Great American Beer Festival II     If only all of life's decisions were like this....which of the 1700 beers at the Festival should we try? You are given a little more than 17 hours to complete the task at hand....try as many beers as humanly possible and still remember that you did! These choices present a dilemma for even the heartiest of imbibers.....which ones?
    When we went to our first GABF in 1998, we were slightly
overwhelmed! We did not know what to expect other than what we read about it and did not have a definite plan of attack. I knew I wanted to try the beers from the Northwest as I would probably not get there any time soon, so we went there first and it only tended to confuse things. This year we knew what we wanted and our plan went much smoother. We started at the beginning and worked our way around picking up our souvenirs as we went; this year Broadway Brewing gave out very large (18" diameter) "coasters" which were the rage and greatly in demand....we got two of them, Flying Dog and Old Scratch. Our bags were filled with pens, business cards, labels, pins, stickers, menus, flyers, bottle openers, and whatever other breweriana we could find. The flashing LED pins of the major breweries are also popular, the only drawback is they make you taste their beer! The things we do for paraphanalia!
    But now on to the main reason for being there...TO DRINK BEER!!!! Over the three days we tried over 200 beers of which several were quite memorable.
    The one most talked about at the GABF was Boston Brewing's Samuel Adams Millenium Ale. Weighing in at a very large 20% abv news traveled fast of its availability at the show. Made with 3 malts, 4 hops, and two strains of yeast it was then fermented with maple syrup and put up in Bourbon casks. It was served at room temperature from small wooden casks. They also had brought along some of their Triple Bock for those who had never tried the port-like brew. The Millenium Ale was closer to a whiskey than a beer in flavor, but was very smooth and had a crisp finish to it. A great apertif or dessert drink! There are only 3000 bottles available and will be around $200 each!! I'm glad I had the chance to try it there for free!
     We are great lovers of Stouts and Porters of which there were many at the Festival. Of course, one of the most famous was Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, a multi prize winner which displays the best characteristics of Imperial and foreign style stouts.( It was being poured by its creator, Garrett Oliver.)
John Harvard's Brew House of Boston made a Cambridge Espresso Stout that was so coffeelike, you could drink it for breakfast! An outstanding brew! Zonker Stout from Snake River Brewing of Jackson, WY won another GABF Gold in the Foreign Style Stout category. Rock Bottom Brewery of Louisville, CO brewed a Flying Salmon Vanilla Stout that we found to be a nice change on the sweet side.
    Several Imperial Stouts worth mentioning are Bert Grant's Imperial Stout, John Wayne Imperial Stout from Newport Beach Brewing,Old Rasputin from North Coast,Vintage 99 Port Cask Imperial Stout from Bulldog Brewing, Imperial Oatmeal Stout from Great Basin Brewing and Double Eagle Russian Imperial Stout from Wild River Brewing and Fat Cat from Liberty Street.
    I thought I would try barleywines this year also. Usually high in gravity, they tend to end your session quickly, but I was determined to taste as many as I could over the three days. Some were old favorites like Old Foghorn from Anchor, Old Woody from Bert Grant's aged in port wine barrels for 9 months, Bridgeport's Old Knucklehead, Rogue Old Crustacean,
Old Knuckleballer from Sandlot Brewpub, Flying Dog from Broadway,& Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot, as well as some newcomers - Old Wooly from Seattle's Big Time Brewing, Bullethead from Bitter End, Denver's Bull & Bush's Release The Hounds, Big Butte from Prescott, AZ. and Hog Heaven by Avery Brewing of Boulder, CO with a 9.2abv and heavily dry-hopped.
    There were many specialty beers that I could not resist trying and was glad that I did. Cottonwood Brewery of Boone, NC made a Great Pumpkin Spiced Ale that tasted exactly like a piece of pumpkin pie. I couldn't believe my tastebuds! Orange Grove Ale from Craftsman Brewing of Pasadena is a blend of oranges, hops and malted barley and is quite refreshing. Others along the same line are Moab Lime Ale from Eddie McStiff's, Bees n' Berry from Thunder Canyon of Tucson, and JuJu Ginger Ale brewed by Left Hand Brewing of Longmont,CO. One specialty beer stood out as being quite unique. It was Watauga Tobacco Stout from Olde Hickory Brewery from Hickory, NC. I'd give them an A for originality, but it was horrible! It was actually made with tobacco in the brew and it tasted like it! Everyone I asked if they had tried it, said "no" that it made them think of people using the brew tanks as a spitoon...you get the picture!
      The proliferation of Belgian Style ales in the retail sector equated to an increased number of entries at the GABF this year. Among these were...Belgian Strong Ale from Alesmith Brewing, Victoria's Triple from Humboldt Brewing,
Lampost Pizza's Main Street Brewery's Bishop's Triple Tripel,
New Belgium's Abbey Ale & Saison Farmhouse Ale, Cherry 2000 from North East Brewing with a recipe from Belgium and aged in French oak casks for 4 months on top of 120 lbs. of cherries....definite barnyard flavors in this one....quite unique, and Damnation Belgian-style Ale from Russian River.
    Holiday Ales, Brown Ales, Pale Ales, IPA'S...something for everyone and everyone for something. A testament to man's desire for innovation and originality. Hopefully, it will continue to grow and flourish throughout the world in spite of the major breweries trying to subdue the industry through mass marketing and restrictive contracts. Continued growth of attendance at this type of festival will show that the desires of the beer-drinking public are becoming more sophisticated and demand different and better quality brews. Let the breweries know what you like by buying their products and sending them feedback via e-mail or at beer festivals. Remember, you only get choices if you make them...stop making choices and there won't be any to make! Support your favorite or local brewery and brewpub..they are in business for you and want to serve you what you want! See you in Denver!!!