Big Beers Belgians & Barleywines 2010 (Day 2)

Here are some pictures and commentary from Day 2 (Saturday, Jan. 9) of the 2010 BBB festival in Vail CO. I highly recommend this festival. There are seminars, beer dinners, a homebrew contest and a commercial tasting session of over 200 different beers!

(you can click on the pictures for larger views)

The morning started at 10:00 AM with a seminar called "Brewing Outside the Box: Brewers Gone Wild!" The panelists spoke about their experience and experiments with unusual/extreme styles.

Panelists included: Kevin DeLange - Dry Dock Brewing, Sam Calagione - Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, John Mallett - Bell's Brewing Co., Steven Pauwels - Boulevard Brewing Co., David Edgar - White Labs Yeast Co.

Here I am, listening intently, at 10:00 AM, with 7 beer samples in front of me. This brewing business is hard work!


The next seminar was called "Brewing With The Trappists" and featured Lodewijk & Gijs Swinkels from LaTrappe at Bierbrouwerij Koningshoeven in The Netherlands. They talked about what it's like to brew at a Trappist Monastery and the brewing climate in The Netherlands and Europe.

Lodewijk Swinkels

Dan Bradford - publisher, All About Beer Magazine

 The next brewmaster's seminar was called "La Folie: Wood Aged Sour Beers." It featured Peter Bouckaert of New Belgium Brewing Co. He explained the brewing process for various sour beer styles. His two sons helped with visual aids.

Peter Bouckaert and sons.


 And now, the commercial tasting with over 200 different strong beers from around the U.S. and abroad!

Congratulations to Nick Callaway, who won three medals in the homebrew competition!

Chad and John-Michael of Michelob Brewing Co.

Grand Teton Brewing Co.

Here's to good friends!

Nick, Luke, Me.

Sam Calagione, meet Luke Moore.

Sam Calagione and Adam Avery.

Rob Todd of Allagash Brewing Co.

Me with Ray Daniels and Nick Callaway.


Here's a link to photos from day 1

Big Beers Belgians & Barleywines 2010 (Day 1)

Here are some pictures and commentary from Day 1 (Friday, Jan. 8) of the 2010 BBB festival in Vail CO. I highly recommend this festival. There are seminars, beer dinners, a homebrew contest and a grand tasting session of over 200 different beers!

(you can click on the pictures for larger views)

Sampling off-flavors in beer during the Cicerone workshop

Ray Daniels lecturing at the Cicerone workshop. Ray developed the Cicerone certification program to train sellers, servers and distributors of beer how to better care for, understand and present beer.
For more info, visit: http://www.cicerone.org/



Welcome reception on Friday after the Cicerone workshop. Lots of great food and special beers brewed exclusively for the 10th anniversary of the festival.

Dave Mentus of the Pumphouse Brewery in Longmont, CO

Below are some of the beers (but not all) I sampled at the welcome reception.

After the welcome reception, it was time for the judges to convene. 60 judges sampled, rated, critiqued, scored and ranked well over 100 entries from top notch homebrewers. Nick and I stayed to help out.

Room full O' judges!

My table.

Nick standing at his table.

Friends gather after the judging. (L to R) Dan Rabin of Celebrator Beer News, David Edgar of  Mountain West Brewery Supply, John Carlson of Colorado Brewers Guild


Later in the evening it was time to head in to the gourmet beer dinner. 6 courses, each paired with beer from New Belgium and LaTrappe. Dinner was fantastic! Here is the menu:

We finished dinner at about midnight. What a day! Time to crash and get ready for day 2. Here's the link..

The Ratings Game

Why Wine Ratings Are Badly Flawed - WSJ.com

I recently came across a good article about the imperfect science of rating wines. Click the link to see it. When reading however, you must keep an open mind. The author teaches and writes about randomness for a living. Perhaps his citations reflect his own personal agenda. My point is that humans are imperfect creatures. Our perceptions are a direct reflection of our own experiences. Beverage reviews and ratings are useful; they give the consumer a starting point of reference. My advice: try to taste without preconceived expectations. Then, drink what YOU like. This applies to all beverages, including my favorite, beer.

