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)

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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

Pizza Port Bressi Ranch "Soft" Opening/Grand Opening--San Diego Brewery Review

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Outside Patio

Line to order pizza

Pizza Port Bressi Ranch
2730 Gateway Rd
Carlsbad, CA

  So, late today (5pm) I learned Pizza Port was FINALLY opening their Bressi Ranch location. I high tailed it over there as soon as I could and here are the pictures...

  The brewery onsite will not be up for another 2 or so weeks, but there are plenty of brews on tap from all of the other Pizza Port locations as well as Port Brewing and Lost Abbey.
  Credit card machines were down so they were taking cash only...didn't appear to be a problem for the hundreds of people there...Crazy crowded and the announcement never went out on their Facebook page or Website, pretty much word of mouth, Friday will be NUTS!
  They are currently running a contest for patrons to create the "Pizza Bressi". If your pizza creation is chosen you will receive a $100 gift card good at all Pizza Port locations and it never expires. 


1st floor beer line and taps

Looking from 2nd floor into brewery and canning



Looking down from 2nd floor at the fish tank

San Diego Beer Review: Stone Vertical Epic 11.11.11

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Stone Brewing
1999 Citracado Parkway
Escondido, CA 92029
www.stoneworldbistro.com


This beer has been in wrapped in a paper bag in my fridge for over 2 years, and last week I finally cracked it open. The wait was worth it...


Belgian Strong Dark Ale
9.4% ABV


Appearance:
Pours a crystal clear, deep red/amber. Quite beautiful. Thick head.

Vancouver, BC, Canada Craft Beer WalkAbout

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So, once again I took a loooong break from posting. I actually went to Vancouver a couple of months ago and I never got around to blogging about it, luckily I took some notes and pictures.

Vancouver and the surrounding area has quite a few breweries and craft beer bars. As in my previous WalkAbouts (NYC and Denver), I only went to places that were within walking distance from my hotel. "Walking distance" can mean a lot of things for different people, for me it is usually anything under 2 miles, especially if I am trying to hit multiple places on the same day.

I will be discussing the bars as well as the beers I drank at each one. The beer reviews will be brief compared to my single beer reviews. The locations are listed in the order that I visited them.

New York City Craft Beer Bar WalkAbout

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I had the pleasure of going to New York City a couple of weeks ago and had some time to visit a couple of bars that featured large craft beer menus. It would have been great to have more time to visit some other locations, but this was a work trip and my only available time was at lunch and dinner on a couple of the days I was there.

In this review I will be discussing the bars themselves as well as the beer I imbibed while at each one. The beer reviews will be brief compared to my normal reviews.

Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures of the restaurants or the beers (except one). So I will just throw in a couple of pictures from Central Park and the one beer I did take a pic of... ;)

Pizza Port Bressi Ranch Update: The Walls Go UP!!

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Click on the picture for a larger image

Click on the picture for a larger image

 

I grabbed these pics from a Facebook post. Hope the author doesn't mind...

San Diego Beer Review: New English Brewing Troopers Tipple IPA

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New English Brewing Co.
11545 Sorrento Valley Rd.
Suite 305
San Diego, CA 92121
www.newenglishbrewing.com

New English Brewing has been around for a while and has won several awards. They used to run under the name La Jolla Brewery and then around 2007-2008 changed their name to New English. This is the first time I have seen and had one of their bottled beers, not sure if this is because they just started bottling or if I have just not been in the right shops...


IPA (ABV 5.1%)

San Diego Beer Review: Stone 16th Anniversary IPA

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Stone Brewing
1999 Citracado Parkway
Escondido, CA 92029
www.stoneworldbistro.com

Stone was one of the first San Diego microbreweries I tried back in the late 90's. I loved it back then, and that still holds true today. Stone is renowned for coming up with great collaboration beers, as well as beers with interesting combinations of ingredients. Every year their Anniversary ales push the limits in one or both of these categories. This year is no different.

 The Double IPA they brewed was made with a little bit of rye malt, Amarillo and Calypso hops, as well as lemon verbena and lemon oil....How's that for a "combination" beer?

Double IPA (10% ABV)

Review hiatus...

OK...so I took a few months off from doing beer reviews, obviously.  Sometimes you just want to drink beers without having to think about appearance, smell, taste, and mouthfeel... ;) I plan to get back on track today ,with at least one review a week going forward.

Lucky for me I just had a SUPERB new San Diego beer yesterday and will kick off the new round of reviews with it.

I hope you enjoy it!

The Parched One

Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot Jobless Recovery Ale

Lagunitas Brewing Company
1280 North McDowell Boulevard
Petaluma, CA 94954

I was up in Hollywood a while back and had the opportunity to check out this little gastro pub called BoHo , they have a great craft beer selection and this is one of the beers they had on the list. Unfortunately they were all out of this beer when we got there (my wife really wanted to try it), so when I saw it at my local market I picked up a bottle.

I love the full title of this beer, especially the "Jobless Recovery" part. I also like the quote selection on the side, a mix of Grapes of Wrath, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and Casablanca. They mesh nicely with the title of the beer...

