GABF Report

I bought the 4 pack of tickets and sold the Sat night session on stubhub(following some advice). Would definitely recommend doing this because one you are done after the Sat morning session and two I made some money back on stubhub due the high demand for tickets. Also if you aren't a member of AHA or BA it is worth the membership cost to be able to get in the members only line. The general admission line is forever long, plus they allow the members only line to enter 15 minutes before the first tap.

Here are some pics from the weekend.

group of Waldos waiting in line before the first session


Right before the first tapping


Bag pipe band marched around adding to the awesome atmosphere of the festival


Sam Calagione was at the Dogfish booth every time I walked by, respect....


Firestone Walker, Double Jack, The End.


Lost Abbey, stole the show for me, amazing sours. Framboise de Amorosa is brewed and shipped directly from heaven.


They set up a replica of what the original GABF looked like, all the beers that were available at the time were there to sample, pretty interesting. This year was the 30 year anniversary.


Had to show the Texas brews some love...




All the beer joints/breweries around town had awesome tappings/events all weekend

Some brats at Wynkoop.


Yeti from the source.


If you love craft beer GABF is a must. All the breweries that you can't get in Texas are incredible; Bruery, Lost Abbey, Firestone, Russian River, New Glarus, Three Floyds, Goose Island, plus many many more. Denver is the mecca for craft beer.

Cheers!

nice!

On my list of trips for next year!!!

Drinking Made Easy----I love this show. Sign me up for the bus driver for this show.

just picked a sixer of this up during lunch today:



from NB's website:

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When we set out to brew, we use imagination and salvation to guide us- not necessarily style guidelines. It’s the Belgian way. So, Ameri-Belgo and IPA both being styles, the branding begged for New Belgium whimsy to liven things up. Hmmm… Belgo sounds like a Belgian disco. Hops like to party. Next thing you know, we bust out a disco-ball and brewers started groovin’. Hops started hoppin’. Add in an authentic Trappist yeast strain and the place brewed into a frenzy of citrus hoppy folly.

ABV - 7.0%
IBU - 60
Calories - 201
Hops - Simcoe, Centennial, Cascade, Amarillo

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[This message has been edited by spadilly (edited 10/6/2011 1:00p).]

Sounds great. Sounds like a similar style to their Hoptober which was terrific.

Definately needing to stock up on some of the newer New Belgium offerings...theone above sounds good, have beena fan of Hoptober, as well.

BSD was kind enough to grab me a few bombers of the 'Lips of Faith' Clutch that i was having a hissy fit about a couple pages back... ready to crank up some Spacegrass and give it a try!

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Denver is the mecca for craft beer

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This being a thread full of craft beer drinkers and followers.. I'm pretty sure we all were already very aware of this.

Although Portland might have a thing to say about that. They are the highest breweries per capita, and
there are a couple more cities with higher breweries per capita than denver actually.

[This message has been edited by 62strat (edited 10/6/2011 12:39a).]

Good article in the Chronicle the other day about Buffalo Bayou Brewing, Karbach, the new one by Minute Maid and the general craft beer explosion in Houston.

I work with one of the owners of Anvil and from our conversations it sounds like Hay Merchant (their new project down the street where Chance's used to be) is going to be pretty awesome.

Saint A Oktoberfest is gone from the distributer as of today... looks like Xmas ale in October..... (something aint right about that)

stock up on Oktoberfest if youre a fan, once gone from shelves its done for the year again.

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Saint A Oktoberfest is gone from the distributer as of today

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at this rate there's not gonna be any Winter Stout left for the kickball tourney.....

October 6 and they are out of Oktoberfest.



[This message has been edited by spadilly (edited 10/6/2011 1:03p).]

This pic should make the craft beer fans here happy. Lt. Gov David Dewhurst taking a tour of his employer's (InBev) brewery at Anheuser Busch in Houston.





[This message has been edited by Tom Hagen (edited 10/6/2011 1:11p).]

Founder and head brewmaster of Blue Moon? Isn't and hasn't that always been a Coors/Molson product?

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Founder and head brewmaster of Blue Moon? Isn't and hasn't that always been a Coors/Molson product?

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W/o looking, I was pretty sure Blue Moon was in fact a craft beer that sold out. But I may be very wrong.

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Dear Saint Arnold's Army:

Do you believe in the Great Pumpkin? Do you believe in Santa Claus? Sure, Lucy thought Linus was confusing the two, but both are coming soon in some form from us.

