Possibly the best 5 hours of my life!

[BrewMaster]

The San Diego Strong Ale Fest was yesterday. We arrived at 11 am and left at 4pm very satisfied. Of the 74 beers originally listed on tap, I had 58 of them. Some beers did not show up or ran out on Friday and several others I had before and really didn't want again. Keep in mind that I did not drink 58 pints of beer. They were 4 ounce tasters that were shared with others, so I probably had anywhere from 58 to 100 ounces of beer. mmmm....:lick:

Most Impressive/Best Beers:

1) Rock Bottom Brewing La Jolla - La Hoya Spiced Barleywine (9.6% ABV)
2) Kona Brewing Co. - Da Kind Grind Buzz Kona Coffee Stout (8.5%)
3) Lagunitas Brewing Co. - Cappucino Stout (8%)
4) Alesmith Brewing Co. - Speedway Stout (11.5%)
5) Craftsman Brewing Co - Eye of The Goat Double Bock (14%)
6) Taylor's - Big Hefeweizen (8%) (holy $hit an 8% hefeweizen!!)

Most Disappointing/Worst Beers:

1) Rock Bottom Brewing Long Beach - Barrel Aged Long Board Brown (9%) (It tasted like cheap ass bourbon. I hate bourbon.)
2) Green Flash Brewing Co. - 2nd Annivesary Barleywine (10%)
3) Green Flash Brewing Co. - 1st Annivesary Ale (8.5%)

There were a smattering of other good beers but I wasn't taking notes so all of that is from memory.

Pizza Port in Carlsbad did a great job of hosting the event and supplying great pizza. I slept so well last night with all of that sugar and alcohol in my blood...

[Kim]

That sounds fun! I need to move to a cooler state I think.

[gear02]

it was actually a 12 hour event, but Brewmaster can't remember the other 7 hours :D

i kid i kid :P

[welfareloser]

ha ha... i knew this would be a beer event :D

the chicago real ale festival is the one i hit from time to time... 800 beers from 200+ breweries (many of the same ones you listed up there!), and they are AMAZING. real ale is cask-conditioned (i know bm knows this, so this is for the others ;) ) rather than keg-conditioned, the difference being that it is corked, so a liiiiitle bit of air can move in and out, and then it does NOT have carbonation forced into it with a CO2 tank... all teh delicate floral qualities that usually get killed are preserved, adn it's wonderful... mmm... hey, i think the festival is usually in feb/march.... i better go reserve my tickets!! :D

[caribiner23]

http://www.realalefestival.com/


You have come to this site because you love real ale and perhaps because you have attended the Real Ale Festival in the past. Thank you for visiting! Unfortunately, things have not been going well with regard to finding a location for RAF in Chicago for 2005. At this time, we have no plans to hold a 2005 RAF. If you wish to sign up for the email notification, please feel free to do so and we will let you know if anything develops for 2006. :(


Also, if you live in Chicago, there may be a local real-ale based event in late February or early March. For details on that, see the Chicago Beer Society website at www.chibeer.org (http://www.chibeer.org/). News on this should be available by the beginning of the new year.:)

http://www.chibeer.org/#shootout


Saturday, January 29: 7th Annual Chicagoland Brewpub & Microbrewery Shootout at Irish American Heritage Center
For many of our members, this is absolutely the best event on our calendar, the only chance anywhere to sample beers and signature foods from almost every brewery and brewpub in our area. Space is always limited for this sure sellout, so make your plans now to join us on the afternoon of Saturday, January 29, from 1-5 pm. You must be at least 21 years old to attend this non-smoking event. :thumb:

[ramazank2]

2) Kona Brewing Co. - Da Kind Grind Buzz Kona Coffee Stout (8.5%)

When I was is Kona I went to the Kona Brewing Company at least 4 times. So good.

[BrewMaster]

ha ha... i knew this would be a beer event :D

the chicago real ale festival is the one i hit from time to time... 800 beers from 200+ breweries (many of the same ones you listed up there!), and they are AMAZING. real ale is cask-conditioned (i know bm knows this, so this is for the others ;) ) rather than keg-conditioned, the difference being that it is corked, so a liiiiitle bit of air can move in and out, and then it does NOT have carbonation forced into it with a CO2 tank... all teh delicate floral qualities that usually get killed are preserved, adn it's wonderful... mmm... hey, i think the festival is usually in feb/march.... i better go reserve my tickets!! :D

word. about 5 of the beers I had were on the hand pump (cask conditioned). They had the Pizza Port - Lou P. Lin IPA on the hand pump. Sweet Lord it was a good IPA.

You can look for beer events in your area here (http://www.beeradvocate.com/events/calendar.php). Using the drop down menus on the right you can sort it by state and then check each month. Nothing up coming for Illinois though.

One comment though. From the 2 beers I tasted from Green Flash, I'd be surprised if they had a third anniversary. Man their beers sucked.

[faither]

Tailgating before yesterday's Jets' game, I had the pleasure of a number of different beers. My favorite was one I'd picked up the night before, Molson XXX. I thoroughly enjoyed it -- and the day (oh, and the marinated skirt steaks and chicken beasts off the grill).

[BrewMaster]

Tailgating before yesterday's Jets' game, I had the pleasure of a number of different beers. My favorite was one I'd picked up the night before, Molson XXX. I thoroughly enjoyed it -- and the day (oh, and the marinated skirt steaks and chicken beasts off the grill).


hmmm...Molson XXX didn't do too well in the ratings (http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/rate_results/433/3829/). but if you enjoy it, more power to ya.