Let the Bottling Begin!

That's right folks, you're looking at the flagship label for Red Beard Brewing Company and their first brews, Naked Mole Rat IPA and Prairie Doggin' Brown Ale (which still remains to be finished.)

Brew Fest // Great American Beer Festival 2009

Considering the fact that Wednesday wings at the good ol’ 13th Ave Pub lured us into a LongHammer hangover, it was more than a little lucky that we even made our flight to Denver for the GABF. Now, you might be thinking: why, exactly, would you tempt fate drinking a local IPA when you’re about to be introduced to 1800 undiscovered beers and 400 breweries? The answer is…two rounds of mouthwatering, perfectly seasoned wings! Yep, they’re that good.

We managed to pick up travel mates Kat and Jorgen at 5:30 am and make our 7:30 flight, albeit as the last ones on. A little turbulence and a lot of clouds later, we descended on Denver like a pack of thirsty hyenas. Awaiting our arrival was the 5th wheel Chad, who, despite numerous efforts couldn’t ratchet down a sixth festival attendee to offset the two married couples accompanying him. [Side note: said attempts included Quinn Padgett (still fishing), Roger Padgett (road trip derailed en route), Ryan (insufficient funds), Aaron Oldenberg (insufficient vacation days), and Alexandria Ambrosia (who declined at the last minute, to Chad’s obvious dismay.)] So, Chad was left to his own devices, which mostly meant getting late-night texts from a mysterious unnamed lass. 

We arrived on Thursday before noon, with hopes of hitting a local brewery for lunch. However, about five thousand people had the same idea. So after walking down to the Great Divide, getting lost in some sort of private beer drinking party (we weren’t invited), and passing up multiple bratwurst stands (why doesn’t Seattle have these again? oh wait, they do - Dante's Inferno Dogs!) we ended up at a hole-in-the-wall Mexican joint serving nothing better than Tecate in a can and some undisclosed meat they were passing off as steak.

After the slightly disappointing Mexican fare, Chad and I made the trek out to his hotel room. After missing the turn-off and walking about a mile too far, we walked right by Mile High and back into 1986. Not since then have architects thought cylindrical hotels with 10th floor restaurants would bring in the masses. The walk back produced a 6 pack of Stone Levitation Ale. 

The Thursday night GABF session started at 5:30. We made it through our VIP (that’s right, VIP!....or Members-Only) line at about 6 with our pretzel necklaces and the 1 oz servings began to flow. The main goal was to try the non-local big guns (Dogfish Head, Avery, Russian River, North Coast, etc.), however, we soon found out that wasn’t really necessary. With 400 breweries to choose from, the best approach was just to move along the line and try interesting sounding beers. Josh, with his less discerning palate tried a wide variety of beers. From Imperial Russian Stout’s to Raspberry Tarts to Belgian Tripel’s. On the other hand, Meagan stuck to her guns, drinking mostly IPA’s, with a few Reds and Pale Ales mixed in. Chad, too, was quite particular about his tasting experience, sticking to mostly Browns, Porters and Stouts. Jorgen made a point of trying two or three beers at each stop, and getting recommendations from the people at the booths. We all wanted to come out of there with a few new beers to try, but keeping track of 100+ beers was imminently difficult, so sadly, specific highlights are difficult to recall.

 

The Great American Beer Festival from Brewers Association on Vimeo.

Friday’s mid-day highlight was a trip out to world-renowned Duffy's Cherry Cricket. Rumor had it that if you couldn’t choose your burger (they have a substantial list of topping options), they’d throw darts at a board and choose it for you. However, this rumor seemed to be unsubstantiated, with good ol’ fashioned waiter advice taking its place. Josh was the only one brave enough to leave it up to the help, receiving an absolutely mouth-watering cream-cheese jalapeno burger in return for his courage. [Side note: he also had half of Meagan’s double-cheese bacon burger, and Kat’s cheeseburger, and waddled out stuffed to the brim.] It would be a mistake not to make the trek out to this joint if one were to end up in Denver somehow.

A woeful game of pool at Tarantula’s Billiards precursed (screw you Word that is now a word) our Sunday outing. And when I say woeful I mean we missed more shots then a left handed free throw shooting Shaq. The only thing that was worse than our game of pool was the beer selection at Tarantula's.

On Friday night, our plans included checking out Coors Stadium and the playoff-bound Rockies. Coors Stadium is fairly new, and although its no Safeco its aesthetics are quite good. Left field has only one level, leaving a view from our seats in Right field out open Denver. The game was not a slugfest, but was exciting nonetheless, ending with a walk-off sac fly. 

