HereForTheBeer.com » Beer Festivals

Slow Fest – A Celebration of Session Beer

Tim Brady — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 20:49:25 +0000

In April, the first ever Slow Fest was held in Boston, MA. Put on by Dig Publishing (the folks who publish Beer Advocate Magazine), Slow Fest was a celebration of low alcohol beers (under 5% alcohol by volume or ABV). As a big “session beer” fan (a term used to describe lower alcohol beers) I was excited to get a chance to attend this event.

The Slow Fest included over 30 breweries, including some that would surprise you to know brew quite a few low alcohol beers, like Stone and Victory. In addition, the Slow Fest incorporated an element of slow food to accompany the “slow” beer.

Slow Food is a movement that is centered around getting people to be more aware of where their food comes from and taking the time to enjoy meals. It’s essentially the complete opposite of “Fast Food”. A perfect pairing for craft beer, which despite a debate on the definition of the term, really is the opposite of mass produced beer.

The event was a great chance to try a lot of flavorfull beers, perfect as the temperatures rise and session beers become more of what I crave.

Hopefully they will do this event again next year. If they do I will certainly be there, and as always, I”’ be here for the beer.

American Craft Beer Fest ACBF Boston MA 2010

Tim Brady — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 19:49:56 +0000

In this quick episode, I take a trip out to Boston for the night to check out the East Coast’s largest craft beer event – the American Craft Beer Fest.

With over 80 breweries and 400+ beers available to sample, the fest is well equipped to handle the 12,000 attendees that will pass through in the weekend.

I had the chance to talk to the founders of Beer Advocate and this event, the Alström Brothers, Jason and Todd, about this 3rd year event. Even as the doors just opened, they shared expansion plans for next year. The Bro’s have really raised the bar on craft beer festivals and often tailor those events to the craft beer lover. In this case, they share that the ACBF is geared more toward introducing craft beer to those who may not make it an everyday first choice.

Overall the event had that feel to it, but not in a bad way. There was a strong regional representation, with most brands being from MA and the surrounding area. It gave me an opportunity to revisit some of my local favorites, as well as sample some new breweries I had yet to try. I attended the Friday night session, which is usually the quieter of the 3 sessions, and didn’t have to wait long to taste anything. I was impressed that the longest lines were at some of the smallest breweries, a testament to the crowd and the work that Beer Advocate (and other craft beer supporters) do to put focus on these smaller brands.

Overall it was a nice night out in Boston and it was great to see some fellow beer geek friends that I tend to only run into at these events. I look forward to the next Beer Advocate event, sure to be shared right here – on here for the beer!

PS – If you are interested in attending tonight, there are still tickets remaining on the Beer Advocate website.

Brattleboro Brewers Festival 2010

Tim Brady — Wed, 26 May 2010 22:55:12 +0000

We are happy to say that the first ever Brattleboro Brewers Festival was this past weekend and it was a great time. 40 breweries were represented, with many brewmasters and owners actually coming out to show their support and pour. Big breweries and small came together with great music from local favorites Peter Miles and Terrapin Island as well as great food from Vermont Country Deli (who actually created 7 dishes with beers from the festival), North End Butchers and Top of the Hill Grill. Thankfully the weather held out and it was a beautiful day for a festival.

Check out our video to see a quick overview of the event (we were pretty busy during and didn’t get to give it a real “hereforthebeer” production). There is also a great series of photos of the festival taken by Mallory Finnley over on her Flickr page.

If you were able to come out for the fest, we would love to know your thoughts – post a comment here or on facebook. If you didn’t make it this year, we hope that you will be able to make it next year. Keep an eye on the Brattleboro Brew Fest website or right here on here for the beer for the details. Cheers!

Brattleboro Brewers Festival and Pub Crawl

Amy Brady — Tue, 11 May 2010 23:57:51 +0000

I am excited to announce the first annual Brattleboro Brewers Festival and Pub Crawl on May 21st and 22nd is taking place in our hometown of Brattleboro, VT. This is no doubt going to be a killer event with 40 breweries, live music, great food, and an education tent sponsored by hereforthebeer.com

We think perhaps the North End Business association (the host) was off their rocker when they agreed to allow Tim and I to recruit the Breweries and select the beers for this event.

