GABF Report

My first time at the Great American Beer Festival was awesomer than awesome can be. Mad props to Kate, Jim, and Jason for shelling out the $45 per ticket for the outing. Some of my favorite parts of the evening:

• Stone Brewing had a festival booth, and I took full advantage to try everything they had to offer. I was stoked to taste their 11th Anniversary Ale for the first time, but the best of the bunch was the Ruination IPA. I had once tried this premium beer in bottled form (which set me back over $16 for a six-pack), but it's absolutely amazing on tap. It's like a clown car of hops--you don't know how they all got in there, but you're smiling too much to care.
• We also had the distinct privilege of tasting Samuel Adam's Utopias, a premium barley wine that weighs in at a record-breaking 25% ABV. This is legendary stuff. It sells for over $200 a bottle on eBay, is illegal in 14 states, and has kicked the asses of both Chuck Norris and Jack Bauer. I've only tried a few barley wines in my day, probably because most of them tasted like someone dropped a vodka-infused Tootsie roll in a beer and left it in a dark corner for 6 months. Not Utopias. Sweet yet refined, intensely aromatic, hints of plum and toffee... simply sublime. By the time we went back for a second round, it was gone. Gone, but not forgotten. I'll probably still be talking about it next year.
• Arbor Brewing's Espresso Love Breakfast Stout was a notably tasty treat. It tastes just like chocolate-covered espresso beans.

There were plenty of other good brews, but as I was drinking a ton of beer and not taking notes, a few details have escaped me. If you plan on going with me to next year's shindig, here are some lessons that I've learned for next time:

• Take notes. You'll look like an ass, but part of the $45 investment is to find some good beers to buy the week after.
• Bring snacks. Those homemade pretzel necklaces are pretty ingenious.
• Have a tasting plan. Imagine tasting a barley wine, then an IPA, then a stout, then a wit, then repeating the whole process. It can really make that first sip pretty weird. It's tough to avoid wanting the closest beer in sight, but I might try to plan a loose progression of beer styles next time.
• Expect a stomachache.

-Jon