| Coors Brewing Co. | Coors Banquet | CO | American-Style Lager or Premium Lager |
| Devil’s Backbone Brewing Co. | Gold Leaf Lager | VA | International-Style Pilsener |
| Dogfish Head Brewery | Chateau Jiahu | DE | Specialty Beer |
| Dry Dock Brewing Co. | Bismarck Altbier | CO | German Style Altbier |
| Durango Brewing Co. | Durango Colorfest | CO | American Style Amber Lager |
| Erie Brewing Co | Railbender Ale | PA | Scottish Style Ale |
| Firestone Walker Brewing Co. | Union Jack | CA | American-Style India Pale Ale |
| Flying Dog Brewery | Horn Dog Vintage 2007 | MD | Aged Beer |
| Flying Dog Brewery | Dogtoberfest | MD | German Style Märzen |
| Flying Dog Brewery | Gonzo Imperial Porter | MD | Imperial Stout |
| Flying Fish Brewing Co. | Exit 4 | NJ | American-Belgo-Style Ale |
| Full Sail Brewing at Riverplace | Session Black Premium Lager | OR | American-Style Dark Lager |
| Gella’s Diner and Lb. Brewing Co. | Liberty Stout | KS | American-Style Stout |
| Glenwood Canyon Brewing Co. | Cardiff | CO | Other Strong Beer |
| Grand Teton Brewing Co. | Sweetgrass IPA | ID | American Style Pale Ale |
| Great American Restaurants | Crazy Jackass Ale | VA | Rye Beer |
| Hopworks Urban Brewery | Organic Ace of Spades Imperial IPA | OR | Imperial India Pale Ale |
| Hopworks Urban Brewery | Organic Rise Up Red | OR | American Style Amber/Red Ale |
| Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant | Schwarzbier | DE | German Style Schwarzbier |
| Laurelwood Brewing Co. | Space Stout | OR | Foreign Style Stout |
| Left Hand Brewing Co. | Smokejumper | CO | Smoked Beer |
| Magnolia Gastropub & Brewery | Sara’s Ruby Mild | CA | English Style Mild Ale |
| Marin Brewing Co. | Pt. Reyes Porter | CA | Robust Porter |
| McKenzie Brew House | Saison Vautour | PA | French- and Belgian Style Saison |
| Miller Brewing Co. | Milwaukee’s Best | CO | American-Style Cream Ale or Lager |
| Montana Brewing Co. | Stillwater Rye | MT | Herb and Spice or Chocolate Beer |
| Otter Creek Brewing/Wolaver’s Organic Ales | Vermont Lager | VT | Bohemian Style Pilsener |
| Piece Brewery | Top Heavy Hefeweizen | IL | South German Style Hefeweizen |
| Pizza Port Carlsbad | Beech Street Bitter | CA | English-Style India Pale Ale |
| Pizza Port Carlsbad | Revelations | CA | Belgian Style Strong Specialty Ale |
| Pizza Port Carlsbad | Cow Stout | CA | Sweet Stout |
| Pizza Port Carlsbad | Reed’s Wee Heavy | CA | Scotch Ale |
| Pizza Port San Clemente | Ernest’s Silky Smoove | CA | Oatmeal Stout |
| Pizza Port Solana Beach | Shark Attack | CA | Imperial Red Ale |
| Pyramid Breweries | Haywire Hefeweizen | WA | American-Style Wheat Beer With Yeast |
| Pyramid Breweries | Mactarnahan’s Amber | WA | Classic English Style Pale Ale |
| Redhook Ales – Woodinville | ESB | WA | Extra Special Bitter or Strong Bitter |
| RJ Rockers Brewing Co. | Light Rock Ale | SC | English-Style Summer Ale |
| Rock Bottom Brewery – Arlington | Dude! Where’s My Vespa? | VA | Coffee Flavored Beer |
| Rock Bottom Brewery – La Jolla | Longboard Brown | CA | English Style Brown Ale |
| Rock Bottom Brewery – Milwaukee | 106 Pilsner | WI | German-Style Pilsener |
| Saint Arnold Brewing Co. | Saint Arnold Summer Pils | TX | Munich Style Helles |
| Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. | Kolsch | CA | German Style Kölsch |
| Silver City Brewery | Old Scrooge ‘98 | WA | Old Ale or Strong Ale |
| Silver City Brewery | Ridgetop Red | WA | Irish Style Red Ale |
| Southampton Publick House | Berliner Weisse | NY | German-Style Sour Ale |
| Starr Hill Brewery | Dark Starr Stout | VA | Classic Irish Style Dry Stout |
| The Alchemist | Celia Framboise | VT | Gluten Free Beer |
| The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery, Inc. | Duck-Rabbit Baltic Porter | NC | Baltic-Style Porter |
| The Lost Abbey | Carnevale | CA | Belgian and French-Style Ale |
| The Lost Abbey | Duck Duck Gooze | CA | Belgian-Style Lambic or Sour Ale |
| The SandLot | Move Back | CO | Dortmunder or German-Style Oktoberfest |
| Thunder Canyon Brewery | Countdown Honey Brown | AZ | Specialty Honey Beer |
