BEST OF MY LIMITED FEST
This goes to Brooklyn Breweries Cuvee de Cardoz. Mostly because any beer that could put umpteen different Indian spices on top of a base wheat beer and make it come out good, has to get my vote. This is a unique beer without needing an acquired taste. It is finely balanced and complex.
GABF – Photos from the Rare Beer Event
Great American Beer Festival – Winners (part 3)
2009 GABF Top Medal Winning States
State – Number of Medals won
_______________________
Colorado 45 19% 459 14%
California 39 16% 594 18%
Oregon 22 9% 172 5%
Washington 13 5% 162 5%
Pennsylvania 12 5% 126 4%
Michigan 9 4% 138 4%
New York 8 3% 117 4%
Virginia 8 3% 58 2%
Illinois 7 3% 93 3%
Maryland 7 3% 63 2%
GABF – Photos from the Friday night session
Another view of GABF
To get a viewpoint from a seasoned GABF veteran, check out this post at the always great FoodGPS.
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
GABF – Photos from Great Divide
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
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.
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.