The American Craft Beer Festival

(L to R: Capt. Bryon, Rob (me), Liam straight from the Dirty Jerz, "Distinctive Shirt" Ken, Dave "check out my Shark Bite" Nicholson)

Ziggy Saki Ziggy Saki Hoy Hoy Hoy!!!

Three cheers for the American Craft Beer Festival in Boston!!! (aka the ACBF also how my alphabet came out later in the the eve...) What a great time! This is the kind of event I've been talking about. Good food, Great Beer and even better friends. Liam, Dave, Capt. Bryon and Ken were my beer bretheren and they did not disappoint. Nor did our female companions, Jen, April and Ashley, you guys were an absolute hoot. It was nice to hang out with a group that TRULY knows their beer and that knows how to have a good time. Capt. Bryon runs a beer blog called www.homebrewer.net and I would HIGHLY recommend checking his site out. He really knows his stuff. Ken, Liam and Dave all have highly refined palates though years of downing suds. Ken's got a real gift for describing the beers and had some great ideas for pairings. Although Dave's best comment of the night was "I just drink the stuff!".

And imbibe we did! The Festival boasted over 300 beers which, if you used the tiny 2oz. glass they give you as part of your $40 entrance fee, it would equate to over 50 beers during the course of the night or 4.68 GALLONS of beer and a quick trip to the emergency room. Thankfully for my sanity, my liver and most importantly my marriage, I had barely a fraction of that and enjoyed myself thoroughly!

As previously stated, there were over 300 beers and just as many flavor variations. There were some great beers, some beers I would file under "M" for "Meh" and others than can be categorized as DEAR LORD did you throw that up already?!? I wish I were kidding, there was one where we blamed Dave for "Verping" (Vomit+Burp=VERP) when in fact it was actually his pre-ingested beer. Holy Horrible... I still get shivers.

A kind of odd observation: the beer community in general seems to have an obsession with how much hop flavor you can pack into a beer. To be totally frank, the beers I found to be the best of the day were well balanced, had something different to them and in general were just interesting. I won't go into much as far as specific beers right now, but I will review a few of my favorites in the coming weeks. I've got more than enough reviews to go over about 2 a week for a while...

I have a few tips for you if you plan on attending either this event in Boston next year or if you plan to attend one of these events elsewhere:

1. EAT FIRST! Food in the festival is often EXPENSIVE. They've got you for three plus hours and its quite pricey. The Seaport district in Boston has a few cheap eat places. The Seaport Bar & Grill, The No Name and Salvatore's are three of my faves, plus historic South Boston (Southie) is really near by and I've got a few hangouts there as well.

2. AGUA! Every few beers or so, grab a quick slug of water. Most of these festivals have cup cleaning areas; Basically bug juice containers full of water... but it's water... drink up. It will not only keep you hydrated, but it helps to cleanse your palate for the next set of beers! Better to taste your beers without tasting all of them at once!

3. Meeting spots: Imperative, especially if you've got some thirsty cohorts with a wanderlust and the attention spans of hummingbirds... We did pretty well with doing our own thing and regrouping to hang out with "The Team". For the most part, we used "Distinctive shirt Ken" as our marker, but I would try this one - Meet by the door leading to the port-a-potties. You're all going to end up there anyway!

4. This one is of vital importance, not only to your well being but to your overall awesomeness. Two words... Pretzel... Necklace. Check out the picture above. Those things were lifesavers, conversation pieces and lady magnets. Dave and Ken, thanks for taking a little arts and crafts time to keep us well fed and dapperly attired! I'm sure that I'll be in more than one blog and a few family photo albums.

Gang, if you've not been to one of these events, you need to check it out. It's a great experience to talk to some brewers and hang out with other beer snobs and of course, try some of the best (and worst) beers in the country. If you are to consider yourself a true beer aficionado, you need to first approach these events respectfully... with all the dignity that a neckware made of bavarian bread products can provide you... But seriously, most of the brewers are actually AT this event and they take great pride in their work. Take your time, taste the beer, ENJOY it. Heaving is kind of a no no, but it happens at these events. If you're drinking for volume, there are happy hours everywhere serving Piels and Pabst and Schaefer. Barf elsewhere friend, you're among beer royalty. Respect.

To all my friends, old and new that made this day a true success; THANK YOU. I really had a great time. To all the Brewers, THANK YOU for all the excellent beer. Even the bad ones have a story. To my wife, who wanted to attend this event but let me go because of some baby sitting issues. It was her fathers' day gift to me: THANKS A TON, LADY! You'll be here next year... I guarantee it!

All told, successful day. I'm ALREADY looking forward to next year!!

To Great buds and Great Suds!

Prost!!

Rob