GABF 2010. Who's Going?

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jamesnsw said:
Pro tip- To minimize your wait time, leave late. That's right, I said it. Plan on arriving 12:45 or so. You'll walk right in.

Sure, you'll miss people watching in the line, but you can do that inside. You may miss a beer or two, but meh. 4 hours gets a bit long for me, so I never feel like I missed out.

And no, I'm not just trying to cut down on my wait time by convincing others to get there late.
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We did this by accident 2yrs ago. Got stuck in a madhouse line on Saturday.
 
cruelkix said:
I always screw up something when I brew hungover, but I'm thinking its got to happen. I gotta get this pumpkin ale done soon for the halloween party so it has time to mellow out!
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I hear ya I need to get mine done also, plus a GF batch for the same party. I just wish I could brew all day every day
 
SWMBO and I are staying at the CrownPlaza 2 blocks from GABF... anyone else staying there or near there? IM looking for a place to hit up Thursday night if i get in in time. also friday is wide open... any suggestions on what to do or where to beer taste?

also we are on foot/public transport.
 
mwhc22 said:
SWMBO and I are staying at the CrownPlaza 2 blocks from GABF... anyone else staying there or near there? IM looking for a place to hit up Thursday night if i get in in time. also friday is wide open... any suggestions on what to do or where to beer taste?

also we are on foot/public transport.
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No but I live here so I I may help.

If you're staying downtown you should hit Falling Rock, Wynkoop, Great Divide, and Cheeky Monk as all are within an easy stroll. There is also the Rock Bottom on 16th Street.

If you want to venture out a little further there are a lot more options but those mentioned are more than enough to fill your schedule!
 
jmkratt:
Thanx for some recommendations on local attractions. The G/F and I are staying at the Hyatt Regency and attending the Fri/Sat day sessions and will be looking for some of the local hot spots within walking (staggering) distance.

Cheers :mug:
 
MWHC-

For Thursday night, check out the WBF (Zman here has been advertising it a bit since he is a member) I believe it runs until midnight..... http://kroc.org/DesktopDefault.aspx

Not sure if you.ve been to downtown Denver before, but from your hotel just walk up to the 16th street mall and hop on the shuttle bus to go wherever you need. For example on Friday I would walk up to the mall, hop on a bus and ride it west to Dixon's (Get off the bus at Wazee, Dixon's is on the corner) for a late breakfast then start walking/beerdrinking my way back to the hotel. Hitting Wynkoop, Falling Rock, Great Divide, Blake street tavern, etc on the way back....bring your walking shoes.....I'll add more later, gotta get to the gym.
 
Looks like I'm doing GABF this year after all. I normally avoid the annual drunkfest like the plague, but neighbor has an extra tix for tonight's session and doesn't want to go alone.
 
Pro tips:

Make sure you hit the Pro-Am table.

Make sure you visit the various guild tables.

When waiting in line for the biggies (New Galirus, Russian River etc.) send your husband/wife/friend out with glasses to keep the samples flowing.
 
If you're looking for something to do tonight (Thursday), our Denver craft beer meetup group #BrewDEN has an event at the Uptown Bros from 6pm-late. It's a cool beer bar (soon to be brewpub) on Colfax. People are stopping by after GABF also. Would love to have HBTers.

Here's the details: http://www.meetup.com/BrewDEN/calendar/14294623/
 
Bobby_M said:
I'm stuck over at the Renaissance on the east side like Quebec at rt 70. This is the ghetto right? Is it safe to take the bus?
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You're a little ways away but not too bad. If you head toward Martin Luther King BLVD it gets pretty rough (why is every MLK BLVD like that?).

The bus is a good way to get around. Also there is a light rail stop at 30th and Downing, so it may be better to hop off there and then cruise right into the convention center.
 
For all you Thursday night attendees who can still type when you get in.

Post up some of your "must hit" beers for those of us coming in on Friday/Saturday. We'd sure appreciate it.

Enjoy
Cheers
 
Man, I maintained once again. I was sober enough to tell the cabbie what hotel I was in.

Highlights:
RR Supplication and Pliny.
Lost Abbey Angel's Share
New Glarus Raspberry Tart

There were a few others that I liked but you reach a point where you stop remembering.
 
Bobby_M said:
Man, I maintained once again. I was sober enough to tell the cabbie what hotel I was in.

Highlights:
RR Supplication and Pliny.
Lost Abbey Angel's Share
New Glarus Raspberry Tart

There were a few others that I liked but you reach a point where you stop remembering.
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Epic!

I have read the New Glarus fruit offerings are really good. Had them on my list. I'm finally gonna get to try some Bells as well, although the 1 oz will just be a tease I'm sure.

Did you get to see Don from Naked City? I'm sure he is busy as heck, but hope you had a minute to say hi. I'm definitely jazzed to get there tomorrow.
 
I was pleasantly surprised. Not quite as crowded as the last GABF I attended a couple years ago. The Farm to Table Pavilion was the highlight for me. The Culinary School of the Rockies did a superb job of pairing foods with great beers. Odell's Woodcut #3 paired with Hazel Dell Wild Mushrooms & Thyme with Creamy Polenta just blew me away. New Holland's Dragon’s Milk with Housemade Buttermilk Panna Cotta, Honey Tuile was also breathtaking.

Out on the main floor, my favorite beer of the show was a local one (maybe my bias is showing, but I don't care). Dry Dock's Urca Vanilla Porter is flawlessly executed. I'll definitely be taking a shot at brewing this one soon.

