GABF 2010 thoughts

Interested to hear what the hbters thought about the event and what their favorite beers/brewers were. The swmbo took me for my 30th. Felt it was awesome yet overwhelming. I realize that there is another evening but we only had tickets for the first 2. I also felt that we only sampled maybe 1/3 of all beers available and maybe 3/4 of breweries. Tremendous fun and a number of interesting brews. I can tell you that we did not care for most of the IPAs from the southeast region. I tasted a lot of noble hops in the IPAs from that region and prefer american citrus hops for that category. Dogfish Head had some very good beers and very long lines. Wasn't a fan of the Grain to Glass, but the Midas Touch, Theobroma, and Bitches Brew were excellent. We particularly enjoyed the Himalayan IPA from YakandYeti. I'm a simcoe IPA fanboy. Also, we felt that the discussion on sustainable brewing was very informational and interesting. I wish that we were better at remembering names/note taking as there were sooooo many different brews there. cheers. HH.

You sampled 600-700 beers?! You must be a spitter! If you are looking for tickets for sat, I am sure there will be some people selling them out front.

fuzzy drunken math. Tried a ton though. Definitely not a spitter but a sip was enough for some of them that weren't good. 2 days were enough for the wife and I.

Already posted my 2010 GABF report in the other thread, but my top two favorites were Dry Dock's Urca Vanilla Porter and Odell's Woodcut No. 3.

Dogfish Head was hands down the best brewer there....in my book anyway. Midas Touch and Chateau Jiahu (I think that's what it was) were absolutely amazing. I was hesitant at first given the Jiahu was made from sake, but it was well worth the long wait in line. I wish there was a better way to formulate a plan of attack when it comes to tasting beers. There are so many to choose from, you more or less have to choose at random. It would have been nice if the GABF website had published a list of the breweries that were competing in each category.

On a side note, I did a little experiment to see if it was possible to drop your glass without anyone noticing. The answer: ABSOLUTELY NOT! I have the video to prove it. People don't need to see you drop the glass. They just turn and boo with condemning pointed fingers in the direction of the "tink tink tink" sound. Also...best drunken purchase ever = belt buckle that flips down to hold your beer.

BadKarmaa said:

It would have been nice if the GABF website had published a list of the breweries that were competing in each category.

Click to expand...

Well, of course they do as soon as the winners are announced. If you're meaning in advance, that would defeat the purpose of a blind competition.

BadKarmaa said:

Also...best drunken purchase ever = belt buckle that flips down to hold your beer.

Click to expand...

Score! That sounds cool.

ok here is the list that the wife and I tried....we are missing prob 2-4 others, but it's the first time I have taken notes from start to finish!

Fathead Brewing - honey blueberry wheat, bourbon barrel aged colaboration porter
Ommegang - three philosophers
Three Floyds - sandpebbles
Titletown - dry eye stout
Upstream - saison
Weasel Boy - RIS, this was my beer of the night
Terrapin - BPA
Sweetwater - wheat
Magnolia - southern pecan
Madhouse - crystalweisen
Russian River - Supplication, Hop Father
Bluegrass Brewing - bourbon barrel biere de garde, barleywine
Boscos Brewing - Honey rye
Brooklyn - #1, #2, Sorachi Ace, Choc stout
Capital City - Fuel (great coffee stout), Alt
Dog Brewing - oat/choc stout, berry cherry, some peach thing
Golden City - Aged stout
Goose Island - Lolita, Bourbon County
Gella's diner - Hays Downtown brown
Freestate - breakfast stout
Mad Fox - molitov hoptail
Manaywalk brewing - boheimian blonde
N American brewing - oktoberfest
Prism - honey IPA
Turtle Mountain - oaked hoptimus prime
Troegs - barleywine
Triump - Coffee & cream stout. zitroweisen, dunkel lager
Wayerbacher - fifteen
Jolly Pumpkin - sour stout
Papago - barleywine
Prescott - porter

That's half the list, more to come later....

I think my favorite of the day was the Pyramid Black IPA. I thought it had great balance.

This was my first GABF. I thought it was fun. However I was very dissapointed that members of the participating breweries were not pouring beers. I was hoping to ask more questions and talk with brewers. The volunteers knew nothing about the beers or the breweries.

I did have a great conversation with the Colorado Boy brewery owner, at the Colorado Brewers Guild booth. It made my whole trip.

Dogfish's Burton Baton that was part of the wood-aged beer pairing with Sean Paxton was one of my favorites for sure. There were several others from Jolly Pumpkin, New Glarus, and Lst Abbey that were high on my list.

We were GABF virgins too. The wife and I were also a bit disappointed that many of the breweries did not have someone there to answer questions or provide extra info. Riverfront, nice note taking. We just wrote down a few that we liked. We really enjoyed weyerbachers black IPA. Going with the wife was great because we'd each get something different so I could try twice as much. Drink mine, taste hers.

On a side note- our experiences at 2 Denver brewpubs. Wife and I went to Wynkoop tonight and were seriously underwhelmed. First beer less than cold, food decent, second beer took awhile to be served and beers were okay nothing special. Rockbottom on the other hand: excellent beer, food and service.

+1 on the Pyramid Black IPA, it was actually pretty good.

The beers that stick out in my mind as big winners, ones that I hadn't tried before are:

Ballast Point Sculpin IPA
Bell's Wild One sour
Three Floyds Sandpebbles (brown, I believe)
Ommegang's BPA
Russian River Hopfather

We tried a lot more obviously, but those particular ones jump out as really good beers that I hadn't had before and I'm glad I got to sample.

I went on Saturday and was a bit disappointed that most breweries were out of "the good stuff" and that the people behind the tables had no idea what they were pouring. I asked one of them what kind of beer it was and they replied "dark"...

