Thoughts on Beer

Backpocket Brewery Tour

This past weekend was the first annual Brrrfest in Coralville.  Here were some of the highlights:

1) We got to “tour” the new Backpocket Brewery.  As of right now, it’s a wide-open building with little more than structure.  A few concept drawings, like the one labeled “Taproom” were placed in front of the caution tape, but it was exciting to see the progress.

2) Over 1,800 tickets were sold, and I’m willing to bet that at any one point, there were around 1,500 people enjoying beer at the 40+ vendors

That's a lot of Brrr Lovers!

3) If beer wasn’t your thing, Cedar Ridge was present with Bourbon (aged and unaged) and few of their own vodkas and rums.

4) Jolly Pumpkin only had one different beer on tap, but it rotated every couple of hours, so it got you back to the booth

5) At 3PM, Peace Tree tapped a Templeton Rye aged Imperial Stout.  There was a mad rush for the deliciousness, and it was worth it.

Those were my list of highlights for the Brrrfest.  What did you like about the festival?

Brrrfest 2012

Coralville is hosting the first annual Brrrfest – celebrating winter beer.  It will be held at the Coralville Marriott on January 28, 2012 from 1 PM to 4 PM.  More detail can be found on their website: brrrfest.org.  Hope to see you there!

P.S. – A hardhat tour of the new Backpocket Brewery will be given to those who pre-order tickets.

Samuel Adams Winter Classics Variety Pack

Samuel Adams has once again announced the arrival of winter with the release of this year’s Winter Classics Variety Pack.

In the pack, there are 2 bottles each of:

Boston Lager

Holiday Porter

Black and Brew Coffee Stout

Chocolate Bock

Winter Lager

Old Fezziwig Ale

Again this year, Samuel Adams has kept the spices low to ensure drinkable, non-cloying beers. Chocolate Bock is back, and I hope it’s only a matter of time before they make it available in 6/12-packs.  This year’s addition to the mix pack is the Black and Brew Coffee Stout, which replaces White Ale in the pack.  I had my first experience with Samuel Adams’ coffee stout several years ago (2008) when it went up against the Blackberry Witbier in the Beer Lover’s Choice where, sadly, it lost, even though it received my vote.

Have you tried the Winter Classics Variety Pack for 2011? Which ones in the pack do you like? Which ones don’t you like?

New Belgium Clutch

New Belgium has introduced several new beers to the Lips of Faith series.  One you may remember I mentioned tasting at the Iowa City Brewfest was a sour brown ale, Clutch.  I had the chance to try it in a more controlled environment over the weekend.

With the first taste, Clutch has a nice roasted chocolate and coffee flavor, and leaves a slightly sour, not over-the-top, taste in the back of your tongue.  The finish also has a slight coffee flavor.  I thought it was a great beer that’s very drinkable, and reminds me of New Belgium’s 1554 with slight sourness.

Have you tried Clutch?  What was your experience?

Brewfest 2011

This past weekend was the first Iowa City Northside Octoberfest.  This year, Brewfest was combined with the celebration, to expand the audience of the event.  In addition to Brewfest, there was live music, food  vendors, and Sodafest for those who wanted to try different sodas.

At Brewfest, there were almost 90 different beer vendors with over 400 different beers.  Some of my favorites included two new Lips of Faith Beers from New Belgium: Kick and Clutch.  Kick was described as a slightly-sour pumpkin cranberry ale.  The beer had a lot of cranberry flavor, but the pumpkin was very light.  Clutch was a slightly sour brown ale.  It reminded me a bit of New Belgium’s 1554 with a bit of sourness.  Look for both these beers in Iowa soon.

Also, Peace Tree Brewing had several very nice special beers for the festival, including a bourbon-barrel stout (their Belgo-style Black River Gumbo Stout aged in bourbon barrels), a slightly-funky and a bit sour Cornucopia with Brett yeast, and a light and fruity German-style Kolsch.

Did you go to Brewfest 2011?  What were some of your favorite beers?

Boulevard Collaboration #2

I had a chance to sample the Boulevard Smokestack Collaboration #2 – White IPA, a collaboration with the Deschutes Brewery in Oregon, over the weekend and I found it to be a great beer.  Imagine a Belgian style wit beer with more hop bitterness.

At first sip, it definitely tasted like a witbier, with nice spicy fruitiness.  As the beer hits the back of your tongue, it goes into more of the piney, herbal, stronger American hop flavor.  The hop-forward flavor wasn’t overpowering, and balanced out nicely with the witbier spice and citrus notes.

Overall, I loved how the White IPA started like a wit but then finished with a nice and firm, but not overpowering, hop bitterness. It was a very good beer, and I hope this collaboration sticks around or happens again.  It’s great to see breweries pushing styles out of the way to make a great beer.

Did you try the Collaboration #2?  What did you think?