Raleigh World Beer Festival 2008

That was a good bit of beer some buds and I were able to partake of on Saturday.
Here is a link to the official program, if you're interested...

We were given a 6oz pilsner glass as we came in through the gate and it was on to the tents for sampling. There were six large tents with 18-20 vendors per tent.

Anheuser-Busch had the very first table, so they were the first on our sample list. We had beers from Brazil, Holland, Belgium, Germany & Japan, as well as domestic beers from VT, ME, MA, VA, and others. Of course there was a lot of North Carolina breweries on hand. Big Boss was one of my faves from NC. We even made a special visit to the lone Wisconsin brewery, J.T. Whitney's Pub and Eatery. I had their IPA which was better than other IPAs I've had, but not the best. I had to laugh though... Most of the vendors looks very professional with banners and flags, menu boards and t-shirts and other swag... J.T.s was as Mom-and-Pop as it got there. It was just an old dude with his wife (looking like they came straight from the family farm) tapping their beers out of a cooler! CLASSIC :) They had a good line though. I think a lot of people were drawn to their no bull-crap just beer philosophy. Good one Wisconsin!

Here's a short-list of others I recall stopping at: Redhook, Old Dominion Brewing Co.,
Foothills Brewing, Big Boss Brewing Co., Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales, Carolina Beer & Beverage Co., Duvel Moortgat Brouwerij, California Cider Co., J.T. Whitney’s Brewpub & Eatery, Asahi Beer, Whitbread Brewing Co., Magic Hat Brewing Co., Newcastle Breweries, Pete’s Brewing Co., Jacob Leinenkugal Brewing Company, Miller Brewing Co., New Holland Brewing Co., Rogue Ales, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Brooklyn Brewery, Avery Brewing Co., Chimay Trappist Brewery, Ska Brewing Co., Triangle Brewing Co., Left Hand Brewing Co. & Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery

There were others, I just couldn't remember their names, and alcohol-related memory impairment has nothing to do with it! I had a brat for lunch and paced myself well considering we had 4 hours of beer tasting.

In addition to hundreds of amazing beers, there was also food vendors in the tents for sampling. There was a killer hot sauce I scored called Blue's Habanero Reserve from Blue's BBQ, Inc. I had to bring home a bottle of that stuff and it's nearly half-gone already! Cabot cheese was also there from Vermont. Now I'm from Wisconsin, and even though I may not know everything about cheese, I know good cheese... this stuff was the best I've ever had. They had cheddar, sharp cheddar, habanero and horseraddish cheeses out to sample and they were all amazing. The habanero lit me up and the horseraddish was about as hot with a bit more bite!

The festival as a whole was a ton of fun; the live music was great, the food selections were excellent (everything from pizza to Indian food!), even the people were polite and fun.

Anyway, at the end of the day, I felt more educated in my knowledge of beer... who am I kidding, I still don't know the difference between a milk-stout and a regular stout.