The Great American Beer Festival, the second largest beer festival in the world took place last month and I had the good fortune of attending this year’s festivities.  Celebrating their 30th anniversary this year, the GABF tickets sold out in record time, clocking in with 49,000 attendees.  There were 466 breweries at the festival, serving 2,375 different beers, and 238 medals were awarded, including 18 to breweries entering the competition for the first time.  In a word, it was EPIC.

In addition to the festival itself, there are dozens of ancillary events at beer bars and breweries around town.  From beer releases to beer dinners to lectures and tastings, it was a week of non-stop beer love. I attended a few extra events, including a beer tasting class with BJCP judge Gwen Conley, and a midnight beer dinner with Avery Brewing at Euclid Hall. My point being that the week surrounding the Great American Beer Festival was a jam-packed week of awesome events, amazing beer, and crazy people. I didn’t take a single picture (who has time for cameras when you have a beer in your hand?), but I did take notes.  They’re more like scribbles vaguely resembling words, but for the purposes of this article, they’ll have to do. So without further ado, I give you some of my favorite beers from this week’s festival

1. Short’s Brewing – This Michigan-based brewery received permission to distribute their beer in Colorado for the week surrounding GABF, something that had never been done before.  So in addition to trying their stuff at the festival, I was also able to pick up some of their six packs.  If you can, find the Bellaire Brown Ale (a year-round release) and their Woodmaster, a high gravity brown ale fermented with maple syrup and toasted pecans.

2. Bull & Bush Pub and Brewery – In spite of their ridiculous name and even more absurd costumes (disco balls on top of construction hats?), Bull & Bush turned out one of my favorite beers of the festival: Turnip the Beets.  Honestly, I don’t remember in what stage of brewing the beets were used, but I do remember the lovely balance between the malty and earthy flavors of this stellar ale.

3. Ignite Denver –  Think lecture series meets speed dating, in which beer industry big-wigs are given 5 minutes to talk about their role in the beer industry, while their powerpoint slides are advanced automatically every 15 seconds.  Wild, crazy, hilarious, and surprisingly informative. Also, unlimited beer. Only downside: Greg Koch of Stone Brewing wearing a t-shirt with his own face on it.

4. Avery Brabant - Served at the Euclid Hall Midnight Brunch event, Avery’s Brabant is a wild ale aged for 8 months in Zinfandel barrels with brettanomyces. Sour. Dark. Delicious.

5. Right Brain Brewing’s Lavender Wheat Beer - Every lavender-flavored beverage I’ve ever had (including my own lavender pale ale) has inevitably tasted like soap.  That was until I tried Right Brain Brewing’s Lavender wheat beer. Clean and floral, balanced with a light caramel malt flavor.  Perfect amount of lavender.  Well done Right Brain.

6.  Pints for Prostates’ Rare Beer Tasting - 30 different hard to find beers from some of the best breweries in the country. My favorite: Lost Abbey’s Deliverance, a blend of brandy barrel-aged Angel’s Share and bourbon barrel aged Serpent’s Stout, packaged in 2010.  This smooth and well-balanced ale offered a subtle boozy heat with notes of caramel, vanilla, and raisins. Least favorite: Sam Adams’ Utopias.  This 27% ABV  beer was overly boozy, syrupy, and completely unbalanced. Generally just not worth my time.

I could go on and on and on about all of the amazing things that happened during the week surrounding GABF.  But in reality, the Great American Beer Festival is something that needs to be experienced in person, because no words can actually describe the enormity of this event.  People come from all across the states to be a part of  the magic that the craft beer industry has created. It’s a beautiful time for discovery and exploration of all those beers you can’t find in your city, and trying everything you can until your palate can’t take it anymore.  With every passing year, the festival gets bigger and bigger, so I suggest you mark your calendars and book your tickets for next year’s fest.  You can thank me later.

About the beer: Ah yes, the crisp air of the fall season can only mean two things for beer lovers: 1. Pumpkin flavored everything & 2. Oktoberfest style beers! Being a native New Englander means being lucky enough to experience all four seasons, but it also comes with the unapologetic love for all of the Sam Adams seasonal varietals. And what’s not to love about a new beer for every season?

