Last Saturday was the perfect day to get your sour face on at the inaugural Boulder SourFest 2010 at the Avery Brewing Tap Room in Boulder, Colorado. I, along with 500 fellow sour beer enthusiasts, gathered on a great sunny day to sample some of the 65+ sour beers from around the USA inside Avery's intimate quarters of their barrel aging room and warehouse.
SourFest was at the right time and had all the right beers in my opinion. Attendees were given a "menu" of all available beers plus a commemorative snifter glass with 20 tasting tickets inside. Each sample ended up being around a 2oz pour. Some servers were a bit more generous with their pours than others but generally you were given enough tickets to sample a wide variety of beers created with various strains of Brettanomyces and/or Lactobaccilus yeast strains.
Bring on da funk!
It may take some a while to get adjusted to the funkiness, tartness and sometimes outrageous flavors that sour beers can impart. But once you get a taste for them it may be all that you may ever want again.
I'm one of those folks who are absolutely SOLD on sour beers. I just love em! And for a 4-5 hour period I was in sour heaven. For those of you who went - did you think this fest was impressive? I did!
The best thing about this event was seeing so many familiar faces (like Nicole, Jeff, PJ and others) and also having a chance to meet and greet some of the local brewers who were also in attendance. Adam Avery (Avery Brewing) and Peter Bouckaert (New Belgium Brewing) were among some of the more noticeable brewers mingling with the crowd.
So which breweries were there?
Oh my, there were many. Here is the short list of breweries represented: Elysian (WA), New Belgium (CO), Golden City (CO), Great Divide (CO), Jackie O's (OH), Left Hand (CO), The Lost Abbey (CA), Mountain Sun (CO), Nodding Head (PA), New Holland (MI), Odell Brewing (CO), Oskar Blues (CO), The Pumphouse (CO), Russian River (CA), Sam Adams (MA), Ska Brewing (CO), Twisted Pine (CO), Victory Brewing (PA), Yak & Yeti (CO), Dogfish Head (DE), Jolly Pumpkin (MI), Trinity Brewing (CO), Two Brothers Brewing (IL), Weyerbacher Brewing (PA), Allagash (ME), Avery (CO), Ballast Point (CA), Boulevard Brewing (MO), The Bruery (CA), Cambridge Brewing (MA), Cascade Brewing (OR), Deschutes Brewing (WA) and Dry Dock Brewing (CO).
Whew! That's a lot of brewers and they brought around 65 different beers. I only wish I had enough time to sample each and every one of them, but alas, only 20 tickets were handed out and that ended up being just enough for this festival. The majority of the beers were over 7% ABV and after 40oz of sampling you could definitely feel it!
My favorites
Where do I begin. I'll start off with my top picks.
Veritas 007 - The Lost Abbey. Oh my - one of the sourest beers I've ever tasted. Supposedly made from Isabelle Proximus and cabernet franc grapes. Nearly pink in color but oh so good!
Duck Duck Gooze - The Lost Abbey. This one was a favorite from GABF last year and I had to have more. A blend of young and old barrel-aged beers. Highly sought after.
Old Growth - Trinity Brewing Co. This was another hit from the GABF and it was even better than I remember. A Flemish inspired wild brown ale that was tart and tasty. Seek this out.
Benevolence - Cambridge Brewing. This is what I'm calling my surprise hit of the festival. A dark barrel aged brew that was full of chocolate aroma. Sour chocolate. Very, very wonderful on the nose and the mouth. Loved this.
Gold Yeller - Cascade Brewing. Cascade is well known for their sour ales. They shined at the GABF in my record books for having some very tasty sours. This light colored wonder was aged in Pinor Noir barrels for a year. Simple wonderful.
Inaugural Boulder SourFest Blend - Avery Brewing. I had to try out the namesake brew of the fest. This brew was dark, acetic and blended from many different brews aged at different times. Very tasty!
Sour Black Butte Porter - Deschutes Brewing. I love their regular Black Butte Porter and just had to try a sour version of it. Dark, roasty and funky. A great sideline for this beer. Not as sour as others but still darn good.
I could go on with my raves. There were so many hits here and very few misses.
