Fall Brewfest
October 22 - 23, 2011

Fall barley feels like fall without an excellent brew. If you're foaming for a great drink, don't lose your head, just hops on over to the Northern Virginia Brewfest with today's high-gravity deal: Pour out $10 and pick up a ticket good for Saturday, October 22 or Sunday, October 23 (a $20 value). Held in the gorgeous Bull Run Park in Centreville, this festival will cure what ales you. Taste from more than 40 of the world's best breweries, including local favorites DC Brau -- your admission includes a commemorative glass and tickets for four tastings. Tap into micro, craft, and big name brews while checking out crafts, vendors, live music, and more. This is the event all of NOVA will be buzzing about.

Location:
7700 Bull Run Drive
Centreville, VA 20121

Cost: $10.00 with the livingsocial.com groupon
http://livingsocial.com/deals/138597?ctr=32&msdc_id=229

September Meeting

Today was our inaugural multi-location meeting.  It took place over our excellent telecommunications equipment in the office and turned out to be quite successful.  Check these from our meeting.Today was our inaugural multi-location meeting.  It took place over our excellent telecommunications equipment in the office and turned out to be quite successful.  Check these from our meeting.

Up Close and Personal

Ever wonder what a beer stain looks like up close?

Gluten-free Beer

The ingredients in beer can sometimes be incompatible with a persons diet or even dangerous to their health. Brewer's yeast can interact with medications causing hypertensive crisis. Hops, too, can cause some complications when the consumer takes certain medications. Ethanol itself if a toxin. But barley is where I want to focus this post.

Barley contains a protein, gluten, that cause an allergic response in some people. Those people typical suffer from Celiac's disease, which is an autoimmune disorder of the small intestine. Symptoms include rashes, itching, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and malnutrition. There is currently no cure for Celiac's disease, but it can be managed through dietary changes. Pizza, pasta, and generally foods containing barley, rye, or wheat trigger an allergic response in those with Celiac's. Many low-gluten and gluten-free substitutes are available. Gluten-free options for beer are seeing their way to your grocer's shelves. Are they any good? I don't know. I haven't tried any. But they are a great option for beer lovers who tend to be allergic to beer.

If you think you may be allergic to beer or for more information on Celiac's disease, check these resources.

Celiac.com
Mayo Clinic

August Beer Club Meeting

We lived it up this month with attorneys and other high-end rollers at Chef Geoff's in McLean. Surrounded by Tiffany's and Hermes, Chef Geoff's drew us in with its affluent appeal and superfluous selection of suds. The menu offered beers in two sizes: pint glass and massive mug. See the photos for examples. If you're fortunate enough to get our waitress you can get extra pint glasses with your mug to share more drinks for less money. My drink list for the evening included 3 delicious brews: Founder's Dirty Bastard, Red Seal Ale, and a white ale. I would recommend all, but my favorite was the Red Seal Ale closely followed by the Dirty Bastard. Plenty selections on the menu remain to be sampled so I will go back.  I would recommended taking the taps at this tavern for a test drive.  Happy Drinking!

Colorado Beers

Just spent 10 days in Colorado. Here is what I remember.

Great Divide: Average IPA, not much to talk about
Backcountry Brewery: Good Amber, Pretty Good Saison (talked to the brewmaster a little at the bar)
New Belgium: Fat Tire Amber (pretty good, this is a great choice in Colorado since you can find it just about any restaurant you go to, it's as common as Bud), 1554 Black Ale pretty good
Odells: Average amber, pretty good 5 Barrel Pale Ale
Ouray Brewery: Average IPA but great views from roof top seating

Who's Coming With Me?

Upon reading a report from this year's hacker conference DEFCON 19, I learned that the con hosts a competition that has nothing to do with computers. They hold a contest in beer chilling. The contest is to see who can chill a beer from Las Vegas summer outdoor temperatures to a nice, drinkable temp. I don't yet know the rules but I'm excited to see more about these contraptions. When I read about this year's devices I started thinking about how I could get in to this. I found a video from DEFCON 17 showing some of the fun. I have 2 questions for you.

1) Are you up to the challenge of chilling a beer in the matter of seconds (I'm looking your way, Lindemuth)?

2) Who's coming with me to next year's DEFCON?