1030-1040. The American Craft Beer Fest Part I
Published by Unknown on Friday, July 31, 2009 at 9:30 AM.
I missed the first American Craft Beer Fest last year, and was eager to go to this year's ACBF. Like the Extreme Beer Fest this was another multi-person event. Jadyn and I went with people from lab, other grad students and Bennett.
I wasn't sure what to expect from the larger format and venue, but in the end there were both pros and cons. The biggest advantage to the fest was by far the huge selection of beer available. I haven't counted, but the fest claimed to have 75+ brewers and 300+ beers, which was easily the case. There was a good regional representation from big name breweries like Brooklyn, and Allagash, as well as from smaller regional breweries like Honest Town and Cambridge House. The selection of breweries from other parts of the country was more limited, but still good. My guess is that 2/3 were from the northeast, and 1/3 were from other parts of the country.
The venue was much larger than the Cyclorama. This allowed more brewers, but also more people. It seemed about as crowded as the smaller fests, but the lines seemed much longer. Though the line to get on seemed to move much more quickly. The lack of tables at the venue was another inconvenience. I didn't have any food at this fest, but Jadyn said the choices were much more limited and of lower quality than at the Cyclorama. She speculated that the choice of food and vendors was dictated by the venue. The bathrooms were another big negative; there was only a long row of portable toilets outside the venue.
Overall I prefer the smaller fests held at the cyclorama. The beer selection is more limited, but the venue and food are much nicer. I'll go back to the ACBF next year, but I'll appreciate the fests at the Cyclorama more.
As usual, my notes are abbreviated and probably inaccurate, especially towards the end of the fest.
1030. Sour Wench Blackberry Ale
Beer Stats:
Brewery: Ballast Point Brewing Company
Alcohol: 5.40%
Style: Fruit Beer, BJCP Style Guide
I love sour beers, so I looked through the beer list ahead of time to pick out the sour beers that I wanted to try. This was the only one that looked promising. It poured a clear, reddish purple, and was topped by a pinkish head. The aroma was fruity with notes of blackberry and a mild graininess. The berry fruitiness was the dominant element in this beer with a mild grainy backbone. The sourness was only limited to that contributed by the blackberries. I was disappointed, mainly since I expected a much more sour beer.
1031. Brew Free! or Die IPA
Beer Stats:
Brewery: 21st Amendment Brewery
Alcohol: 7.20%
Style: American IPA, BJCP Style Guide
Pours a hazy copper color. The aroma has a mild resiny hop character. There's a breadyness to the malt backbone upfront that's met by a good, resiny, hop bitterness.
1032. Hell or High Watermelon Wheat Beer
Beer Stats:
Brewery: 21st Amendment Brewery
Alcohol: 5.20%
Style: Fruit Beer, BJCP Style Guide
Pours a pale straw color. The smell is grainy with subtle notes of watermelon. There's a little bit of a sour kick initially, followed by strong watermelon fruitiness, and a grainy finish.
1033. Allagash Victoria Ale
Beer Stats:
Brewery: Allagash Brewing Company
Alcohol: 9.00%
Style: Belgian Strong Pale Ale, BJCP Style Guide
Pours a pale, golden straw color. The aroma was yeasty with a grape fruitiness to it. Mildly sweet malts and a sharp, grape fruitiness in the finish.
1034. Imperial Skibsøl
Beer Stats:
Brewery: Cambridge Brewing Company
Alcohol: 6.30%
Style: Smoked Beer, BJCP Style Guide
This beer is an "Imperial Smoked Lager" brewed collaboratively by teh CBC and a Danish brewery. It pours a clear brown, with an orange tinted head. An initial malty, caramel sweetness moves quickly into a very strong, smokey finish. The sample was almost too much to finish, I can't imagine being able to finish a pint of this stuff.
1035. Confounded Mr. Sisyphus
Beer Stats:
Brewery: Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project
Alcohol: 7.00%
Style: Belgian Pale Ale, BJCP Style Guide
Pours a cloudy, golden, straw color. The aroma is fruity, with predominant notes of banana. There's a mildly sweet, bready maltiness, as well as a good bit of banana fruitiness. The cherries seem to be a minor component of the overall flavor.
1036. JuJu Ginger Ale
Beer Stats:
Brewery: Left Hand Brewing Company
Alcohol: 4.00%
Style: Herbed/Spiced Beer, BJCP Style Guide
Pours a clear, copper-tinted golden. The aroma is a nice mixture of caramel malts and ginger spiciness. A mild malty sweetness upfront moves into a strong, ginger spice.
1037. Sierra Nevada Brown Saison
Beer Stats:
Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Alcohol: 7.85%
Style: Saison / Farmhouse Ale, BJCP Style Guide
Pours a clear, brown color. The aroma has strong roasted notes with a hint of fruitiness. There's a nice strong fruitiness with a roasty finish. I thought this was a nice beer.
1038. Northern Lights
Beer Stats:
Brewery: Sixpoint Craft Ales
Alcohol: 7.00%
Style: Saison / Farmhouse Ale, BJCP Style Guide
Pours a hazy copper. The aroma is mildly fruity, with hints of graininess and a mild phenolic character. There are initial grainy flavors, which moves into a mildy fruity center with a sharp finish.
1039. Brooklyn Cuvée de Cardoz
Beer Stats:
Brewery: Brooklyn Brewery
Alcohol: 8.50%
Style: Belgian Strong Pale Ale, BJCP Style Guide
This beer is spiced with ginger, tamarind, mace, black pepper, coriander, fennel, fenugreek, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, chilies, toasted coconut. This beer pours a clear, straw color. The aroma is a mix of sweet fruitiness and a strong spiciness. There's a nice coconut sweetness that melds with an intensely spicy finish. Given the list of spices, I was surprised that this was as tasty as it was.
1040. Brooklyn Intensified Coffee Stout
Beer Stats:
Brewery: Brooklyn Brewery
Alcohol: 8.00%
Style: American Double Stout
Pours a deep black. The aroma of coffee is dominant. A sweet chocolate flavor upfront moves into a roasted, chocolate and coffee finish.
I wasn't sure what to expect from the larger format and venue, but in the end there were both pros and cons. The biggest advantage to the fest was by far the huge selection of beer available. I haven't counted, but the fest claimed to have 75+ brewers and 300+ beers, which was easily the case. There was a good regional representation from big name breweries like Brooklyn, and Allagash, as well as from smaller regional breweries like Honest Town and Cambridge House. The selection of breweries from other parts of the country was more limited, but still good. My guess is that 2/3 were from the northeast, and 1/3 were from other parts of the country.
The venue was much larger than the Cyclorama. This allowed more brewers, but also more people. It seemed about as crowded as the smaller fests, but the lines seemed much longer. Though the line to get on seemed to move much more quickly. The lack of tables at the venue was another inconvenience. I didn't have any food at this fest, but Jadyn said the choices were much more limited and of lower quality than at the Cyclorama. She speculated that the choice of food and vendors was dictated by the venue. The bathrooms were another big negative; there was only a long row of portable toilets outside the venue.
Overall I prefer the smaller fests held at the cyclorama. The beer selection is more limited, but the venue and food are much nicer. I'll go back to the ACBF next year, but I'll appreciate the fests at the Cyclorama more.
As usual, my notes are abbreviated and probably inaccurate, especially towards the end of the fest.
1030. Sour Wench Blackberry Ale
Beer Stats:
Brewery: Ballast Point Brewing Company
Alcohol: 5.40%
Style: Fruit Beer, BJCP Style Guide
I love sour beers, so I looked through the beer list ahead of time to pick out the sour beers that I wanted to try. This was the only one that looked promising. It poured a clear, reddish purple, and was topped by a pinkish head. The aroma was fruity with notes of blackberry and a mild graininess. The berry fruitiness was the dominant element in this beer with a mild grainy backbone. The sourness was only limited to that contributed by the blackberries. I was disappointed, mainly since I expected a much more sour beer.
