State College, PA Brew Expo - July 28th

I'll be there with 3 others. I have a room at the Penn Stater so no need for a DD even.

Here's the website. Looks like its a pretty good one with plenty to sample and several seminars:

http://www.scbrewexpo.com/index.htm

I still have yet to make it to one of these. A co-worker has been to every one.

I have every intention of making it up for that, but I'm not confirmed yet.

I went last year, it's the best one I've ever been to... going to try and make it again this year.

I have tix to the evening session.... Try to make it to the same one fellas!

All you central PA folk better be coming to the Harrisburg Brew Fest as well in a couple weeks! Cheers!

http://www.troegs.com/brewfest/default.asp

Unfortunately I'll be in Philadelphia celebrating SWMBO's B-Day that weekend. No Troeg's Brewfest for me.

skeeordye11 said:

All you central PA folk better be coming to the Harrisburg Brew Fest as well in a couple weeks! Cheers!

http://www.troegs.com/brewfest/default.asp

Click to expand...

My tickets came in the mail on Monday for the Harrisburg Fest.

Which session are you going to skee?

I live in State College and I have gone to this expo. It is excellent!! A buddy of mine is a representitive from a local beer distributor and he gets tickets every year and he gives me one. It's a good time.

Pipi, you going to be there this year? I'll be at the 6PM session.

I missed the last two years due to deployments, but I'll definitely be there this year! I have some friends who are coming up from DC/Fairfax area. We're going to the early session.

This is coming up quickly; only a few days. Who will be there for sure?

I (the SWMBO, and two friends) will be at the late session with a room at the Penn Stater for after.

I'm going to the early session with my brother.

The wife and I are going to the early session. I willl actually be taking notes so if you see someone doing that it could be me.

Darn, everyone is the early bird...

I am taking a notepad too.

So I was at the early session... much busier than I remember from last year. A good number of new brewers to keep things interesting... my brother and I agreed that our favorite of the show was newcomer Abbey Wright. I couldn't stop drinking their Bittersweet Porter, it was great.

DFH also had the randall out which was cool to see (and taste!), that was a first for me. Other than that, I was disappointed in a few of the brewers, like Stone and Stoudt's. They had no surprises, just their regular selection... Stone with their IPA and Arrogant Bastard, Stoudt's with their APA, Weizen, and IPA. I would have liked to see something out of the ordinary. At least some of the smaller brewers like Otto's had things JUST for the BrewExpo.

Oh and I was glad Unibroue brought a few different ones... love their stuff but hate to buy it by the case around here. It was good to try Quelque Chose and Unibroue 16.

Great time all in all, I look forward to going again next year.

Definitely had a great time as well. Although I agree it would have been 110% more enjoyable if they kept the # of tickets constant and spread it into 2 rooms. The waiting lines for drinks weren't all that bad, but there was NOWHERE to stand without being bumped until it started to die down a little around 9PM... Not sure if the 1st session was sold out, but the second was and the line to get in at 6 was wrapping through the entire hotel and conference center. Took me til 620 to even get in... Oh, and by the time I got to the head-table to sign up for seminars (maybe 640) EVERY seminar was filled and no more signup. Looks like this has definitely become a popular event...

Beer selection was superb though and I tried anything and everything (almost) I hadn't had prior (which was probably > 50%). I enjoyed Johnstown Brewery, East End, and Abbey Wright very much... Also, had to hit a few old stand-me-bys. Stopped by Bells, DFH, etc. even though I'm familiar with their stuff. The 60 minute out of the Randall was great and the Raison D'EXTRA definitely has some kick at 18%...

Good time all in all.

Did you notice that a few breweries were missing? I didn't see Appalachian, Great Lakes, Brooklyn, Clipper City, or Oskar Blues.

Also some of the beers listed on the site didn't make an appearance... like Unibroue Ephemere Cassis or Mardesous.

Oh also, those gluten-free beers actually didn't suck!

Yes, I saw some of the Breweries were missing. I assume it's because they didn't bring enough to last two sessions (underrated the demand), but who knows... I think I saw Stouts packing it in before 9PM too (maybe not, but looked like it) b/c, I'm assuming, they ran out?

I only got to taste two of the Unibroue offerings as well. There was killer lines for their beers like all night long and I just went elsewhere.

I was at the first session and didn't see those guys, so I'm thinking they weren't there at all. Kind of a shame, I really wanted to try Brooklyn's stuff... never had it...

I've had the Brooklyn beers available at Hooters Bottle Shop. The standard stuff though; East IPA, Brown, Pennant Ale. All are pretty solid, esp. the IPA.

I was looking forward to some of their special/limited/seasonal stuff too. Unfortunately, no Brooklyn.

Nobody else wants to chime in with their impressions of the expo?

*tick, tock, tick tock*

I was waiting for the others' impressions as well.

Lol. I didn't get to go this year...maybe next year.

It's definitely worth it... I would venture to say that it's the best Beerfest in the northeast.

The Expo was loads of fun. A bit crowded initially. After the first 30 min. or so it seemed to calm down. My wife was initially very dubious. She doesn't like crowds. In the end, she said she'd like to go again next year. We managed to go to one of the seminars (given by one of the expo founders) on his picks for 6 beers that stand the test of time and will always be around (and readily available) They included, and we got to taste: Pilsner Urquel, Paulner Hefe, Fullers Porter, Hoegarden, Celebrator doppelbock, and Westmalle Triple. My wife and I thought he should have dropped one of the wheats and included Sierra Nevada instead.

Favorites:
Johnstown White Hat Pale ale - refreshing - Sterling (B) and Amarillo (F) - lager like in the hops - something I've been considering
Anchor Steam Summer - 50% wheat, but not very yeastie
Lancaster Hop Hog. Orange!!! with fuggles and cascade!!!
Stone IPA. Luscious smooth texture loads of aroma 6.9%. I've been enjoying my hoppy beers but want to try and make the less alcoholic (instead of ~8%) This is a good start.
Magic Hat Fat Angel
Zatec pils - a new czech pils available - comparable to PU

There are more that I rated well, but they escape me. I'll have to check my notes.

Lots of IPAs that were variations on the same theme. Typically just varying amount grapefruity flavors.

Not many porters and stouts. Most of the beers were actually drafts - and thus seasonals. Oh yeah, the Weyerbacher double Simcoe IPA was very nice on tap, better than out of the bottle. Clipper City was supposed to be there but weren't. I wanted to compare my version of Loose Cannon to the draft version. I've compared it to the bottle and I (and our friends) like mine better.