The American Craft Beer Fest 2011
Posted on June 8th, 2011
It’s summertime in Boston again, which means it’s time for another American Craft Beer Fest. This year was a lot of fun. Team Beeriety got to try a lot of new beers and chat with a bunch of different beers lovers. We saw some familiar faces, but also made many new friends and tried many new beers. Here are five of our favorites.
None of us had ever heard of this Kansas City based brewery before the fest, but it’s safe to say we’re now all fans. All of their beers we tried were amazing. In particular we enjoyed their Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale. This delicious Saison, dry-hopped with Amarillo, completely blew us away. Unfortunately Boulevard doesn’t distribute out to our homebase of Boston, but if you can get you’re hand on some, you’re sure to enjoy it.
White Birch is a relatively young brewery from Hookset, NH that has recently caught our attention. We were really impressed by their Wrīgian beer. This Belgian strong ale made with Rye was another really surprising find of the day – a lovely marriage of the spicy complexity of rye and the full, sweet flavor traditional to so many Belgians.
This sizable brewery out of Chicago made quite an impression with fest goers. The line to try their Bourbon County Brand Vanilla Stout was of the longest we’ve ever seen at any beer festival. The beer did not disappoint, with big bold flavors that were nicely balanced by vanilla.
Brooklyn never fails to disappoint with their beer and this year was no different. The brew that stood out for most of us was The Concoction, an unusual beer brewed with smoked malt, minced ginger, lemon juice and wildflower honey. It was tasty, but unlike any other beer I’ve had in awhile.
A North Carolina Brewery that specializes in dark beers, this place has steadily been growing its reputation over the last few years. Their End of Reason was one of the best baltic porters I’ve had in many, many years. If you’re lucky enough to have access to this brewery, you’re in for a treat.
Did you attend the ACBF? If so let us know what you’re favorite beers were in the comments!