Hello everyone, December marks the our first anniversary here at hereforthebeer.com. We want to thank all of the wonderful people that we had the opportunity to meet this year. We hope that you enjoy our montage (the first good use of the song as far as we are concerned)! We look forward to an even more interesting and exciting 2010 on here for the beer … Cheers!

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• 2009 Great American Beer Festival in Denver, CO
• Day 4 in Denver for the 2009 GABF
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• I am (not) a craft brewer – but they are…
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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.

Related Posts:

• 2009 Here for the Beer – Year in Review
• Day 4 in Denver for the 2009 GABF
• Day 3 in Denver for the 2009 GABF
• Day 1 in Denver for the 2009 GABF
• Day 2 in Denver at the 2009 GABF

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!

Related Posts:

• 2009 Here for the Beer – Year in Review
• 2009 Great American Beer Festival in Denver, CO
• 2009 Samuel Adams Longshot American Homebrew Contest
• Day 3 in Denver for the 2009 GABF
• Day 1 in Denver for the 2009 GABF

The 2009 Samuel Adams American Homebrew Contest also know as the The Samuel Adams Longshot Competition at the Great American Beer Festival is made up of two parts.  First, all of the Samuel Adams employees were offered the opportunity to create a homebrew and submit it into this contest.  Over 90% of the Samuel Adams employees entered a beer, which is an amazing testament to their team.  Of this group the beers were narrowed down to three finalists, which you will meet in this video.    Spoiler alert:  Jeremy White, who works in the IT department of Samuel Adams, won with his light and spicy Lemon Pepper Saison.

The second part of the 2009 Samuel Adams Longshot American Homebrew Contest was opened up to home brewers nationwide.  From 1,300 submissions by home brewer’s across the country it was narrowed down to four finalist.  From there two winners were selected.  Spoiler #2: Ben Miller’s Barleywine and Michael Robinson’s Old Ale took the award this year, both are fairly “big” beers and quite tasty.

Enjoy this video as Jim Koch announces the winning beers that will make up the 2009 Samuel Adams LongShot Variety Six-Pack available in stores nationwide in April 2010.  You will not be disappointed.  Congratulations to the winners and cheers from Here for the Beer.   Be sure to see all of our GABF coverage in the GABF section of our website!

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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!

Related Posts:

• 2009 Great American Beer Festival in Denver, CO
• Day 1 in Denver for the 2009 GABF
• 2009 Here for the Beer – Year in Review
• Day 4 in Denver for the 2009 GABF
• Day 2 in Denver at the 2009 GABF

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!

Related Posts:

• 2009 Great American Beer Festival in Denver, CO
• Day 3 in Denver for the 2009 GABF
• Day 1 in Denver for the 2009 GABF
• 2009 Here for the Beer – Year in Review
• Day 4 in Denver for the 2009 GABF

After a very long day of travel we finally arrived in Denver.  The energy here is through the roof.  We started our adventure at the Wynkoop Brewing Company, where the GABF hosted a Welcome Gathering for Brewers.  We enjoyed wall to wall beer and food.  We had a chance to sample some great beers like:

The Bruery – Cuvee Jeune – Young Lambic

Dry Dock Brewing Co. – Brett-Soured Belgian Golden Aged in Oak – On Firkin

Redstone Meadery/New Belgium Brewing Co. – Black Folie – La Folllie Sour Brown mixed with Black Raspberry Mead

Cambridge Brewing Company – YouEnjoyMyStout – Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout

Mountain Sun Pub and Brewery – Nihilist – Cabernet Aged Imperial Stout

Kona Brewing Company – Coco Loco – Coconut Brown Nut

Deschutes Brewery – Portland Fresh Hop – Fresh Hop Beer

Snake River Brewing – OB-1 -Organic Brown Ale

Our favorite was the Black Folie made by Redstone Meadery/New Belgium Brewing Co.  On our way out the door we were handed a can of Wynkoop Brewing Company’s own Rail Yard.  With our can of Rail Yard we walked to the famous Falling Rocks Tap Room and enjoyed a few more pints, ending our evening with a La Biere des Collines Hercule Stout, soooo good. 

Enjoy this down and dirty (unedited) “Flip” video of our first day in Denver at the GABF and stay tuned for more “Flip” coverage over the next few days.    Of course, we will have more of our real videos and some great tours and interviews in the next few weeks.   Cheers!

Related Posts:

• 2009 Great American Beer Festival in Denver, CO
• Day 3 in Denver for the 2009 GABF
• 2009 Here for the Beer – Year in Review
• Day 4 in Denver for the 2009 GABF
• Day 2 in Denver at the 2009 GABF

Lots to do to today to get ready for our trip to Denver. Of course, waiting until the last minute to put together a plan seems to be my style nowadays. Just noticed my return flight leaves at 6:15 AM – that ain’t good.   Here’s to finding out if I still have the “all-niter” energy of yesteryear…

So I spent the last hour or so taking a cruise around the interweb to try to scope out what beers will be at the event and am surprised that there is no organized list.   The folks over at the sparsely utilized GABF social network say that there will be a program at the door, but that only perpetuates my last minute planning.   If there is anything that I wanted to put a few minutes into ahead of time, it was a plan for the beers I wanted to be sure to try.

A little looking around shows that in the past there were beer lists, but this year they elected to go with just a brewery list and map. I see that many of the breweries have listed on their own sites / blogs what they are bringing, but checking each brewery site is a rather time consuming endeavor.  Looks like I’ll be drinking and reading, the program that is, when I get there…

On another note, it looks like the “terror alert” issued today is focused on Denver and New York. Hopefully that doesn’t make travel more of a nightmare than it is already likely to be.   Not very encouraging that the alert says these jackasses were looking at “blasting and destroying the places of amusement, immorality, and sin… “.  Do you think an enormous beer festival counts?  Let’s hope not.

So in wrapping up, I have found twitter (search #GABF) to be most useful in my plans as well as via facebook and some of the big beer sites; But I would have loved to see a list of the beers in advance.  Hopefully next year.  For now, off to charge some camera batteries and get packed.  Keep an eye on our Here for the Beer twitter feed and our site for our coverage of the Great American Beer Fest and if you are in Denver, be sure to say hi!

Related Posts:

• 2009 Here for the Beer – Year in Review
• 2009 Great American Beer Festival in Denver, CO
• Day 4 in Denver for the 2009 GABF
• 2009 Samuel Adams Longshot American Homebrew Contest
• Day 3 in Denver for the 2009 GABF