Chris – Page 8 – thebeergeek.com

September 5, 2012

Great Nebraska Beer Festival

Thanks to our friends at The Roaming Pint, Merideth and I had the opportunity to beer travel to Omaha, Nebraska for the first time. The Great Nebraska Beer Festival was looking for someone to talk about beer travel in one of their seminars. When Brian and Maria couldn’t do it, they suggested us. It was an opportunity to not only introduce ourselves to a new audience and sell Merideth’s book but more important, to try a bunch of Midwest brews. The whole thing was just too good to turn down.

The Shadow Lake Towne Center parking lot transformed

Shadow Lake Towne Center in Papillion (pronounced pa-PILL-yun) was the home of the Great Nebraska Beer Festival. Overnight, the empty parking lot in front of the Dick’s Sporting Goods transformed into a small tent city for the beer festival. The eighty or so breweries were grouped in six tents throughout the fenced in area.

Before the festival opened, Merideth and I wandered around trying to get the lay of the land. As I noticed all the brewers greet each other warmly via a handshake or hug, an odd feeling came over me. We didn’t know ANYONE. Most of the beer fests we attend are on the West Coast, where we do know everyone. We’re some of those people giving each other hand shakes and hugs. Not so in Papillion, Nebraska. We were definitely going to need all of our anti-wallflower powers.

The week prior our journey to Nebraska, we checked the weather regularly. As the week progressed, the chance of rain went from a paltry 10% to 80% the day of the festival. Sure enough, once the festival kicked off at noon, a steady rain began to fall.

We quickly learned a new lesson in our lives as book purveyors. It is very difficult to sell books at an outdoor beer festival in the rain. Despite the realization that book sales were going to be slow at best, all was not lost. There were all those new beer to try…

One of the hidden gems for us was Cigar City, not available in California. At the festival, a hand scrawled ‘CIGAR’ and a soggy program opened to its beers was the only designation for one of the biggest cult breweries in the country.

Cigar City Cucumber Saison won my best of show brew. I’ve had a cucumber beer and soda before but both were so subtle that my taste buds had to search for the flavor. Cigar City’s Saison, on the other hand, had a VERY pronounced cucumber taste. If they had added a bit of brine, I would have professed it the best beer ever made.

Given our friend and thebeergeek.com contributor, Renee is from Iowa, we made sure we tried some brews from her home state. Pom Pom Shaker, a Pomegranate Sour from homebrew club Iowa Brewers Union made my list of top 3 brews of the festival.

Peace Tree Brewing from Knoxville, IA had me won over before I tried any of their beers with their Partridge Family-esque bus. Their beers were pretty good as well, with the Red Rambler Red Ale and Hop Wrangler IPA tickling our fancy.

Throughout the afternoon, while Merideth (wo)manned the covered book table, I wandered out into the festival’s intermittent showers in search of beer. While some of the brewery names sounded familiar (Boulevard, Free State, Tallgrass), others like Ploughshare, Morgan Street and Beaver View, I had never heard of. On each journey, I would bring back two beers for us to try.

Other notable brews we tasted…

Cask Mango Watch Man IPA – Empyrean Brewing, Lincoln, NE
Zesting the Cone IPA – Nebraska Brewing, Papillion, NE
8-Bit Pale Ale – Tallgrass Brewing, Manhattan, KS
Schwarzbier – Morgan Street Brewery, St. Louis, MO
Powerhouse Pilsner – Gottberg, Columbus, NE
Saison – Funkwerks, Fort Collins, CO
Ethan’s Stout – Blue Blood Brewing, Lincoln, NE
The Griffin (Hefeweizen) – Grimm Bros. Brewhouse, Loveland, CO
Kölsch – Schlafly Brewing, St. Louis, MO

Topeka’s Blind Tiger opened our eyes to a beer festival first to us, a beer dispensing back pack. I never saw it loaded but I assume it held a five gallon keg. All during the day, one of the brewers wandered around with a keg strapped to his back filling empty taster glasses to appreciative festival goers. I availed myself of this great service on several occasions when I found myself with an empty taster glass.