You will be able to sample some of your favorites like Harpoon IPA & UFO, BBC’s Steel Rail, Dogfish Head 90 Minute and Allagash White just to name a few. However, you will also be able to sample some never before released beers such as McNeill’s Amerillo Billo and Lawson’s Finest Liquids Oak-Aged Bourbon Barrel-style Fayston Maple Imperial Stout.

Are you into cask conditioned beers? Well we have those too, try Victory Hop Wallop and Portsmouth Brewery’s Le Chat Noir Black, again just to name a few. How about some of the new guys like Maine Beer Company, The Trapp Family Lodge, Hill Farmstead, Petty Things Beer & Ale Project, and Element Brewing Co… Go ahead let you self start to get a little excited, that’s okay…because I am not done yet. Are you into IPA’s? We’ll have more then 15 IPA’s including McNeill’s Warlord, Longtrail’s Brewmaster’s Series Double IPA and Stone’s Ruination. Maybe session beers are your thing. Well we have over 60 of them coming to the festival including several from High and Mighty Beer Co. and Switchback Ale. And if you are still not sold, come to this festival to sample Vermont beers from the 13 Vermont Breweries attending.

Now that I have your attention we can talk a little about all of the other great things this event has to offer. As you know we have an inn in Brattleboro and so some of our local favorites will be involved such as live music by Terrapin Island and The Peter Miles Band. You can munch on some great foods from the Vermont Country Deli, Top of the Hill Grill and North End Butchers. If your friends are not sure about craft beer or maybe would just like to learn a little more about craft beer send them over the the here for the beer education tent at 2pm. Tim will be providing an introductory session on craft beer. Sample 5 different styles and let him help you figure out what you do and don’t like when it comes to beer so you can make better choices for yourself.

All I have left to say is buy your tickets now! You can do that directly on our website or purchase them locally at the locations shown on the website.

We would love your help to spread the word and help us sell the remaining tickets available. So if it is not an imposition send this on to your beer loving family, friends and fans. If you would like to stay will us at Forty Putney Road B&B we would love to have you call us at 802-254-6268.

The Brewers Plate 2010

Dan Keashen — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:49:51 +0000

The sixth annual Brewers Plate event was held for the first time at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Standing in the shadows of Franklin Field, brewers and restaurateurs from throughout the Philadelphia region came together in the name of craft beer and in support of the non-profit Fair Food. The gala was held among 4,000 year artifacts from ancient Egypt which provided a backdrop for Philadelphia’s foodies and beer geeks as they comingled in the name of charity.

“This is a huge event and the people are here for good beer,” David Hoffman, of Climax Brewing, said. “We have people here that are more aware of craft beer, and know that the Philly and New York area are turning out some damn good beer. This event shows that brewing ain’t all about the west coast and hop bombs – it’s about solid balanced beer.”

While Hoffman riffed on brewing in the region and served up his nut brown ale, he was well positioned next to Village Whiskey as they passed out samples of their bbq pork sandwich. The small speakeasy themed restaurant was serving up a perfect compliment to the surrounding brewers’ beer from Flying Fish and Dog Fish Head.

For the brewers and chefs, this was a place to present their creations and educate the consumer. Beau Baden, brew master from the Bethlehem BrewWorks, said the venue provided him with a unique opportunity.

“People that come to this event are usually curious and have a lot of questions,” Baden said. “This gives us a chance, as a craft brewery, to really showcase our beers and explain how well they go with the food selections here tonight. We can tell people how well spicy food can be complimented by hoppy beer, which sets this event apart from others.”

After a taste of the Boaks Russian Imperial stout paired with chocolate cupcakes and a solid Beligan Golden Ale from Triumph Brewing, it was time to go downstairs and explore the rest of the show.

A favorite attraction downstairs was a sampling of cheeses from the Pennsylvania Farmstead and Artisan Cheese Alliance, and the tremendous offerings from DiBruno Bros. Bill Covaleski brought two gems with him from his Victory Brewing Co. – the Smokin’ Oats Porter and St. Boisterous- a full bodied lager in the traditional Maibock style. Both beers provided an excellent pairing with the selection of cheeses and gourmet chocolates from John & Kira.