Let's do this again
I'd like to give Avery Brewing a big round of applause for hosting this 1st hope-to-be annual event. The 500+ in attendance were well behaved and the facilities were perfect for just such a fest. The only thing that could make this better would be to keep doing this fest every year and open it up to more people. I predict this festival will sell out EVERY year like it did this time around.
If you love sour ales then this fest should definitely be on your must-see list next year. Simply the best.
I hope to post lots of pictures and some video of the tasting in the days to come. I posted one video of a sampling I did of Benevolence (sour chocolate beer) and posted it to YouTube. Check it out HERE.
Related articles:
- Avery Brabant review.
- Avery Brewing is next to can it's beer.
- Hot picks from the 2009 GABF.
This article came from FermentedlyChallenged.com
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Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Inaugural Boulder SourFest impresses
Thursday, February 25, 2010
More fun than a barrel of monkeys
A long-time tap room only brew, Left Hand Brewing Company of Longmont, Colorado announces it is finally releasing their 400 Pound Monkey IPA as a new bottled year-round brew. I had the opportunity over a year ago to try some of this on tap at their tasting room and was impressed with the flavor of this brew. Read below for their official press release and pic courtesy of their official blog...
Left Hand Monkeys Around
LONGMONT, CO (Feb 2010) - It's the year 2010. A plague of unbalanced, exaggeratedly hoppy beers have wiped out millions of palates in the United States since 1996. Only a small percentage of the population's discriminating palates have survived to this point. Many beer drinkers are now forced to live without the ability to taste malt. Left Hand Brewing Head Brewer Ro Guenzel volunteered to brew an antidote, going back in time when IPA's were more sessionable and balanced, and to help others discover that not all hops are of a big, citrusy character. The result? 400 Pound Monkey IPA.
Welcome to the jungle. Joe Schiraldi, VP of Brewing Operations, waxed poetic. "Just when you thought that the world needs another IPA like it needs another virus, we've started to brew a year-round IPA. But this one ain't like them others. It's an English-style IPA that separates itself from the ubiquitous bunch. Any monkey can throw 400 pounds of hops in a kettle."
Brassy in color, with an off-white head, the Monkey exhibits an earthiness quite different from American-style IPAs. Soft aromas of freshly cut hay, bitter orange and white cheese rind (courtesy of Boadicea and Sovereign hop varieties) are the first impression. But once the cage has been opened and a sip savored, a multi-pronged 12-monkey assault on the palate begins. The initial bready maltiness is attacked immediately by a variety of flavors ranging from green tea to glacier melt water to wild flower honey, coating your palate and refusing to leave.
"But just as one monkey arouses a great deal of amusement, two or more double the interest and amusement, which is why you should have more than one," says Ro. "If you allow this beer to warm up, that's where the Monkey really begins to shine. The malt starts to open, balancing the hop attack, but still allowing a very long herbal hoppiness to linger on your tongue. There's just a lot going on."
So, alas, comes the inevitable questions - what are the ABV and IBU? Well, the Monkey weighs in at 6.8% ABV, but the bitterness? Well, it depends on perception versus reality, but a polite monkey never tells.
About Left Hand Brewing Company
Celebrating sixteen years of brewing a well-balanced portfolio of craft beers, Left Hand Brewing Company is located at 1265 Boston Avenue in Longmont, Colorado. The brewery has received 16 medals at the Great American Beer Festival and 8 medals at the World Beer Cup, and its beers are now available in 29 states and 11 countries. "Sometimes you're not in the mood for what everyone else is having."
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Related articles:
- An inside look at Left Hand Brewing.
- Left Hand 2010 beer release schedule.
- Left Hand 2009 Oak Aged Imperial Stout review.
This article came from FermentedlyChallenged.com
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Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Catching up on Colorado beer news
A lot of news happened while I was away from the blog during the last two weeks. I thought I'd compile a list of news tidbits from around the state that came in while I was AFK (away from keyboard). I hope to get back to normal posting about Colorado beers very soon. But for those who may have missed it, here's what's been happening around Colorado this month.
Fort Collins Brewery
FCB's new building is coming along well. Planned opening of their new brewery and eatery (Alimente) is on track for June 2010. The Alimente gastropub's menu will focus on fresh local foods with seasonal changes. The restaurant will offer views of the brewery's operations and will have a 31 seat bar, a private community room for events and a large patio facing the nearby golf course. Upcoming events include their Maibock release on February 23rd and the special Michael Bolton birthday bash on Friday Feburary 26th.
