Tag: GABF

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GABF Winning Brewery # 2 – Benchtop Brewing


Our 2nd GABF winning stop is in Norfolk, Virginia and Benchtop Brewing. They won in the Gose category (Leipzig-Style or Contemporary) for their Mermaid’s Scorn. But they have even weirder beers that I would put into my first taster tray….

Sage Conclusion – Butternut Squash Saison w/ Sage
“This is our take on a fall saison. We first soured this one in the kettle a little for a nice tartness. We then used our typical saison malt bill with plenty of wheat and oats for body. We topped this one off with 300 lbs of butternut squash and some fresh sage. The herbal notes from the sage play nicely with th saison yeast. This beer displays many layers of flavors. You start out with some tartness and then move on to a subtle sweetness from the squash and then finally you finish off with a nice grainy flavor and dryness while maintaining a rich mouthfeel.”

Quick Pickle – Carrot Cucumber Gose
“We have taken the idea of a veggie beer to another level with Quick Pickle. It is named after the culinary technique of rapidly pickling veggies in a sour/salty/sweet solution. This is very similar to what is happening in our fermenter. It has amazing color from the addition of North Carolina carrots and a cool, fresh aroma provided by Virginia Beach cucumbers from Cullipher Farms. The tartness of this beer is complimented beautifully by the a subtle sweetness from the carrots and a gentle salinity from some sea salt. This beer also have some subtle guava notes from the a small late addition of El Dorado hops.”

Elegant Ego — Citra Basil Saison
“An exercise in collaboration, this beer was brewed with our friends and neighbors down the street at Smartmouth Brewing. A mash-up of our saison Elegant Titration and their flagship Alter Ego, this beer hits you right away with a fresh herbal aroma from the addition of fresh basil grown at Smart Basil in Suffolk. We also blended our house strains for this for a nice mix of peppery phenolics and fruity esters. This beer has a nice dry finish and is supported by a hefty dose of oats to smooth it out.”

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GABF Winning Brewery # 1 – Spellbound Brewing

Our first GABF Gold stop is in New Jersey and their new democratic governor.

The beer that won was a Porter Aged on Palo Santo Wood. and the brewery is Spellbound Brewing based in Mount Holly.

Here are the beers that I would try if I found myself in their taproom…..

Peach IPA
“Light in color and body, refreshing hoppy citrus notes intertwine with the peach. The peach rounds the edges of the hop.”

Pale Ale
“Light in color and body. A classic American pale ale dry hopped with Citra hops to give it a bright citrusy aroma and flavor. Low in ABV, high in flavor.”

Belgian Tripel Cherry
“Dark golden in color. We add sour cherries to the fermentation on our tripel. Aromas of cherry and fruity esters from the yeast. Finishes with a hint of honey sweetness and lingering cherry.”

Vices Coffee Porter
“VICES – Coffee Porter is our porter aged on Small World Coffee Crispy Hippie Coffee beans. The result is a huge coffee aroma with notes of roasty malt and chocolate.”

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In the Tap Lines for November 2017

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We are finally sliding into Fall, dammit Global Warming!, and now we can start checking out the holiday offerings without any remorse or looking over the shoulder. Instead we can look forward to more independent beer coverage….

~ e-visits to three breweries that won medals at GABF last month.
~ special featured reviews of some Oregon beers
~ Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ A Book & A Beer reads Hook’s Tale.
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

Here are two events to get your November started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) November 4th – Lagunitas Beer Circus
2) November 11th – Three Weavers 3rd Anniversary

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GABF17 – LA Recap

Before we check out the medal counts for Los Angeles, some numbers to toss by you and a disclaimer because of those numbers.

There were 7,923 entries submitted for judging this year. Just think about how you would organize that amount of kegs and people to rate them.

2,217 breweries were represented out of 5,200+ total. That means that if you have two favorite breweries. One of them, on average, did not send in a beer to be judged.

That means anything can happen. Even a marriage proposal right in front of Charlie Papazian and the whole crowd.

The LACBG leader, Fran on stage with Ohana’s medal.