San Diego Beer Review: Mission Brewery Amber Ale

Mission Brewery
1441 L Street
San Diego Ca 92101

After the first two Mission brews I tried were very good, I thought I would check out another one. You can check out those previous reviews here: Double IPA and here: IPA .

Amber Ale (5% ABV)

Update: Pizza Port Bressi Ranch

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Ground was officially broken yesterday, went by and snapped a picture.

Talking to Gina at the festivities on Monday, she said they expect to be completed in 9-12 months...

Pizza Port Bressi Ranch: Unofficial/Official Groundbreaking

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Pizza Port Bressi Ranch
2794 Gateway Rd (subject to change)
Carlsbad, CA 92009

I had the good fortune to be able to attend the unofficial/official groundbreaking for Pizza Port's newest location in San Diego... Bressi Ranch (East Carlsbad). It was a gloomy day but spirits were high among the 30 or so attendees. OB Pizza Port sent a bus full of employees up for the occasion. Shark Bite and Carlsbad Chronic were on tap along with a nice spread of assorted BBQ... brats, sausages, "pork wings", etc. There was some candy for the kids, though the OBceans decimated that ;)

Denver Brewery WalkAbout

I was in Denver last week and was able to take some time to hit up a few breweries that were within "walking distance" from my hotel. I wish I would have had time to check out a couple more that were near that area, but I just couldn't get away from work commitments.

I made some notes on my phone about the beers I was able to sample and would like to share them with everyone. Some are more detailed/complete than others...unfortunately, no pictures for these reviews.

Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye

Bear Republic Brewing Co.
345 Healdsburg Ave.
Healdsburg, CA 95448
www.bearrepublic.com

Bear Republic has some solid brews, most notably Racer 5 IPA. So when I had the chance to try something a little bit different I thought I would give BR a shot.

They did not disappoint...



Rye Specialty Ale (8%ABV)

Lagunitas IPA

Lagunitas Brewing Company
1280 North McDowell Boulevard 
Petaluma, CA 94954

Lagunitas has become one of my favorite breweries over the past couple of years. I have been impressed with all of their beers that I have had the opportunity to consume.

The first beer from Lagunitas that I will review is their basic IPA.




IPA (6.9% ABV)



Appearance:

Pours super clear with a nice caramel color. Nice 1cm head on first pour. Very light lacing.  Small bubbles. Agitation will reform head of 3mm

 

Smell:

Flowery, hints of melon and honeysuckle. Resin

 

Taste: 

Bright and bitter up front. Slightly sour with a smooth finish. Bitter aftertaste.

Mouthfeel:

Medium bodied and astringent.

Overall:

This beer is a clean easily drinkable IPA.  I would easily recommend this beer as a nice thirst quencher on a hot summer day.

San Diego Beer Review: Coronado Brewing Mermaid's Red

Coronado Brewing
170 Orange Ave
Coronado, CA 92118

Coronado Brewing has been around for a few years now and I am starting to see more and more of their bottled beers carried locally. I haven't had the chance to visit the brewery yet, but based on what I have tasted recently, I definitely need to get down there soon.

This first review will be on their Mermaid's Red. This is actually the first beer they ever brewed, and is a great example of why they have been able to grow into the operation they are today.

Mermaid's Red Premium Ale (5.7% ABV)


Appearance:
Pours a cloudy amber out of the bottle. A 1.5cm head forms with with medium bubbles and leaves a light lacing.


Smell:
Roasty malts. Hint of choclate and burnt sugar/caramel. Slight hop aroma, more of a spice than citrus/resin.


Taste:
The roasted malts give a hint of coffee, chocolate and caramel. There is a little bit of spice that plays on the tongue and pops with the carbonation. The bitterness hits the back of the tongue and the top of the month.


Mouthfeel:
Medium body with a nice bit of warming from the spice, not an alcohol heat.


Overall:
This is a beautiful Red that really highlights the qualities of a "traditional" red beer. Roasted malts, spicy hops and a little bit of bitterness at the back of the mouth. The additional hints of chocolate and coffee are a pleasant bonus.

Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye IPA

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
1075 East 20th Street
Chico, CA.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Sierra Nevada has been one of my favorite breweries for quite a while. My wife brought this home for me from a recent trip to the store...it is great when your wife supports your habit... ;)

I was very intrigued, I have just recently caught on to the Rye beer category and have had several different versions in the past few weeks. I know what you are thinking...where the hell is the review of those? I have been a bit lax on reviewing in the past couple of weeks, sometimes you just want to drink a beer and not worry about describing it...

Ruthless Rye IPA (6.6% ABV)


Appearance:
Pours exceptionally clear with a light amber/light caramel mix, think orangey brown. 1.5cm head on initial pour, good lacing, with medium sized bubbles. A 1cm head will reform with agitation.

Smell:
Citrus and resin with nice malt aroma to balance it out.

Taste:
Rye flavor up front, peppery with a bitter finish.

Mouthfeel:
Astringent with medium body and carbonation.

Overall:
This is a nice clean Spring/Summer beer. The other Ryes that I have had recently have been a bit more "rye" flavored, some like biting into a slice of rye bread. If your not a fan of rye bread, some of these would be a bit harsh. Sierra Nevada's version would be a good introduction to this beer flavor for the uninitiated or those who steer away from rye bread for their sandwiches....