American Craft Beer Fest

Sorry, reader(s?) that this post is so highly delayed in its arrival. But behold:

THE WRITEUP OF THE BEERADVOCATE AMERICAN CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL!

Nick and I, along with a mutual friend from college and TheLadyFriend, attended aforementioned festival on Saturday June 21. Nick and I have experienced a few beer festivals, while our companions were both rookies. We came in, however, with a well-developed plan of attack: we would try many beers, but finish very few of our 2 oz. pours, choosing to drink only the truly excellent ones and the last few of the festival.

So, in no particular order, (though it is actually alpha by brewery,) I give you abbreviated reviews of… THE BEERS… or at least the ones I tried:

Bear Republic Brewing Company Hop Rod Rye—this is a VERY highly ranked beer on BeerAdvocate, so I was really looking forward to it. Honestly, it was nothing special—good, but a bit too heavy on the rye. I wouldn’t really recommend it.

Berkshire Brewing Company Marzen—billed as a “Strong German Lager,” this was a pretty good beer. Light, with a little bit of sugar throughout, this would make a pretty solid session brew—tasty, not too alcoholic (6.8%), and highly drinkable.

Blue Moon Chardonnay Blonde—an experimental brew from everyone’s favorite fake mega-owned microbrewery. Not bad, but barely any discernible taste difference from the regular ol’ Blue Moon. If you like Blue Moon (I do,) try this (I did). You’ll like it (I did,) and may even notice a slight extra grape/citrus kick (I did), but no promises whether you’ll like it. (I did.)

Samuel Adams Barleywine—All I jotted down on this beer (and remember how much I love anything Sam Adams,) was “Textbook.” This was a barleywine’s barleywine. If there were a dog show of beer, where individual entrants were judged based on how closely they matched the description of the archetypal beer of their category, this would win the barleywine category.

Sam Adams Sahti—a pretty cool Finnish beer, brewed with Juniper. I’d had it before on the brewery tour, but it’s still really nice. The juniper is not overwhelming (and as I understand it, is brewed in an employee’s backyard, hence the small batches,) and really adds a nice kick to an otherwise tasty but unremarkable beer. I’ll keep hoping they find a reliable juniper source.

Then, we get to the Brewery Ommegang; they of the cool Belgian twists. They brought seven offerings to the festival, and as they were my last stop of the day, I tried them all.

Hennepin Farmhouse Ale: a Saison with good balance and spice—another dogshow winner, for sure.

Abbey Ale: for a Belgian dubbel, surprisingly flat… not much of the texture and fun that marks the good Belgians, but nevertheless a tasty beer.

Biere de Mars: This one had a KICK to it. Presumably, Ommegang was going for some sort of red-hot flavor in reference to the red planet. While it wasn’t spicy by any means, there were some cool spice flavors going on. One of my two favorite offerings from one of my favorite breweries.

Ommegeddon: this was the other of my two favorites. A pretty classic Belgian with nice banana and clove going on, as well as that fantastic bubble gum pop that only the best Belgians provide. A beer worth drinking over and over again.

Witte: Ommegang goes for a traditional witbier—and succeed admirably. Nothing exemplary or unique, but a beer without any shortfall. I would’ve loved to have a lemon or orange around to get the full experience.

Rar Vos Amber: Ommegang’s weakest offering, but still a nice beer. This one’s a Belgian Amber without too much flavor on it, but the flavor that is there is quite nice.

Three Philosophers: do I need to say anything about this beer? It’s Ommegang’s flagship, and it’s fantastic, and it’s a classic. If you haven’t tried it, it’s tricky to call yourself a beer lover—it’s one of the essentials, and for good reason.

Cambridge Brewing Company Arquebus 2008—I have to be honest…. CBC seldom makes me very happy. I’ve hated EVERY beer of theirs I’ve tasted. Except this one. This was a tremendously good barleywine—not too sweet, not too syrupy, well balanced and crisp.

Cape Ann Fisherman’s Greenhorn Double IPA—reviewed elsewhere on this site. Just to reiterate: if you like Hops, you should befriend this beer immediately.

Fisherman’s Tea Party Barleywine—a pretty neat story. The brewery found a “tea historian” (can you imagine how boring that job would be?) and found out what kind of tea was chucked into the harbor during the Boston Tea Party—they then brewed a barleywine with that variety of tea. While not great, this was surprisingly good—it was very much like a less potent Sam Adams Utopia.

Clipper City Small Craft Warning—these guys make a great beer in their “Red Sky at Night,” but the Small Craft Warning, billed as an Imperial Pilsner, leaves something to be desired… it’s exceedingly watery, and I tasted almost nothing. At 7%, that may make it an excellent way to get loaded.

Flying Dog Double Dog—billed as a double pale ale, this one’s more like a triple-hopped hopfest. FANTASTIC, if you like hops.

Harpoon Old Rusty’s Red Rye Ale (100 Barrel Series)—I like Harpoon, usually, so I don’t want to badmouth them much… let’s just say it’s good they only made 100 barrels of this.

Harpoon Leviathan Triticus Wheatwine—ever tasted nail polish remover? Now you have.

