Have you checked out the Brewers Association or the American Homebrewers Association lately? Are you a member?

I have been a member of the Brewers Association for the last three years.  With your membership, you get access to Zymurgy Magazine.   It’s a full-color mag with high glossy paper and many, many great articles on brewing and the industry at large.  It’s probably one of the best benefits of the membership.  There are also pub discounts too, which I haven’t really had a chance to take advantage of yet because there aren’t a lot of pubs in MA with discounts for AHA members.

The Brewers Association is also responsible for putting on the Great American Beer Festival, which is coming up this October 9, 10, and 11th.  This is the beer fest of all beer fests serving thousands of craft beers over the three day event.

If you are not a member, you should become a member to help support their efforts of promoting craft beer and limiting outdated legislation that prohibits certain beers and homebrewing events in some states still!  Minimally, you get the great magazine.

I was wondering how many Brewers Association members we have as readers.  So chime in if you are a member and let us know what benefits you’ve taken advantage of lately.

The gang attended the American Craft Beer Fest and enjoyed what we expect to be the first annual great, East Coast brew festival. It was held at Seaport World Trade Center in Boston, MA.

Here are some photos:

There were many great beers to be sampled at the American Craft Beer Fest, held by the great guys at BeerAdvocate. There were approximately 75 breweries representing coast to coast brews. I go to as many fests as I can and this one was one of the best. Here are my key highlights:

1. Pre-entry line was a bit odd at first, but once we were in it made total sense. They had ID checkers and “braceleteers” working from the front of the line to the back of the line while we waited. This made getting into the fest very quick once they opened the doors.
2. The first thing I noticed once we were in the convention center was a blast of cold air from the AC units. That was a very nice surprise, they seemed to have gotten the jump in the climate control, because all night long the air was warm but not annoyingly so. Other fests that I have been to indoors usually end up being a sweat-lodge by the time its over.
3. The center floor was carpeted. This was a total surprise. It really was nice on the feet and back after a while. Really helped to quiet things down some too I am sure. I’m glad I do not have to wash those carpets, but surprisingly I didn’t see too many beer stains in the carpet so maybe spillage was kept to a minimum.
4. The organizers had several “port-o-lets” to keep beer recycling time to a minimum. I am sure that “port-o-lets” are not everyone’s favorites, but it made life so easy and quick. I think it was a good set up.

The only real detractor was the food! The convention center in-house vendor must have exclusive rights to the food station by contract. Otherwise, I would have expected the normal top notch eats from Sunset Grille which is usually at the BA fests. (AND NO SUGAR HAUS WAFFLES!!!!)

Anyhow, who cares about that stuff…what about the beer?!? Well, I tried close to 20 different brews (not even 10% of the total, very sad). I actually kept score (sort of) and tabulated a list of the beers I had below. Surprisingly the best beers of the show for me were three sour beers. Two from the local Cambridge Brewing Company and one from Dogfish Head. These three beers were just great. Or at least the greatest beers of the bunch. Is there a sour beer in my future brewing??? Maybe. Last Summer I had a great Berliner Weisse at Boston Beer Works and I have thought about it ever since. I’ll have to do a little more research into the methods of souring a beer and see what I’d like to try out.

Here is my tally sheet of the beers I tried. I list the brewery, the beer name and a score based out of 5. I view a three as drinkable but not something I would seek out commercially. Granted a 2.0oz pour isn’t really a great way to get to know a beer. But I think my little score sheet has some nice trends to it. (I seem to have given the next best rankings to the few rye beers I tried).

I’d be interesting in comparing notes if anyone else was at the fest.

Mike and I attended the Extreme Beer Fest presented by BeerAdvocate on February 16 (that’s last Saturday for those of you keeping score at home).  It was and is a tremendous time.  There are many takeaways in experiencing the results of brewers pushing the limits of beer.  High alcohol content is just one part of the “extremeness” of what was offered at the fest.  Odd ingredients and brewing methods were also on hand, and certainly gave tasters a lot to wrap their palates around.

Beyond all the beers, there was a cool speaker panel session that we sat in on where brewers like Jim Koch from Sam Adams and Matt Cohen from Magic Hat spoke and answered questions from the crowd.

There were many great beers to discuss here on our site.  We videotaped our sampling of the Three Floyds Brewing Company’s Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout.  Here is the video of our experience:

We had to wait in line for 10 minutes (or so…I think it was longer) to actually get a sample.  They opened the tap for the Dark Lord at 4PM…the fest started at 1PM…last call was at 4:15PM…you do the math.

A lot of fest attendees were out of luck since the keg ran out before everyone got a sample.  After we tried the Dark Lord, Mike’s wife and I walked across the hall to try Sixpoint Craft Ales’ Sixpoint Bolshoi…which we liked better. 

I write this post about the Maine Brewers’ Fest knowing full well that it’s a bit off topic, but I think the Brew Dudes’ love of homebrewing grew out of our annual pilgrimage to Portland, ME to attend this grand showcase of craft beer.

We have been going to this event since 1999. It is something we look forward to each Fall. A lot of our beer education comes from tasting all the different styles presented at the fest. What we have learned at the Maine Brewers’ Festival has been put into our own homebrewed beers.

Plus, it’s just a damn good time. Tickets sold out very quickly this year…so quickly a large group of us almost missed the boat. So if you were lucky enough to get tickets, we’ll see you there.

If not, we will recap it here for you on Brew Dudes.

http://www.mainebrew.com/

So, I wasn’t getting the name of the fest right. There is no word “and” in the name of the festival.

Anyway, it was an insanely hot day but we stuck it out and had a great time.

I took some pictures of the event and posted them on Flickr:  Brew Dudes on Flickr.  They tell a little more of the story.

To sum up: the music was good, the beers were great, and the people were outstanding.

Best taste of the fest?  Well, my pick was Paper City Brewery’s Summer Time Pale Ale.   It had a lot of lemon flavor.  They must have zested a bushel of lemons to get that taste and on any other day it would have been overpowering.  After being in the sun for 3 hours, I was happy I made it over to their booth.  It was surprising but beyond refreshing.

The dudes and friends have made it an annual tradition to attend the Blues and Brews Festival in Westford, MA.  The main attraction is the many different local and not-so-local microbrews to sample along with some other great features such as Dr. Gonzo’s Uncommon Condiments  (I can’t wait to try the Scotch Bonnet stew again).  Plus plenty of Blues music to help you get your groove on.

I tend to leave my groove at home.

It’s happening this Saturday at the Nashoba Valley Ski Area, which is a change in venue from last year.  From the looks of a few 10 day forecasts, it’s gonna be a hot one.

Maybe I won’t need that stew after all…

We will be documenting the event digitally, so look for a multimedia post early next week.

There is also a homebrewing competition being held at the festival and Brew Dude Mike will provide an update with his involvement with this year’s contest.