Seven medals will be heading back to Los Angeles this week. Beachwood (again) leads the pack with two. One GOLD for their Ghost, the band, inspired Black IPA, Hoppa Emeritus and one BRONZE from their sour side, Dia de los Mangos in the Chili Beer category. Ohana picked up BRONZE for Spa Water Saison, Sanctum won SILVER for their Solar Helles. Also on the SILVER side was Three Weavers for their Seafarer Kolsch and HopSaint for their Pure Intention Pale Ale. Last, but not least, Claremont Craft Ales and their Jacaranda Rye IPA picked up BRONZE.

Congratulations to all the winners and to our L.A. brewers and to all those who watched all 98 categories get medals.

Three Weavers and Seafarer Kolsch

other notes:
Packinghouse Brewing of Riverside picked up a silver and bronze this year. Winning once is hard, twice is a really good year. Saint Arnold of Texas was the big winner with 3 medals and a Mid-Size brewery award.

Speaking of big winners, Figueroa Mountain had another dazzling year with three total medals.

The Firestone Walker folk got a pair of medals for 10 Buck Chuck and for Pivo.

A shout out to Zoiglhaus of Portland and brewer Alan Taylor who took home a Gold for Zoigl-Pils. Is this the first ever GABF medal for a Linfield College alum? I think so.

#QuadGoals was my favorite name from 515 Brewing.

No wins for Hazy. Maybe GABF did not get in line fast enough.

Only one category was deemed not gold worthy. An improvement from 2016.

Check out the full winners list right HERE.

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GABF 17 Ticket Info


It is ticket time! This fest is a bit easier than say, the Firestone Walker Invitational, but you do have to be on the ball.

It is Great American Beer Festival time again! Tickets for the public go on sale via the ever so much fun Ticketmaster on August 2nd 10:00 AM MOUNTAIN TIME!

So be prepped and logged in and have a separate tab to immediately look for hotels in Denver cause that race is even harder sometimes.

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GABF Winning Brewery # 3 – Uberbrew

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When you think of best use of hops, even the most knowledgeable craft beer fan doesn’t think of Billings Montana. Nor would one probably place a bet that the Small Brewing Company of the Year would hail from Big Sky country.

But Überbrew from Montana left Denver with (4) medals and bragging rights among small brewers.

Following on the heels of their Alpha King Challenge win in 2015, they bagged two golds, a silver and bronze at this year’s GABF. And those are the beers in my first taster tray paddle, if I ever find myself at their brewery.

GOLD – White Noise (American-Style Wheat Beer with Yeast)
GOLD – Humulus Insani (Imperial IPA)
SILVER – Average at Best (Double Red Ale)
Bronze – Alpha Force Double Tap (American-Style Black Ale)

Congratulations to all the winners and I look forward to seeing the surprise winners next year.

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GABF Winning Brewery # 2 – Lynwood Brewing Concern

Our second Great American Beer Festival GABF winner comes from the great state of North Carolina.
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Lynwood Brewing Concern started as The Lynnwood Grill in 2004 with the addition of a small craft brewery in the back of the restaurant in the “Triangle” in North Carolina.

Over 12 years, their reputation grew and they were forced to add space thus the move to a bigger facility in Five Points where they took over the space of a brewery that was itself moving to an even larger space. Now they have two brewing operations to produce their award winning beers. Such as Once You Go, a black ale that won gold or Drop Bear Australian Pale Ale that also snared gold.

Here is what I would order to start….
Lynnwood Light – Golden Ale
“Crisp, light-bodied, and easily approachable. This is what we call easy drinking. The pale malts and Perle hops give this ale a golden, straw color that simply begs to be enjoyed.”

Czech Yourself – pilsner
“Before you lump this in with watered-down, mass-produced pilsners, give it a try. Brewed in the German lager tradition with a pilsner malt character, it’s spicy, slightly sweet, and grainy, with a moderate bitterness to the finish.”

Mosaic Pale Ale – American Pale Ale
“There’s a reason the Mosaic hop is getting attention in the beer world. This hop-heavy ale brings aromas of mango, pineapple, citrus and tropical fruit balanced with a touch of caramel and lightly toasted bread from the malts.”

Kiss my Irish stout – Dry Stout
“This dark Irish style stout has some serious attitude. Like you’d expect, it’s hearty, rich and medium-bodied—and completely unapologetic about mixing hints of coffee and chocolate. Dry and moderately bitter.”