The Sam Adams Octoberfest is probably the most well known American in the Oktoberfest style, but many breweries in the US have their take on the seasonal favorite, which has it’s roots in the strong tradition of German marzen style beer brewed for the celebration of Oktoberfest each Septermber. As we’ve discussed before, a marzen style is traditional malty lager where hops are generally mild and take a backseat to the sweetness of the malts, making it the perfect brew for the fall.

In A Nutshell: The Sam Adams Oktoberfest is a staple of the fall season in New England that we’re reintroduced to every autumn.

Beeriety Review: Rediscovering this bear each year is a real treat, it’s almost like running into an old friend you didn’t realize you missed. As with most seasonal varieties there is an anticipation that comes with the release of each beer. I by no means have the launch date circled on my calendar each year, but it’s a welcome addition to the fridge supply by the end of the hot and hazy summer months.

My first Sam Adams Octoberfest of this season was sampled this past weekend while participating in some Sunday football festivities and while the beer did not have my full attention it really didn’t require it. The Sam Adams Octoberfest has long been the beer of choice my friends while tailgating and celebrating at family get togethers during the Fall months and certainly stands up against its marzen/Oktoberfest competition from the US and across the Atlantic.

Beeriety Rating: 4 out of 5: Must Buy

What are you drinking? Try a Sam Adams Octoberfest this week and tell us what else you’re drinking. Tag your Twitter updates, Tumblr posts and Flickr photos of your Beer of the Week with the #mybeer hashtag to tell us what you’re drinking!

About the beer: Dopplebocks are dark and strong lagers that are traditionally enjoyed in the winter months. There’s still no reason why you can’t enjoy them any time of year though so last week I cracked open a bottle I had in my small beer cellar.  The one I went with,  Smuttynose S’Muttonator is a great example of this traditional style,  but with an American twist.

In a Nutshell: Smuttynose S’muttonator is a great American take on a classic German style.

Review: Smuttynose has long been a favorite New England brewery of mine. While they are mostly known for more conservative fair like pale ales, when they do bolder styles in their Big Beer series they never disappoint. The S’Muttonator is no different. It’s a big, bold, nutty beer that  tastes great.  While dopplebocks are meant to be strong beers, both in their flavor and alcohol, I’ve often found many of them a bit too sweet to really get into. The S’muttonator does a nice job balancing out the sweeter qualities with just a kiss of hops, making it a beer I think anyone could enjoy.

Rating: 4 out of 5

(Photo by Dan Larson)

In a Nut Shell: River Horse Hop Hazard is a deliciously balanced pale ale that strikes the perfect combination of malty and hoppy.

Review: Although I wouldn’t call myself a hop head, I enjoy a good, 100+ IBU Double IPA as much as the next guy. That being said, I’m glad to see more hoppy, yet balanced brews making their mark on the craft brew world.  Hop Hazard is the perfect example of how to make a very hoppy yet nuanced beer. Despite its name Hop Hazard is a surprisingly even tempered pale ale that strikes just that right mix between hops and malt to make it an enormously enjoyable brew. The robust, fruity hops are nicely paired with a subtly sweet malt profile that makes the whole affair a delight.  “Lets get it straight, Hop Hazard is an American Pale Ale. That means it’s balanced with hops, not buried in them. Here’s to Independence!” Proclaims the label on the beer’s bottle. Although I’m not sure from what we’re celebrating our independence with a beer this good, I drink to it regardless.

Rating:

About the beer:

For a guy who knows an appreciates craft beer I admittedly know very little about barleywines. For the most part barleywines have always been selected for me or given as gifts, with this week’s Beer of the Week selection being no exception. Over the weekend a selection of the Beeriety crew had the opportunity to pop open an Old Boardhead Barleywine by Full Sail brewery. The 22 oz., which was gifted to us by friend of Beeriety Meg Whyte, had been aging since 2009 when she had resided in Portland, OR. Since it was a rare treat for the east coast Beeriety team you can bet expectations were high, given the aging and anticipation of trying this new (to us) barleywine variation.

In A Nutshell:

The Full Sail Old Boardhead Barleywine is an interesting brew, but failed to meet our high expectations.

