Extreme Beer Fest 2008
Exactly one month ago connoisseurs Jon, Tom and Javier attended an amazing event called The Extreme Beer Fest over at the Cyclorama, where we have gotten drunk in the past courtesy of Johnny Walker. Although one of us got the wrong tickets in the mail the organizers made everything as easy as possible for us. As soon as we showed up to the venue we where shocked to see a line going halfway around the block, and we where pretty much the last in line. Once inside the setup was nice and easy. Stands for each brewery lined the walls and, so long as you didn’t lose your 2oz sampling cup. you where pretty much set.
Over the next few hours we managed to get ourselves pretty drunk with mere shots of beer, but we somehow made it out with out without losing our sense of taste, memories or too much dignity. One thing that helped was the cheap and readily available water and of course the fact that my COWON D2 doubles as a surprisingly good tape recorder.
Now not every beer at the festival will be represented in this review. In some cases we just never got around to a brewers booth due to time constraints and also some beers where just too awful to mention, such as a salty Barley Wine that tasted like cat food or a surprise brew nicknamed The Terminator that was all candy and no attitude. I’ve spared the particularly negative reviews since one could infer that our judgment was impaired by the constant flow of alcohol. Also after a while we started to suffer a bad case of “Porter and Stout Burnout” causing all these dark beers to taste the same. That means we might have overlooked some outstanding examples of the style, given that we where completely desensitized. Before we get started let me share a good drunken quote:
Jon: “We are here to drink what?”
Tom “Beer!!!”
Jon: “No, we are here to drink responsibly!”
To hear more of our drunken ramblings click here or here. (Warning: This is unedited and uncensored. The Connoisseurs do tend to get a bit coarse in our language as the night wears on.)
Imperial Steel Rail: Really sweet, kind of tart, big malty body and very grassy. It also has a bitter berry flavor to it with a touch of bubble gum.
BBC Imperial Stout: Smooth and hoppy but also sweet with a touch of coffee.
Allagash Brewing Co
Dry Hopped Barrel Aged Musette: Smells like apples and cinnamon. It tastes really oaky, woody, and spicy. Almost like a bourbon type flavor.
Curieux: Again woody and oaky with a little gun powder. It’s got a strong phenol character with lots of alcohol, kind of like dropping a shot in your beer.
Interlude: Tastes like white grapes and wine. Nothing too special though, tastes like box Wine.
Rogue Ales
Rogue Brew 10k: toasted marshmallow type of smell with a little bit of strawberry in there too. This tastes kind of like pink marshmallows but it has a strong hop in the background. Good creamy mouthfeel to it also.
Javier Says: A pink toasted marshmallow, which was Tom’s nickname in prison.
Old Crustacean barleywine: It’s got a very Dry mouthfeel. Its flavor is nice, malty and dark.
Jon Says: “This would be good with a meatloaf”
Stone Brewing
Stone 10th anniversary IPA: Toasty malts, very strong pinapple smell. Tons of hops which are simultaneously overpowering yet intensely enjoyable.
Jon Says: “WOW, HOLY SHIT”.
Javier Says: “Most extreme beer I’ve ever had”
Stone 2007 Imperial Russian Stout: Insane head on it, slightly reddish dark brown head that won’t die. Really smooth edges, almost tastes like a Porter, got a nice little bit creamy fruit.
Tom Says: “Very bloody and it’s got a little clove on the nose. I couldn’t drink a lot of it.”
Three Floyds Brewing Co
Dreadnought IPA: Smells really fresh and hoppy. It’s definitely an IPA but it is really smooth and crisp with tropical fruit. That really hits the spot.
Jon Says: “Would go great with a grilled cheese sandwich with really sharp cheddar.”
3 Floyds Ham on
Tom Says “Would go great with ham on rye.”
Brewery Ommegang
Ommegang Saison de Gewurz: Definitely less floral than a Gewürztraminer wine. Sweet, with some nice tannin on top of a Belgian beer.
Tom Says: “I don’t like that beer.”
3 Philosophers Gran Cru: It’s got this bubblegum flavor that won’t quit. Not as well rounded as the non aged equivalent, although it does pack more of an alcoholic punch.
Lagunitas Brewing Co
Hop Stupid: Smells like pine hops and dirty sock. The flavor is good, refreshing and full of hops but it feels like it’s just suspended in water, just a little bit bland.
Jon Says: “Dirty Hop Sock!”
Hairy Eyeball: Doesn’t smell too strongly of anything, maybe like a porter. It tastes bitter, malty and a little smoky.
Tom Says: “I could drink a lot of these if I had to but I wouldn’t actively seek them out.”
Lumpy Gravy: It’s thick and flowery and coats your mouth in the back. Tastes a little bit like apples, spice, cinnamon, clove… its apple cobbler!
Magic Hat Brewing Co.
Kerouac Ale (Beet Beer): Absolutely no head on it, very clear and bright red. Looks like cough syrup or cranberry juice. It has a Soda mouth feel and it’s cold, clear and crisp with citrus.
Javier Says: “It would scare you the next day when you got to the bathroom and you are pissing red”
American Sour Ale: Smells like crushed lime leaves. Mouth puckering sour, like lime aid and grapefruit. This beer almost killed Tom, who somehow didn’t expect the sour ale to be sour.
Braggart: Golden, slightly cloudy, smells like pumpkin pie. Tastes like a good spicy apple cider with a lot of cinnamon.
Samuel Adams
3 Weiss Men: Sweet nose with apple and pear, smells like dessert. Lots of honey and fruit in the flavor with a sticky texture.
