Everyone has their favorite yearly beer event, for me it is Session Fest from Eagle Rock Brewery.
Here are my thoughts and photos of the 4th annual…..
This year there were 26 taps a pouring according to Ting Su whose Bitter Ting was a hoppy English bitter. There were guest taps this year like the medal winning Torque from Kinetic and the two guest taps that I sampled, Saisonita from Monkish and Oats of Birmingham from the Brewery at Abigaile’s. It was a wide ranging guest tap list, all to help benefit the LA Brewers Guild.
Last year might have had crazier ingredients but I was introduced to a PaterBier and the smokiest, hammiest Gratzer this year from the Eagle Rock side. Plus the layout made getting beer even more easier without waiting in line. All of the guest taps were in the main taproom with the Eagle Rock 12 being in the brewery itself.
In my personal best of show, it was a close call but the Texas Brown won by a nose over the Radler with bitter orange. The brown was hopped up but it didn’t lose it’s base style under a hop onslaught. The Radler was delicious and the orange was great but it was a bit too soda-y for me to vote it as the best. Third place of the Eagle Rock brews would be the English Breakfast. English traditional meets hops. The winner for prettiest goes to the hibiscus tinged Hop A Feel Session IPA which poured a pretty pink. It also tasted great but the aroma was missing and would have tied it all together in a bow.
It is great to go to a fest where I don’t have to worry so much about the ABV. Yes, you do have to pace yourself but it is much easier to kick back and enjoy a Session without having to be always asking the server how much alcohol is in this one. Plus it encourages much more experimentation because you have that room. If I have one 11% beer, I may miss two or more beers because I need to slow down. Here, you can sip away.