Beeriety Review:

Unlike other barleywines we’ve tried in the past this variation wasn’t overly sweet and at some points had a very oakey taste. We all agreed that the flavors didn’t remain in the mouth for very long, giving you a quick interest in trying another tasty sip. Another unexpected surprise was that the beer was a translucent deep amber, whereas most other barleywines we’ve tried are typically dark to fully opaque.

At around a 9.0% ABV the flavors were very balanced, which was surprising given the high gravity, but left the majority of those that tried the brew wanting more. It’s not as though we didn’t enjoy this brew, we were simply hoping (maybe falsely) that this would become a keystone in our beer discovery. Stacked up against other, more fruitful barleywine variations, we all agreed that this brew fell just short of giving us a singular ‘wow’ in the tasting process.

It should be noted that the Full Sail Barleywine we tried was the ’09 Reserve and we can only speculate how the taste has changed from aging or how Full Sail has adjusted the recipe year to year.

Beeriety Rating: 2 out of 5: Just Ok

What are you drinking? Try a Notch Session Ale this week and tell us what else you’re drinking. Tag your Twitter updates, Tumblr posts and Flickr photos of your Beer of the Week with the #mybeer hashtag to tell us what you’re drinking!

About this beer: Scotland’s Brewdog is one of the most intimidating craft beer companies around. They make the world’s strongest beer, The End of History. (41% ABV) They aren’t just known for making crazy high ABV beers alone, they also have an incredibly wide range of non-coma inducing goodness. For this beer review I choose to step away from the relative safety of trying their highly regarded IPA (Punk IPA) and chose to drink something a bit more eclectic. Having never tasted one of Brewdog’s brews before I decided to go with Dogma, which is a strong ale made with honey, kola nut, poppy seed, and guarana.

In a nutshell: This beer was a tasty experiment that left me pleased. While I didn’t find all of the flavors I was hoping for the honey aftertaste made it incredibly drinkable and something worth buying again.

Review: The beer poured an incredibly dark amber color, with a sweet head that was retained throughout the drink. It had honey notes in the smell that left a wonderful honey after taste. The beer had a full body and great consistency, with a very bready malt backbone but the sweetness from the honey overtook the other tastes, I didn’t get kola nut, poppy seed or guarana. (Or I wasn’t looking in the right places.) The beer was overall incredibly refreshing and pleasant to drink. With how sweet it was It’s good for a pint or two but not something I could drink all night.

3 out of 5: Worth a Try.

Its been just about two months since I returned to Boston from my glorious beer adventures, and writing for Beeriety has given me a great space to process everything I experienced.  So in my final “Beer, There, and Everywhere” post, I wanted to share the things from my trip that have been most significant since coming back to the Boston beer community.

1.  A Community of Respect and Passion

It is obvious to most that the craft beer industry hosts a particularly incredible community of people, but I was so impressed with the level of respect and passion that brewers, beer drinkers, and everyone in between embodied.  Competition between breweries (if there is any) is completely friendly, and more often than not you hear of collaboration and sharing amongst brewers.  It is a group of people who genuinely love what they do, and want to share that with their peers, and support others in doing the same.  This is like nothing else I’ve seen, and it is a beautiful, albeit small, collection of people.

2. Keeping it Simple

On every brewery tour I attended, the first question from the guides was “what are the four ingredients required to make beer?”  And without fail, the answer is always water, malted barley, hops, and the ever-important yeast. It is a small and wonderful reminder of the simplicity of the drink that so many millions of people enjoy, and a testament to the talent of craft brewers across the US and the world.  An easily forgotten, but in my opinion crucial tenet that makes craft brewing so amazing.

3. Something for Everyone

In visiting so many different breweries, brewpubs, and beer bars, I saw an immense amount of diversity that was both incredible and occasionally overwhelming.  Whether bitter, malty, hoppy, spicy, citrus, light, clean, dark, heavy, creamy, roasted, grassy, high-alcohol or low, there is a little something for everyone, even those most skeptical of what beer has to offer.  Craft beer is a drink for all, it knows no bounds or limits, and this, culturally speaking, is nothing short of phenomenal.