Oskar Blues
The folks at Oskar Blues recently revamped their web site and now has more info being share with their music section, blog and Twitter and Facebook pages. Their Ten Fidy final shipments to stores have now gone out - grab some of that imperial stout while it's still on shelves. GUBNA - a new imperial IPA will be in cans on in stores on March 1st. Gubna becomes the 6th beer to be canned by Oskar Blues and will be a seasonal rotation when Ten Fidy isn't on the shelves. Also, folks who visit any of the 3 O.B. location can take the Oskar Blues bus between their locations on Saturdays and Sundays. Stops include the Tasty Weasel, Liquids & Solids, and the restaurant in Lyons.
Twisted Pine Brewing
Twisted Pine Brewing Company of Boulder has been busy with releases. This month's featured brews include Razzy Xpress, a raspberry Espresso stout, came out for Valentines day and is available at their tap room. Also, Hoppy Man Imperial IPA rollout happened last week. Hoppy Man is a big hoppy brew packed with 4 different kinds of hops and should be on shelves now. Over 20 different Twisted Pine beers are now on tap at their Ale House in Boulder with 5 more different brews coming later this month.
Great Divide
Great Divide Brewing of Denver announced that Hoss Rye Lager and Claymore Scotch Ale were added in mid-February as part of their year-round line up of beers and are no longer just a seasonal. Also, Saison was renamed and relabeled as Colette Farmhouse Ale which is now available. Great Divide is now also touting their Espresso Oak Aged Yeti and claim it can even be had as a breakfast brew. What a way to start your day. Careful, it weighs in at 9.5% ABV. Better go easy with that and the corn flakes. There will be a big Release Party for all the above GD beers on February 19th from 6-9pm at their tap room in Denver.
Avery Brewing
Avery recently celebrated a 4-year celebration of their Collaboration Not Litigation beer with Russian River. A 4-year vertical tasting was done earlier this month to commemorate the occasion. Later this month, Avery and the Society for the Pursuit of Hoppiness will host a talk on "Sour Ales Deconstructed: Deciphering Flavor Components of Complex Beers" on February 22nd as a lead in to their Inaugural Boulder SourFest on Saturday, February 27th in Boulder at their Barrel Aging room. Also coming up March 5th will be their Maharaja Imperial IPA Batch #11 Releast Party at their tap room. Details for the 8th Annual Boulder strong Ale Fest are now coming out. Date has been set for April 30th and May 1st for this weekend event.
Wynkoop Brewing
Denver's well know downtown brewery, Wynkoop, is set to host it's annual Beer Drinker of the Year event on Saturday, February 27th in downtown Denver. Last year's winner Cody Chrisman will be on hand as a judge this year to test the metal of 3 new contestants. Also, Rail Yard Ale is now in cans! Look for it at local stores around the Denver area and in local bars. The Wynkoop is also hosting a bit Fat Tuesday celebration on February 16th starting at 6pm.
Bristol Brewing Company
The folks down in Colorado Springs are hosting a big Firkin Rendezvous and a Cock Sale on Saturday, February 20th at the brewery. A record 28 breweries will be participating in this celebration of beer in firkins. Most of these beers will be big beers so don't plan on driving after this event. Stay at a local hotel. Get tickets while they last.
Phantom Canyon
Phantom Canyon has launched their new Two Headed Dog Double IPA on February 12th and is now available on tap. It's a big 8.4% ABV with 114 IBUs! This beer is best served in a snifter glass. Go check it out at their Colorado Springs brewhouse.
That's all the latest news during the last two weeks. More news from Colorado coming soon. I'll hopefully be back to posting more regularly later this month. Sorry for the delay in reporting - life has been very busy lately.
This article came from FermentedlyChallenged.com
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Advanced SAVOR tix going on sale February 17
For those of you who happened to attend last year's SAVOR - American Craft Beer & Food Experience last year or who happened to be Brewer's Association or American Homebrewers Association Members - tickets for this year's SAVOR (June 5th, 2010)in Washington D.C. are being sold in advance starting at 10am Mountain time on Wednesday, February 17th.
This is a full week before the rest of this country's beer enthusiasts get a chance to pick one up.
From reports from people who attended last year's event, Savor was quite the experience.
Tickets for this year's Savor event are $95. That may seem hefty for a beer event but when you throw in all that great food as well then you get your money's worth.
There will also be separate tickets sold for each SAVOR Salon and Private Tasting Salon session for $30 a ticket, in addition to a SAVOR general admission ticket.
More info is available on the official event website.
Anyone of my readers planning to attend this event? For those who went last year - how do you think they could top it this year? Let me know.
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Falling Rock is tapping Pliny the Younger and other events
Word on the street says that the Falling Rock Tap House in Denver is tapping open several kegs of Russian River's Pliny the Younger starting Tuesday, February 16th at 5pm. Falling Rock knows that this is a highly sought after beer and they are going to be rationing it out from now through Friday, February 26th. Read below for all the details from Chris at the Falling Rock from his latest newsletter.
Falling Rock Taphouse Announcements
Howdy Folks,
Well it's been a busy winter around here with all kinds of interesting beers available, but one topic has DEFINITELY been at the head of the list: When will Pliny the Younger be available? Well I have the definitive answer for you: Tuesday February 16th @ 5pm. If you've been keeping up w/ Russian River's website you already know that the beer is no longer available at the pub. There are only a few kegs coming to Colorado & Falling Rock is, of course, getting some. If you cannot make it here on Tuesday the 16th, the last chance will be on Friday February 26th @ 5pm when I will tap the last keg that I have. This is the night before Avery's Sour Beer Fest & Wynkoop's Beer Drinker of the Year competition so I figure it's a good time, there will quite a few people from elsewhere in town to attend one of these events. Other events:
Sunday February 21st 1-5pm 2nd Annual Hawaiian Shirt Party Come celebrate the middle of Winter by breaking out your Hawaiian Shirts & spending a few hours eating & drinking @ the Falling Rock. Cost: $10 if you're wearing your Falling Rock Hawaiian Shirt, $15 if you're wearing another Hawaiian Shirt (or Hawaiian Dress), $20 if you aren't wearing Island Attire. What do you get? Food & Beer will be put out Downstairs for you to enjoy, We will also be 'Bobbing for Beer' for $3 a 'bob'. If you are not familiar w/ 'Bobbing for Beer' it involves retrieving numbered washers from the bottom of a container filled with Ice water. The number corresponds to a numbered bottle of beer, Some bottles are really special (like things from Russian River, Lost Abbey, or back vintages of Avery) some definitely not (like Light American Industrolagers) .
Saturday March 13th 9am- ? St. Patrick's Parade Come on out & Enjoy the Parade (it runs right in front of the Falling Rock) from a place with good Beer & Food. We will be serving Breakfast Burrito's From opening till we run out & then we'll be serving Corned Buffalo & Cabbage for the rest of the day (or until it runs out also). If you are coming down, it is recommended that you park to the west of us and get to us by walking east (really southeast) on 20th. The Parade starts @ 27th & Blake and runs down Blake to 15th where it turns right onto 15th to Wynkoop then right on Wynkoop to 19th then left in front of the Chophouse & Finishes ( check out the parade website for the map)
Friday April 9th 10am-? Rockies Home Opener vs the Padres Always a great day here @ the Falling Rock. We'll have a booth out on the patio Serving Odell Beer (5 flavors) and Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey.
See you when you get here,
Chris (Falling Rock Tap House)
Related articles:
- Video tour of the Falling Rock Tap House.
- GABF week at the Falling Rock Tap House.
- January-February events at the Falling Rock Tap House.
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Odell Mountain Standard Reserve review
Here's a beer that I've had on the back burner for quite some time and the time was right to bring this one out. Back in October 2009, Odell Brewing Company came out with another in it's first Reserve Series of beers. This beer was named Mountain Standard Reserve '09 - a deep mahogany ale with a distinct hoppy character.
Now while BeerAdvocate qualifies this as an American Brown Ale, I believe this beer to be in a slightly different category due to it's big hoppy profile.
Mountain Standard Reserve came in a big 750ml bottle with a cork and wire cage seal. The label states that this beer weighs in at a respectable 8.5% ABV. I must admit that I had a terrible time trying to open this bottle. The cork was so tight that it literally took me 5 to 10 minutes just to get it out of the bottle. Even before I took my first sip it put up quite a fight.
