Portland Event - Holiday Ale Festival

This Wednesday, November 28th, marks the start of the 17th annual Ale Festival in Portland, Oregon. This beer festival is in the heart of Portland's downtown area, at Pioneer Courthouse Square (perfect for taking public transportation).

The Ale Festival begins at noon on Wednesday (anybody want to blow work off early with me?), and runs through Sunday, December 2nd (make sure you check out the Sunday Beer Brunch - best beer brunch ever!). One thing that's awesome about it - you get FREE admission everyday once you pay for the wristband. In other words, drop by everyday, and taste the new and limited releases by some of your favorite brewers, including: Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg, North Coast Brewing, Hair of the Dog Brewing, Deschutes, and Bear Rupublic Brewing Co., just to name a few.

Come on out and support your local community of Brewers. While doing so, you are also supporting the Children's Cancer Association, which the Holiday Ale Festival is a proud supporter. For more information about this Portland beer event, you can download the Holiday Ale Festival brochure:

Prost!

The Greatest Beer Show on Earth! Part 1

Overwhelming, loud, relentless. These are the thoughts that cross my mind as I walk through the throngs of crowds crisscrossing in front of me from one beer station to another. Cries go up everytime someone drops their plastic tasting glass. All I can think is this is a bit insane, but absolutely wonderful at the same time. 

Hours later I started writing this while down in the media room on the floor below the convention hall. Even here behind closed doors the dull roar of the crowd above can still be heard, pulsating and droning on. Plainly put, the Great American Beer Festival is simply, "Beer as Spectacle."

 Merriam-Webster defines spectacle as:

"something exhibited to view as unusual, notable, or entertaining; especially : an eye-catching or dramatic public display"

This is what GABF is for craft beer, a dramatic public display on what craft beer is, was, and what it can be. The love of beer here both by brewers and participants is infectious. The mad scramble from one station to another, the deep conversations, and the celebration of a good thing. 

This year there were 570 plus breweries and brewpubs on the floor with over 2700 beers being poured. For shear size alone this is intimidating. My original plan was quickly dashed to pieces and I just rambled through the lanes tasting known entities in my first session. Big hits of the Friday evening session were Stone, Cigar City, Russian River, Dogfish Head, and Bear Republic. The lines for them were long but moving quickly. A majority of the stations I passed had minimal or no wait though and an attendee could quickly bounce among them tasting what they liked. With a one ounce taster you could easily try a lot of things without losing your senses.



I wouldn't go so far to say fortunes are won or lost here, but medaling here will make a difference. Fortune is won by almost every brewery or brewpub who is participating. The exposure to tens of thousands craft beer fanatics is priceless for these breweries, putting unknowns on the radar, and reconfirming the stature of others. For many of the attendees here this may be the greatest beer experience they have ever had. It is very cool to be part of this. 

Stay tuned for more updates!

The Jolly Good Fellows preview of the Great American Beer Festival

The Great American Beer Festival kicked off properly today though events have been running all week.  Tomorrow I will be experiencing it for myself. Truth be told I have no idea what I will be walking into. The last time I was at the Colorado Convention Center I was briefing Department of Defense personnel and allied foreign nationals from various Ministries of Defense about the power of social media in the environmental arena. Funny little thing about that experience; it indirectly lead to the creation of Jolly Good Fellows. So in a weird way heading back to Denver and the Colorado Convention Center in particular is actually the end of a journey for me. The concepts I laid out two and half years ago have seen fruition in a beer blog that I started as a side project but has grown by leaps and bounds. GABF is, in a way, a victory lap for me personally.

Tomorrow's adventure is easily one of the coolest things Jolly Good Fellows has done yet. There will be a lot of ground to cover but I have three sessions to do it. Here is the basic plan, find some kick ass stories, take a lot of pictures, taste new and interesting beers, meet new folks, and share the 3 tenets with anybody who will listen. You can expect a few articles, plenty of photos, and updates on Twitter, Facebook, and Untappd. I'm open to recommendations, if there is something you want to know about then let me know and I will see what I can do. Stay tuned!

Welcome to your weekend - Nashville edition

We are covering the Music City Brewers Fest on Saturday and conducting
our first homebrewing interview on Sunday!

SAVOR DC 2012 - Photo Catalog

Our host

Before the Madness

It begins!

The simpleness of greatness

Someday.

A special guest?

The Lineup

Oyster madness!

The shuck

Pin mania

Enjoyment

Laid out

The exchange

The set up

The show off

In the middle

Coming soon to a store near us

Ready for prime time

Dessert

Cheers!

SAVOR DC 2012: Beer puts on formalwear and steps out on the town.

These glasses await their destiny.