High and Mighty Brewing Company Beer of the Gods—with a name like that, I was expecting great things, and it delivered. An exceptionally clean taste, despite the complex and diverse spices riding along the wheat.

High and Mighty Brewing Company Purity of Essence—perhaps a little too pure. I didn’t taste much of anything (including hops) in this “Hoppy Unfiltered Lager”.

Legacy Hoptimus Prime DIPA—for a double IPA, there were no hops in this beer. Hell, for a non-IPA, there were very few hops in this beer. Good name, though.

Mad River Steelhead Scotch Porter—I’m always up for a beer that claims to have struck a balance between a Scotch Ale and a Porter. And now I know why… this beer tasted a little bit like a caramel ice cream sundae. Only with alcohol. Delicious!

Magic Hat Berliner Weisse—this was actually the first brewery we visited, as we wanted to beat the lines that Magic Hat inevitable draws with its consistently exciting and excellent brews. I’m not entirely clear why this was an “experimental” brew, but it certainly is well made—a solid witbier with unusually clean flavor. So clean, in fact, that Magic Hat had several optional mix-ins. I opted for the sweet woodruff, which left my beer with a powerful, but not excessive sweet flavor. It was, as Nick described it, a bit like drinking Lucky Charms. A good beer, with or without the woodruff.

Otter Creek Otter-San—as part of their series of beers following the adventures of their lovable otter mascot around the world through different beer styles, Otter Creek brings us a Sake infused ale. Basically, this tasted like Sake, with no detectable hint of beer. Unfortunate, as it’s a neat idea from a brewery that has some excellent regular offerings.

Pennichuck Shouboushi Ginger Pilsner—also from the weird beer additives department comes another glass of water masquerading as beer. Explain to me how you lose the flavor of ginger in beer. I don’t understand—again, a huge disappointment on a novel concept from a frequently excellent brewery.

Port Brewing Company Hop 15—finally, a beer that claims to be hoppy and delivers. Billed as a double IPA, but I’d say it’s more of a 2.5 IPA—nice variety on the hops, and a well hidden 9.5%. A fantastic beer for a hot day.



Rock Art Jasmine Pale Ale—we ran into Rock Art’s brewer, a really nice guy, who suggested we stop by and try the Jasmine. It’s an herbed pale ale brewed with jasmine, leading to a very easily drinkable ale with hints of iced tea… a great beer if you’re looking for something to sip cold on a hot day.

Rock Art Sunny and 75—not to overuse the dogshow analogy, but this wins the Belgian White category at my fantasy beer dogshow.

Rock Bottom Cinco de Mayo Lager—this beer claims to be brewed with jalapenos. While this doesn’t mean you expect the best beer ever, it means you expect something interesting, or at least something you can taste. This was, however, indistinguishable from water. Coupled with Nick’s previous jalapeno beer experience, I may pronounce a categorical rule: jalapenos do not belong in beer.

Sixpoint Stout—I’m not nuts about Sixpoint, and this festival did not give me much of a reason to change my mind. The stout was a usual microbrew stout—it tasted burned, oily, and smoked. Ugh.

Sixpoint Emasculator—should be called Sixpoint Emasculator… for its claims of being a dopplebock, this beer has almost no flavor.

Sixpoint Hop Obama—Sixpoint’s shining moment. While badly misnamed, this “indefinable” brew featured a number of excellent and complex flavors, but remained surprisingly drinkable. Almost no hops, however.

Southern Tier Brewing Company—as Nick and I have discussed, this is rapidly becoming our favorite brewery. Their offerings:

Big Red—badly named. This Imperial Red should be named “Enormous and Delicious Red.”

Cherry Saison—possibly the best beer at the festival—the cherries don’t hit until the very end of the beer, which is otherwise an excellent saison, but that flavor kick on the finish drives this beer into the realm of fantastic.

Jah-va—an imperial coffer stout with rich coffee flavor and only a slight hint of roastiness. I like it, but I’d love it if I could stand the taste of coffee.

Raspberry Porter—this one starts out a bit syrupy, with a strong raspberry lead, and finishes in a great porter with only a hint of raspberry.

Speakeasy Prohibition—an American Amber brewed with overwhelmingly strong, pungent, and tasty cascade hops. I’ll be trying to find this beer again.

Speakeasy White Lightning—absolutely no taste whatsoever. Not bad, just utterly flavorless—would probably be fantastic with a wedge of lemon or orange.
Tuckerman Headwall Alt—as a skier, I felt I had to try this one. A very drinkable German Brown… nothing special, but a fantastic and refreshing candidate for a reliable session beer.

Victory Braumeister Pils—having had a few great Victory beers in the past, I figured it was worth a shot… the lone drinkable pilsner of the day, this beer probably shouldn’t be called a pilsner—the hop attack is both exciting and a welcome surprise.

Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA—obviously (and don’t forget, it was the middle of the summer,) I had a number of very hoppy beers at the festival. While this wasn’t the best, it can most certainly hold it’s own—the simcoe flavor on this beer is absolutely delicious.

By my count, that’s 42 beers. Maybe we now know the answer to life, the universe, and everything.