RFD Strong Beer Tasting
Sunday, February 26, 2012
door open at 2:00 p.m. - tasting begins at 3:00 p.m.
&
Wednesday, 29, 2012
doors open at 6:00 p.m. - tasting begins at 7:00 p.m.

www.lovethebeer.com/events

Host Bob Tupper will lead us through a lineup of more than ten beers each night, from barleywines to Double IPAs, Imperial Stouts to Belgian Style ales. Each night will feature a different selection of beers and brewers! As always, the brewers themselves will be there to talk about their concoctions and answer your questions about their craft. Tickets are only $40 each night ($50 at the door), or get a pass for both nights for only $70!

President's Day Barlywine Bash at DuPont Circle
February 19 - 20, 2012

www.eatyourpizza.com

Anchor, Old Foghorn; BrewDog, Divine Rebel; Brooklyn, Monster; De Molen, Bommen & Granaten; Dogfish Head, Olde School; Emillesse, Barley Wine; Evil Twin, Fruedian Slip; Flying Dog, Horndog; Harpoon, Triticus; Heavy Seas, Bourbon Barrel Aged Below Decks; Heavy Seas, Cabernet Barrel Aged Below Decks; JW Lees, Harvest; JW Lees, Port Barrel Aged Harvest Ale; JW Lees, Sherry Barrel Aged Harvest Ale; Left Hand, Widdershins; Mikkeller/Three Floyds, Boogoop; Nogne O, Sunturnbrew; Pretty Things, Our Finest Regards; Sierra Nevada, Bigfoot.

The Hand Crafted Tasting Co. is proud to announce its inaugural NYC American Craft Beer Festival at the Lexington Ave Armory (68 Lexington Ave) in Manhattan on Saturday, March 3, 2012.

The NYC American Craft Beer festival is a true celebration of the American craft beer experience. We have invited 75 of this country’s best craft brewers to come together at one time, in one place, so you can sample a careful selection of the best seasonal brews they have to offer!

Hours

Session I

VIP/Connoisseurs Hour: 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
General Admission: 1:30 PM - 4:00 PM

Session II
VIP/Connoisseurs Hour: 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
General Admission: 7:00 PM - 9:30 PM

GRAND TASTING:

From the established craft brewers to the mid-majors and up-and comers, the diversity and creativity of the American Craft Brewing Community has proven to be limitless. For our Grand Tasting, we will be featuring an extensive variety of these artisanally produced creations from America’s Top Breweries. Nearly 75 participating breweries from across the country are each expected to showcase 2 of their finest offerings (about 150 beers total) with a strong emphasis on their Limited Release and Seasonal selections. Taste the flavors of the season in liquid form.
We also expect to have exciting representatives from the Home Brewers Community in attendance.

CONNOISSEUR CLUB:

A very limited access lounge area in which to relax with flowing taps of some perennial favorites highlighted by a select grouping of extremely rare and limited offerings. This area will be available to our Connoisseurs for the full 3 1/2 hour session. Connoisseurs will also have the opportunity to mingle in this relaxed environment with brewery representatives and industry experts. Light fare and music included.

Tickets

SAVOR Ticket Sale Dates

-American Homebrewers Association and Brewers Association Member Presale:
Tuesday, April 3 – 10:00 a.m. MST

-General Public Ticket Sale:
Thursday, April 5 – 10:00 a.m. MST

A limited supply of tickets will be available for presale exclusively to members of the American Homebrewers Association and the Brewers Association beginning April 3. The presale will be available for members until the end of day Wednesday, April 4 or until all presale tickets are sold. The remaining tickets will be available for the general public beginning April 5.

All tickets to SAVOR 2012 will be made available via Ticketmaster.

Ticket Prices

1. SAVOR General Admission Ticket (Friday OR Saturday): $120 (limit of 4 per night, per customer)
2. SAVOR Salon & Private Tasting Tickets: $30 (General Admission ticket purchase required. Limit of 4 per customer.)

General admission tickets to SAVOR include the following:

• Craft beer and food pairings—a variety of small plate food items and two-ounce tastings of nearly 150 different craft beers specifically paired to illustrate how well craft beer and food complement one another.
• Unlimited non-alcoholic beverages.
• A variety of artisan cheese samples provided by members of the American Cheese Society.
• A variety of oysters on the half shell provided by The Choptank Oyster Company.
• The opportunity to meet and talk with the owners/head brewers of the 74 participating craft breweries.
• A commemorative tasting glass.
• An event program with room for tasting notes.
• A commemorative limited edition beer to take home.