For the general public this event is a day to celebrate and unite craft beer and gourmet food from the region. Covaleski emphasizes that for the event organizers, the real focus of the day is on raising funds and supporting a nonprofit that works to promote healthy, local food systems.

All proceeds from the event benefited Fair Food, which is a nonprofit dedicated to bringing locally grown food to the marketplace and promoting a humane, sustainable agriculture system for the Greater Philadelphia region.

For more information visit the Brewers Plate website or keep an eye on here for the beer for the latest from the Philadelphia area from our newest contributor, Dan.

Pints for Prostates Rare Beer Tasting at the GABF

Amy Brady — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:05:09 +0000

All About Beer Magazine and Beer Advocate hosted The Inaugural Denver Rare Beer Tasting at the 2009 Great American Beer Festival in Denver, CO as a fundraiser for Pints for Prostates. This amazing event required a special ticket and was held at the Wynkoop Brewing Company. This fundraiser had and “A list” of Breweries large and small. Not only was there access to rare beers from some our favorite breweries, but many of the big name brewers and owners of these breweries were there to pour their brews. Overall it was a great event for an even better cause.

Check out the list below of all the great breweries and beers we had a chance to sample:

Alaskan Brewing Co – ’99 & ’08 Alaskan Smoked Porter
Allagash Brewing Co – Allagash Fluxus 2009
Avery Brewing Co – Voltron Barrel Aged Sour Ale
Boston Beer Co – Samuel Adams Utopias 2009
Bison Brewing Co – Bison Reunion ’09 Double White Ale
Brooklyn Brewery – Brooklyn Wild 1
Deschutes Brewing Co – Double Black Butte Porter XXI
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery – Raison D’Extra 2006
Foothills Brewing Co – Barrel Aged Total Eclipse Stout
Great Divide Brewing Co – Old Ruffian Barley Wine 2008
Harpoon Brewery – Glacier Harvest ’09 Wet Hop Ale
Highland Brewing Co – Big Butte Smoked Porter
Jolly Pumpkin – Bier de Mars Grand Reserve ’06/’07
Lost Abbey – The Angel’s Share ’09 Brandy Barrel Finish
Michelob Brewing Co – Mich Brett
New Belgium Brewing/Elysian Brewing – Trip II
New Glarus Brewing Co – New Glarus Golden Ale
Odell Brewing Co – Odell Crimson Shenanigans
Oksar Blues Wet-hopped Whiskey Barrel-aged Gordon
Rogue Ales – Rogue John John Hazelnut
Saranac Brewing Co – Saranac Imperial IPA
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co – Barrel Aged Scotch Ale
Stoudts Brewing Co – Stoudts Old Abominable Barleywine ’07
Stone Brewing Co – Stone ’08 Old Guardian Barley Wine
Wynkoop Brewing Co – Wynkoop Barrel Aged Berserker Mead

(thanks to Dave at Fermentedly Challenged for typing up the list!)

We hope you enjoy our video as much as we enjoyed meeting the many brewers and other participants. Be sure to check out our other videos and blog posts from the Great American Beer Festival including 2009 Great American Beer Festival in Denver, CO, Day 1 in Denver for the 2009 GABF, Day 2 in Denver at the 2009 GABF, Day 3 in Denver for the 2009 GABF, Day 4 in Denver for the 2009 GABF, 2009 Samuel Adams Longshot American Homebrew Contest, Farm to Table, and Best Dressed of the GABF. We will see you next time on here for the beer.

2009 Great American Beer Festival in Denver, CO

Tim Brady — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:02:12 +0000

This video is an overview of the 2009 Great American Beer Festival. This 28th Annual Great American Beer Festival in Denver, CO was an amazing and well organized event. With over 49,000 attendees this year, surprisingly the floor never felt all that crowded. This was our first time at the GABF, but we are guessing that the 46% more space added this year helped to create a more comfortable venue.

The Brewers Association estimates that there was 18,000 gallons of beer at this event, which meant that on the showroom floor you could sample 2,100 different beers from 495 breweries across the country. Although even at 1oz per sample, it would be impossible to try them all (2,100 1oz samples = 132 pints). 51 of the breweries were attending for the first time, which is a testament to the growth of craft beer.

