Zwanze Day 2015: The Thread

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Starting off Zwanze weekend right! Wadesda #1 made with Cantillon lambic in 2010.

RkFDA5u.jpg
 
Draft lineup tomorrow at Apex in Portland, OR:
Zwanze 2015
Gueuze 2014
Iris
Kriek
Rose de Gambrinus
Vigneronne(!!!)

Last year I believe it was $8-$9 for a 6 oz pour. There was also no line after the first twenty minutes. There will also be glassware and tshirts available.

I'm excited.
 
sliverx said:
Can't wait for the **** show at Blue Monk in Buffalo. Thanks for making it ticketed but not for making it open to the public. Hopefully people stay away outside of the 140 with tickets, that has to be close to occupancy as is.
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I couldn't make it anyway, but I don't get the point of the tickets and then opening it to the public at the same time. when they open, they should at least have a separate line for tickets holders to get in first but that probably wouldn't work too well on the sidewalk anyway.

have fun!
 
Pretty reasonable line at Novare. Doors ain't open for 15 minutes, though.
 
HenrikO said:
Holy **** Zwanze @ Akkurat changed from last year. Barely got 1 pour of Zwanze, 7 out of 9 kegs kicked before 9 pm, last year I had three pours of Zwanze and when we left at midnight everything was still on except Zwanze and Iris Grand Cru.

I hate beer.
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Must have been Americans in town.
 
SeaWatchman said:
Must have been Americans in town.
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I so wish I could blame Americans, but the only US people I met there were a gay couple who had no idea what Zwanze Day was. Swedish hipsters ruined Zwanze, or something.

I liked sour beer before it was cool.

I hate beer.

I hate myself.
 
ckoop said:
I couldn't make it anyway, but I don't get the point of the tickets and then opening it to the public at the same time. when they open, they should at least have a separate line for tickets holders to get in first but that probably wouldn't work too well on the sidewalk anyway.

have fun!
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It was very relaxed and not at all a **** show. Guess tickets and weather kept some people away.
 
This is random , but does anyone has a zwanze shirt 2XL? I have an XL and thought it was big enough. Apparently not...
Shirt trade anyone ?
 
Some tasting notes from the Akkurat lineup:

Mamouche '14 - I am now officially a Mamouche convert. This was always my least favourite Cantillon until last year when I had it super fresh at the brewery, super bright intense elderflower flavour with no 'green'/dill pickle flavours I normally find in Mamouche, and dislike. Was really surprised to find it as intense one year in, and it got even heavier, more floral, with honey notes even, as it warmed up. Not super complex, just really vivid, strong elderflower presence and super easy drinking. My fave of the evening.

Iris Grand Cru - lost most of its dry edge to heavy blue cheese funk, very unusual for a Cantillon, but lovely. Round, smooth, creamy mouthfeel, almost zero carb.

Vigneronne '14 - Like Mamouche, had a slight sweet edge to it, great grape presence, bit of candy/bubblegum thing going, bit of wood in the background. Mamouche, IGC and Vigneronne were my top 3 of the evening, though the field was pretty crowded.

St Lamvinus '14 - Again, very bright red berry/grape flavours, not that tart actually, more reminiscent of grape must, felt still a bit young, not as multilayered/complex as the Vigneronne. My guess is this will age well though.

LPF '14 - This was last year's best beer for me, wild raspberry explosion. In contrast to the Mamouche this had lost quite a bit of fruit in a year, still very good, very full-bodied but just lacked that extreme fruit fizz it had when fresh.

LPK '14 - Developing nicely. Tons of bitter almond and spices (I got cinnamon and pepper), great depth, big cherry, lots of vinous flavours, bit of oak. Contender for top 3, had I been in a different mood this may well have gotten top spot overall, so difficult to pick favourites when everything is good.

Gueuze '12 - Also developing nicely, quite light acidity, mixed apple/citrus notes, strong dry wood finish. Very good but I think this suffered a bit from the comparison to the fruited offerings - it felt a bit "plain" next to them.

Fou Foune '14 - Still lots of fruit but has already started to develop that deep back-of-the-tounge bitterness I don't like that much and that Fou in particular seems to get when it ages. I remain mystified by people ageing Fou.