Tom Says: “That is so good and nice. I could drink a lot of this and get very hung over”
Belgian brown: smells like a Belgian beer, standard clove nose. Tastes like a medium body
Imperial Stout: Smooth body, smoky coffee and chocolate. A little bit of a bbq hotdog flavor for some odd reason, but some stouts tend to have that.
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
Spruce Willis: Smells very slightly piney with a nice malt characteristic. It is very smooth with a bitter aftertaste. One of Tom’s favorites so far as I could tell.
Old School Barley Wine: Smells like vitamins B and C for some reason. It tastes like a smashup of stuff from the medicine cabinet but really sweet too, with a little powdery melon flavor in the back of the throat.
Tom Says: “Tastes like an energy drink”
Javier Says: “At 15% alcohol that will give me some energy!”
120 Minute IPA: Smells strongly of hops, and stings the tongue. Very stringent and alcoholic, with a good juniper flavor. Its more of a shot of liquor than a beer, it easily stands out amongst other IPAs.
Short’s Brewing Co
Uber Goober Oatmeal stout: Smells very caramelly and smoky, a little bit like butter too. It tastes kind of like peanuts and pistachios in a good dark beer.
Cup A Joe: Tastes like it is made with cheap burnt coffee, like something from a motel lobby.
Javier Says: “Yeah, hotel coffee. I can see myself having this for breakfast. It’s sad, it’s worrisome, but Yeah, I can picture myself having this for breakfast”
Jon Says: “Oh yeah, with some steak and eggs”.
Bloody Beer: Smells like a Bloody Mary right off the bat. All the spices are present and it really fills the nose and palate.
The Woodsmaster: Smells like pancakes. Not as cloying and sweet as you might think, it’s got a good body to it. It also has an aftertaste of maple and a good nuttiness to it.
Smuggling Plums: Very dark looking. Not much nose on it, just a little fruity and smoky. It’s got a really nice body to it, with a flavor like plum peels that balances and brings it all together with a nice acid crispness.
Javier Says “Imagine what Airport Security will say when they catch you smuggling plums”.
Abnormal Genius: Smells sweet, like honey coated popcorn. In flavor it is like the perfect light honey flavored cookie. Also the drunker we got the more we messed up the name of this beer, calling it Uber Genius, Abnormal Intelligence and Supreme Intelligence.
Southern Tier Brewing
Backburner: Smells hoppier than a normal barley wine and tastes hoppier than a normal barley wine. Really bitter and strong, a nice thing to cleanse the palate between sweeter brews.
Choklat: Nice and sweet, with a Hershey’s milk chocolate syrup flavor. A lot less of a stout than most competing beers, making it one of our favorites.
Dark Horse brewing company
Tres Blueberry Stout: Smells like blueberries but it just tastes like stout.
Javier Says: “If you have to look that hard they are not there!”
Scotty Karate Scotch Ale: Nose is not much, smells a little bit like a barley wine with some spice in there. Tastes like one too but a little sweeter and saltier.
Double Crooked Tree IPA: Smells really hoppy but doesn’t taste too bitter. It is hoppy in the way that Stone brewery beers are hoppy, more tasty than strong.
Harpoon Brewery
Stock Ale: Piney and citrusy, lots of hops in there. It’s really good.
Table Beer: Beer colored water, something you can drink ten pints of in
Pub Ale: Malty nose. Smooth and sweet with a little touch of spice and malt.
Shmaltz Brewing Co.
Origin Pomegranate Ale: Lots of perfume and fruit in the nose. Kind of sweet and tart with a hint of bitter at the end like Jamaica Water. (Hibiscus for the non-espanol)
Jewbilation 11: Sweet and smoky nose to it. Very dense, malty and smoky, good stuff.
During the festival we made a stop at the food court set up by Sunset Grill & Tap for some delicious bar food. I myself had the Spicy Sausage Sandwich. The bread was freshly baked and salty like an herbed pretzel, going great with my beer. And speaking of Pretzels Tom got a mammoth Jalapeño Cheddar stuffed pretzel and the Jon “the hungry man” picked up a cup of the Arrogant Bastard Steak Chili and the Chipotle Beer Barbequed Baby Back Ribs. After some good eats we tried to catch a soapbox session but unfortunately it had just ended, so instead we took advantage to sit down for a while and drink some water. Near the end Tom got interviewed by some a camera crew while Jon and I joked about how it must suck to be the guy who carries the battery pack behind the camera man. Then the lights started to flicker and on our way out we picked up some repeat samples of our favorite brews.
After the event we decided to go to rock bottom brewery for some Mac and cheese. I recorded one last bit of audio in the restaurant where we all talked about our favorite beers of the night but after so many it was clear that we where just listing off the better ones that we could remember. Instead I’ve assembled a list of our top 10 favorites of the night after listening to our comments all over again.
10) Double Crooked Tree IPA
9) Uber Goober Oatmeal Stout
8) Stone 10th anniversary
7) American Sour Ale
6) 120 Minute IPA
5) Braggart
4) Dreadnaught IPA
3) Choklat
2) Kerouac (Beet Beer)
1) 3 Weiss Men
Our favorite new brewery of the night was Shorts Brewing Co with their variety of extremely unique yet consistently good beers. Be it the Bloody Beer with tomatoes or The Woodsmaster with maple syrup everything they served up was a pleasant surprise. Apparently the stuff is only available in Michigan though and it’s only being served in bars, so we all might have to wait until next year to have some more of their delicious offerings.