On January 9th, Natalie sent me to the Big Beers festival at Cascade Village in Vail. We wanted to go to this last year, but it just didn't work out, so this year she bought me a ticket and talked Torrey into going along with me. (not sure how much persuasion it took) This is one of the top beer festivals in the country. The plan was for Torrey's wife to drop us off at about 2:30 pm, and then she would come back with Natalie around 7 ish and we would head out to eat. (that was dependent upon us being proper enough to go to a nice restaurant) Umm I think Torrey must have forgotten about that end of the deal.... Tickets were 45.00 a piece, and there 82 brewers there, mostly from the U.S., but also from the Netherlands and Belgium. Upon arriving we were handed a 10th anniversary commemorative tasting glass, and stepped into a large convention room. Brewers were set up on all 4 walls, as well as in a rectangle around the center of the room. Each brewer had anywhere from 2-5 beers that they had brought with them for tasting. Several of the brewers even had a 10th anniversary creation just for this event! There were so many amazing beers, it was kinda like a small slice of beer drinkers heaven... The reason it is call Big Beers, is because all of the beers are supposed to be over 7.0% ABV (alcohol by volume.) I would guess the average beer had 8-9% ABV, while the strongest we tasted was 15.0% ABV. Many of the beers are created in the Belgian styles of brewing, and several of the brewers had also brought along a Barleywine. This was the first time I had ever tried barleywine, but it was actually really good!
I tried to keep track of all the beers that I tasted, but after a while this became a futile effort. :) It would be really difficult to choose a favorite, but I did really enjoy the variety of Trippel Ales, and Quadruple Ales. Also, there were many superb IPA's available for tasting. I can however say which style I liked the least. There is this new thing (at least as far as I know) in brewing where brewers are creating sour beers...... This happened to be the first one that we tried, and it was from New Belgium (fall wild ale with a sour touch), and I actually threw up a little bit in my mouth after tasting it... It was NASTY! Some may enjoy the sour beers as it seemed several of the brewers had one, but it was definitely not for me!
A few of our favorites....
The last beer we tasted was fittingly called "THE BEAST," (Brewed by Avery out of CO) and at 14.9% ABV, it was strong! Armed with my new knowledge of beers and brewing, I am now ready to sit around the Brummer cabin at Lake Sara and discuss the finer side of beer with cousin Tommy and brothers while sampling all of Tommy's fine creations.
Thanks Natalie for surprising me with the ticket to go to the tasting!bigbeers,belgians,andbarleywines
2010 Participating Breweries:
Alaskan
Allagash
Altitude
Anchor Brewing
Aspen
Avery
Ayinger
Ballast Point
Baltika
Bell's
Belzebuth
Bosteels
Boston Beer Co.
Boulder
Boulevard
Breckenridge
Bristol
Bruery
Carver
Chimay
Chouffe
Coronado
Corsendonk
Crazy Mountain
DeDolle
Delirium
Des Rocs
Deschutes
Dillon Dam
Dogfish Head
Dry Dock
Dubuisson
Dupont
Durango
Flying Dog
Full Sail
Fuller's
Glenwood Canyon
Gore Range
Gouden Carolous
Grand Lake
Grand Teton
Great Divide
Green Flash
Hair of the Dog
He’brew/Schmaltz
Hoegaarden
Jolly Pumpkin
LaTrappe / Koningshoeven
Left Hand
Library
Lindemans
Lion
Maredsous
Mendocino
Michelob
New Belgium
Odell
Ommegang
Orval
Oskar Blues
Pagosa Brewing
Papago
Pinkus
Pumphouse
Redstone Meadery
Rochefort
Samichlaus
Samuel Smith
Sierra Nevada
Ska
St. Bernardus
St. Feuillien
Stone
Thomas Hardy
Tommyknocker
Uinta
Upslope
Urthel
Val-Dieu
Victory
Westmalle
Wynkoop
No comments:
Post a Comment