Next year, I'm going on Thursday and maybe Friday too. I had friends who said they got to talk to brewers and owners of several of the breweries during the Thursday session.

I volunteered for the 1st time this year so I didn't have alot of time to sample. On Saturday night we got 1 20 min break because they had a insane amount of people back out of volunteering. My biggest suprise was Cigar City out of Tampa. They had some pretty good beers, my fav being their saison.

I went on Saturday and was a bit disappointed that most breweries were out of "the good stuff" and that the people behind the tables had no idea what they were pouring. I asked one of them what kind of beer it was and they replied "dark"...

Click to expand...

I know what you mean. Alot of the breweries don't have staff people on hand. Also, the vast majority of breweries do not give any infor on the beers beforehand. I homebrew therefore I could rap a little bit about the beers, w/o being given specific info by the brewery.

Hope someone got to try the four peaks ipa called hop knot. It is my favorite ipa. One day I will go to this event!

The thing is, it's impossible for a brewery to have enough staff to pour during a tasting session. as it is, volunteers can barely keep up. Some of the breweries do bring information sheets on the various beers, so you can have an idea of what you're drinking.

It's a completely overwhelming experience, and there's no way you can see, do, or taste everything on offer. The Saturday afternoon session is (imo) the best one to attend, because that's when the awards are announced, and it's less of a drunken freakout than the Saturday evening session. Most of the brewers are in the hall and standing around the stage at that time.

Crossposted from another thread: my 2010 GABF favorites:

My favorites from this year: Oude Tart from The Bruery, Vlad the ImpAler from Cascade Brewing, and Deranger from Laurelwood brewing.

Interestingly, I tasted all three of these beers before the judging results were announced. All three beers medaled. Guess I just picked well.

Click to expand...

Hophunter said:

Wife and I went to Wynkoop tonight and were seriously underwhelmed. First beer less than cold

Click to expand...

Wynkoop tries to serve beers at the correct temps and carbonation for their styles. If you had a hand pulled pint of one of their English Ales, it would be low carbonation and served at about 48 degrees F. Their American and European styles have higher carbonation and are served at about 40 F.

Their walk-in with their serving tanks is divided into 2 setions with different temps maintained. They do their best to serve the English Styles traditionally.

Rock Bottom beers are always served too cold for my tastes. Everyone has different preferences.

Wayne1 said:

Wynkoop tries to serve beers at the correct temps and carbonation for their styles. If you had a hand pulled pint of one of their English Ales, it would be low carbonation and served at about 48 degrees F. Their American and European styles have higher carbonation and are served at about 40 F.

Their walk-in with their serving tanks is divided into 2 setions with different temps maintained. They do their best to serve the English Styles traditionally.

Rock Bottom beers are always served too cold for my tastes. Everyone has different preferences.

Click to expand...

A big +1

Denver's 1st brewpub often gets overlooked nowadays, but they're still producing some damn fine beers and are my default go-to for a downtown lunch.

This was my first GABF.. went to the Sat. afternoon member's only session and I will definitely do the Thursday evening next time.. Way too many breweries were out of beers I had my heart on sampling. I was happily surprised that the lines weren't as bad as I had thought they would be and they moved super quick! I understand the brewers don't have enough of their own staff to pour.. but they should really supply the volunteers with as much information about the beers as possible.... Just makes good sense!

I loved Dogfish Head's Theobroma.. WOW.. I also agree with Pyramid's Black IPA.. and surprisingly enjoyed Short's Key Lime..

Really enjoyed GABF this year but would have to agree that for the most part those pouring had no knowledge of what they were pouring. Many of the those pouring were college classmates of my daughter who know nothing about beer.

My overall favorite beer had to be Tricerahops - don't recall the brewery but it was out of Oregon. A beer for hopheads and then some. I hit all of the Oregon breweries and was impressed. Enjoyed all of my Colorado favorites (Avery, Odells, Oskar Blues, Ska, etc.) which were outstanding as always. Hit the Montana breweries because I have to support our state micros and they held their own. Had a small taste of Pliny but need to get ahold of a few bottles when I am passing through Denver tomorrow or will get it on tap at Falling Rock. Did not visit Doghead because the line was too long - next year. New Glarus (on of my favorites) was out by Thu. afternoon! Trip to Madison on the agenda. Had a Saison at a private tasting that was a joint project between Dogfishhead and some other Colo. breweries that was amazing. Did not get to hit Brooklyn and some of my other favorites this year but will next year. A fantastic evening and can't wait to do it again next year. Montanaandy

The wife had a favorite, Pumpkin stout by Elysian. Also, last night in Denver, we hit Strange Brewing. We thought we had the wrong place or were mistaken b/c they were in sort of an industrial park in a way shady type location. Some really fantastic beer. Only making 3 barrel batches but we got to talk to the owner. Can't recall his name but really cool. If you are ever in Denver, I would highly recommend stopping in.

I have to add to hophunter's post here....we went to Strange Brew before the Colts/Donkeys game a few weeks ago, they open 3 hours before kickoff. They are basically using a 42 gal 3 tier more beer stand, going into either 42 gal Blickman conicals or multiple batches into a couple? of 3 barrel fermentors. The two owners are laid off Rocky Mtn news employees..and as HH said, very nice guys. So if any of you Denverites are around for some pregame next weekend, we'll be there at 11ish.

Also, this area is industrial as HH said, but far from shady....we actually walk from our house to the brewery.

If you weren't from the area I could see how you may think it is a shady area.

No offense meant. If it were light out when we stopped by and everything else wasn't already closed and dark, I am sure it wouldn't have seemed as bad. Just a couple of uninformed/unfamiliar out of towners.