Commander of Awesome;1568902 wrote:Well? How'd it go, what you try. What were the highlights?
Becareful what you ask for.
It was fairly successful. Very crowded. Last year there were 300 people there. This year there were 600 tickets sold prior to the event and they were looking for another 100 in walk up sales. That put a little damper on it as some of the lines were unreal. We voiced our displeasure about it to the manager of the event center, who we know pretty well. She said next year it will be different...we'll see.
On to the beers. I had about 25 on my list, but only tried 14 or so.
Had the Bzart Lambiek first.They only had six 'big bombers' of it and it goes for $60.00 a bottle. Very nice sour. Huge sour nose, but it finished a bit salty. Reminded me of a Goze style which I've had a few of and liked.
Mikkeller It's Alive aged in White wine barrels. I've had this before and it was as great as I remembered. They ran out of the It's Alive in Grand Marnier Barrels...bummer.
Aventinus Curvee Barrique. Another sour/berliner weisse/Weizenbock/ errrr whatever the style(s) that was very good...if you noticed I was focusing on sours for a while.
Of the local one off beers...
I had the Rhinegeist "Zinther". This was their Panther Porter aged in Zinfandel barrels. Very nice and the only one I tried twice. The second time round was a MUCH bigger pour. Had a wine and chocolate thing happening on the nose which was very nice.
Rivertown Imperial Amber aged in Buffalo Rare barrels. Had some slight bourbon on the nose. Not a lot as you could still smell and taste the beer more importantly. Slight bourbon on the finish. VERY well balanced. The Amber Ale is the base of their Pumpkin Ale and they have done it on cask before (Beer Fest)
Christian Moerlein 'Winter Warmer' aged in Woodford barrels. This was actually a English Strong Ale. Very nice and you could taste the Woodford in the finish.
MadTree Axis Mundi Barrel aged. Great Imperial stout with a bourbon on it. Lots of people were loving it. I'd like to compare it with the non aged version, whenever I get to their brewery.
The others...
Southern Tier Oak Aged Backburner. This was intersecting as it had a huge hoppy nose, but that sweet barley wine finish. Totally different than what I expected from smelling it.
Ballast Point Bourbon barrel aged Sea Monster. meh...I actually preferred the non aged version that I've had better than this one.
Breckenridge Well Built. Kinda disappointing, but I've never had 'great' beers from them before. It was the 'worst' of the night.
Stone Double Bastard in Red Wine and Arrogant Bastard in Templeton Whiskey barrels. I'd give the nod to the Arrogant Bastard in these two. Not overly impressed by either as they were both a little 'barrel' forward.
Now the really good Bourbon Barrel aged...
Revolution Mean Gene and Bean Gene. Both were very impressive. I've only ever had their Anti Hero IPA before, which is good. The Mean Gene had lots of bourbon and vanilla notes with some sweetness. Very smooth. The Bean Gene had lot bourbon and coffee. Also very smooth with some Woodford on the finish.
I passed on severial others that I've had before. (Thisty Dog BA Wulver and Siberian Night, Brooklyn Black Ops, Samuel Smith Stingo, Anderson Valley, Alltech, Victory, and others) I was really suprised on how long the line was for the Alltech. They had their Kentucky Ale, which is OVER 'bourboned', their Stout which is decent, and their Pumpkin which cuts through their Kentucky Ale nicely, but is not worth the wait.
Hardly got a buzz, which is why I went home and had a Weyerbacher Viridis Lopulus, Sam Adams Stony Brook Red, Sam Adams Tetravis, and a Trappist Rochefort 10. (Well I shared those with The Wife)
Sorry for the tl;dr /Otrap'd post.