Brewers and beer lovers descended on the National Buidling Museum in Washington DC for a celebration of beer and food over the evenings of June 8-9. Welcome to SAVOR 2012. Under the Roman arches and Corinthian pillars in the Great Hall, craft brewers from across the United States served up top notch beer paired with a cornucopia of foods. Styles of beer ranged across the spectrum from Black IPA to Imperial Stout, Rye Saison to Berliner Weisse. Food pairings were just as diverse with small plates ranging from lobster pot stickers and braised goat to S'mores and cornbread cobbler. The name of the game for SAVOR DC is quality beer paired up with an assortment of small plates. All the beers were tied to a particular style of food meant to amplify each other and bring out the best of both. An example of this is would be an espresso stout paired with red velvet cake, or a porter paired with salt cod fritters.  It  is pretty safe to say there was something for everyone.

Beer and food, two
great things meant
for each other.

Much like the variety in the food and beer, the brewers also reflected the diversity of the craft beer community in the United States. Young and old, big and small, the breweries included such large stalwarts such as Sierra Nevada and Sam Adams ranging down to small brewpubs like Vintage 50 and Magnolia Gastropub. Representation came from across the country too such as Surly Brewing hailing from Minnesota or Uinta Brewing from Utah, to locals brewers from the DC metro region, like newcomers DC Brau and Port City. 

For all the brewers SAVOR DC is a chance to share their passion for making good beer with an appreciative audience. Tim Surprise, founder of Arcadia Ales, said, "I'd like people to be titillated enough that our beers began the journey for them to not only become a fan of our beer but to discover something that resonates their interest in beer and food for the long term. 

For other breweries SAVOR DC offered a chance to educate and inform the attendees that great beer can be found across the country. Paul Kavulak, founder of Nebraska Brewing Company, said, "We already have great beer in the Midwest, but Nebraska hasn't really been known as a great craft beer state, I'm hoping people leave understanding that good beer can come out of there too."

Kavulak brought his gold medal winning (and delicious) Melange A Trois chardonnay barrel aged Belgian strong ale to back up his statement. 

Building a better world,
one glass at a time.

While there was no official dress code, people dressed in what made them comfortable, ranging from suits and evening gowns to a few t-shirts and bluejeans. Overall though that really didn't matter. What was more important was to be part of veritable smorgasbord of delicious food and drink with like minded people. There was a very cordial atmosphere over the whole event with folks mingling with each other, writing up their own tasting notes, sharing recommendations and moving from station to station looking for their favorites brews or that next something special. 

Brewers took the time to talk with guests, explaining their beer and brewing techniques between keeping tasting glasses refreshed. Lines moved quickly at the various beer stations and food stations stayed pretty well stocked. Only once did I spy a station that ran empty, but that was remedied about a minute later. If there was a real wait is was for freshly shucked oysters but even there the folks many that both worked their knives with deft assurance. Overall the event was well run with excellent support from the wait staff, security, and the volunteers. 

As guests departed the event they were handed a bottle of Terra Incognita, a beer brewed specifically for SAVOR events, a collaboration between Sierra Nevada of California and Boulevard Brewing of Kansas City, MO. (Which for you fans of Boulevard it will be out here in the DC market starting next week! Huzzah!)

It almost seems peaceful
from up here.

So what to make of SAVOR? First off it really is a celebration of how far we have come with craft beer. An event like this, with it's diversity in styles and brewers, doesn't exist a decade ago. Now, not only does it exist but it sells out almost immediately. There is a clamor and demand from the beer drinking public to push the limits and explore the boundaries. The versatility of beer with food is an eye-opening experience, with pairings running the gamut from hors d'ovres  to dessert (in the case of Stone's Collaboration Highway 78, a nice cigar would have been excellent.)

There really is a beer for every time and place on the food spectrum. SAVOR stacks up the evidence and goes about the business of making believers out of anyone who would argue otherwise. While SAVOR could prove a bit challenging to a brand new explorer in the craft beer world it will be a revelation to folks who enjoy a good food and beer adventure. (On a side note while I believe beer with it's varieties will always have an edge in pairing versus wine I would like to know if there is a particular food where wine actually pairs better than beer…food for thought, if you have any ideas let us know in the comments.)

Events like SAVOR don't
happen without awesome
volunteers! Cheers to them!

Here is where I would interject a word of caution though, while SAVOR is a a worthy celebration of craft beer, we still need to continue to make beer approachable and enjoyable. In other words we don't walk down the path to beer snobbery and elitism because at the end of that is place where we will all lose. At the same time though a great counterpoint was made by Kristi Griner, head brewster at Vintage 50 stated it best, "We are still introducing a new crowd to the joy of craft beer and bringing them over to our side, while some of these beers may be unique to some people, for others these are their local breweries and are places they go to enjoy great beer." 

My mother hennish thoughts aside, SAVOR is an excellent and worthwhile event that any food or beer loving person should highly consider attending. You will not be disappointed.

Going south - Our Brewvival weekend.

We lived the brand this weekend. 

By the time it was all over we drove 4 times longer than we drank.

On the last weekend of February, Jolly Good Fellows attended the 3^rd annual Brewvival hosted by Coast Brewing Company and the Charleston Beer Exchange. It was our first time at this festival in South Carolina and we had been looking forward to it for the last few weeks. 

In that glass is a delicious
bacon porter

The Jolly Good Fellows team for this outing was Brett, my brother Cody and his girlfriend Amanda, I and Dan (the other voice of the JGF Beercast.) We departed from Fayetteville, NC around 10 AM and after a relatively uneventful road trip arrived at North Charleston around 1 PM. Parking was a breeze with plenty of spots available. As we approached the festival we were greeted with a line stretching out from entry gate, around the corner and across the bridge. While it was long, it moved quickly, which would be a reoccurring theme throughout the day.

Having forgotten the printed tickets at my house in Virginia I had to find a workaround. I downloaded the EventBrite app to my iPhone which provided me with digital tickets that could be easily scanned. Even this proved to be unnecessary as the friendly event staff at the gates were able to check us in on a digital roster. This was a very nice touch. As we passed through security our IDs and bags were checked and we were handed our four ounce tasting glass and a roster of attending breweries and their beers.

Under those tents was liquid excellence

While crowded, the event was not over packed. A lot of folks followed the recommendation of the hosts and brought their own lawn chairs. We set up a little area near the back of the beer tents against the chain-linked fence. At that point we turned to the reason we had came: to taste and try many great and different ales and beers.

Two large beer tents sat parallel to each other in the center of the field. Underneath the canopies were the 30 plus breweries with their finely crafted brews ready and willing to provide. The lines moved pretty quickly but it was evident which stands had the in demand ales. Not dissuaded I jumped around the lesser populated stands with ease opting trying out new and original beers. It was like being a kid in a candy store.

One of the breweries
I unfortunately missed.

When I attend beer festivals I like to try beers that I have never had before. Here I was overwhelmed by the diversity and I didn’t plan my taste attack as well as I should have. That said, I truly enjoyed the beers I tried. The highlights for me were the Westbrook Mexican Coffee Cake and Saint Somewhere’s Fierte du Sud. The Mexican Coffee Cake in particular struck me as the ideal for beer as dessert. The casked Fierte du Sud was flat out one of the best sours I have had in awhile. I also enjoyed Palmetto’s Espresso Porter on Nitro and I had my first ever oyster stout. 

The Duck-Rabbit brought a
solid lineup

The real drawing attraction for Brewvival is the rarities and specials that the attending brewers bring with them and the focus on emerging southern brewers. There were beers I tried that I may never have an opportunity to try again. I applaud the brewers for bringing these exotics and letting people enjoy them.

The Coleman Public House crew worked
nonstop serving up burgers

On the food side of things the lines moved a bit slower. The highlight appeared to by Diggity Doughnuts, which had a line stretching back across the field. I opted for a Notch’s green chili burger from the Coleman Public House stand which hit the spot for me. There was also D’Allesandro’s Pizza, Roti Rolls, and Ted’s Butcherblock to choose from.

I didn’t pay much attention to the band’s that played, the music wrapping itself into the ambiance of the festival. At the far end of the festival any live tunes were drowned out by crowd noise.

Rob Tod, founder of
Allagash Brewing Company
talks to folks about beer.

That said, at the far edge away from the tents was another small tent and benches. Here is where several master brewers were giving presentations and talks. As one attendee said, “The beer is great, but here is much more interesting.” 

 Compared to the festivals I have attended in NOVA this was a pleasant and fun experience, yes there were a lot of people and it got a bit crowded at times, but the lines moved fast and the everybody was in good humor and polite. A few areas for improvement would be a slightly larger space next year or rearranging the tents for better traffic flow. In particular the center aisle was very crowded. Another recommendation would be a bit more beer. Many stands were reaching exhaustion by the time we hit 4 PM and the event was to run to 6 PM.

Coast Brewing puts on a great show!

Brewvival wouldn't
have happened
without these guys 

All in all, Brewvival was a lot of fun and kudos to Coast Brewing and the Charleston Beer Exchange for planning and hosting a great event. The JGF team was glad it made the trip and we look forward to coming back next year and trying even more delicious and exotic beers. 

If you want to see all the picture from Brewvival, check out the Jolly Good Fellows Facebook page. 

“Racing” and Tasting: The Crystal City 1K Beer Walk

Before we launch into our recap of the "race", let’s very quickly talk about beer, particularly beer in a can. It is beer can appreciation day. In 1935 this became a reality. Truth is though we need to spend a little more time on the topic than I am allotting here so I am postponing a more detailed discussion of the beer can and its impact till Thursday.

