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?

Related thoughts:

1. Confirmed: Backpocket Brewing Coming to Coralville
2. Samuel Adams Harvest Collection Variety Pack
3. Festival of Iowa Beers 2011

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.

Related thoughts:

1. American Craft Beer Week is May 16-22
2. Confirmed: Backpocket Brewing Coming to Coralville
3. Brrrfest 2012 Highlights

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?

Related thoughts:

1. Samuel Adams Longshot Pack Now in Stores
2. Samuel Adams Summer Styles Variety Pack
3. Samuel Adams Harvest Collection Variety Pack

Totem Keg on TV

Over the weekend, my friends and I were interviewed by the local news about the Totem Keg. Check out the feature on the Fox affiliate or on the CBS affiliate.

I feel an Emmy isn’t out of the question…

Related thoughts:

1. Building a Keg Totem

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?

Related thoughts:

1. Big Sky Brewing Cowboy Coffee Porter
2. New Belgium Le Terroir
3. New Belgium La Folie

Check out the episode now!

Related thoughts:

1. Rumor: Old Man River Brewing Coming to Iowa City

Once we decided on our idea, the design was next.  What should we make it from?  How do we engineer it to dispense the homebrew?  After one of our designer friends took the idea and ran with it, we came up with the idea to use 12-inch diameter concrete forms.  Two of the tubes are 8 foot tall, and all it took was some engineering to make it all work.  The bottom tube is secured with 6-inch L-brackets with removable bolts.  The top section has long beams that are secured with bolts, and has a notched hole-less peg board for wings of the top figure.  The bottom section contains two gas lines, one for each keg, and the top section has two beer lines, hooking up to tower-style shanks.  After several months of planning and design, we unveiled the keg totem at opening day weekend!

The Concrete Forms, Before Painting

Full Mockup

Primed Tubes

Applying the First Coat of Paint

Bottom of the Totem After the First Coat

Sizing Up the Wings

Completed Totem

Set Up at the Tailgate

The Inaugural Pour

Related thoughts:

1. Totem Keg Featured on Local News

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?

Related thoughts:

1. SF 2088 – One Year Later
2. Peace Tree Brewing Imperial Stout
3. Festival of Iowa Beers 2011

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?

Related thoughts:

1. Peace Tree Brewing Imperial Stout

Festival of Iowa Beers

Last Sunday was the 7th annual Festival of Iowa Beers, and each year it continues to grow. This year,all the Iowa breweries, including the newly-named Backpocket Brewing, and many of the Iowa homebrew clubs participated.

Overall, it was a great day, and a great day for beer, with interesting beers from the commercial breweries, including a new Extreme Series beer, a dark rye, from Millstream Brewing.

Just like the previous Festivals, the homebrew tent offered the most interesting beers, including several barrel-aged beers, including an imperial stout aged in a Templeton Rye barrel, along with several meads and ciders .  My favorites from the homebrew tent were the Templeton Rye barrel-aged stout, an Imperial Wit, a Duvel clone, and a Munich Helles.

As always, I look forward to next year’s festival.  Did you make it out to the festival?  What were your favorites?

Related thoughts:

1. Rumor: Old Man River Brewing Coming to Iowa City
2. SF 2088 – One Year Later
3. Peace Tree Brewing Imperial Stout