Pumpkinator will be released on Thursday, October 13

We were hoping for a Friday the 13th but had to settle for Thursday the 13th. Pumpkinator is a big, black, full of spice, full of flavor beer. Originally released in 2009 as Divine Reserve No. 9, it is an imperial pumpkin stout and our answer to how a pumpkin beer ought to taste. This year's version comes in at 10% ABV. It is brewed with a combination of pale two row, caramel and black malts, Cascade and Liberty hops for a background hop flavor, pumpkin for a rich mouthfeel, molasses and brown sugar, and spiced and dry-spiced to make it feel like you just walked into your mom's kitchen while she was cooking 37 pumpkin pies. It is the most expensive beer we have brewed. It is a single batch release and only in 22 oz. bottles (sharing recommended!). It probably won't be on the shelves for too long.

This beer is best enjoyed at 50°F or warmer to bring out the spices and round body. Personally we have found it to be the perfect end to a Thanksgiving meal from a flavor standpoint. Some have said it makes relatives more enjoyable too.

The labels are dated with 2011 as this beer should age well for those willing to do so. Aging them cold is the best way to do this if you have the ability. If not, time to get a beer fridge!

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Actually, I just found this out at a Rockies game last month:

Blue Moon was a unique brew that was created to only be sold inside the Coors Field brewery (Sandlot Brewing) when the stadium first opened.

It was so popular after the first year that it became available outside the stadium and then took off.

[This message has been edited by spadilly (edited 10/6/2011 1:24p).]

yeh don't believe the 'hate blue moon' hype I seem to hear now that craft brews are becoming so prevelant.

It was created by an employee of coors yes, at the sandlot.. where they have a bunch of craft beers on tap, and is well received by denverites.
Blue moon was a hit, so they mass produced it, and in doing so, converted probably hundreds of thousands to the deliciousness that is craft beer.

Coors gets points in my book for this. They were forerunners of craft brew explosion, not just jumping on the bandwagon like A/B did with bud light wheat, shock top, and american ale.

I didn't mean to imply that I hated the product because it was Coors. I love Blue Moon and would have its babies if I were a female.

[This message has been edited by Huktaz04 (edited 10/6/2011 2:23p).]

any of the beer peeps going to the Brenners beer fest this Sat?

http://www.brennerssteakhouse.com/bayou/beerFest.asp

Also, Monsters of Beer fest is comming up soon.

pumpkinator is going to be the most expensive beer they have brewed - I'm hoping that they don't go pricing the bombers at $8 or more.

Pretty much sounded like what they were preparing us for... and really, compared to Lips of Faith and other bombers, that would probably be the market.

ada, Karbach owners will be out at Backyard tonight with all thier beers

All of their beers? Including lager?

When does that kickoff?

i dont know i just noticed the announcement on Backyard or Karbachs FB (yesterday i think)

Tonight at Rockwells

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Hey Cypress peeps, come out and say hello! Meet the brewer from 6 to 730ish. Grab a pint, a shirt and beer for a special price!

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Tonight at Backyard

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Come on out and grab some great pub fare and some Karbach gear. Meet the brewer from 7:30-9PM

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[This message has been edited by jetch17 (edited 10/7/2011 10:48a).]

Does Backyard serve Coors/Miller....you know, good beers?

they got it all, son but its way out in the boonies near JV for you ITL'ers

yeh i happen to be at rockwell and the karbach guys showed up. well two of em. I chatted with eric the founder a bit, cool to hear him talk about his flying dog days and why they moved from denver to maryland.

anyway, convinced me to go check out the tour today. He said the first ones are always much more crowded then following 2.
12:30, 1:30 and 2:30

hmm we were probably standing right next to each other since I was there too.

Picked up a sixer of Guinness Black Lager a couple days ago. Not bad at all. Not sure I will put it in the rotation, but not a bad change.

hah no *****
I was at the bar the whole time, near the door.

I was probably right behind you attempting to wrangle my (almost) 2 year old.

From Petrol Station's FB (Sat @8:49pm):

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Tried karbach douple ipa today. Yep. Remember the man (karbach head brewer Eric Wagner) made double dog for flying dog. You can get it this week at the most bitter bar in America

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Monsters of Beer fest Nov 12!

http://monstersofbeer.com/