Others I really enjoyed:
Dechutes - All excellent, but especially Mirror Pond.
Choc - Waving Wheat.
Firestone - Union Jack.
Greenflash - Le Freak.
Maui Brewing - Coconut Porter (of course). Disappointed they didn't bring Big Swell IPA up - man that's fantastic stuff.
Russian River - I didn't actually sample as I drink their stuff @ home all the time, but if you're not lucky enough to live in a RR distributed state, you must taste 'em all.
Sweetwater - Happy Ending Imperial Stout.
Victory Brewing - V Twelve.

And the stinkers:
Bell's - Lines were long, but I didn't like any of 'em.
Rouge - Juniper Pale Ale. Only beer I actually dumped the whole evening.
Sweetwater - Magnum IP Imperial Pilsner. "C" hops + Pils = fail.
 
Thanx for the update jkarp!
Sorry to hear the Bells lines are so long. I have the Maui Coconut porter on my list already. I had Le Freak in San Diego over the summer. It's a neat beer and very similar to a Belgian IPA that I had in the NHC that went to the nationals but didn't place there with a 38.5 That same beer took honorable mention (4th place) in the best of show round in the local pro-am and I was hopeful it would be picked up up for the GABF, but alas was not selected.

I'll be at the session this evening. I'll be wondering about with the G/F. I'll be sportin some long brown hair and a "Wish you were beer" T-shirt as sold on HBT a while back.

Cheers
 
I went to KROC's World Brewer's Forum last night. Great fun, great speakers, and great home brew. Really enjoyed the DIPA, Club Barleywine, American sour, Berlinner Weisse, Flanders Red, India Red Ale. Okay, I enjoyed everything I had there.

Wish I had asked for the day off though...
 
+1 for the Goose Island booth. I had the pleasure of tasting all their special series beers at NHC but I did make it over for Matilda and Lolita last night. I never made it to Naked City. I had a few places left on my list and I ran out of time.

I did try meeting fellow HBTer's at the Brewers Studio at 8pm, but I didn't know who I was looking for and I'm not a tweeter yet.
 
So many good beers!

I poured for Stewart's of Deleware in Island H, and as far as I know, I'll pour for them again on the Saturday day session (excellent selection, and a brilliant Dunkel).

Look for "HBT" on one name tag, a porn star name on the other name tag (Ronald McFondle), and help me kill that Dunkel.

By the way, the pdf more or less worked, and I got a visit from a New Mexico member after he texted!
 
Ok, I am up! GABF day for me and the wife....off to the gym in a bit, haircut, breakfast at Dixons on the way to the Convention Center! I'm the big guy in the Ska black visor (logo is a small skull with bowling pins on either side) stop me and say hi. I'll try to post after the session, but will most likely do it tomorrow morning.
 
jamesnsw said:
I went to KROC's World Brewer's Forum last night. Great fun, great speakers, and great home brew. Really enjoyed the DIPA, Club Barleywine, American sour, Berlinner Weisse, Flanders Red, India Red Ale. Okay, I enjoyed everything I had there.

Wish I had asked for the day off though...
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JAmes. Thanks for the plug for KROC. Whatta week, KROC, Pints for Prostates :rockin: This week is surely Beer Xmas!!. I finally tried the Dark Lord. Holy thickness batman!!!! SWMBo is making us some breakfast burritos then we are off. I am going to be sporting and Mountain Sun XXX Black T shirt and a NY Mets Hat.
 
I'm heading off shortly. I'll be the guy wearing a bright pink "Inclusive and Mennonite" shirt with a pretzel necklace. Excited!
 
That was a great time yesterday. Nice to meet Paul and Erik. Sorry I couldn't meet up with you olllllo. Thanks for doing all the work to arrange the contact spreadsheet.

My favorites:

Widmer Bros. Pitch Black IPA
Elysian Brewing Co. Dark O' The Moon Pumpkin Stout
New Glarus Raspberry Tart
Dry Dock URCA Vanilla Porter
Alameda Brewing Co. Cascadian Coal IBA
 
Sorry for anybody I missed at the Saturday afternoon session. 'twas busy.

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.
 
Oh right.. this thread!

Glad to be able to meet the Big Kahuna and Ollllllllllllllo! I was primarily occupied with friends from the UK so I didnt end up meeting many ppl from HBT. Maybe next year?

Favorites from this year: Shorts Spruce Pilsner, Cigar City Zhukov's Final Push, NBB/Redstone "Black Folie", and FW's Velvet Mirkin.



Also, work sucks, I wanna go drink more.
 
At the Thursday night session, the first 20 or so breweries we sampled from had a number of severe defects (hold-the-butter-please, cardboard, and/or solvent). I can't believe a brewery would knowingly serve a 7% ABV stout that smells like paint thinner. :eek:

I was rapidly becoming disappointed, then we tried TAPS Brewery. Every beer TAPS offered was either good or great, not a single off beer. I complemented the brewer and mentioned what a relief it was to taste good beer after 20+ failures to which he replied "Ha, you don't have to tell me, I judged a number of them". :D

TAPS later won the New Brewpub Group of the Year award. :)

A GABF session is a night of great beer, sh*tty beer, broken glasses, long bathroom lines, excellent food/beer pairings, and nose-burning crowd flatulence...
 
I had the same experience on Thursday. The first half of the night was mostly filled with sub par beers, but I was trying to only taste beers/breweries I had never had before. Trinity Brewhouse in Rhode Island was a standout for me. Great IIPA, probably the best I've had not made on the west coast.
 
Am I the only one that found Pancho Verde Chile Cerveza by Rio Grande Brewing Company? Myself and my GABF Buddy thought it was the best beer at the fest, but havent seen much comment on it.
 
I didn't spend much time at Colorado breweries aside from Dry Dock as I wanted to sample brews I didn't have access to.

Sounds great though!
 

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