Does a Post on Wine Get Me Kicked Out of the Club?

My dad and I made a trip out to Hunter Valley today. It's a few hour drive from Sydney and if you're a wine drinker, it is certainly worth the drive. I've never been to Napa Valley but it is what I would imagine Napa Valley is; you drive 100 feet and you end up at the next vineyard. We had 3 wine tastings on the trip (someone else was driving). The first stop was at Brokenwood. We tried a couple different semillons, which were very light in flavor and a little acidic. Both are great for a hot summer day and pair well with seafood. We also tried a chardonnay stored in Australian(?) Oak as opposed to American Oak. The flavor of the oak was much less pronounced; something I found to benefit the wine. We went through a couple reds that were honestly forgettable and finished with a port. The port was fantastic. Unfortunately, you can't purchase this port in the US and I'm not about to lug a bottle of wine around with me on vacation. It had a great sweet flavor to it. Almost too sweet, but not. It'd be perfect to finish dinner. The next tasting we had was with lunch. I can't remember the vineyard and no one really spoke to us about the wines. Straight up forgettable. Moving on…. We then went to Oakvale. I enjoyed a couple wines this vineyard served. There was a semillon sauvignon blanc (mixture of the semillon and sauvignon blanc) that gave a bit more body to the semillon without adding too much of a different flavor. I would buy a bottle of this wine. There was also a chambourcin that was made of the chambourcin grapes. Apparently, these particular grapes press with such a red color that the wine doesn't have to be fermented with the skin and seeds. This means there are less tannins in the resulting product…less pucker and less headache. I enjoyed the flavor of the wine in general so I think I would try this guy again given the opportunity. The last wine that we tried was a muscat. It was quite similar to the port in that it was very sweet and a great after dinner wine. I think I enjoyed this more than the port though because there were notes of raisins in this wine that were quite prevalent. You got the taste of fruit cake, which you may think is gross but isn't so bad when you're drinking this wine. I will likely order some wines from the Brokenwood vineyard as they have a distributor in the US and the order process seems to be pretty straight forward. Let me know if you'd be interested in getting in on my order.
Cheers,
Tim

James Squires Amber Ale

I'm drinking a James Squires Amber Ale right now. I asked for a nice local brew at this pub in Sydney Harbor...I didn't get a good look from the bartender so it worried me a bit that they didn't have any good brewers here. I would expect otherwise. Anyway, I ended up with this ale. It's got a nice, full body with a slightly bitter flavor and a dry finish. It's nice. I'd have it again but I wouldn't go out of my way to get it. Good session ale.
Cheers for now,
Tim

Monteith's Original Ale

I was told that the beer to try while in Auckland is Monteith's. I tried their Original Ale while I was out for Thai that night. It tasted a bit thin for what I would want. I had hoped for something a little heartier. I suppose there is a Dark that I could try. I'm not sure whether it's a porter or a stout but I would imagine it has a fuller body. The bartender in the Ice House that I'd visited earlier that day, and, yes, the bar was made of ice, had suggested Monteith's. Side note: the Ice House was pretty neat. I would have gotten a picture but I wasn't allowed a camera inside and I didn't really want to pay $10 for a photo. Anyway, Monteith's is worth a try if you find yourself in Auckland.
Cheers,
Tim

Another St. Louis Field Trip

This past Saturday, the St. Louis crew took another field trip. This time we went to the Urban Chestnut Brewing Company. UCBC was founded almost 1 year ago and has gone from brewing once every other week to three or four times per week. They are located in an old car repair garage from the 1920's, and have recently expanded through a couple walls so they can start bottling their beers. All of their beers fall into one of two families: Revolution and Reverence. The Revolution series is all about brewing new and interesting modern American beers like Hoppy von Pilsmark (a German Pilsner hopped up to be a DIPA). The Reverence series is a celebration of classic European styles like Zwickel (classic German lager) and Apotheosis (Saison). We were also fortunate to be able to try their new single hop IPA straight from the tank.