2007 Connecticut Craft Brewers Festival
I'm watching the Ducks and Red Wings battle it out for the Western Conference championship so now's as good a time as any to write up my review of the 2007 Connecticut Craft Brewers Festival.
After a week where we saw temperatures fifteen degress above normal, a colossal cold front blew in on Wednesday and gave us a tornado and temperatures fifteen degrees below normal. While that puts a shiver in Spring, it's damn good beer drinking weather.
The usual suspects were there. My wife and I were joined by Bob, Big Ed, Adam, and Cooper. After hitting the food tent before the lines could form, we split up and began sampling various breweries under the tents. Later on, we'd bump into one another and compare (mental) notes on what we found. Granted, our tastes in beer were diverse, but we made recommendations anyway.
Tammy and I started the day off right with Olde Burnside's Ten Penny Ale. This beer is hard for me to get as it's only available in 1/2 gallon growlers. My local liquor store is a bit hesitant in devoting so much shelf space for a relatively unknown brewery (despite in-state accolades). But Beer Guy is slowly caving. Anyway, Ten Penny Ale is a great Scotch Ale, probably the best of the line IMO. It isn't overly sweet like other scotch ales. I can drink this one all night.
Tammy suggested that I take a run over to Bru Room @ Bar (a microbrew located in a bar/nightclub in New Haven) and check out their Raven Haired Beauty. I took her up on it and got some. It was a good brown ale, but I had their Smoked Porter and thought that was better. And yes, it was definitely smokey. Unfortunately, I don't think that their beer is available anywhere except at the bar.
I don't remember the order of the breweries I sampled so I'll just start going through the list.
Lagunitas, which is made in California, typically sells for $10 a six pack in my local store. That's way too steep for me to just try at random so this was a golden opportunity for me to try them. Tammy had their Brown Shugga, a seasonal. She said that it was very strong tasting. It was good, but not great and not worth $10/six pack. I had the Censored Copper Ale and was disappointed. Definitely lacking. Needless to say, I won't be blowing my money on them any time soon.
Cooper is a big Rogue fan, another West Coast brewery (Washington) present. He's more into pilseners and lagers than I am but this time recommended their Juniper Pale Ale. I had to agree with him. The juniper berries jump out at you, though I didn't find them overwhelming. Might make for a good summer ale.
I'd seen Smuttynose's Hanami Ale in my local beer store but hadn't worked up the courage to buy it. The brewfest was my chance. Tammy and I both had it. It's made with a generous helping of cherries. We found it to be sour, very reminiscent of a lambic. It wasn't a bad beer. It was drinkable, but not something I'd buy.
What was a pleasant surprise was Harpoon's UFO Raspberry Hefeweizen. I haven't been a fan of Harpoon. Many years ago I had one of their beers and didn't like it at all. I can't remember what it was but I've avoided it ever since. Now, it looks like I'm headed back. Both Tammy and I liked it. The raspberry flavor made for an excellent complement to the hefeweizen style. While it was tart, it wasn't overly so. Made for a nice finish.
I've been meaning to pick up Stone Coast's Black Bear Porter. I had some while I was there just to remind myself.
Otter Creek was there, of course, but since I've had alot of their line, I was hoping they'd have something different. Sure enough, they had a couple of beers from their "World Tour Series." I reviewed their Otter Kilter recently and I liked it. They had their Cuckoo Bock, which was a German Mai Bock. I was surprised to find myself liking it. Can't wait for this one to appear in stores.
Another pleasant surprise was Berkshire Brewing's Shabadoo Black & Tan. I think it was Big Ed who recommended it. It was very good. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be available in the local area.
Towards the end of the session we went to Paper City Brewing. Some overexuberant guy gladly filled up our pint glasses. Tammy got the Cabot Street Summer Wheat, a Hefeweizen. Tammy said it was great. I had Riley's Stout which was excellent.
I followed this one up with a Blonde Ale from Thomas Hooker Ales. This was good too. Actually quite refreshing.
I know what you're thinking. "DED, weren't all the beers good by this point?" And the answer is, "No." My very next beer was awful. I went back to Paper City and the overexuberant guy was really pushing his neighbor's beer. He insisted it was "the best beer." His neighbor? High & Mighty. I asked the neighbor what he had, but had trouble hearing him. I tried their Beer of the Gods, a blend of Kölsch and Altbier styles, which I figured had to be good to earn that name. But it wasn't. I thought it sucked ass. I couldn't finish it, it was so bad.
I couldn't end the night on a bad note so I scrambled over to the place where I started: Olde Burnside. I grabbed a Dirty Penny, which is a 60/40 mix of Ten Penny Ale and their "signature stout." It cleansed that crappy beer taste out of my mouth and all was right again in the Beerverse.
And that's it. Next beerfest will hopefully be the Brass City Brewfest in Waterbury, which has been pushed up a month from October to September. Only four months to find a babysitter. I'd better get crackin'.