There were 78 categories being judged this year by a panel of 132 judges from 10 different countries. A whopping 3,308 beers were entered in to the Great American Beer Festival Competition this year, each vying for a medal in their category. Unlike many wine events, where a particular score awards you a medal; at the Great American Beer Festival there is only one Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medal per category. This means that each of the three winning beers in each category represent one of the best examples of that beer style in the United States. Congratulations out there to all of the Medal winners of the 2009 GABF!

This well structured event also included 8 educational areas. We had a chance to try the “You Be the Judge” seminar, where we got to try our hand at judging a few beers. In addition there were dozens of other events around Denver, both tied to the Great American Beer Festival and Denver Beer Week. We encourage you to check out some of our other coverage of the GABF including the Farm to Table event, Pints for Prostates event, Samuel Adams Longshot Competition, our posts about Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4, and our Best Dressed of the GABF segment.

We hope you enjoy our coverage of the GABF as much as we enjoyed attending this event. Cheers from Here for the Beer, we hope to see you at the Great American Beer Festival next year.

Day 4 in Denver for the 2009 GABF

Tim Brady — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:34:30 +0000

Saturday was yet another awesome day. Starting with brunch at Marlow’s for the announcement of the winners of the Samuel Adams Longshot American Homebrew Contest. The winners were Michael Robinson’s Old Ale, Ben Miller’s Barelywine and Jeremy White’s Lemon Pepper Saison. Try these winners beers in the Samuel Adam’s Longshot Six-Pack which will be available nationwide in April 2010.

Next it was back to the showroom floor for more beer and the announcement of the Great American Beer Festival Medal Winners. We are proud to say that our home state of Vermont took home three medals. Otter Creek Brewing took home the Gold Medal for their Vermont Lager in the Bohemian Style Pilsner Category and the Alchemist cleaned up in the Gluten Free Beer Category with a Gold Medal for their Celia Framboise and a Bronze Medal for their Celia IPA. After the Medals were awarded we met up with Paul Gatza, Director of The Brewers Association, for a tour of the showroom floor to sample some of the 2009 Great American Beer Festival Award winning beers.

After the session and feeling some of the effects of our whirlwind morning and afternoon of award winning beers, we went in search of a hamburger in downtown Denver. According to the “Google Gods” the number three best burger in Denver (and the only one of the top three places in walking distance) was the Trinity Grill. The place was empty (probably because the beers on draft were New Castle and Guinness) but we just wanted a lot of water and a good hamburger to prepare for another night of beer drinking. The burger did not disappoint and we ended up meeting with fellow beer geeks Jeff, Steph and Tim who are planning to open a brewpub – sweet.

Back to the show floor for the infamous Saturday night session and let me tell you it was jam packed with all kinds of crazy characters. Check out our best dressed of the GABF video coming soon. After sampling many more award winning beers it was back to the hotel for a few hours of shut eye before getting up at 3am to catch our flight home.

It was sad to leave Denver, we met so many great people and enjoyed tons of great beers. It was an education in styles, regions and ingredients that we will draw on for years to come. Thanks to the Brewers Association for putting together this colossal event and to all of the brewers who participate in making it so incredible. Thanks to the miles of walking (that place is HUGE) and the gallons of water (plentiful on the floor) we actually returned home feeling refreshed and rejuvenated and ready to jump back into the innkeeping scene at our Bed and Breakfast in Brattleboro, Vermont. We hope you enjoy our upcoming videos from the GABF (if you haven’t already seen our other GABF posts, be sure to read about our adventures GABF day 1, GABF day 2 and GABF day 3) we look forward to seeing you all there next year! Cheers from Here for the Beer!

Day 3 in Denver for the 2009 GABF

Amy Brady — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:44:47 +0000

So after a crazy first night and an adventure filled second day, we trekked out for day 3 in Denver. Friday started out with another killer food and beer pairing luncheon, where we sampled dishes like Buffalo Carpaccio with Avacado Tile and Cajun BBQ Shrimp with Fresh Corn Grits, paired with great beers like Del Norte’s Manana Amber Lager (from Denver) and Oregon’s Bend Brewing Co.’s collaboration “Rocksy Stein Lager”. 6 courses and 7 beers, now that’s what I call a great lunch.

