10th Annual State College Microbrewers' Expo
State College, PA
7/28/07

For the 9th year in a row, we made the trip out to Happy Valley to attend and help out at the 10th Anniversary of this renowned beer fest. We have attended all but the first year's event. I still don't remember how we became fast friends with the producers, Greg Somers and Michael Goldfine, but we did and have had a great time viewing the fest from the working side of the table. It is even a hectic weekend for us and we have only limited responsibilities. I can only imagine what Greg goes through himself now that Michael has left the fold to be able to enjoy the festival. But, Greg has more energy than any two people I know, so I know he kind of thrives on the excitement.
This festival is all about beer education and the seminars are there to teach about the many facets that are beer. This year, the main speaker was John Hansell, publisher and editor of Malt Advocate magazine. Though mostly covering the world of whisky, beer is also prominently featured in this periodical. John talked about blending beers and used some of the best beers in the world to make his point. He started out sampling 6 beers and then discussed blending. Several of the beers were blends themselves or would lend themselves to being a mixer: Hanssen's Gueuze, Schneider Aventinus, DFH's Red & White,  Goose Island's Brown Goose, Avery/Russian River's Collaboration Not Litigation, Port Brewing's Veritas, and finishing with Unibroue's Quelque Chose. Lemon juice was provided to mix with the Quelque Chose in order to demonstrate it's blending ability. He urged everyone to try blending at home to enhance the experience of beer drinking.