\_/
DED
After a week where we saw temperatures fifteen degress above normal, a colossal cold front blew in on Wednesday and gave us a tornado and temperatures fifteen degrees below normal. While that puts a shiver in Spring, it's damn good beer drinking weather.
The usual suspects were there. My wife and I were joined by Bob, Big Ed, Adam, and Cooper. After hitting the food tent before the lines could form, we split up and began sampling various breweries under the tents. Later on, we'd bump into one another and compare (mental) notes on what we found. Granted, our tastes in beer were diverse, but we made recommendations anyway.
Tammy and I started the day off right with Olde Burnside's Ten Penny Ale. This beer is hard for me to get as it's only available in 1/2 gallon growlers. My local liquor store is a bit hesitant in devoting so much shelf space for a relatively unknown brewery (despite in-state accolades). But Beer Guy is slowly caving. Anyway, Ten Penny Ale is a great Scotch Ale, probably the best of the line IMO. It isn't overly sweet like other scotch ales. I can drink this one all night.
Tammy suggested that I take a run over to Bru Room @ Bar (a microbrew located in a bar/nightclub in New Haven) and check out their Raven Haired Beauty. I took her up on it and got some. It was a good brown ale, but I had their Smoked Porter and thought that was better. And yes, it was definitely smokey. Unfortunately, I don't think that their beer is available anywhere except at the bar.
I don't remember the order of the breweries I sampled so I'll just start going through the list.
Lagunitas, which is made in California, typically sells for $10 a six pack in my local store. That's way too steep for me to just try at random so this was a golden opportunity for me to try them. Tammy had their Brown Shugga, a seasonal. She said that it was very strong tasting. It was good, but not great and not worth $10/six pack. I had the Censored Copper Ale and was disappointed. Definitely lacking. Needless to say, I won't be blowing my money on them any time soon.
Cooper is a big Rogue fan, another West Coast brewery (Washington) present. He's more into pilseners and lagers than I am but this time recommended their Juniper Pale Ale. I had to agree with him. The juniper berries jump out at you, though I didn't find them overwhelming. Might make for a good summer ale.
I'd seen Smuttynose's Hanami Ale in my local beer store but hadn't worked up the courage to buy it. The brewfest was my chance. Tammy and I both had it. It's made with a generous helping of cherries. We found it to be sour, very reminiscent of a lambic. It wasn't a bad beer. It was drinkable, but not something I'd buy.
What was a pleasant surprise was Harpoon's UFO Raspberry Hefeweizen. I haven't been a fan of Harpoon. Many years ago I had one of their beers and didn't like it at all. I can't remember what it was but I've avoided it ever since. Now, it looks like I'm headed back. Both Tammy and I liked it. The raspberry flavor made for an excellent complement to the hefeweizen style. While it was tart, it wasn't overly so. Made for a nice finish.
I've been meaning to pick up Stone Coast's Black Bear Porter. I had some while I was there just to remind myself.
Otter Creek was there, of course, but since I've had alot of their line, I was hoping they'd have something different. Sure enough, they had a couple of beers from their "World Tour Series." I reviewed their Otter Kilter recently and I liked it. They had their Cuckoo Bock, which was a German Mai Bock. I was surprised to find myself liking it. Can't wait for this one to appear in stores.
Another pleasant surprise was Berkshire Brewing's Shabadoo Black & Tan. I think it was Big Ed who recommended it. It was very good. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be available in the local area.
Towards the end of the session we went to Paper City Brewing. Some overexuberant guy gladly filled up our pint glasses. Tammy got the Cabot Street Summer Wheat, a Hefeweizen. Tammy said it was great. I had Riley's Stout which was excellent.
I followed this one up with a Blonde Ale from Thomas Hooker Ales. This was good too. Actually quite refreshing.
I know what you're thinking. "DED, weren't all the beers good by this point?" And the answer is, "No." My very next beer was awful. I went back to Paper City and the overexuberant guy was really pushing his neighbor's beer. He insisted it was "the best beer." His neighbor? High & Mighty. I asked the neighbor what he had, but had trouble hearing him. I tried their Beer of the Gods, a blend of Kölsch and Altbier styles, which I figured had to be good to earn that name. But it wasn't. I thought it sucked ass. I couldn't finish it, it was so bad.
I couldn't end the night on a bad note so I scrambled over to the place where I started: Olde Burnside. I grabbed a Dirty Penny, which is a 60/40 mix of Ten Penny Ale and their "signature stout." It cleansed that crappy beer taste out of my mouth and all was right again in the Beerverse.
And that's it. Next beerfest will hopefully be the Brass City Brewfest in Waterbury, which has been pushed up a month from October to September. Only four months to find a babysitter. I'd better get crackin'.
\_/
DED
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posted by DED at 9:36 PM
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