Last weekend, I attended BeerAdvocate.com's Extreme Beer Fest, with Ryan and Brady. We ran into Kate and Jon there, as well as this large man with a Rush t-shirt and a peace-symbol bandana who was really excited by the ragged April Wine shirt I had found in the free pile in a dorm laundry room four years ago. He wanted to talk about April Wine and his other favorite bands from Canada.
The following are some of the memorable beers we sampled, with descriptions (and alcohol-by-volume percentages) from the event's beer list:
Cambridge Brewing Co.: Blunderbuss Barleywine 2004/05 Vintage (12.0%). "This year's Blunderbuss is crafted from two mash tuns-full of American and European pale and aromatic barleymalt, an extensive boil in the kettle to further concentrate the sugars in the wort, and well over three pounds of hops per barrel. Fermented and aged over several months and subjected to an insane amount of dry-hops, which barely manage to balance this rich, malty beast. Aromas of caramelized sugar, spicy, herbal hops, and estery alcohols complement the smooth malt flavor and lingering finish." They also had the tasty YouEnjoyMy Stout, which is aged in pinot noir casks. I totally ordered that when we went to the Cambridge Brewing Co. last night, and it almost made up for Paul McCartney's oddly depressing super bowl halftime show.
Magic Hat: Braggot '03 & '04. "Braggot '03 (6.0%) and '04 (10.0%) is a mead blend of two types of local honey, Wild flower from Magic Hat's own Drunken Bee apiary and Clover. Pilsner malt, red wheat and whole Chamomile flowers are fermented blended and aged in French oak to create a style from years gone past." We tried the '03 vintage. It was like drinking a flower garden.
Watch City Brewing Co.: Frostbite Winter Ale '05 (5.6%). "A brown ale spiced with Scharffen Berger chocolate, ginger, chamomile, and cranberries." It's as awesome and complex as it sounds.
Avery Brewing Co.: The Czar (12.12%). "A marvelous Russian Imperial Stout, boasting crimson hues through the inky blackness, spicy and floral hops, and flavors redolent of English toffee, rich mocha, sweet molasses, candied currants and a hint of anise." Honorable mentions: The Kaiser and The Reverend. Adam Avery gave a talk on cellaring—we got to taste one of their beers (I forget which) aged at four different intervals. After three years it went from hoppy to seriously fruity.
Boston Beer Co. / Sam Adams: Utopias (25.0%). "The World's Strongest Beer at 50 proof! Fermented and conditioned in a blend of scotch, bourbon, port, and cognac casks for up to 10 months." This one was pretty much hard liquor. They filled up only one ounce of my four-ounce tasting glass, and with good reason.
Did you get to taste the one with all the International Bitterness Units? SO JEALOUS
Posted by: unsinn | 08 February 2005 at 09:08 AM
The Founders Brewing Co. table ran out of whatever it was that had 175 IBUs (which is all of the IBUs in the world, yes) before we got to it. We were saving that for last. (Imagine trying to taste anything after that.)
Posted by: sushiesque | 08 February 2005 at 09:11 AM
guhh. "YouEnjoyMy Stout" -- is it really ok to drink a beer named after a Phish song?
Posted by: gus | 09 February 2005 at 09:47 PM