Obviously, Merideth and I were disappointed that the weather didn’t go our way. But in the end, we met some great people and drank some wonderful beer at the Great Nebraska Beer Festival.

View all the images from the Great Nebraska Beer Festival

August 8, 2012August 8, 2012

The Bistro’s 15th Annual IPA Fest

Planning a relaxing Saturday, a friend who wanted a copy of Teaching from the Tap suggested we meet up at the Bistro’s IPA Festival. Getting another copy of Merideth’s book out into the world and a hophead’s dream day sounded like a win-win situation to me. Relaxation could wait until Sunday.

This was our first IPA Festival. But having been to their Double IPA festival on several occasions, we already had our routine set. Preferring the early bird schedule, we arrived at opening time, joining a handful of people on the enclosed street-side pen that housed the gathering. Our plan was for a few hours of fun, leaving mid afternoon when the crowd swelled.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention what a team player Merideth was. Not being a huge IPA fan, she volunteered to be the designated driver for the day allowing me to indulge in all the hoppy goodness. I will sure return the favor when we go to a festival that I don’t care for the style.

All the familiar hops (and some unfamiliar) were represented in the over three score beers pouring. Amarillo, cascade, chinook, citra, columbus, nugget, simcoe, and warrior were a few of the hop varieties that made this a very popular day on the Bay Area beer calendar. Not expecting to try them all, if my check marks were accurate, I did manage to drink fully about a third, or 20 of hoppy elixirs.

Despite the beers being all IPAs, there was a wide variety of flavors represented, from floral to piney to citrus.

According to my notes, where checkmarks became stars for brews I liked, my favorites were:

Drake’s Aroma Coma IPA
Fat Heads Head Hunter IPA
Russian River Hopfather IPA
Sante Adairius 831 IPA
Sierra Nevada Floral IPA
Triple Rock Greenhorn

I must really like the ‘C’ hops with Cascade, Citra, Centennial, and Columbus making numerous appearances in the brews listed.

In the official judging, Fat Heads Head Hunter IPA took home its second Bistro gold medal. Silver and bronze went to Ballast Point’s Sculpin followed by Triple Rock’s Greenhorn. The People’s Choice award went to the beer I voted for, Drake’s Aroma Coma.

Another great day at the Bistro…

View all the images from our day at the Bistro…

July 26, 2012

Last Day in Vancouver, eh

Over our week in British Columbia, Merideth and I explored the beer scene from breezy Vancouver Island to snow-capped Whistler to bustling Vancouver. With a baker’s dozen of new breweries already added to the List, we had one more day to finish things up before family time began.

Central City Brewing in Surrey, home of Red Racer

We began our day in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey at the glass-enclosed, modern Central City Brewing. This was a much anticipated stop as Central City has won a number of beer awards, most recently being named “Best Brewery” at the Canadian Brewing Awards a few weeks prior.

The brewery was also well-known for losing a legal dispute with Healdburg’s Bear Republic Brewing over its Red Racer brand. Too closely resembling in name Bear Republic’s iconic Racer 5 and Red Rocket beers, Central City brews distributed in the States now go by the moniker Red Betty. Red whatever, I was anxious to try the beers.

The lunchtime crowd was mainly gathered to watch the European Football Championship semifinal between Germany and Italy. Used to being amongst other German fans, Merideth and I found ourselves in a bar full of blue-shirted Azzurri supporters. Locating some open seats on a deserted corner of the bar, we ordered a sample flight.

The dozen brew flight was the most diverse since the similar-sized selection we sampled at Howe Sound earlier in the week. Ranging from a light-colored, Bavarian-style Lager to an ink-black, smokey Stout, we tasted some of the best beers of our Canadian trip. In between, we tried a Pale Ale, Raspberry Wheat, Wheat, and smoked beer to name a few.

Merideth was sold on the crisp lager when she heard the words “Bavarian-style”. I was most impressed by both the Canadian Brewing Awards gold medal winners, Red Racer ESB and Central City Imperial IPA. Their assertive, floral bitterness contrasted sharply with the unpleasant bitterness I felt with Germany losing 2-0 to Italy.

I would be remiss not to mention the wonderful food. The Red Racer IPA Bangers and Mash paired nicely with a pint of the Red Racer IPA.

On a rainy evening, we took the Sky Train from our airport hotel into central Vancouver.
Walking through Gastown, we marveled with a multitude of other tourists at the steam-powered clock, a Vancouver landmark since 1977. Passing the Steamworks brewpub, which Merideth and I visited in 1998, we gave each other the puzzled “that doesn’t look familiar at all” look. But it’s on The List, so we knew we had, in fact, been there.

On the far edge of Gastown almost back in East Vancouver, Merideth and I reached our final beer stop of the Canada trip, the Alibi Room.

Over the course of our journey, we were told a number of times, we HAD to visit the Alibi Room. Peering into its arched windows as we walked past, the Alibi Room’s popularity was confirmed by the large number of beer drinkers filling its long communal tables.

I somewhat panicked, worrying that we came all this way to have a long waiting list or no place to sit. Much to my relief, we were able to grab a corner of one of the high tables in front of the bar. (We later discovered there was a downstairs. While less spacious, the basement was complete with bar and duplicate set of taps.) As numerous customers came and went, Merideth and I settled in for our trip swan song.

Over the course of our trip, we had been introduced to the wide variety of local beer. Now, it was all here in front of us one more time to enjoy. Though they had a few beers from the States on their 44 taps and three hand pumps, British Columbian beer was front and center at the Alibi Room.

I already knew I was going to start with the R & B ESB on cask, a beer even more delightful than the keg version I tried the previous day at the brewery. The soft carbonation really brought out the hoppiness of the brew.

Merideth enjoying a Saison at the Alibi Room

Merideth went with Driftwood Farmhand Ale, a 5.5% ABV version of a Saison. Black pepper gave the brew an extra layer of spiciness. After I tasted the Saison, I again regretted that we didn’t get to visit the brewery during our stay in Victoria.

While Merideth stuck with the Saison throughout the evening, my next (and next) beer was Driftwood’s Fat Tug IPA, maybe my favorite brew of the week-long trip.

The Alibi Room was a perfect way to end the trip. With its wide selection of local beer, we were reminded of the strength of BC’s beer scene.

View all the Vancouver images…

June 30, 2012

Whistler & Squamish

While Merideth and I felt we could spend the rest of our trip traveling around Vancouver Island, it was time for us to move over to the mainland. There were more breweries to visit and more of the British Columbia beer scene to explore.

We left the aptly named Departure Bay early Monday morning destined for the Lower Mainland. It was a beautiful, sunny day. With the gorgeous weather, Merideth and I enjoyed crossing of the Straight of Georgia from the upper deck. With the backdrop of the massive mainland coastal mountains, the scenery was spectacular. I almost wished we could do it all over again, but we disembarked at Horseshoe Bay and journeyed north.

View all the ferry crossing images…

Our first destination of the day was Whistler, the famous ski resort known most recently for hosting events during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Even in summer, the semi-posh Whistler Village teamed with tourists and outdoor-types strolling its quaint pedestrian zone. Not being skiers, Merideth and I took it all in with a bit of curiosity.

Merideth enjoying a pre-hike beer at the Brew House in Whistler

Normally, we would set out for a hike first, but Merideth was hungry. Instead, we wound our way to the far end of Whistler Village destined for High Mountain Brewing. Under a brilliant sun and snow-capped peaks, we settled into one of the outdoor high bar tables.

Starting with the light-bodied Lifty Lager and ending with the seasonal Imperial Stout, Merideth and I sampled the brews in the six beer flight. All the beers were very drinkable, with the Alta Lake Amber Ale and 5 Rings IPA being the favorites for Merideth and I respectively.

The network of hiking/biking trails around Whistler was quite impressive. Wanting to set out from the Village, we settled on a 7-8km loop around Alta Lake. Our hike was more of a long walk on paved paths around the lake, but Merideth and I enjoyed the exercise and being out in the sun.

Post hike, we had another quick beer at the Brewhouse before heading back down the mountain to Squamish.

View all the Whistler images…

Squamish billed itself as the “outdoor recreational capital of Canada.” Merideth and I were oblivious of this claim to fame as we exited off Hwy 99 at Cleveland Avenue, the town’s main drag. Squamish was our destination because of Howe Sound Inn & Brewing Company. The seventh brewery of the trip was also our hotel for the night.

Checking into the hotel, we quickly dropped off our bags and headed back downstairs to the pub.

There is no better reward for staying at a brewery hotel than a dozen brew-flight. Merideth immediately fell in love with 4 Way Fruit Ale, a Wheat Beer made with mango, passion fruit, raspberry and pomegranate. Light-bodied and full of fruit flavor, 4 Way tasted exactly like a breakfast juice.

Merideth’s other favorite and go to beer during our stay at Howe Sound was Rail Ale Nut Brown. A silver medal winner at the 2012 North American Beer Awards, the brew had the nice nutty flavor that she enjoys. My stars were Devil’s Elbow IPA and Baldwin Cooper Best Bitter, a bronze medal winner at the 2012 North American Beer Awards.

Merideth and I were both fond of Megadestroyer, an Imperial Licorice Stout. Maybe an ‘acquired taste’ brew, this 10% ABV full-bodied Stout had, as the name would suggest, a wonderful licorice flavor.

Sitting in the pub, we couldn’t help notice the huge granite monolith that looms over Squamish. Known at the Stawamus Chief, the huge rock face towers 2,300 ft. over the town. Merideth and I joked that we would climb the face before we left.

Later, we learned from our friendly waitress that there was a hiking trail to the top that offered amazing views of Howe Sound and the surrounding mountains. Inspired, we vowed to get to the top of the Chief the next day.

The following morning we awoke psyched up to conquer the Chief. Doing some trail research online before we left, I saw a notice on the BC Parks website that the trail to the top of the Chief was closed for maintenance that very day (and only that day). Not really believing our unlucky fortune, we drove to the trail head to confirm that it was true.

Extremely disappointed, Merideth and I settled on another 7-8km hike at Alice Lake Park that wound around four different lakes. A bit more remote than our Whistler hike, the ‘Danger bear in the area’ warning added a bit of excitement. But, we still weren’t climbing the Chief.

Back at Howe Sound and again under the gaze of the Chief, Merideth and I lamented our missed hiking opportunity over a few pints. In the end, we re-framed our day. We didn’t conquer the Chief, but that just means we need to return to Squamish.

View all the Squamish images…

June 27, 2012June 27, 2012

Wandering Around Victoria

With its concentration of breweries and easy walk-ability, Victoria screamed out for an Urban Beer Hike. I even had one envisioned in my head, a circular route that hit all the new breweries plus some old favorites in the British Columbia capital. But, prior to our trip, I was too immersed in working on promoting Merideth’s book to get one properly organized and planned. Our one full day in Victoria morphed into more of an Urban Beer Wander.

In contrast to the previous day, the weather on Saturday in Victoria was a bit more encouraging for a walk. Clouds were breaking up mid morning as Merideth and I left Spinnakers, our brewery-hotel, for the short walk to the Inner Harbor. By the time we reached the center of town, both Merideth and I had our fleeces off.

After doing a Clark Griswold on the downtown tourist sights, Merideth and I headed up Government Street to the industrial part of town. The blocks around Government and Bay Streets have become Victoria’s ‘brewery gulch’, the location for most of the new breweries in town.

Our first beer stop was Vancouver Island Brewing. To illustrate my distracted state prior to our trip, I had the island’s oldest craft brewery on our target list despite having already visited the brewery on our last visit to Victoria in 2001. Even though we’d already been there, nothing looked familiar to me or Merideth. I certainly hope a remodel was the explanation.

In the end, a few beer samples can’t hurt, even if the brewery was already on The List. Hermann’s Dark and the seasonal Hefeweizen Beachcomber Summer Ale were pleasant starts to the beer portion of the day.

The one brewpub in the industrial part of town

We continued walking up Government and hung a left on Bay to reach our second destination, Moon Under Water, a brewery that did count on The List. The name comes from a George Orwell essay of the same title where he describes Moon Under Water, his fictitious ideal pub.

Not quite sure of how many more stops there would be on the day, Merideth and I only split the six beer sampler. In a rare moment, we agreed on the our favorites of the lot, Moonlight Blonde, Lunar Pale Ale and the seasonal Stout. The overall star for me was the 4.2% ABV Blonde ale. Made with a bit of wheat and hopped with Saaz, the brew had a really nice bite to accompany its light body.

From Moon Under Water, it was only a short walk around the corner to Hoyne Brewing on Bridge St. To illustrate that this neighborhood is brewery gulch, Driftwood Brewing was located next door. But unfortunately, it is not currently open to the public.

Located in a blue-roofed industrial building on the corner, Hoyne has been only open since December. For being such a newcomer, they have already developed quite a following as evidenced by the steady stream of customers coming it to fill growlers.

We sampled five beers, all quite nice especially given the youth of the brewery. Starting on the lighter end with Summer Haze Honey Hefe and Hoyner Pilsner, we moved on to Merideth’s favorite, Dark Matter. Technically classified a Brown Ale, Dark Matter had a wonderful nutty and roast character. Moving on to my end of the spectrum, we finished with Down Easy Pale Ale and Devil’s Dream IPA. Both were excellent, though I preferred the Pale Ale.

Returning back the way we came, Merideth and I headed back down Government Street to our third and last new brewery of the day, Phillips Brewing. Just like Hoyne, but even more so, Phillips enjoyed a very steady stream of growler-fill customers. We grabbed a corner of the tasting bar, trying to stay out of the way, while we worked our way through the Phillips lineup.

Merideth enjoying herself at Phillips Brewing

We sampled numerous brews beginning with the light-bodied Phoenix Gold. An early highlight was Service 1904 Scotch Ale, a 5% ABV stone-fired beer with a flavorful caramel malt profile. Hop Circle IPA not only was a great hop-pun, but a well-crafted hopbomb. Longboat Chocolate Porter was a favorite of both Merideth and I. It’s deep chocolate flavor cried out for a big bowl of vanilla ice cream.

Once back in the center part of Victoria, we headed to Canoe Brewpub. Though we had been there before, Merideth and I had visions of playing scrabble in the sunshine overlooking the water on the brewpub’s patio. Grabbing the only available outside table, Merideth and I dove into the six beer sample tray.

Then the weather turned for the worse. The wind picked up, dark clouds rolled in and the sunshine was gone. The wind was so strong it even picked up an open umbrella from the table next to us and hurled it over the glass wall onto a walkway. By the time we decided to pack it in, the rain had started to fall.

Driftwood’s Fat Tug IPA at Garrick’s Head Pub

Trying to wait out the rain, Merideth and I next went to Garrick’s Head Pub in Bastion Square. A Victoria fixture since 1867, Garrick’s Head came recommended by several people for being a good place to find local craft beer. I took the opportunity to try Driftwood Brewing Fat Tug IPA. At 7% ABV and 80 IBU, it was very West Coast style and one of my favorite beers I drank in Victoria. It definitely made we wish they had a tasting room to try the rest of their offerings.

As Merideth and I enjoyed our beers at Garrick’s Head, we examined every entering customer to see how wet their jackets were. With a 20-minute walk back to Spinnakers still ahead, we were hoping to minimize how wet we got. Finishing our pints, we decided the rain had sufficiently let up. It was a pleasant, if breezy, walk back to Spinnakers.

Our reward for a good day of beer travel

After two visits to the British Columbia capital, Spinnakers, for us, remains the cream of the crop of the Victoria beer scene.The beer was world-class and the farm to table food quite delicious.

Though I was wanting the long-gone cask Cascadia Ale that I had enjoyed the previous day, Spinnakers India Session Ale was the perfect choice after a day of drinking beer. We finished our Urban Beer Wander with a nice dinner, our evening culminating with a Chocolate Truffle and Beer Pairing. It’s one of the perks of staying in their hotel.

Our day in Victoria wasn’t that organized, but despite that, we discovered again that it’s a great beer town. Next visit, I will be better prepared with a properly planned Urban Beer Hike.

View all of the Victoria images…