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GABF Winning Brewery # 1 – ZwanzigZ Brewing

Our first Great American Beer Festival GABF Winner of the Small Brewpub & Brewery award from Indiana, ZwanzigZ Brewing (which also does pizza, which is a double win for me).
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They picked up silver medals for their The Ticket Chocolate Beer and Frankenwald Eisbock. That’s a duo from two different styles which shows a nice range. This Columbus based brewery also has some other beers that I would try (after the medal winners of course):

Cucumber Lime Kolsch
“Kolsch style German Ale brewed with key limes and cucumber. Very light and refreshing making it a great summer time beer. Garnished with a cucumber wheel and rimmed with optional chili powder.”

Shh Anne D
“A summertime beer brewed with raspberry and lemonade. A sessionable beer at 3.2% ABV that won’t slow you down.”

Triple Z IPA
“Balanced with pale malt and hopped every 10 minutes for an hour. Hop lovers crave Cascade, Columbus and Centennial hops. This beer is assertively hopped with all three. A true American IPA.”

Bourbon Barrel Scotch Ale
“Balanced with pale malt and hopped every 10 minutes for an hour. Hop lovers crave Cascade, Columbus and Centennial hops. This beer is assertively hopped with all three. A true American IPA.”

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GABF Awards – Re-Cap

Another edition of the Great American Beer Festival is in the books. Here is a curated awards round-up with a focus on LA area based breweries.
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Imagine you had 7,227 beers in front of you. Picture that in your mind.  That is the beast that Charlie Papazian has wrought.  He pioneered this festival through 35 years and it was heartening to see Colorado Governor Hickenlooper honor him for his service and all of the many fist bumps that must make his right hand a mess on the Sunday after the awards ceremony.
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96 categories were contested this year with (7) new categories added for 2016.  Pumpkin /Squash Beer, Finnish Sahti, Swedish Gotlandsricke, Pale and Dark Breslau Schoeps, German Leichtbier and Specialty Saison.
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Let’s get into the Los Angeles winners shall we?  ABove is Bob Kunz and the Highland Park team which won GOLD with Good Green for American-Style Strong Pale Ale.  El Segundo, known for hops, won for their lager instead, Casa Azul.  The Beachwood Blendery was not in chaos but their friendly Lambic won silver.  Also winning silver was Devon Randall and Arts District Brewing in the Smoke Beer category for Cowboy Curtis.  Also, very impressively Huntington Beach’s Riip Beer Co. took silver in the highly competitive and largest group, IPA with their Super Cali IPA.  An amazing 312 beers were in that category!  Moving down to bronze we find Kinetic Brewing winning that shade in the Chocolate Beer category for 4th Gear,  newbie Iron Triangle started snared the Imperial Stout bronze for Jawbone, reliable winners Smog City got bronze for Sabre-Toothed Squirrel as well.

For reasons unknown to me, the Pabst plant of industrial beer won a pair of medals as well as another Large Brewing Company plaque.  So there is that LA connection too.
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Big Winners of the morning presentation were (4) medal winners Figueroa Mountain and  Überbrew from Billings, Montana.

Going all statistical, the best results were posted by Wyoming, Hawaii and Virginia.  California picked up 56 medals all told.  IPA’d dominated the amount of submission but coffee beer was a newcomer to the big categories so kudos to California that took silver and bronze in that caffeinated category.

(All photos screenshotted from the Brewers Network livestream of the event.)  Sorry that I again entered in late.  Damn time difference.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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In the Tap Lines for October 2016

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We have entered GABF Season. The King of Craft Beer festivals. I will cover the L.A. focused results and any other news that springs forth from the Denver Convention Center along with my regular posts, reviews and events to check out.

~ e-visits to three breweries that took home gold medals at GABF this year.
~ special featured reviews of canned beers from a variety of styles.
~ Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ A Book & A Beer reads Doctor Sleep from Stephen King
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

Here are two events to get your October started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) October 2nd – Harvest Festival at Angel City Brewery
2) October 4th – Tuesday at Tony’s Mystery Flight Night

…and here is the beer photo of the month…
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