Psychographics: What Your Taste in Beer Says About You - Advertising Age - News

Psychographics: What Your Taste in Beer Says About You - Advertising Age - News

As with all marketing research, take it with a grain of salt (not the Corona, the article). According to this story, I am more open-minded than most people, seek out interesting and varied experiences and am intellectually curious. Oh, and yes, I do drive a truck ;-)

Schlitz Is Back

Schlitz, the brand that was once the number one selling beer in America saw a long decline in quality until it finally faded away. Now it's back. The brewmaster resurrected the original recipe and now, the brand is in limited release. I look forward to tasting this one. Read the full article at the link below.

Case Study | Schlitz Is Back - The Moment Blog - NYTimes.com

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Congratulations Colorado Brewers!

Well, the GABF has come and gone once again. It's always great to attend the festival and related happenings around town. Denver is truly a beer geek's paradise during GABF week. Opportunities abound for brewers and beer lovers of all sorts to mingle, converse, share ideas and proudly showcase their beers to a multitude of sophisticated palates. This year, about 110 of those palates belonged to the judges, who sampled, evaluated, scored, deliberated and ranked the best of the 3,308 entries in this year's competition.

Colorado brewers did extremely well this year (as they always do), winning 45 medals. More awards than any other state!

Special congratulations go out to Dry Dock Brewing Co. and Coors Brewing Co. They received the Small Brewing Company of the Year and Large Brewing Company of the Year Awards, respectively!

For the complete winner's list, searchable by state, visit:

http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/medals/medalists.aspx

GABF Week at the Falling Rock Tap House

Fellow beer lovers,

Here's a list of special tappings etc. at the Falling Rock Tap House, the unofficial headquarters of the GABF. Hope to see you there.


Monday September 21st:

5pm. 13th Annual GABF Kickoff Tapping Party. Every year we save kegs to tap at this event. We will be tapping 10-12 kegs at 5pm of harder to find specialty beers from breweries from all over, some sent in just for this event. Some of the breweries: Avery, Russian River, Lost Abbey, Port Brewing.

Wednesday September 23rd:

4pm Flying Dog 20th Anniversary Beer Tapping
5pm Pyramid Snowcap Unveiling
9pm Artisanal Imports Come try out some of their offerings including a new, limited offering, Koenigshoeven (La Trappe) Isid'or 125th Anniversary Beer
Marty Jones & the Great Unknowns with special Guests the Rolling Boil Blues Band

Thursday September 24th:

3pm Boulder Beer Stranahan's Aged Mojo
10pm Upstairs - Stone Brewing. The Folks over @ Stone sent us a few fun kegs to try out like this year's Vertical Epic & a couple others.
10pm Downstairs - Shelton Brother's. Dan Shelton imports some of the most distinctive beers from all over the world as well as running an Export program also. Come & sample some of the beers that Dan is exporting (like Jolly Pumpkin) as well as some of the interesting beers that Shelton Brothers imports. Cost $20
11pm Jewbilation Bar-Mitzvah Schmaltz Brewing is turning 13 so it's time to celebrate. We'll have Jewbilation and oak aged Lenny'y Rye IPA on tap.

Friday September 25th:

Noon Sierra Nevada Kill-A-Keg See if we can drain a keg in less than last year's 15 minutes 4 seconds.
12:30 Sierra Nevada Estate. Not only did Sierra Use Hops grown on their own Property, they grew the Barley as well. Try out this new, very limited edition Wet-Hopped Ale.
1pm Meet Chris Brouwaerts, Founder of Brasserie La Chouffe from Belgium.
2pm Left Hand/Terrapin Brewing Depth Charge Espresso Milk Stout Collaborative Brew on Cask
10 pm Downstairs All About Beer, Dogfish Head & Others "Up Your Reinheitsgebot - an Evening of Impure & Illicit Beers" Taste Exotic beers from Dogfish Head, Avery Allagash & New Belgium that definitely plead the 5th on the German Purity Law of 1517.

Saturday September 26th:

4pm Boulevard Brewing Smokestack Beers on tap. Try out some of Boulevard's Specialty Offerings.
10pm New Belgium Brewing Rarities with Special Guests Elysian Brewing Company. Come try out some of New Belgium's Harder-to-Find Beers on Tap. We'll have Love, La Folie, Transatlantic Kriek, La Fleur Misseur & Le Terroir. Also in the House will be Beers from Elysian Brewing.