Fou Foune '15 - Had to warm up quite a bit before I got any apricot at all, but then it was quite heavy, light sweetness balances a rather strong tartness, jammy fruit is there but a bit overwhelmed by acidity, still very easy drinking and clear on the palate, the only beer of the evening with pretty strong carbonation.

Zwanze '15 - Actually liked this one, really opened up at room temp and after sitting in the glass for a while, light roast flavours and strong barrel presence. Top third/half of the field, would bang again for sure.

Final verdict is that I am just not that into Fou, I guess. It's a great beer and it's nice when you can get it fresh, but I found that I preferred almost all other offerings of the night over it. And it used to be my favourite, too.
 
Zwanze Day at Crooked Stave was a blast. Started popping bottles in line at 6:00 am, and the 300-person line was basically a big bottle share. Various CS drafts (Mama Bear's, Raspberry Origins, Blackberry Dark Origins, L'Brett d'Pluot, etc) as well as Casey Family Preserves Balaton. St. Lam, Iris, and Kriek were on draft.

Beautiful weather, great beer, and a great crowd.
 
First Zwanze day (attempt) this year. Went to Armsby as I assumed Hobo would be worse with crowds being next to Boston. Got there at 11 and the place is decently packed already: no seats/tables open, standing space is occupied but you can still move around and get a bartender's attention without too much trouble. I get a HF Legitimacy because the Cantillon has been tapped, I didn't want to pay $45 for a bottle of Kriek or $60 for a Framboos (yet?), and Abner has already kicked.

It gets progressively more crowded in the 45 minutes before my friend and I get seated outside for brunch. Next beer is What is Enlightenment. It's really sunny but cooler in the open air compared to inside the bar. A line has built up while we were inside and it didn't move while we were outside. We both get Fou after we're done eating (took a while as everyone was ordering it) and are told to go inside the bar to free up table space.

By now it's balls to ass in the bar and it's only 1pm. We get RdG (Fou has kicked) and found it much more drinkable than the sharper, more acidic Fou which had great apricot smell but more tart than expected. RdG was a fantastic raspberry blast and I had a second one in the space of 20 minutes - as long as it took to get another order in. We're done with the sardine can situation and left well before Zwanze '15 was tapped as neither of us were too eager for a wild stout.

TL;DR great beer, too many damned people in a small space
 
Zwanze at Redlight Redlight was a lot of fun fun, despite being in Florida. Had a great share the night before and day of. All in all it was a fantastic weekend with a lot of familiar faces.

Now it's time for GABF and Shelton bro's.
 
Had a great time at Schera's It was cool to be able to hang out with SecretSquirrel and share some beers. Per usual the food was top notch, and the people were cool as ****. Unfortunately the bottle sales line sucked. It was taking people over an hour to get through, due to too many cards, and hand written receipts. Use cash folks!
The bottle share was top notch so I only drank my ticketed beers and the Pure Guave. Check my Untappd for the ticks I could remember. Same user name.
 
mattafett said:
Had a great time at Schera's It was cool to be able to hang out with SecretSquirrel and share some beers. Per usual the food was top notch, and the people were cool as ****. Unfortunately the bottle sales line sucked. It was taking people over an hour to get through, due to too many cards, and hand written receipts. Use cash folks!
The bottle share was top notch so I only drank my ticketed beers and the Pure Guave. Check my Untappd for the ticks I could remember. Same user name.
Click to expand...


agree on a points, bottle line was fine if you waited till 4:30 we were guaranteed a bottle regardless and I was abel to get a 12pack of the Du Ciel Raspberry so I was happy with that... Did stay after the event and had a few more beers on tap and some Algerian food. Total chill place and ran smoothly... I only wish they did a glass similar to last year...
 
mattafett said:
Had a great time at Schera's It was cool to be able to hang out with SecretSquirrel and share some beers. Per usual the food was top notch, and the people were cool as ****. Unfortunately the bottle sales line sucked. It was taking people over an hour to get through, due to too many cards, and hand written receipts. Use cash folks!
The bottle share was top notch so I only drank my ticketed beers and the Pure Guave. Check my Untappd for the ticks I could remember. Same user name.
Click to expand...

Looks like a great tap list. LOL at Dieu du Ciel being Belgian though.
 
