2013 Great American Beer Festival Day One (Part One)

I apologize for this not being live blogged yesterday. My phone decided that yesterday was the day to die and there was nothing that could be done to save it. So I will be blogging the previous day's events the next morning.

We arrived in Denver on Wednesday night. Thursday morning we were invited to go on a bus tour of two breweries in Boulder with the crew from Pizza Port. The breweries included on the tour were Twisted Pine and Avery.



























Twisted Pine Brewing
3201 Walnut St  
Boulder, CO 80301
www.twistedpinebrewing.com

Twisted Pine was Boulder's most decorated brewery last year. The have won multiple U.S. and International awards as well as local medals.

The offer a great selection of regular and seasonal brews. The owner and his employees were extremely hospitable to all 50+ of us that invaded his establishment.

When we arrived we were greeted outside and once inside the staff had already set out a sampling of their "Big Shot Espresso Stout", as well as one of their unique Chili beers "Billy's Chilies".

The Espresso Stout was a good pick me up after a morning bus ride.

The Billy's Chilies with V8 juice was like having a spicy Bloody Mary made with beer....very tasty.
















Nothing says breakfast like a good stout!

 A crazy spicy beer made with Ghost peppers...it was too early in the morning for me to give it a shot.

Everyone took in a tour of the brewery and then hung out for a couple of hours sampling the many beers on tap.

My favorite was the Hoppy Night which was a Black IPA.




















Next stop was Avery Brewing, which I will highlight in Part Two. Right now I have to go get ready for today's festivities, which will include a Brewer's Alpha Competition at Rock Bottom, a collaboration beer celebration at Denver Beer Company, and the 5:30pm session of the 2013 Great American Beer Festival.

Craft Beer Review: Caldera Brewing Mogli (Kettle Series)

Follow @SoCal_Beer

Caldera Brewing
590 Clover Lane
Ashland, OR 97520
www.calderabrewing.com


This beer was given to me by a friend who is from Ashland. Thanks Matt! Sorry it has taken me so long to put the review up.


Oak-Aged Imperial Porter Brewed with Chocolate
8.5% ABV

San Diego Beer Review: Manzanita Brewing Witch's Hair

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Manzanita Brewing Co.
10151 Prospect Ave.
Santee, CA 92071
www.manzanitabrewing.com

Yep...looong break between posts again. I have been drinking a lot of new stuff lately, but just haven't had the drive to write my thoughts down. I should be posting quite a bit of stuff up in the next few days/weeks. Be on the look out....

Several of the new beers I have had have been by Manzanita Brewing. I have been very impressed with them lately (new brewmaster?) and decided to write my first post on their new fall seasonal that was released today.

Pumpkin Ale
8.8% ABV