Next we hopped on a bus for a quick tour of Denver, stopping back at Falling Rock (ahh the memories) for a taste of some Oskar Blue’s and Breckenridge beers while packed in amongst the huge beer loving crowds (at 2 in the afternoon on a Friday mind you – got to love Denver!).

Then off to the Great Divide brewery for a quick tour with the owner and a taste of their beers, including the 15th Anniversary Wood Aged Double IPA, which may very well have been my favorite beer of the day.

We left Great Divide and headed to the Pints for Prostates Rare Beer Tasting, which will get it’s own post and video soon – a great event for an even better cause.

The Friday evening session at the GABF was more crowded than Thursday, but still far from uncomfortable. Cheers to the Brewers Association to spreading the event out in more space, leaving plenty of breathing room. The highlights of this session were our tour of the floor with Brewers Association Director Paul Gatza, trying some of his favorite brews (this will be in an upcoming video as well) and our “you be the judge” session, which was an informative and casual look at the challenge of being a beer judge at the Great American Beer Festival.

We wrapped up the night with some much needed pizza and yes, a beer, before crashing and “rebooting” for the tomorrow.

Keep an eye here or follow us on Twitter for all of the latest from the 2009 Great American Beer Festival in Denver Colorado!

Day 2 in Denver at the 2009 GABF

Tim Brady — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:55:14 +0000

A giant thirsty bear, desperate for a beer, stands outside the Colorado Convention Center watching the Great American Beer Festival.

Day 2 in Denver was full of adventure. The day started with some serious hydrating and resting from our first day in Denver. We took a stroll through the city, got registered with the Brewers Association and stopped at our first event hosted by Michelob at Earls Restaurant and Bar. This event was well executed with food stations paired with some Michelob beers. I must admit I had no idea that Michelob offered so many different varieties of beer. We sampled some of their test brews including a pear beer, double bock and the Rye-ters Block IPA. The pear beer was surprisingly well balanced not smack you in the face with pear. The bock was kind of syrupy, our least favorite. The Rye-ters Block IPA was the best beer at this event. The most impressive part of this event though had to be Earls. The location was great, right on the 16th Street mall. We were on the second floor which had a retractable wall, which was open on the great sunny afternoon. The decor was modern, all the waitresses were wearing sexy high heals and the food was really good. A great start to the evening. Thanks Michelob!

At 5:15pm they allowed us to enter the beer hall. More like a beer hanger. This place was HUGE. We took a quick walk around and found a line forming at New Glarus, so logically we got in line. After speaking to the folks waiting it was clear that their first priority was the New Glarus Red followed by their Raspberry. We got one of each and wow, it was easy to see what all of the fuss was about. We walked around, I must admit completely overwhelmed by the shear size of this event. Attendance of this event is about 49,000 with 2,100 beers to sample on the showroom floor. It was difficult to figure out where to start. We eventually found our groove and sampled many wonderful beers… The Bruery’s Black Tuesday Imperial Stout, Russian River Consecration, The Lost Abby Ten Commandments, Brewery Ommegang Adoration among several others…

At 7pm we headed into a new event for this year called “Farm to Table”. This was by far my favorite event of the day. This event brought farmers, ranchers, chefs and brewers together to create one of the best food and beer pairing I have yet to attend. The chefs had access to some incredibly fresh ingredients and worked with brewers to create some dishes that complimented the beers perfectly. Our favorite was Deschutes Brewery’s pairing with the Duck Confit, but the variety of food and beers was great. This even was ticket only and limited to only 250 attendee over two sessions. Just the right size to mingle and chat with the brewers, chefs and other attendees. Stay tuned for a video dedicated to the farm to table event.

After farm to table we wrapped up the night with a few big beers on our way out the door to rest up for day 3 – where we are taking a tour of some of the area breweries and hitting the rare beer tasting, which promises to be one of the highlights of the trip. Not that any part of this event has been a let down – if you aren’t here this year, be sure to start planning for 2010 now! And stay tuned for our full videos and more coverage of the Great American Beer Festival in Denver Colorado from Here for the Beer! Cheers!

HereForTheBeer.com » Beer Festivals

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