A few weeks ago, my cousin Mark had an extra ticket to the American Craft Beer Fest (ACBF). After a lot of waiting in line in the rain, and some initial confusion as to whether a digital copy of my ticket on my phone would be acceptable, I got inside and started tasting brews. I tried to branch out into varieties I don’t usually drink, but I generally wasn’t convinced. I also tried to avoid repeats, and targeting breweries that I haven’t seen available in stores in this area. I ended up trying 23 beers in a couple of hours. It’s a good thing Mark remembered to bring pretzels!
Quick comments on beers below the cut. If you follow me on Untappd, these are repeats. The highlight of the show was decidedly DC Brau’s On the Wings of Armageddon, both for the awesome name and for giving me another super-hoppy imperial IPA to enjoy.
Wandering Thunderbolt IPA
Standard hoppy. 3
Kona Fire Rock Pale Ale
Meh. 2
Widmer Black IPA
Darker taste from roasted hops? 4
Tullycross Irish Red
Smooth, but not much there. 2
Kenebec River Brewery Honey Badger Rye
Smooth, a bit hoppy. 3
Kennebec River Penobscot Porter
Smoky. Smells like mesquite. 3
High & Mighty Fumata Habañera
Spicy. Very slight burn from the chile but it really only smells spicy. 3
High & Mighty Don Cornelius Coffee Brown
Meh. 2
Kona Koko Brown
Repeat. I first had this at a concert at the Brighton Music Hall. Super-tasty sweet brown. 5
Milwaukee Brewing Co O-Gii Imperial Wit
An herbal taste I couldn’t put my finger on was green tea and chamomile. Covers the wheatness I don’t usually like. 4
Woodstock Inn Pigs Ear Brown Ale
Standard. 3
Woodstock Inn Red Rack
Coppery. Bleh. 2
Ommegang Hennepin
Tasty saison. Picked it because of my Minnesota roots. 4
DC Brau On the Wings of Armageddon
Right up there with Hop Devil. 5
DC Brau Penn Quarter Porter
Generic, but right on. 4
Blatant IPA
Hoppy for the sake of hoppy. 3
West Sixth IPA
Hoppy. 3
West Sixth Double IPA
Hoppier. 4
Great Divide Yeti Stout
Repeat. I forget when I first had this. Solid smooth stout. 4
Left Hand Good Juju
Ginger pale ale. Tried it for Emery’s sake. Meh. 2
Brooklyn Brewery Maple Porter
Smoky. 3
Dogfish Head Sah’tea
Belgian. Pretty good. 3
Uinta Brewing Dubhe Black IPA
A bit hoppy. Complex taste from hemp? 4
Nurd Up!