Doesn't seem that long ago that I was posting comments on the Raleigh World Beer Fest, but I guess 6 months goes quick. The Durham World Beer Fest we went to on Saturday was as good, if not better. You can see a program from the event here if you'd like to take a look.
I went with 4 friends and really had a great time. Same as last time, it was a great atmosphere, except this time we were in the outfield of a beautiful minor-league ballpark of the Durham Bulls. There were 4 tents per beer garden and three beer gardens. Overall there were about 130 breweries present; some serving only one of their beers on tap or bottle, others came with as many as seven of their brews. No way to count, but my guess is that there was somewhere between 300-400 varieties of beer to be sampled. I hit about 70.
Now don't think I drank 70 full beers... that's just silly. On average it was only about 1-4 oz per brew. I finished the afternoon feeling well and glad for the pretzel necklace Marc's kids had made for us.
While walking from tent to tent sampling different beers, I kept track and tried to rate all the beers I tasted. I kept it simple, by marking a 1-5 next to it's name on my program.
Anheuser-Busch
St. Louis, MO
Jack's Pumpkin Spice 4.5
Czechvar 4
Arcobräu Brauhaus
Moos, Germany
Urfass Lager 4
Aspall Cyders
Suffolk, United Kingdom
Gaffel Kölsch 4.5
Avery Brewing Co.
Boulder, CO
White Rascal 4.5
Reverend 5
Hog Heaven 5
Azalea Coast Brewing Co.
Wilmington, NC
Rackam's Black Lure Porter 3.5
Beck's Brewery
Lincolnshire, England
Combined Harvest 4
Big Boss Brewing Co.
Raleigh, NC
Harvest Time Pumpkin Ale 4
Black Diamond Express 4.5
Blue Moon Brewing
Golden, CO
Pale Moon 4.5
Pumpkin 4
Boddington's
Manchester, England
Pub Ale 3.5
Brewery Ommegang
Cooperstown, NY
Hennepin Farmhouse Saison
Carolina Beer Co
Mooresville, NC
Cottonwood 4.5
Carolina Brewery
Chapel Hill, NC
Flagship IPA 4
Clipper City Brewing Company
Baltimore, MD
Winter Storm 5
Heavy Seas Loose Cannon 4.5
Deschutes Brewery
Bend, OR
Black Butte Porter 4.5
Mirror pond Pale Ale 4
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
Milton, DE
Theobrama 5
Duvel Moortgat Brouwerij
Puurs, Belgium
Maredsous 8 4.5
Belgian Golden Ale 4.5
Flying Dog Brewery
Denver, CO
Double Dog 5
onzo Imperial Porter 4.5
Founder's Brewery
Grand Rapids, MI
Breakfast Stout 4.5
French Broad Brewing
Asheville, NC
Wee Heavy-er 4
13 Rebels ESB 4
Great Divide Brewing
Denver, CO
Titan IPA 4
Green Mountain Beverage
Middlebury, VT
Strongbow Cider 2.5
Kaiser Brewery
Diviaopolis, Brazil
Palma Louca 3.5
Kuhnhenn Brewing
Warren, MI
Fourth Dimentia Olde Ale 5
Left Hand Brewing Co
Longmont, CO
Milk Stout 4.5
Imperial Stout 4.5
Magic Hat Brewing Co
South Burlington, VT
Circus Boy 5
Jinx 4.5
Matt Brewing Co
Utica, NY
Pomegranate Wheat 4.5
McAusian Brewery
Montreal, Canada
St Ambrose Oatmeal Stout 5
Miller Brewing Co
Milwaukee, WI
Sparks 4.5
Sparks Plus 5
New Belgium Brewing Co
Fort Collins, CO
Fat Tire Amber Ale 4
Pabst Brewing Co
San Antonio, TX
Pabst Blue Ribbon 4
Pennsylvania Brewing Co
Pittsburgh, PA
Pilsner 3.5
Gold 5
Oktoberfest 4
Pyramid Breweries
Seattle, WA
Hefeweizen 5
Thunderhead IPA 4
Broken Rake Amber 4
Reunion
Chico, CA
Organic Red Rye Ale 5
Rogue Ales
Newport, OR
Double Dead Guy Ale 4
I2PA 4
Shmaltz Brewing Co
San Francisco, CA
Coney Island Lager 4.5
Origin Pomegranate Ale 4.5
Genesis 4.5
Smuttynose Brewing Co
Portsmouth, NH
Old Brown Dog 4.5
Southampton Ales and Lagers
Southampton, NY
Double White 4
Altbier 4.5
St Feuillien Brasserie
Le Roeuix, Belgium
Abbey Tripel Ale 5
Urthel Bock 5
St Peters Brewery
Suffolk, England
Organic English Ale 3.5
Stella Artois Brewery
Leuven, Belgium
Lager 3.5
Terrapin Beer Co
Athens, GA
India Style Brown Ale 4
Uinta Brewing Co
Salt Lake City, UT
Anniversary Barley Wine 4.5
Wedge Brewing Co
Asheville, NC
Porter 4
Wit Beer 4
Wolf Beer Co
Wilmington, NC
White Wolf 3.5
Wychwood Brewry
Witney, England
Scarecrow Organic Ale 2.5
whew
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Good vs Evil... so to speak (034, 035 & 036)
A few weeks back, I tallied three more brews towards my targeted 200 at the Flying Saucer:
Two of which I'd had before, Weihenstephaner Original and the Hefeweizen, both are such clean beers. Not sure if it's because of the fact that Weihenstephaner brews all their beers by the German (or Bavarian) Purity Law of 1516 (or Reinheitsgebot in German) restricting the ingredients of the production of beer to water, barley & hops. Curious that a Hefeweizen beer (with the main ingredient of wheat) is still considered to be brewed by that law... hmmm. Technicality I guess. Anyway, both the Original and the Hefe were again amazing. Plus, as a bonus, I just love the art of properly pouring a pint into a tall wheat beer glass. There is no finer looking glass of beer than a cloudy Hefe in a tall-one.
