8th Annual Festival of Wood and Barrel Aged Beer

…was awesome.

Here’s what I had:

• Kona Brewing: Bourbon Barrel Aged Black Sand Porter
• Schlafly Brewing: Bourbon Barrel Oatmeal Stout
• Fifty-Fifty Brewing: Imperial Eclipse Stout, aged in 4 Roses and Heaven Hill Rye barrels
• Limestone Brewing: Ukranium Krusher
• Port Brewing / Lost Abbey: Older Viscosity, Deliverance
• Smuttynose Brewing: Imperial Stout
• Bluegrass Brewing: French Oak Rye 75 IPA
• Nebraska Brewing: Oaked Rye IPA
• Stone Brewing: Barrel Aged 2006 Double Bastard Ale
• Founders Brewing: Backwoods Bastard
• Lunar Brewing: Barrel Aged Intergalactic Kilt Lifter Scotch Ale
• New Holland Brewing: Charkoota Rye
• Goose Island: Bourbon County Ancho Stout, Bourbon King Henry, Chocolate Mint Julep Stout
• Lakefront Brewing: Bourbon Barrel Aged Holiday Spice
• Three Floyds Brewing: Conquistador de la Muerte

There were 158 beers at this fest – most of them over 7% and many over 10%. I’m surprised that I lived.

Beerhoptacular

This weekend was Chicago’s first Beerhoptacular.

Having volunteered at plenty of beer fests in Oregon I signed up to work a shift in exchange for admission (and a t-shirt, of course).

Friday night my friend Andrew and I went and had an awesome time and some great beers, including:

• Argus Pegasus IPA
• Argus Country House Red
• Bell’s Oarsman
• Bell’s Porter on cask
• Brooklyn Local 1
• Dogfish Head 60 Minute
• Dogfish Head Raison d’Etre
• Dogfish Head Festina Peche
• Dogfish Head Sah’Tea
• Dogfish Head Red & White
• Flossmoor Station Slumpbuster
• Goose Island Pere Jacques
• Goose Island Sofie
• Goose Island Matilda
• Goose Island Bourbon County Stout
• Half Acre Over Ale
• Left Hand Moo-Tooth (black & tan with Milkstout (nitro) and Sawtooth Ale)
• Magic Hat Odd Notion
• New Holland Dragon’s Milk
• Roundhouse Dirty Summer Blonde
• Roundhouse Hopped Infused Amber
• Roundhouse Blueberry Beer
• Sam Adams Latitude 48
• Sam Adams Summer Ale
• Sam Adams Trippel
• Point 2012 Black Ale

My Best of Show vote went to Roundhouse‘s Hop Infused Amber – a tasty amber that they ran through a Randall the Enamel Animal. Randall is an invention from the guys at Dogfish Head that is basically a tank full of hops that they run the beer through on it’s way to the tap. It gives the beer a great, fresh hop flavor. Their other beers were awesome, too. Awesome enough to justify a trip out to Aurora.

Speaking of Dogfish Head, the next day was my turn to volunteer, and I was assigned to the Dogfish Head booth. Awesome, I’m going to be helping the Dogfish Head guys, I thought.

That wasn’t exactly true.

I was the Dogfish Head guy.

And I was awesome at it. Having read tons about DFH, seen Beer Wars, met and talked with the actual guys at the Gluntz beer expo, and am now reading Sam Calagione’s book Brewing up a Business, I could answer nearly every question anyone asked, go on an on about the brewery, the brewing process, and the beers, and have a great time promoting Dogfish Head. I was good enough at it, in fact, that most people (including a rep from Miller-Coors) thought I worked for DFH.

It was seriously a dream come true.

Also, I was asked to be in a documentary or series or something and turned it down because I didn’t think it appropriate, even though it would’ve been awesome. Sam, if you’re reading this, thanks. Also, people loved Raison D’Etre and Festina Peche.