ACBF Beer Reviews

The Brew:Bless me father... it's been almost a month since my last blog. Again, as Spaceballs 2 was supposed to be "the quest for more money" has kept me from dropping the post I wanted to SEVERAL weeks ago. My previous post had a quick review of the American Craft Beer Festival, but I didn't review any beers! A thousand apologies! I'm going to do an abbreviated version of the review as there was a LOT of good beer there. I tended to avoid some of the local breweries as I plan on visiting them soon enough and I didn't get an opportunity to cover every Brewery I was looking for, however the ones I did hit ranged from remarkable to "did you really think this was presentation-worthy beer??? Thankfully at these events they give you a program which helps to keep track of all the samples you've had. Looking at my check marks, I sampled quite a few. Note for next year: Bring a voice recorder, take notes as I go...

That being said, I'll give a quick review of some of the most memorable beers I had at the ACBF!

In No particular order:

Dogfishhead: What a friggin mob scene around these guys. They were the clear rockstars of the day and thanks to some healthy marketing and a GREAT selection of beers, well deserved. I'd heard a lot of buzz around the beer made from a 3000 year old recipe and I just had to try it. The Midas Touch did not disappoint, sweet, slightly "Mead-y" with a hint of grape, this was an excellent brew. I would imagine, with the addition of Saffron (a VERY expensive herb) that it would be a rather expensive beer. However Well worth it.

The Great Divide Brewing Co.: The Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout. Those of you that know me well know that I LOVE a good stout. This one was extraordinary as far as the style goes. Thick, meaty and thanks to its barrel aged process, the taste had a bit of a smoky flavor to it. VERY interesting and very good. Thumbs up all the way.

Kennebec River Brewery: Kennebec River IPA: Not much to say about this one. Decent beer. I'd have it again! Not too bitter, fits with the style. Well balanced.

Ithica Beer Co: CascaZilla: Yet another example of overpowering hoppiness. It was a little too much for me, frankly. Not a fan.

Schmaltz brewing Co: He'Brew Rejewvenator: Schmaltz is quickly becoming one of my favorite breweries. The Rejewvenator is a Half Doppelbock brewed with Date juice. (If my German serves me correctly... wouldn't this be a full Bock? - Kidding... relax beer geeks and Scholars of Deutch) This is yet another extraordinary beer. Not too sweet and fruity, but just a hint enough to be interesting. As usual, its a well balanced example of what beer should be. My only regret about the beer is that 2oz was clearly not enough. In addition, I didn't realize until FAR too late the founder and owner Jeremy Cowan was the guy serving my beer. At the time, the name looked familiar and like a Putz, I just kept on moving. Sorry Jeremy! I sincerely wanted to shake your hand!

Allagash Brewing Co.: Victoria: By far the most interesting beer of the day. It's an experimental Belgian-Style Strong ale with Chardonnay Grapes. In addition, they used wine yeast instead of brewers yeast. If you have friends who are not fans of beer, but instead are Enophiles (lovers of wine... thank you word of the day calendar) The wine has a distinctive wine-ey flavor and a peculiar sweetness usually only found with a demi-sec wine. Either way, this one's a keeper. You may see it as an experiment, but I'd say your hypothesis was spot on!

Terrapin Beer Co.: India Style Brown Ale: This one was TOO much. They call it a hybrid ale, but it was one of the only beers that I actually poured out. NOT a fan. Poorly balanced, too much hop and possibly of the wrong variety. Ick.

Southern Tier Brewing Co.: Jah-vh Stout & Mokah Stout. Two GREAT coffee flavored beers from this company. Coffee beers tend to go one of two ways with me. Either they're not enough coffee flavor or there's so much to the point of being totally acrid. Both of these were stupendous beers. Well balanced, great flavor. I'm not usually a Chocolate fan, nor am I an expresso fan, but I found the Mokah to be one of the best beers of the day. Good stuff and if I were looking for a beer to go with my pancakes, this would be it! (no I don't drink before noon, for the record...)

Beyond the fact that small brewing companies often pump out a higher quality product, I LOVE them for the names they come up with. Here are my top 5 faves of the day and most are probably funny, only to me because I'm an idiot:

5. The Cambridge House (CT): Breakfast Summer Ale: It drew me in... there's no particular reason as to WHY one would have it with breakfast, but I thought the name amusing enough to try some.

4. Watch City Brewing Company: Hell Hammer Oatmeal Stout: The name is just awesome. (Even though he misprounounced Jeux D'esprit...too picky?) I felt totally bad ass with my miniature beer and extended pinky finger... Good beer, bad ass name.

3. Smutty Nose Brewing Company: The Schmutzig Hopfen Weisse: Funny because I'm a dork and I know that Schmutzig means dirty and I just love the word. Kennen-sie diesen Schmutzig-Damen? (Do you know the dirty ladies?)

2. High & Mighty Brewing Co.: St. Hubbins Abbey: St. Hubbins of course according to Spinal Tap being the Patron Saint of Quality Footware...

1. Foothills Brewing CO: Sexual Chocolate Imperial Stout: This was a beer that was outstanding in addition to its truly awesome monniker!

I've had a few great beers in the last few weeks since the ACBF and I'm going to try and review them as soon as I can.

The Music

I have a few artists that I'm going to be looking into, but this week, I'm feeling selfish as I had an AWESOME 4th of July!! The Sutherland Pipe Band was more than gracious enough to have me march with them during their 4th of July extravaganza. It's been a long time since I played the drum and I think I kept up pretty well in practice with the Snare drum, but apparently 80% of the notes is not enough for game day! Instead, I played the tenor drum. Quarter note, Quarter note... Swing the sticks around my head. I have to admit that I was more Flourish than anything but I Kept the beat and marched in step and most important I looked goooood. Although Flourishing is harder than it looks. You have to catch the sticks ON the beat! We played 2 Parades Bourne, MA and Edgartown, MA (Martha's Vineyard). A free show on the boat ride back during the fireworks and late night at the bar. Thanks boys!! All in all a GREAT day! I've added a few pics from the boat show below: