Filed under: GABF
Jeff Bearer at Craft Beer Radio has posted a whole bunch of audio content from the floor of the GABF, and around the Denver area, for your listening enjoyment. I think it is safe to say that Jeff has the best quality of audio for the event, featuring three pages of audio content: great interviews with interesting people and entertaining conversations. Check it out at http://www.craftbeerradio.com/gabf
Even if you were at the event, check this out. He seemed to do a great job making the rounds and probably has different angles and events than you experienced. If you weren’t there, well then you’ve simply got to hear what you’ve missed and plan ahead for next year.
Filed under: GABF
With the GABF all wrapped up for another year, I figured it is appropriate say congratulations to all the brewers of the Pacific region who took home some hardware. In all, the brewers of California, Oregon and Washington brought back 62 medals: 26 Gold, 20 Silver and 16 Bronze.
Also, I’d like to give a big congratulations to the big winners of the region, those who took home 3 or more medals for their beers.
- Elysian of Washington – 3 medals
- Deschutes of Oregon – 3 medals
- Pelican Pub or Oregon – 3 medals
- Firestone Walker of California – 5 medals
- BJ’s of California – 4 medals
- Green Flash of California – 3 medals
- Marin of California – 4 medals
- Moylan’s of California – 3 medals
- Pizza Port/Port Brewing/Lost Abbey of California – 6 medals
- Russian River of California – 3 medals
For those who live on the west coast, this is just further validation that we’re bless with an abundance of great hand crafted beer.
Filed under: GABF
The results are in! Everyone, please lift a glass up to celebrate along with these great brewers, who were honored today at the 2007 Great American Beer Fest. Pictured is Tomme Arthur of Port Brewing & The Lost Abbey.
Mid-Size Brewing Company and Mid-Size Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
Sponsored by HopUnion CBS, LLC
Firestone Walker Brewing Company, Paso Robles, California
Matt Brynildson
Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
Sponsored by Microstar Keg Management
Port Brewing & The Lost Abbey, San Marcos, California
Tomme Arthur
Large Brewpub and Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year
Sponsored by Brewery Supply Group
Redrock Brewing Company, Salt Lake City, Utah
Kevin Templin
Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year
Sponsored by Briess Malt & Ingredients Co.
Montana Brewing Co., Billings, Montana
Travis Zelstra
I grew up in the Northwest, spent my childhood in Oregon and went to college in Washington, so I am not afraid of the rain. In fact, so long as I am not bitterly cold, I quite enjoy spending some time out in a light rain – what we call a ‘drizzle’ in the great NW. Denver tonight was a wet, many said it was raining, but in all reality it was only a drizzle, but regardless, people in Denver sought shelter from the wet. So when I saw an American icon alone in the rain, I knew it was my chance to spend some quality one on one time with the one, and only, Don Younger, owner of Portland’s famed Horse Brass pub.
“What are you drinking?” I asked. “Doesn’t matter” was Don’s reply (I never did find out what was in that pint glass). Don went on to share his personal phylosophy on beer and being a successful bar owner.
“People want to get back to their communities” was a phrase he’d stated more than a couple of times in our chat. I asked him to explain a bit more and words just weren’t finding their way out of his mouth, so I prompted him with his own famous quote – “It’s not about the beer, it’s about the beer.” At hearing this his eyes lit up and words no longer seemed to escape him. The conversation that followed was great, and I don’t have a lot of quotes because of the setting and circumstance of it all, but I will do my best to convey his thoughts – I believe he is more insightful than you might think.
Getting back to your roots, that is what Don thinks makes a successful bar today (and for the past 30 years in his case). In my efforts to prod more information out, I realized for him it was more about people wanting to get away from the industrial aspect of everyday life. We tossed around examples of artisan breads, cheese, beer, chocolates and everything we see in our fine grocers around the country. With this in mind, it all began to make sense. It isn’t about THE beer, it is about the BEER. What if Don didn’t have the newest and greatest beer released by the hottest brewer in the region, would his bar suffer? Not likely. Because people go their to relax in an atmosphere that includes beer – good beer to be certain, but not necessarily THE beer.
Now, I feel like this isn’t making a bunch of sense in writing, and I apologize if it is confusing – that would be my fault. What I think the point is, if I can distill this, is that Don thinks his success, along with the success of craft beer overall, is more about people appreciating things that are made by people with names we either know, or can know, and not corporations who produce at a scale that is so vast it simply cannot have a human eliment to it. When I think about it, I think the man is right.
I don’t buy Velveeta (not even sure that’s spelled right), or Wonder bread or Twinkies or even Snickers bars. I buy cheeses that are made by hand, bread from my local baker, deserts from a local grocer and chocolates that are made by hand. It is no wonder, therefore, that my beer selecion largely meets this criteria.
I imagine that to Don Younger the phrase “Support your local brewer” carries a lot more weight than it does on many of us who wear the t-shirts. I appreciate that, just as I appreciate all Don has done and continues to do – even if he tries to tell me he’s not really doing anything.
Thanks Don for talking with me again, standing in the rain never felt better.
Side Note:
Writing this, I have a crazy longing for the Steak and Kidney pie served at Horse Brass, the best I’ve had – even though I won’t claim t have had a lot.
Filed under: GABF
The Great American Beer Festival is on the downhill slide to completion, with the two final session occuring this afternoon and evening. I took the evening off last night, largely due to an actual pain in my neck that wasn’t going to heal itself by standing in lines at Falling Rock or the Flying Dog parties, so I am feeling pretty darned good today – ready for some business in a glass.
Here, once again, is a quit hit list of various thoughts from GABF.
- My DRAFT VIP dislikes from Session One were corrected, in shocking fashion. No, it still wasn’t the coolest place on earth, but it was clean, the food was good and it was the good place to relax I’d hoped it would be the whole time.
- Two new beer magazines on the floor, going two very different directions.
- Beer Northwest is a sharp looking magazine highlighting, of course, the Northwest USA. I wasn’t surprised to like it when I read that Jay Brooks was a contributor, his passion for the industry and quality are exactly what the industry needs – so I assume that he wouldn’t contribute pieces of his work to anyone with a different focus. BNW features very well done articles on pubs, brewers and even a few homebrew tips – and the story on Hops that Jay put together is a must read for those inclined to learn something when reading.
- Beer is 180 degrees apart in direction and focus, it would appear. With articles teaching me 7 ways to open a beer without an opener, featuring three attractive ladies in little in the way of clothing, pretending to open bottles in these seven ways – which includes using your teeth – I was pretty sure this magazine was not intended for me.
To make it worse, their feature story was the “Great American Beer Shootout – Blue Collar Beer”. This ’shootout’ features nine economy beers, like MGD, Schlitz and Old Milwaukee. The piece bothered me from the get-go, the notion that ‘blue collars’ and cheap beer somehow go hand in hand – it doesn’t! I this this frustration around this piece may spark a whole post of it’s own, but for now I’ll just leave it at that.
There were shining spots in this magazine, don’t get me wrong. They have a Beer 101 section that is wonderful, something I’ve been trying to get other publications to do for a while now. This month’s Beer 101 focused on Pilsners and was several pages in length – looking at the ingredients, proceess, history, variations and overall characteristics of the style. Very well done. - There is something almost perfect about a soft, warm pretzel at a beer fest.
- The stage area, where the Brewing Network did their live podcast, is just not good. Hard to hear, and not really a well thought out place for entertainment.
- Pliny the Elder still kicks ass, and it was a treat that Vinnie brought their Toronado 20th Anniversary beer for the early birds to enjoy.
- Speaking of Vinnie… he and his wife, Natalie, are among the coolest owners out there. Prior to opening the gates, Natalie was talking with the volunteers for their booth, and being very complimentary toward both of them. She’d requested that they resist any requests to relieve another booth, that having the same team at their booth was important. And, as a thank you, she was taking their names and contact info so they could send out thank you gifts once they returned to Santa Rosa. I suspect Vinnie and Natalie will be treating their volunteers well -as all brewers should.
- People are crazy! I love to watch people, and beer fests provide a lot of opportunity to do so. On this day we say a man who’d shaved the words “Beer Me” into his head, several guys dressed in sharp suits… from the ’70’s and a more crazy shirts than I can really do justice for. It is great to see, especially because most of the outrageous looking people were really quite nice.
- It is truly amazing to see brewers genuinely excited to be at a beer fest, and so many brewers at the GABF are. I spoke with one brewer about the cause of his excitement, and he was quick to point out just how great it was to see the first impressions of the people drinking his beer, often oblivious that he is right there watching. So, with him, I watched people for a minute or two, and the faces told it all. There was a woman trying a sour beer he’d made, her eyes got really big for a second, and then sorta contorted into something not so pleasant – but she immediately told the man with her that he “needs to try this”. About that same time a young guy with attitude written on his face took a drink of a pale of some sort. After his first sip, his head nodded and it was almost as if he were relieved – he clearly appreciated his beer. So, I could see how a brewer could get excited here, I suppose they can learn more then any panel of folks with pen and paper could afford him.
- Two breweries I think need your support: Sacramento Brewing and Rubicon Brewing, both of Sacramento. Yes, this is my town, but the reason you should check them out is the fact that they surround Russian River, and often are treated pretty poorly by people who are just after the liquid gold of Santa Rosa. SacBrew is pouring a beer called Petersen’s Pride, a British Double IPA unlike most beers I think you’ll find, and Rubicon had a great lineup of beer all around. I actually watched a guy with a camera ask a brewer to kindly step back as he tried to get a picture of Vinnie… and that wasn’t a good thing to witness. Yes, I agree that Vinnie is a rock star in brewing, but don’t become so singularly focused while around him to miss some really good beers right next door.
- I enjoyed the second session a bit more than the first for one big reason – I’d stopped looking for the beers I had to try. In fact, on day two I didn’t even have a paper/pen. My goal really was to seek out beers I’d never heard of, small brewers who don’t get a lot of airtime, so to speak. Shorts Brewing was one of these places, and the owner/brewer was a great guy to talk to. There were many more, and today at the Members Only session I suppose I’ll continue my trek to find new beers from places I’ve never been to and probably never heard of.
- Beer is good.
Well, I have places to go, so I’d better call this a post. Thanks to those I’ve met who have been very encouraging – Stan in particular. Oh, and thanks to Jay for a classy t-shirt, which I promise to wear with pride.
Filed under: GABF
What I liked:
- Subtle, yet clearly present, tributes to Michael Jackson – very classy.
- The people. Its amazing to me that you can get all them people in a room full of beer and not see it wind up in some chaotic mess fueled by rage and alcohol. OK, it isn’t really a surprise, I’ve been to enough beer fests to know that doesn’t happen, but a lot of subtle beer fans aren’t aware this can happen. I met a lot of new people, shook hands with a lot of old friends, and generally walked away feeling good about everyone there.
- The Beers, a quick hit list
- Troegg’s (Pa)
- Victory (Pa)
- Sprechers (Wi)
- Allentown (Pa)
- South Hampton (NY)
- Stoudt’s (Pa)
- Walking Man (Wa)
- Silver City (Wa)
- Several others…
- The food – no, it wasn’t great, but the five buck roast beef sandwich was perfect for what I wanted, and I was very happy it wasn’t three dollars more expensive, what I thought they’d charge for it. Also, the Lucy Saunders booth with the free foods was a good find too.
- The Volunteers. I loved their enthusiasm, even if they weren’t sure what they were pouring, they did a kick-ass job making me want to try their beers. Great job guys.
Things I didn’t like
- The lighting – I mean, does it have to be that dark in there? C’mon. It was almost as if they were going for the romantic part of beer drinking, and that was just odd.
- The DRAFT VIP Lounge – it just wasn’t right. Cheap food, messy tables, and decent beer hardly seemed worth the “VIP” hype. Sorry guys, you know I love you, but that was bad.
- The new “Beer” magazine. Something very inappropriate about the cover of this inagural issue, which appears to be breaking some common rules. I haven’t read it yet, but wasn’t impressed at all with that cover.
- Not enough water. I, along with nearly every booth it seemed, was on a constant look out for water.
- The Brewing Network live podcast. I’m sure (I hope) it sounded better if you were sitting in your living room. On the floor, however, it sounded like the teacher from Charlie Brown. I like the idea, especially as a podcaster of sorts, but this just didn’t seem to work for me.
The list of “didn’t likes” is so minor, by the way. Just a few things I thought of. I did think DRAFT did a good job attracting people to their floor booth, with games and prizes. Then, of course, I have to mention my fondness for the night’s ‘afterparty’ at Falling Rock. Sampling the ‘04 Stone Old Guardian, ‘03 Stone RIS, He’Brew’s Lenny on Rye (IIPA aged in Rye Whiskey barrels) and Oscar Blues’ sour beer made for a good time. Throw in fellow beercasters like Jeff Bearer, Rick and Dick from Big Foamy Head and you have yourself a damned good time. Also enjoyed seeing regulars, like Jay Brooks, Tom Daldorf and others.
There, my condensed Day One write up.
Here in Denver, the night before the 2007 GABF, and all I can think is “WOW”. The day started off simple enough, getting my bearings on a city I don’t know and then going to the airport with my uncle to pick up my step dad. I just have this to say about that – Denver International is huge!
From the aiport we drove to Fort Collins for our private tour of New Belgium Brewing Co. There I met a lifelong friend, her newborn son and her father-in-law as we all had an extensive tour of the NB facility. Along the way we chatted about their sustainability practices and sampled their beers, even the ones not on the menu. We also got to see their “barrels” used to age La Follie and Le Terroir, barrels like I’d never seen before. Hell, we even got a few samples from these larger-than-life barrels, and I must say that in itself was an incredible thing. In all, I’d say that Sierra Nevada is doing more for sustainability, but NB is certainly doing all they can… Great place.
From NB we all headed down the street to another Ft Collins brewery, Coopersmith. If ever you’re in the area, you need to find this place, they simply serve wonderful beer. I had a Kriek here that was wonderful, dry and clean finish with a fantastic tartness up front. They also were pouring an English Bitter that was wonderful in every way, served proper of course. Their chile beer was astounding, with wallop of fresh peppers in the aroma and a mild heat – this was right up there with the Great Basin Jalepeno beer I had at the California Brewers Festival.
While at Coopersmith we got a chance to sit with the head brewer, Dwight Hall, who told us the story of the place and described a bit of the process they use to create the beers we were enjoying. They opened in 1989, a few years before New Belgium, and have enjoyed a great relationship with the locals ever since. They do small batch brewing, using a 10 barrel system, and still do the brewing the hard way – by hand, with much sweat and frustration put into the great beers you’ll find there. Dwight mentioned the Kriek I loved so much was fermented with only the organisms found in the oak barrel that once housed wine from Napa Valley. He’d keep the beer in the barrel for 18 months, allowing it to fully mature 
before releasing it. Dwight (pictured) rations the beer a bit so you have a good chance of finding it year round, you just won’t be getting any to go.
Leaving Fort Collins we all headed to Twisted Pine Brewery in Boulder, just 30 minutes south. Twisted Pine is a production facility with a tasting room and the only food you’ll find is the peanuts they give you when you order your beer. Here, they had just put on their Bourbon Barrel Red, a beer aged in Buffalo Trace barrels for a year and a half. Wow. The beer was full of wonderful oak and bourbon flavors and aromas, a delight to drink. Sitting outside there, we were surrounded by the locals, those folks just getting off work and finding their way to their favorite watering hole – it was great to see. The brewers too were enjoying the nice weather, gathered together for a few pints of their own after a long work day with the constant interuptions by folks in town for the fest.
We had just one more stop to make the day before GABF, Falling Rock Taphouse in downtown Denver. If you’ve never been to Falling Rock, find a way to do so. We met people from around the world, in town for the GABF, who were all too eager to enjoy the fine beers poured at Falling Rock. In attendance this night were brewers and publicans from around the country, those we all know and respect. The festivities ramped up when Hildegard, of Belgium’s Urthel brewery, walked up in somewhat of a rock star fashion, with people asking for pictures and gushing about their love of her beers and her status as a female brewer. It was good to see her again, last time she was out PBN helped organize an Urthel night in the Sacramento area, and tonight again would be her night.
Hildegard was here to put on a very special beer, at treat for the GABF – the Samaranth aged in oak. What a treat, for those fortunate enough to get a glass, a wonderful Beligan Quad with more than a hint of oak in the
flavor. They went through the first of two kegs in about 9 minutes I’d guess, and the other keg wasn’t going to last long either.
Yes, it was a good way to usher in the 2007 GABF. In about an hour we’ll pack into the car again and make another trip to Boulder, but this time to check out the famed Redstone Meadery. Our tour is slated for 11AM, then it is time for all things beer.
Pictures:
Step-dad and Uncle in New Belgium
New Belgium Barrels
Dwight at Coopersmith
Inside Falling Rock