In all likelihood, nothing I’ve listed above is new or surprising, but these were the things that I found to most impressive during my travels.  The history, the culture, the people, the opportunity, and the beer are what make me love the craft beer industry so immensely.  Experiencing this across the US in 8 states, 14 cities, and 22 different breweries only helped my love to grow exponentially.  So now I’ll move on to Denver, in hopes of becoming even more immersed in the world of brewing and craft beer.  I encourage everyone to become more involved in this wonderful community; start homebrewing, go to a craft beer event, visit a brewery, join a craft beer club, or simply fill your glass with a tasty beer that was created with great dedication and skill.

About: Session ales are attracting an increasing amount of attention lately in craft beer circles. For years it was the big and bold beers that caught the eye of craft beer enthusiasts, brews that were intense in both their flavor and alcohol content. While everyone still loves those bold beers as much as they always have, beer lovers and brewers alike are beginning to investigate what possibilities there are at the opposite end of the spectrum.

This means beers that are low in alcohol and more balanced in their flavor, brews that are more laid back, rather than in your face. Although there is a rich history of brewing beers in this style, it is only in recent years that major American craft brewers have begun putting out beers that meet this criteria. One of the first was Anchor Small Beer, which debuted in 1997 and is brewed in the partigyle tradition.

As we discussed in our article on how beer is made, one of the key steps in the brewing process is steeping grains such as barley in a hot water mash to extract the sugar contained within them. These sugars are later used as food by yeast, producing alcohol, CO2 and creating beer. Partigyle brewing is when a second running of hot water is passed through the mash, resulting in a different set of sugars and as a result, a different beer from the very same ingredients.

In A Nut Shell: Anchor Small Beer is worth a try as an example of partigyle, but it leaves much to be desired

Review: Anchor is a partigyle brew made from the same grains that are used to create Anchor Old Foghorn Barley Wine, which is a massively sweet and hoppy brew that weighs in at 9% ABV. In contrast, Small Beer is just 3.3% ABV and in stead of a huge malt and hop flavor it has a lightly toasted flavor, which reminds me more of a pale ale than a barley wine. However unlike most pale ales the hop profile is almost non-existent, leaving the grains to do much of the heavily lifting. The result is a bit uneven and frankly unremarkable. While I hardly noticed that the beer has such a small alcohol content, in the end Anchor Small Beer is worth trying only  for it’s unusual brewing method.

Rating: 

After staying coastal for a few weeks, I was pretty jazzed to make my first trip ever to Colorado, and better yet, to Denver.  Regarded as one of the best beer cities, I knew I was in for something amazing and the Centennial State definitely delivered.

All I can really say about Colorado is this: there is a spirit in the beer community there that I feel is unmatched anywhere else (and I don’t think it was the altitude talking). Nothing seems to be off limits or unexplored.  If there is something you want in a beer, you can probably find a brewery in Colorado that does it. The breadth of interest and variety in beer is mind blowing, not to mention the incredible folks that comprise the beer community.  Without further ado, the highlights…

Upon arriving in Denver, I drove straight from the airport up to Fort Collins to visit New Belgium Brewing, the third largest craft brewery in the US.  I am lucky enough to know one of the head brewers (and sour beer guru) Eric, who has been at New Belgium for 16 years, and was kind enough to give me an epic tour of the ins and outs of the brewery.

They are rockin’ a serious operation up in Fort Collins, as one might expect at 680,000 barrels annually.  New Belgium’s signature Fat Tire Amber ale headlines their array of classic brews along with the Ranger IPA, Sunshine Wheat and others.  In addition there is a seriously impressive line-up of complex and intriguing brews coming out of New Belgium.  La Terroir is a dry-hopped sour ale that has a sort of citrusy and earthy sourness.  Another, La Folie, is a sour brown ale aged in oak barrels and has some granny smith apple flavors happening. Sour as hell and totally delicious.

Eric also introduced me to a little (seriously little) and very young brewery down the street called Funkwerks, which focuses on saisons.  This place is super tiny, rocking a taproom in the front and a baby brewing space in the back. We tried their classic saison as well as their chardonnay barrel aged saison, which adds some oaky and vanilla flavors to the sour base.