The third beer of the night is named appropriately. Arrogant Bastard Ale by Stone Brewery. The first thing that is printed on the back of the bottle is "This is an aggressive beer. You probably won't like it. It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth. We suggest that you stick to safer and more familiar territory - maybe something with a multi-million dollar ad campaign aimed at convincing you it's made in a little brewery, or one that implies that their tasteless fizzy yellow beer will give you more sex appeal. Perhaps you think muli-million dollar ad campaigns make a beer taste better. Perhaps you're mouthing your words as you read this."
Arraogant they may be, but it is a fine beer.
Weihenstephaner Original
Container: Bottled
Style: Pale Lager
Brewer: Weihenstephan Brewery (Brauerei Weihenstephan)
City: Freising
Country: Germany
Description:
This mellow brew is the only lager currently available from Weihenstephaner, the oldest brewery in the world and a specialist in wheat ales. It has a nice light malt aroma and is very smooth. 5.1% abv
Weihenstephaner Hefeweizen
Container: Bottled
Style: Wheat (Weizen)
Brewer: Weihenstephan Brewery (Brauerei Weihenstephan)
City: Freising
Country: Germany
Description:
Hazy gold in color with a spicy clove aroma. It has a medium body with an off-dry malt finish and a hint of spice that lingers. 5.4% abv
Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale
Container: Bottled
Style: Strong Ale
Brewer: Stone Brewing Co.
City: San Marcos, CA
Country: United States
Description:
This dark ale is well hopped with a nice floral aroma and an intensely bitter palate. It is very full-bodied with complex malt and hop flavors. The finish lingers with noticeable bitterness. 7.2% abv
Two of which I'd had before, Weihenstephaner Original and the Hefeweizen, both are such clean beers. Not sure if it's because of the fact that Weihenstephaner brews all their beers by the German (or Bavarian) Purity Law of 1516 (or Reinheitsgebot in German) restricting the ingredients of the production of beer to water, barley & hops. Curious that a Hefeweizen beer (with the main ingredient of wheat) is still considered to be brewed by that law... hmmm. Technicality I guess. Anyway, both the Original and the Hefe were again amazing. Plus, as a bonus, I just love the art of properly pouring a pint into a tall wheat beer glass. There is no finer looking glass of beer than a cloudy Hefe in a tall-one.
The third beer of the night is named appropriately. Arrogant Bastard Ale by Stone Brewery. The first thing that is printed on the back of the bottle is "This is an aggressive beer. You probably won't like it. It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth. We suggest that you stick to safer and more familiar territory - maybe something with a multi-million dollar ad campaign aimed at convincing you it's made in a little brewery, or one that implies that their tasteless fizzy yellow beer will give you more sex appeal. Perhaps you think muli-million dollar ad campaigns make a beer taste better. Perhaps you're mouthing your words as you read this."
Arraogant they may be, but it is a fine beer.
Weihenstephaner OriginalContainer: Bottled
Style: Pale Lager
Brewer: Weihenstephan Brewery (Brauerei Weihenstephan)
City: Freising
Country: Germany
Description:
This mellow brew is the only lager currently available from Weihenstephaner, the oldest brewery in the world and a specialist in wheat ales. It has a nice light malt aroma and is very smooth. 5.1% abv
Weihenstephaner HefeweizenContainer: Bottled
Style: Wheat (Weizen)
Brewer: Weihenstephan Brewery (Brauerei Weihenstephan)
City: Freising
Country: Germany
Description:
Hazy gold in color with a spicy clove aroma. It has a medium body with an off-dry malt finish and a hint of spice that lingers. 5.4% abv
Stone Arrogant Bastard AleContainer: Bottled
Style: Strong Ale
Brewer: Stone Brewing Co.
City: San Marcos, CA
Country: United States
Description:
This dark ale is well hopped with a nice floral aroma and an intensely bitter palate. It is very full-bodied with complex malt and hop flavors. The finish lingers with noticeable bitterness. 7.2% abv
Friday, October 3, 2008
A fun quote on wise investments
Thanks for this, Chris:
If you had purchased $1,000.00 of AIG stock one year ago you would have $44.34 left.
With Wachovia, you would have had $54.74 left of the original $1,000.00.
With Lehman, you would have had $0.00 left.
But, if you had purchased $1,000.00 worth of beer one year ago…drank all of the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling REFUND, you would have $214.00 cash.
If you had purchased $1,000.00 of AIG stock one year ago you would have $44.34 left.
With Wachovia, you would have had $54.74 left of the original $1,000.00.
With Lehman, you would have had $0.00 left.
But, if you had purchased $1,000.00 worth of beer one year ago…drank all of the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling REFUND, you would have $214.00 cash.
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