I’m in Portland ME tonight for the fest tomorrow.
Just got back from the Seadog Brewpub.
Had a very nice sampler:
Special Brewers Brown Ale
Portland Pale on Cask
Riverdriver Porter
Stout
English Mild
IPA
Pale Ale
BluePaw
Blonde Ale
Owls Head light
Not my favorite brewery, but I wanted to check out the new Brewpub location.
Cheers!
Thoughts can turn into things or in this case an event. Back in August, I had a thought of having a party involving malty lagers, smoked meat, and crisp Autumn air.
Well, we had that party last Sunday. Here are some photos:
The Oktoberfest didn’t make it but we had a superb brown porter and a sparkling malted hard cider (marked with the apple above the tap). I smoked a fresh pork shoulder and fried up some chicken. Had some pretzels and some good mustard. The weather was great but the yellow jackets weren’t.
A good time for sure…and a good showcase for homebrewing.
So, on Friday June 19th, the Brew Dudes and friends went to the American Craft Beer Fest and a good time was had.
Here are some of the highlights:
If you have a chance to go to any beer fest in the Boston area, this one is becoming the one not to miss.
Another success from the Alstrom Bros.
There is one thing that we discuss on Brew-Dudes.com that is not homebrewing related.
Well, not really.
We do attend our fair share of brew fests and we like to talk about them. There are a lot of great things happening in the craft beer world that can feed the homebrewer’s imagination and certainly add to their education.
This Friday night, we are attending the 2009 America Craft Beer Fest happening here in Boston.
Join us June 19 & 20 for the return of the east coast’s largest celebration of American craft beer at the Seaport World Trade Center Boston, featuring upwards of 75 American brewers, over 300 craft beers.
A number of us attended the fest last year and it was a good time. Mike is on a sour beer quest, which I am sure you will read about here after the fest.
Anybody else going?
Hey there,
Sorry it took me so long, but I finally put together our recap video of the 2008 Maine Brewers Fest.
A good time was had by all. Hope you enjoy the video.
The Brew Dudes are at the Maine Brewers Fest…attending the happy hour session.
Watch this space for updates.
(I compiled the updates from Twitter to permanently post them in this space. The time signature was out of order for many of the “tweets”. I am not sure why…so I did my best to edit them to tell the story.)
Video to be posted soon.
Hey there,
I woke up this morning thinking about the Maine Brewers Festival. I am sure I was dreaming about it too. Since the dudes have been going to this particular fest year after year (this Saturday will be our 9th trek up to Portland, ME), I thought I would share my tips on how to best enjoy beer fests from a homebrewer’s point of view. Full warning: these tips are not for the casual fest attendee. Be ready to embrace your inner beer geek.
1. Get There Early
Maybe you like to be fashionably late to other events, but beer fests should be attended early. As soon as the doors open, you should be able to get your info pamphlet of what brewing companies are there and what beers they have to offer. The venue should be wide open to explore since most people do come later. Take this time to check out what is happening at each booth, because sometimes there are discrepancies between the pamphlet and who and what is actually in attendance at the beer fest. Lastly, take this time before the taps open to map our your strategy.
2. Map Out A Strategy
After gathering information, you should have some thoughts about what beers you want to try. Sometimes you’ll see a less popular style on tap that you have never tried before. Other times, there is a new seasonal that your favorite brewery has just released. Occasionally, there is an attractive beer pourer behind one of the booths. Whatever the thoughts may be, it’s best to prioritize them and to put a plan together mentally or writen out on how you want to taste these beers. One strategy that may be great for a homebrewer is to try every brewer’s version of a style. For example, I wanted to get a good understanding of porters one year so I tried every version of porter that was available. Believe me, I learned a lot…probably too much…about porters.
3. Take Notes
I told you it was going to get geeky. Taking notes is probably the best thing you can do as a homebrewer attending a beer fest. You can record you thoughts on what you are tasting and use them to improve a recipe or try something different in your own brews at home. A little notebook will do, but if you don’t feel like writing anything down especially towards the end of the fest…a voice recorder will do. You could even call your own voicemail if you didn’t have a voice recorder. Leaving tipsy messages for yourself is always fun.
4. Compare Notes
Not that I have done real scientific investigation into the sense of taste in humans, but I have the feeling that not everybody tastes the same way. Ask other people what they think of the same brews you tasted. Another point of view may help your examination of the beer and clarify some of the thoughts you may have. With more information from multiple sources, you should be able to make better decisions about tweaking your homebrewing recipe.
5. Ask Questions
If want to know more about the beer you are drinking, you have to ask questions. Hopefully the person at the booth has some knowledge of the beer he or she is pouring. Many times, the brewer themselves is behind the booth somewhere. Ask questions. Get more information. They may be coy at first, but if you explain that you are asking for your own homebrewing purposes, most brewers will be more than happy to share information.
6. Have Fun
Maybe this is an obvious one, but having fun should be a primary function of a beer fest. We sometimes attend beer fests where people are getting into fights. Those people are probably not homebrewers; they probably don’t respect beer as the Alstrom Bros. would tell you to do. If you go into the mindset that everyone is there to enjoy, then there really isn’t any reason to be having fun with everyone…that includes the stranger that just stepped on your toe.
Do you have any tips? Please leave them as a comment below.