After the game the five of us hit up Oktoberfest-Denver. Jorgen picked up a Stein, and the rest of us double-fisted our banana flavored beverages. This is one aspect of Oktoberfest I’ve never quite become accustomed to. Give me some citrus hops any day over banana yeast. We exited quietly and parted ways with Chad, who proceeded to run (literally) back to his hotel. Curious chap that Chad.

Saturday was the vaunted AHA members only session of the GABF. With a bellyful of disappointing Hollandaise but otherwise tasty breakfast eats, the three homebrewers + guests headed back into the 7 acre expanse that housed the unlimited 1 oz samples of beery goodness. Again, everybody had their methods clearly laid out: Josh and Jorgen: try any and all, Chad: Porters and Stouts only, Meagan: IPA and recommendations only, and Kat: water only (sorry Kat). The first order of business was the Dogfish Head booth, which had 5 off-centered ™ beers for tasting. Caglione himself was there (we also saw Charlie Papazian on the first day, the godfather of homebrewing) filling up the glasses. The golden brews they put out were nothing short of magnificent; a list of the flavors would take up more space than this blog itself (no whining at blog length!). 

With about 2 hours left the awards ceremony was complete and award winning booths were the main attraction. Troegs came away with some golds and we came away with some Troegs. Lagunitas, Kona, The Bruery, and myriad others were flavor-tested and given the thumbs up. Discretion failed near the end, as last call was called out with 5 minutes remaining. Helpful volunteer pourers made sure everyone got their money’s worth at the end, as we topped off for the rest of the day.

Wynkoop Brewery became the hangout for the next few hours, as we talked up some East Coast brewery distributors, who gave us the low-down on beer drinkers (yellow beer still rules the roost). We all partook in our free beer, and bizzounced!

On Saturday night, everybody hopped in the van-taxi and headed out to Red Rocks to see Flogging Molly. The venue was as eye-catching as promised; a sort of naturally hollowed out amphitheatre sunk right into layered rock. Flogging Molly played anthemic Irish punk, keeping the crowd on their feet for the majority of the show. Fast-paced, heavily accented, and barely knowing 25% of the soundtrack (Kat and Jorgen claimed to know more…but did no jig-dancing to verify that claim) didn’t keep the crew from enjoying the show thoroughly.

Sunday was departure day, and Kat and Jorgen left early on, and rumor has it made a successful journey back to Seattle on the Light Rail. Meagan, Josh and Chad headed down to Rock Bottom Brewery (yeah yeah, chain beer, it wasn’t bad) and caught the Seahawks and the rest of the NFL games; successfully warding off any potential hangovers with some hair of the dog.

All in all it was a fantastic weekend and with any luck will be revisited again.

Brewing Notes // The Trials...

After the wildly successful Prairie Doggin' Brown Ale (tm), the clamor for their next brew had to be met. After much discussion, and many suggestions, we with an English-style ESB, something that the crew hadn't brewed yet.

Everything was going smoothly (including the drinking) until it was time to cool the boiling wort. Instead of cooling the wort down like one is supposed to (ice bath/copper coil), Josh decided to poor the wort right into the carboy...while Chad overlooked. The wort splashed right off the funnel and straight into Chad's eye. Needless to say they figured out their error instantly. After some swearing, and apologizing, the wort managed to get cooled and the fermentation started.

After a few weeks of worrying that the beer was going to taste like something out of Belgium instead of England, (perhaps sour, yeasty or fruity) Chad took the first swath and deemed it: OK. So he slipped a little DME into the mix to give it some carbonation, bottled it up and prayed it wouldn't get any worse.

He brought 7 - 22 oz bombers to Daroga State Park for Memorial Day and popped them in the cooler overnight. Josh was so excited to try the brew he busted one open at 10 AM. (He claims to have broken no rules, as it was over 70 degrees by then [the noon/70 degree rule]). Just as Chad said, it was: OK. Nothing wrong with it, really, just not much to it. It was pretty smooth and drinkable though, so the suspicion is that the recipe just wasn't up to par for the bolder IPA-normalized gullet. Yes, gullet. Not pallet. That would suggest these drinkers have a discerning pallet, which, Josh readily admits he does not.

With two brews down, let's hope the third time's the charm and a true winner is crafted, if not for the fans - then for their dwindling pride.

Brew Fest // The Countdown Begins...

We've reserved our hotel, booked our flights and purchased our tickets. We've even scored some seats at the Cardinals vs. Rockies game...Denver, Co & the Great American Beer Festival here we come! 

 


Only 128 days and counting until the debauchery begins!