Best race number I have ever had. 

Instead we are going to recap the Crystal City 1K Beer Walk that I, my friend Brett, and his wife Amy participated in this last Sunday. The Crystal City 1K Beer Walk is the sister event to the Crystal City Wine Walk, both of which are hosted by the Washington Wine Academy. The concept is pretty simple, walk from station to station trying different beers. To add to the “race” atmosphere and to control traffic flow there were heats throughout the day. Ours was the second heat starting at 2:30 PM. Check in went very smoothly and we quickly had our race numbers, tasting glasses, and our 20 drink tickets.

The course snaked through the Crystal City Underground, a collection of shops and eateries that exist beneath the “tall” buildings of Crystal City*, starting at the 2200 block street entrance and finishing in the old food court by the 17th street entrance. We were able to enjoy an array of beer, everything from Ommegang and Spaten to Old Milwaukee and Shiner.  

For friends of the grape, interspersed in with the beer were various wines. It was a nice touch, but my attention was wholly focused on the grain. In addition there were also complimentary snacks along the route to include barbeque sandwiches and slaw, pita bread and hummus, and cheeses.

We hit all the tasting stations except for the first where the line was out the door. The set up for each station was rather novel. They used the unoccupied retail space along the route which also brought along with it the advantage of security. Each stop had a person in a security shirt monitoring it to ensure no underage drinking or race bandits. It made sense though I am sure most of them would have rather been imbibing than watching. Everyone affiliated with the event that I encountered was courteous and helpful.

On the beer side there were several standout breweries on display, the first was Port City Brewing, the local on display. (Being the second stop ensured that they received a good deal of traffic, they also benefited from the overwhelmed New Belgium station next door which only had one pourer) They brought their full range of year round beer for folks to taste, a good idea as they continue to grow awareness in the DC metro and Northern Virginia region. Bill Butcher, their founder and head brewer, was there and happily answered questions and spoke about his beer. (As I have stated before, I am biased for them, Port City is my local and I do want to see those folks succeed.) The fine folks from Flying Dog also had a standout selection showcasing their year round selections but unfortunately they didn’t bring their winter seasonal K-9 Kruiser, a favorite of mine.

As I think of it, only a few breweries did have a winter seasonal, Harpoon with their Winter Warmer, Leinenkugel’s with their Fireside Nut Brown, Blue Moon with their Winter Abbey, and the most notorious beer of the event, the brilliant black chocolate stout by Brooklyn Brewery. Brooklyn also brought an IPA, a classic lager, and their excellent brown.

Other highlights were the previously mentioned Ommegang Brewery pouring both their BPA (Belgian Pale Ale) and Witte Ale, and as a bonus, Duvel. I must admit I did do a tasting of Old Milwaukee, after all, it was my grandfather’s favorite beer.

While the Sam Adams beer selection was weak,
Brett (R) and I (L) did have fun hanging
with him (M). Photo by Amy Evenstad.

I can’t comment on how the event went on Saturday, but I can say that certain stands suffered on our day, in particular the New Belgium and the Samuel Adams stations being the most obvious. The New Belgium station, as previously mentioned, simply for the wait to be served; it was a bit of bad planning on the event’s part. Samuel Adams for a different reason, they were originally supposed to be serving Black Lager, Mighty Oak, Alpine Spring, Whitewater IPA, but were down and out of most selections, substituting their Latitude 48, and Coastal Wheat. The Latitude 48 isn’t too shabby as far as a substitute goes, on the other hand I don’t think I will ever care for the Coastal Wheat, it is the poor man’s version of their Summer Ale which frankly is a pretty solid summertime beer. I find the Coastal Wheat to be lacking in taste and body. They weren't alone though, other breweries had also run out of various beers, Sam Adams was just the most noticeable. 

As we crossed the finish line we were treated to music and more beer selections and from my view everyone looked to be having a festive time. This was the first edition of the beer walk, and it was pretty solid. They had a good selection of beer, and while I would have liked to have seen more locals, such as Lost Rhino, Blue and Gray, or Alewerks out of Williamsburg, the selection provided was very decent. For $20 I felt I got my value both with beer diversity and snacks. I would recommend one server per beer to help move the lines along, particularly at the first station where it is almost a given that everyone will stop at. Overall though, for the first year the Washington Wine Academy did a fine job as host, it was a cool event, and I look forward to next year.

Hope to see you there!

(*Before you think that Crystal City is some fairy tale, Wizard of Oz type place let me break it to you gently and tell that it is not. The first building developed here was The Crystal House and it had a big chandelier in its entrance, the rest of the buildings followed suit with that naming convention, hence Crystal City.)