Category: Guide to better beer

how to discover new beer to try

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Great American Beer Festival – Winners (part 2)

2009 Great American Beer Festival Pro-Am Competition
Sponsored by Briess Malt & Ingredients Co. and HopUnion

Gold: Herbal Joe’s Columbarillo IPA, Chama River Brewing Co., Albuquerque, NM
Brewmaster: Jeff Erway, AHA Member: Ben Miller

Silver: Alright Already Amber, O’Fallon Brewery, O’Fallon, MO
Brewmaster: Brian Owens, AHA Member: Jim Yeager

Bronze: Time of the Season, Upslope Brewing Co., Boulder, CO
Brewmaster: Daniel Pages, AHA Member: Brian Patterson

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Great American Beer Fest – Winners (part 1)

2009 Brewery and Brewer of the Year Awards

Mid-Size Brewing Company and Mid-Size Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
Sponsored by Crosby & Baker Ltd.
Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick, MD; Robert Malone

Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
Sponsored by Microstar Keg Management
Dry Dock Brewing Company, Aurora, CO; Dry Dock Brewing Team

Large Brewpub and Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year
Sponsored by Brewers Supply Group
Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA; Pizza Port Brew Guys

Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year
Sponsored by Briess Malt & Ingredients Co.
Chuckanut Brewery, Bellingham, WA; Will Kemper

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more Beer Search Party GABF awards

Here are more best and dissapointing (I don’t like using “worst”) awards.

BEST BEER @
THE DENVER RARE BEER EVENT
This was close but my vote goes to Rogue with their John John hazelnut. A lovely mixture of nuttiness with rum and a nice smoothness to it. Would be an excellent dessert beer.

BEER I’M DISSAPOINTED I MISSED @
THE DENVER RARE BEER EVENT
Wynkoop’s Beserker Mead sounded interesting but by the time I had worked my way down the list of must haves, my poor taste buds were burnt.

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Great American Beer Festival – Begin at the beginning

I honestly did not know what to expect at my first GABF. But now that I have experienced it, I think I understand what the fuss is about. There is nothing like being in a great beer town full of enthusiastic beer geeks.

Over the next few days, I will post my thoughts, my photos, lists of winners, lists of beers and places to go in Denver. Along with my own Beer Search Party awards.

Lets start with…drum roll please
The beer that dissapointed the most.
I was going to go with the Sam Adams Utopia but I sorta knew when I asked for it at the Rare Beer Event that it was going to be too spirit-y and not beer-y enough for me so the winner of this award goes to Rubidus from Uncommon Brewers. I have enjoyed their beers before and was intrigued by this one that uses mushrooms. It was too sweet, with a strange vegetal taste that was also too alcoholic for me.

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more Lompoc beers

They just can’t stop. Here is the news from the fine folks at the brewery…
We love fall for so many reasons, but mostly because it’s time for Fresh Hop Beers! Come kick off the season next Wed., Sept. 30 from 4 to 9 p.m. at New Old Lompoc, 1616 NW 23rd Ave. in Portland. Brewers Jerry, Bryan, Zack and Sam will gather together to introduce four new fresh hop beers.

From the New Old Lompoc Brewery, we have Crystal Missile, a light and highly drinkable fresh hop beer utilizing Belgian saison yeast and 50 pounds of Willamette Valley Crystal hops in the patented Lompoc hop press (4.5% ABV); and Millennium Fresh Hop, a monstrous fresh hop Imperial IPA with more than half a pound of hops per gallon. Brewed with 10 different hop additions using a total of 100 pounds of Millennium hops straight from the Weathers Family Farm (7.5% ABV).

From the Fifth Quadrant Brewery, try Crystal Wheat, brewed with 100 pounds of Crystal fresh hops for a crisp and refreshing beer with a golden color. The wheat adds a soft, creamy texture with a nutty flavor (4.3% ABV); and Harvest Man Red, a beer brewed with 100 pounds of Crystal fresh hops, producing a malty and full bodied flavor with a deep, rich red color (6.2% ABV).