Appearance: Once the bottle was open I was in for another big surprise. As I poured this into my globe glass the head started building immediately. The head became so big that is quickly expanded and overflowed the glass.
The picture to the left says it all, this bad boy of a brown ale built up a 5 to 6 finger head with almost no effort at all. It took me a good 10 minutes of waiting for the head to subside to get a full serving poured into my glass.
Once I had a glass full the beer appeared as a definite dark red (mahogany) colored brew with a light tan head. I wasn't able to see through this beer too well due to the darkness. I didn't see much sediment, if any, even though the beer was bottle conditioned. The beer looked adequately carbonated and was evident from the loud pop when the cord finally came out.
Aroma: Here is the highlight of the beer. Mountain Standard Reserve had a big citrusy hop aroma from the generous amount of Cascade and Chinook hops that were brewed into it. It was a very pleasant smell, one that reminded me of an IPA but this one had more dark malt to it than a typical IPA would. I could definitely pick up on some sweet malt in the aroma, somewhat biscuity as well. It smelled "dry".
Mouthfeel: This beer came with a full bodied taste. It was richer than most brown ales (or IPA's too for that matter). It left a creamy sensation in the mouth and finished dry as I expected. The carbonation felt lighter than it looked but that was OK.
Taste: Mountain Standard ended up being a moderately hoppy amber tasting brew that made my mouth water a little bit upon the first several sips. The beer started out very cold and got better as it warmed up a bit. I'd stop short saying that this tasted like an India Pale Ale. It had plenty of tasty hops but the malts also come out well in the brew as well.
I've been drinking nothing but stouts as of late and this beer was a nice way to begin transitioning into more hoppy beers for the coming Spring. It was still a dark tasting brew but with extra hops thrown in to give it a bit more character.
Overall: This beer was enjoyable right from the start and get better as I went along. Perhaps since I left this beer age for 4-5 months the hop characteristic tapered off a bit but that didn't change the fact that this was a truly good beer. I was able to finish off the entire bottle fairly easily in an entire sitting.
If you like IPAs but are looking for a beer with a darker and a bit more malty taste then you should seek out a bottle of Mountain Standard Reserve while they still exist at the stores. I'm giving this beer a big Thumbs Up.
Related articles:
- Odell controls Mountain Standard time.
- Odell releases an India Barleywine.
- St. Lupulin and the Twitter bird.
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Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Where in the world is Chipper Dave?
No, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. I've been a busy guy lately and have had little time to blog recently. Never fear. I'll be posting more Colorado beer news soon once things at work and at home quiet down a bit. I've got several new additions to the beer cellar that I'll be opening up soon including some selections from California as well as Colorado.
I have been updating the 2010 Colorado Beer Festival calendar regularly however. I update the beer fests at least once a week and keep adding more entries as they come in.
Going to the SourFest?
For those of you in Colorado, I'll be attending the 1st ever Boulder SourFest at Avery Brewing Company on Saturday, February 27th in Boulder, CO. I'm really looking forward to trying some of the 50+ sour beers that will be available at this new beer festival. Let me know if you're planning to attend. I hope to see some of you there!
Don't forget - it's Stout Month
I've been enjoying all things dark beer lately - mostly stouts. February is officially Stout Month for me as well as at Mountain Sun, Southern Sun in Boulder and also at the Vine Street Pub in Denver. All this month they are featuring a different stout each day. Go check them out!
Who Dat?
Grats to the New Orleans Saints for their big Super Bowl victory over the Colts. While the beer commercials this year seemed a bit lamer than usual (why can't we have craft beer commercials?) the beer selection at home was even better. I've been sipping on some well earned beer from my two fantasy football championships I won this year. Speaking of which, there are many of you guys out there who lost and haven't paid up yet (HINT HINT)!
Anyway, sorry for the lack of posts this month. I promise to get back to regular posting very soon. Cheers!
Related articles:
- Falling Rock Events for February.
- Full Sail Black Gold Imperial Stout review.
- Ranger IPA and Dark Heather Saison debuts at New Belgium.
This article came from FermentedlyChallenged.com
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