1031. Brew Free! or Die IPA
Beer Stats:
Brewery: 21st Amendment Brewery
Alcohol: 7.20%
Style: American IPA, BJCP Style Guide
Pours a hazy copper color. The aroma has a mild resiny hop character. There's a breadyness to the malt backbone upfront that's met by a good, resiny, hop bitterness.
1032. Hell or High Watermelon Wheat Beer
Beer Stats:
Brewery: 21st Amendment Brewery
Alcohol: 5.20%
Style: Fruit Beer, BJCP Style Guide
Pours a pale straw color. The smell is grainy with subtle notes of watermelon. There's a little bit of a sour kick initially, followed by strong watermelon fruitiness, and a grainy finish.
1033. Allagash Victoria Ale
Beer Stats:
Brewery: Allagash Brewing Company
Alcohol: 9.00%
Style: Belgian Strong Pale Ale, BJCP Style Guide
Pours a pale, golden straw color. The aroma was yeasty with a grape fruitiness to it. Mildly sweet malts and a sharp, grape fruitiness in the finish.
1034. Imperial Skibsøl
Beer Stats:
Brewery: Cambridge Brewing Company
Alcohol: 6.30%
Style: Smoked Beer, BJCP Style Guide
This beer is an "Imperial Smoked Lager" brewed collaboratively by teh CBC and a Danish brewery. It pours a clear brown, with an orange tinted head. An initial malty, caramel sweetness moves quickly into a very strong, smokey finish. The sample was almost too much to finish, I can't imagine being able to finish a pint of this stuff.
1035. Confounded Mr. Sisyphus
Beer Stats:
Brewery: Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project
Alcohol: 7.00%
Style: Belgian Pale Ale, BJCP Style Guide
Pours a cloudy, golden, straw color. The aroma is fruity, with predominant notes of banana. There's a mildly sweet, bready maltiness, as well as a good bit of banana fruitiness. The cherries seem to be a minor component of the overall flavor.
1036. JuJu Ginger Ale
Beer Stats:
Brewery: Left Hand Brewing Company
Alcohol: 4.00%
Style: Herbed/Spiced Beer, BJCP Style Guide
Pours a clear, copper-tinted golden. The aroma is a nice mixture of caramel malts and ginger spiciness. A mild malty sweetness upfront moves into a strong, ginger spice.
1037. Sierra Nevada Brown Saison
Beer Stats:
Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Alcohol: 7.85%
Style: Saison / Farmhouse Ale, BJCP Style Guide
Pours a clear, brown color. The aroma has strong roasted notes with a hint of fruitiness. There's a nice strong fruitiness with a roasty finish. I thought this was a nice beer.
1038. Northern Lights
Beer Stats:
Brewery: Sixpoint Craft Ales
Alcohol: 7.00%
Style: Saison / Farmhouse Ale, BJCP Style Guide
Pours a hazy copper. The aroma is mildly fruity, with hints of graininess and a mild phenolic character. There are initial grainy flavors, which moves into a mildy fruity center with a sharp finish.
1039. Brooklyn Cuvée de Cardoz
Beer Stats:
Brewery: Brooklyn Brewery
Alcohol: 8.50%
Style: Belgian Strong Pale Ale, BJCP Style Guide
This beer is spiced with ginger, tamarind, mace, black pepper, coriander, fennel, fenugreek, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, chilies, toasted coconut. This beer pours a clear, straw color. The aroma is a mix of sweet fruitiness and a strong spiciness. There's a nice coconut sweetness that melds with an intensely spicy finish. Given the list of spices, I was surprised that this was as tasty as it was.
1040. Brooklyn Intensified Coffee Stout
Beer Stats:
Brewery: Brooklyn Brewery
Alcohol: 8.00%
Style: American Double Stout
Pours a deep black. The aroma of coffee is dominant. A sweet chocolate flavor upfront moves into a roasted, chocolate and coffee finish.
Labels: Beer Fests
