belgians, barleywines, and big beers

on jan. 6th and 7th there is a really cool festival dedicated to belgian beers, barleywines, and big beers. its a cool festival, has a homebrew comp but you have to be an AHA member, and the tasting section follows a really cool educational style format. the first 2 hours everyone is only allowed one taster from each brewery so everyone gets to try everything, and so no one gets too drunk, as most the beers fall around the 7-12% range. anways its in Vail Colorado and i recomend this festival to anyone who likes big beers and has a means of getting there.
www.bigbeersfestival.com/

MAN!!!!!! i hate being in germany!!!!! i don't like colorado much either i was born there but transplanted to cali!!!but i'd go there just for the barley wine!!!!!

I plan to enter my red chimay, Delerium Tremons, Karmeliet and Hennepin in their competitions. Wish me luck.

i definitely wish you luck, i wanted to enter some brews in the comp but am not a member of the AHA so i can't. can't wait though for the festival, and to hear mr. avery talk...

Im filling out 4 entries now. $20 for all of them.

justbrewit said:

MAN!!!!!! i hate being in germany!!!!!

Click to expand...

Wanna trade?

You have nothing to complain about...there are thousands of people who wish they were there and you get to live there like I did. Take advantage of the situation...

Colo will still be there when you get back....

Well, I just filled out my 5 entries to this competition......Karmeliet, Delerium Tremons, Westmalle Dubble, Chimay Red, and Hennepin. I just tested everything, and they are clearing up well. Taste great. I have a club member who travels to Belgium often to test them, so I will bottle 1 of each and take them to him for a testing. Then off they go. My 1st competition. No expectations, just looking for constructive criticism from the experts for my next batches. I think the last one of the above was kegged in July, so they will all be pretty much aged at least 6 months.

Cool, best of luck to you and your brews. At the very least it will be interesting to see what sort of feedback you get.

That is what I want to get the most out of this. Feedback.

homebrewer_99 said:

Wanna trade?

You have nothing to complain about...there are thousands of people who wish they were there and you get to live there like I did. Take advantage of the situation...

Colo will still be there when you get back....

Click to expand...

i would trade in a heart beat!!! i'm not fond of the german beers much at all. sure i like some of the wheat beer, but i've had better at a homebrewery and grill. i just can't get into the german beers much, i've tasted many, many, many german beers and i still like english and microbrew beers much better. every one has thier own tastes, germany just isn't one of mine!! LOL
give me barley wine or give me death by hops!!!!!

Well, I just wrapped up my babies and sent them to colorado for the judging. Hopefully they make it ok...UPS has not let me down yet.

Man, the compatition was Friday. When are they going to post results. This waiting is killing me.

Well, I got my package back from the show today. Better then I thought, but did not place. I sent 5 entries......scored from 29-38. They really liked my Westmalle Dubble, and my Chimay Red. Hennepin came in 3rd. Something must have happened to the Delerium and the Karmeliet during shipping. They made notes about high temp related taste. I thought they were ok, oh well. I got a certificate out of it, and feed back for my next batch.

Just wondering if the contest was a blind taste, where the brewer is unknown until after judging? I feel like that, results are unbiased. On the other hand a good critique could result in even better beers.