A little bit older and wiser, Great Divide has a really cool space in a cool part of town, and a great tour.  They started in 1994 with no commercial brewing experience and produced 300 barrels in their first year. Now they are up to 20,000 barrels a year and hope to up that to 30,000 for 2011. The Colette Saison offered a really great spicy, herbaceous flavor, while their Oak-aged Yeti Imperial Stout came out with the big roasty, carmelized flavors and vanilla notes.

I also spent some time in Boulder, starting at Avery Brewing Company.  What started as a father-son homebrewing team has grown into a brewery best known for Ellie’s Brown Ale, White Rascal, or even their DuganA IPA.  All great stand-bys, but I had the chance to try some special stuff that I hadn’t seen before: the Out of Bounds Stout on cask, and their 17th Anniversary Dry-hopped Black Lager.  The stout was so crazy silky, nutty, and chocolatey, and had this great almost piney bitter finish.  The Black Lager was a oaky and hoppy ending with a super clean finish. Amazingly balanced in all.

Twisted Pine is a little spot owned by a guy affectionately known as “Twisted Bob,” a homebrewer who opened Twisted Pine 15 years ago.  This place for me was a bit of a surprise, off the beaten path and hosting what seemed to be a steady stream of regulars.  Great beer though, including a brew called Billy’s Chilies brewed with jalapeño, habanero, fresno, serrano and anaheim chilies, as well as the Hoppy Knight Black IPA, with a beautiful balance of piney bitterness and roasty malt flavor.

Finally my friend in Boulder introduced me to Mountain Sun, a cool little brewpub that may have taken the cake for some of the best beer I tried in Colorado.  Their Old School Dry Irish Stout was super dry and clean with that lovely roasty burnt character balanced by a hoppy tinge at the end.  Their FYIPA (a local favorite as I understand) is a pretty basic but über delicious IPA, with that citrusy and piney hop flavor that is kinda hard to beat.  They’re making the kind of beers you come back to again and again.

All in all, the beer culture in Colorado was fantastic, complex, varied, and awesome enough to convince me to move to Denver.  So perhaps I am a little biased, but I’d bet that if one were to try a craft beer from Colorado, one wouldn’t be disappointed.  That’s the beauty of this state: there is a little something for everyone, and in this surge of craft beer excellence there has never been a better time to raise a pint.

Overview: Sam Adams Utopias might be one of the most hyped products in the craft beer industry. Released on odd years since 2001 as a follow up to Sam Adams Millennium, this beer holds the title of one of the strongest naturally brewed beer in the world, coming in at about 27% ABV. This beer uses yeasts typical for champagne and wine, maple syrup, and for this year’s batch, the brew was aged in a variety of sherry and port casks. The bottle is handcrafted out of ceramic and individually numbered. You also get a redeem code for a free (plus shipping and handling) handmade glassware especially made for this beer. Only 53 barrels were used for this year’s batch, and many stores are already out of their supply, even though there was no major announcement when it became available. Did I mention that it’ll cost you $150, or often more?

In a nutshell: Sam Adams 2011 Utopias: strong, extreme, and definitely a special treat that you won’t easily forget.

Review: This is meant to be served in small amounts and served warm, much like a brandy or cognac. Do not drink this like a beer. You won’t see any head or carbonation. The aroma contains a caramel and vanilla fragrance, but be careful not to take too big of a whiff so you don’t burn your nostrils off from the alcohol. It’s also a very thick beer that will give a good coat to the sides of the glass. I don’t think there’s anything that can really prepare you for the first sip; it will hit you a bit hard if you don’t know what you’re expecting (so take small sips!). After a few sips (that feel more like shots), you will be able to finds some nice tastes in there, including the sherry/port flavors from the barrels. There’s also a slight chocolatey, maple syrup-y goodness behind the barrel flavors. You will definitely feel warm in the throat and face if you sip this too quickly. Knowing that this is what you can come up with as a beer makes this all the more wild. This is not a beer that you’ll finish in a night. You will keep this for a long time (since it doesn’t age and will stay delicious for months) and savor it on very special occasions. It’s definitely not for everyone, but if you can handle a beer like this, then you will definitely be in love with Utopias.

Rating: 5 out of 5: Drinker’s Choice (if you can afford it)