| Trinity Brewing Co | TPS Report | CO | Experimental Beer |
| Triumph Brewing Co. of New Hope | Hefeweizen | PA | German-Style Wheat Ale |
| Triumph Brewing Co. of Philadelphia | KinderPils | PA | Session Beer |
| Troegs Brewing Co. | Troegenator | PA | Bock |
| Tustin Brewing Co. | Golden Spike | CA | Golden or Blonde Ale |
| Uncle Billy’s Brew & Que | Hell In Keller | TX | Kellerbier/Zwickelbier |
| Valley Brewing Co. | Old Inventory Barley Wine | CA | Barley Wine Style Ale |
| Widmer Brothers Brewing | W ‘10 | OR | Out of Category – Traditionally Brewed Beer |
http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/medals/medalists.aspx
Indiana Microbrewers Festival
Thanks to a couple of friends dragging me, and paying much of the way, I was able to visit the Indiana Microbrewers Festival in Indianapolis this past Saturday, July 18.
The Good
- No limit on the number of tastings.
- Great weather – slightly overcast with a high of 70. Who wants to drink outside in the summer heat?
- Well over 50 brewers (mostly from Indiana) – most present themselves, a few via distributors. There were between 250-400 different brews to sample, making it impossible to sample every one on my list.
- Almost every brew was on tap, no bottles!
- Lots of swag to be had – mostly key chains and coasters.
- Designated driver tickets – with free soft drinks and water.
- Full layout of the festival including a listing of every beer was available in advance of the event.
- The event was a benefit for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and Optimist International.
- Firkin Tent! A tent full of cask conditioned brews – o’ my!
The Bad
- Parking, or lack thereof. Get there early.
- Smoking was supposed to be away from the tents, but in practice it was everywhere. Aroma is such a huge factor in taste, why anyone would want any distractions from this is beyond me.
- Size of the crowd. The event was four hours long and during most of the event you were in line. Get a beer, run and get in the next line – then enjoy your taste.
- Logistics. The lines and crowds overlapped, making navigating extremely difficult. You often could not figure out which line went to which brewer. Most of the crowd did not seem to care, as they could rarely tell us which brewer they were in line for. They really need to limit the crowd more, or do some serious work on the layout.
- Food – although there was food available, the quality was dubious and it was an extra cost.
- Non-alcoholic drinks were available for designated drivers, but cost $2 for drinkers. Do you really want to encourage drinkers not to hydrate? Water should have been freely available. You also had to hunt down the single location in the back of the event to get the drinks.
- No early entry – they opened the gate at 3:00pm, not a minute early. Not much of a problem for us, as we were fairly close to the beginning of the line, but I felt sorry for those in the back as they must have missed the first half hour, or more, of the event.
- Port-o-lets with very long lines. Chalk this up to a necessary evil of an outdoor event.
The Brews
You can find a mostly complete listing of what I tasted below. But I must, yes must, point out three that demand notice. First, most of you have probably had a Dogfish Head 120 (the best IPA ever) – but very few of you have had it on tap. I encourage everyone out there to hunt down an establishment and try this extraordinary pour. Second, drive to the Upland Brewery in Indiana and have one of the best stouts ever made – Chocolate Stout aged in a 23 year old Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon Barrel. And third, if you ever have heard of Three Floyd’s Dark Lord you certainly know the hype this beer generates. It can only be purchased from the brewery on a single day each year – and you have to buy a ticket to get the right to buy the beer. Now that I have tasted it I can assure you the hype is real – this is indeed the best beer you will ever have. Get on the lottery list now for next years Dark Lord Day.