Thoughts on Zwanze at the Trappist? I didn't go but from seeing pictures it looked pretty calm, and prices on the bottles didn't seem egregious.
 
For the fourth year in a row I thought Crooked Stave did an outstanding job, and this time was probably one of the best organized beer events I've been to. The ticket prices were more than reasonable given what I've seen at other places. $20 for a Zwanze pour, another Cantillon pour (Iris Grand Cru, Lam, Kriek) and a glass or $15 for a Cantillon pour and glass. The bottle prices were insanely cheap. The only bottle I recall that was over $30 was Framboos at $40. The guest pours were all reasonably priced at $6 as well. Big fan.
 
mattafett said:
Had a great time at Schera's It was cool to be able to hang out with SecretSquirrel and share some beers. Per usual the food was top notch, and the people were cool as ****. Unfortunately the bottle sales line sucked. It was taking people over an hour to get through, due to too many cards, and hand written receipts. Use cash folks!
The bottle share was top notch so I only drank my ticketed beers and the Pure Guave. Check my Untappd for the ticks I could remember. Same user name.
Click to expand...

Liked for inexplicable but amazing inclusion of Big Top on the taplist.
 
SeaWatchman said:
For the fourth year in a row I thought Crooked Stave did an outstanding job, and this time was probably one of the best organized beer events I've been to. The ticket prices were more than reasonable given what I've seen at other places. $20 for a Zwanze pour, another Cantillon pour (Iris Grand Cru, Lam, Kriek) and a glass or $15 for a Cantillon pour and glass. The bottle prices were insanely cheap. The only bottle I recall that was over $30 was Framboos at $40. The guest pours were all reasonably priced at $6 as well. Big fan.
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I saw their picture of bottles for sale and said "damn! That's how much I paid for them in Belgium on Zwanze Day." Granted ours were '12 versions of some but I would never balk at that price!

Apex seems to be a joke every year. I am amazed Cantillon still awards them the honor when there are so many other places in Portland that would do it and not take advantage.

Zwanze in Arlon, Belgium went off without a flaw. Chris from MiOrge is always ready to help and accommodate. Such a fun event with 100 other lambic lovers. Drank Zwanze, Rhubarbe, and '15 Fou from draft (x2). Had '12 St Lam & Vig. Finished with '12 Sticker LPF. Lots of other bottle choices but that's what we ordered. Met some folks from Iowa and had a great chat about all things American and Belgian craft beer. Couldn't ask for a better Cantillon/lambic/sour/any event.

Cheers!
 
JulianB said:
It's been on tap for weeks at a bar in Charleston so whoever claimed that was mistaken.
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I made the point to several that I hadn't seen it in tap or heard of it on tap in the us before, interesting that SC has it on tap is in in bottles down there now too?
 
SecretSquirrel said:
I made the point to several that I hadn't seen it in tap or heard of it on tap in the us before, interesting that SC has it on tap is in in bottles down there now too?
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Haven't seen bottles but also haven't been to any of the stores (CBX, GBX, etc.) lately that would be the likely candidates to stock it.
 
I was quite happy with my experience at Russian River, although that's likely because we were in the first wave to get in. Zwanze was $10 with a Cantillon taster that you got to keep. Classic, Rose, Kriek, Iris GC and Beat on draft all at $6 a pour. Icing on the cake was the 1:00 surprise to benefit Northern California firefighting efforts:

5NEjtnd.jpg


Saturday was much less crazy when compared to the Sunday Beat bottle release.
 
mattafett said:
Had a great time at Schera's It was cool to be able to hang out with SecretSquirrel and share some beers. Per usual the food was top notch, and the people were cool as ****. Unfortunately the bottle sales line sucked. It was taking people over an hour to get through, due to too many cards, and hand written receipts. Use cash folks!
The bottle share was top notch so I only drank my ticketed beers and the Pure Guave. Check my Untappd for the ticks I could remember. Same user name.
Click to expand...

Dat Belgian Soltice D'ete
 
Steve said:
Zwanze at Redlight Redlight was a lot of fun fun, despite being in Florida. Had a great share the night before and day of. All in all it was a fantastic weekend with a lot of familiar faces.

Now it's time for GABF and Shelton bro's.
Click to expand...
Of course you went to the one I wasn't able to make. Sonofabitch.gif

See you at Shelton ;)
 

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