Alphabetically listed (brewer – brew – rating from 1 to 10):
- Alcatraz Brewing – 1 3/4 Belgian – 8
- Barley Island Brewing – Single White Friar – 8
- Broad Ripple Brewpub – Hefwiesen – 5
- Brugge Brasserie – Bruno – 5
- Brugge Brasserie – Tripple De Ripple – 5
- Brugge Brasserie – Voyageur IPA – 5
- Dogfish Head – 120 IPA – 10
- Granite City – Brothers Benedict Bock – 4
- Hoppin’ Frog – Boris Stout – 7
- Lafayette Brewing – 1998 Big Boris Barleywine – 9
- Lafayette Brewing – 2008 Big Boris Barleywine – 6
- Mishawaka Brewing – Four Horsemen Irish Ale – 2
- New Albanian Brewing – Scotch Cask Condition Community Dark Mild – 2
- Schmaltz – He’Brew ReJEWvenator – 8
- Shoreline Brewery – Beltaine Scottish Ale – 4
- Southampton – Saison – 5
- Three Floyds – Dark Lord – 10
- Three Floyds – Gorch Fock Helles – 4
- Two Brothers – Oh! Brother Belgian Triple
- Upland – Bourbon Barrel Chocolate Stout – 10
- Upland – Rad Red – 4
- 21st Amendment – Hell or High Watermelon – 6
Jungle Jim’s Spring Beer Fest
Last Friday was Jungle Jim’s Fourth Annual International Beer Fest – and I had been waiting a long time for this one. First off, a tip of the hat to all those at Jungle Jim’s for organizing this and to all of the brewers for participating and answering all of our questions. Thanks also to Rib City Grill for providing the yummy barbecue.
This years event had over 800 attendees, almost double that of last years event (or so I was told). There were also double the brewers in attendance. It is great to see the love of beer, and craft beers in particular, growing in the Cincinnati area.
The unexpected stand out award this year goes to Sam Adams for their Imperial White. Although Sam Adams makes a pretty damn good line-up, rarely have any been stellar – this one is.
The best new brewer find goes to Brew Dog. If you look at what goes into this Scottish brewers selections you may find yourself shying away – don’t. Their dogma is an interesting, complex, and easily drinkable ale. Their stout was superb. And the Storm? what can I say about this Scotch barrel aged IPA – you need to try it for yourself.
Unibroue again surprised me – how does such a large brewer make such great beers? I am adding the Don De Dieu and La Fin Du Monde to my stock keeping the always wonderful Trois Pistoles company.
My personally favorite of the night goes to Verhaeghe for their Duchesse De Bourgogne – a simply perfect Belgian sour.
And the beer you need to run out and get now? Shiner Bock’s 100 Commemorator – this delicious limited run beer won’t be around long.
My sampling is below – in no particular order (rating in parenthesis from 1-10). Please keep in mind that this was not a tasting, but a festival – ratings are rough. I plan to re-visit those brews that rated high and give them a more controlled tasting. You will notice that most of these were obscure – all were beers I had never had before.
- Bear Republic – Big Bear Stout (6)
- Bear Republic – Hop Rod Rye (6)
- Bear Republic – Red Rocket Ale (3)
- Brew Dog Brewery – Dogma (6)
- Brew Dog Brewery – Riptide Stout (7)
- Brew Dog Brewery – Storm (7)
- Coopers Brewing Co. – Stout (3)
- Coopers Brewing Co. – Vintage (6)
- Van Den Bossche – Buffalo Belgian Stout (7)
- Brouwerij Lindemans – Framboise (3)
- Brasserie d’rval – Orval (4)
- Sam Adams – Imperial White (9)
- Thirsty Dog – Old Leghumper (8)
- Thirsty Dog – Siberian Night (6)
- Unibroue – Don De Dieu (8)
- Unibroue – La Fin Du Monde (8)
- Wooden Shoe – Bock (4)
- Warbird – Shanty Irish (7)
- Anchor – Small Beer (6)
- Hook and Ladder – Pipe and Drum Irish Ale (7)
- Hook and Ladder – Backdraft (7)
- Shiner Bock – Commemorator 100 (8)
- Verhaeghe – Duchesse De Bourgogne (9)
Overall this event was fantastic and I look forward to June 18 2010 for the fifth annual event. But not all was perfect. Due to the large number of attendees their were no tables to sit at – I hate to eat standing up. The large number of attendees also made it extremely difficult to move about at times and made the overall noise level very high (you could not hear Ed announcing the prize winners). As you can see above I got to try plenty of brews, but the three hour time limit made me feel very rushed. Another hour or two would have made it a much more relaxed event and would have allowed me more time between drinks to eat, snack, and sober up. At the end of the night I also felt rushed/pushed out the door promptly at ten – last year we were allowed to stick around and relax. But I have no doubt the team at Jungle Jim’s is already working on ways to fix these issues.
A friend of mine was the unofficial photographer for the event – check out his photos here and his homebrew blog here.
That’s all for this year. Again a big thanks to the Jungle Jim’s team – bravo! And if you were there, let me know what you think and what brews I should have had that I missed.