GABF

Great American Beer Festival 2008
Colorado Convention Center
Denver, Colorado









The biggest beer festival in American brought a line of people that wrapped around the whole convention center 6-8 people wide. We arrived 45 minutes before the start and walked and walked to find the end of the line. Once the doors opened though, the line moved fast--we were inside in about 45 minutes.











Inside it was 400 breweries and 1,800 beers to taste and a ton of people. The largest lines appeared at Lost Abbey, Dogfish Head, Russian River, New Glarius, Oskar Blues, Three Floyds and Stone. Very limited beers and not available in Missouri at this time.









A picture of super brewer, Garrett Oliver, of Brooklyn Brewery pouring some of his fantastic beers and a picture of the Dogfish Head booth. I concentrated on trying the many sought after beers that we cannot get in St. Louis. Beers we eventually hope to bring in to our stores in the future. There was also a lot of people in line to try the Boulevard Smokestack Saison-Brett.








Friday we went to visit to a few breweries in the area. We had a great tour at Left Hand Brewery and saw the whole operation. They were in the process of smoking the malted barley (great aroma) for their Smoke Jumper Porter to be released this November. They only make this beer every other year and you will be able to get it this year at TWCP stores.
We also took a tour of the revolutionary brewery Oskar Blues and met the owner Dale, yes of Dale's Pale. Oskar Blues is the first craft beer to produce their beer in cans. They just installed a state of the art canning system which many other breweries are checking out. Watch for many other craft breweries following their lead and canning their beer. We just started receiving New Belgium Fattire in cans a few weeks ago. Oskar Blues is the place to work, they have a basketball court and batting cage inside the brewery for the employees. It was an amazing place. Check out the palates of empty cans waiting to be filled.












Wynkoop Brewery
We also had a great lunch at Wynkoop Brewery and a tour with Charlie Berger who used to be at Missouri's own O'Fallon brewery and is now brewing at Wynkoop. We tasted many of their great beers including the Obamanator -- which they brewed for the Democratic Convention.

You can check out all of the winners on

BeerNews.org

Another Signature Ale

This is another collaboration with De Proef (see previous post)
At all four of our stores now!!!

Collaboration with Tom Arthur, the head brewery,
at The Lost Abbey and Port Brewing.


De Proef Signature Ale...$13.99 / 750ml

"A unique collaboration with noted San Diego brewer Tomme Arthur. A complex hybrid of aggressively hopped west coast IPA, combined with traditional Belgian brettanomyces fermentation. Strong citrus hop notes followed by hints of sourness and delicate spice and a long fimish. July 2007 selection - Michael Jackson's Rare Beer club. 94 points - World Beer Championships." - importer


Original Gravity: 1076
IBU's: 45-50
ABV: 8.5%

Some new ones...

New Beers that just arrived at Forsyth.

Eggenberg Doppelbock

BFM Abbaye de Saint Bon Chien 2006 Vintage

(we also have the 2007 on the shelf)

"Boldly treading the boundary between port, wine and beer, l'Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien is a unique ale aged in wooden casks which have been used for several years before to age Merlot, Merlot Cabernet, Whisky and then Grappa. It manages to merge into L'Abbaye all the complex aromas of a vintage red wine along with the delicate harmony and flavors of the wood and its former contents. This process requires close monitoring of the beer's evolution. The final version is blended from different casks, to ensure optimal balance, complexity and enjoyment! A mere one thousand bottles have been earmarked for the US market in 2006. [Thus named in fond memory of Bon-Chien, the late brewery cat, deceased in June 2005, whose antics were very popular with brewery visitors]" -- importer

Left Hand Blackjack Porter

"A traditional London style beer, our Black Jack Porter highlights chocolate malt and Kent Goldings hops. Its slight initial sweetness quickly yields to the distinctive roastiness of the chocolate malt. The Kent Goldings hops perfectly balance the malt, making it very smooth, with a surprisingly clean finish." -- brewery

Arcadia Imperial Stout

"Black as coal in color, this bottle conditioned Stout has a velvety rich and sweet malt aroma. After pouring, a dense brown head gives way to a big, full-bodied and creamy texture that has flavors of roasted coffee and black currants, blending perfectly with the malt. A generous amount of hops add balance and complexity to this extraordinary stout that will continue to improve with age. A worthy beer to cellar and enjoy throughout the year." -- Brewery

Dansk Mjod Viking Blod

"Mead is probably the oldest known alcoholic beverage in the world. From Europe to Australia mead has been a popular drink, dating back to long before Viking Times....Our products are brewed based on a recipe from about year 1700, and the ingredients are pure and 100 pct. natural - guaranteed free from additives of any kind. Honey is the major and most important item in the recipe." -- brewery

De Dolle Oerbier

This is their fall seasonal

"Oerbier means original, from the spring. This beer has been brewed in small scale (5 gallons) at home in a copper wash kettle, by two brothers who were students at the time. They took over an old brewery which was out of business and said: "If we don't remake the brewery alive, nobody will!". It was also a unique opportunity to create some interesting brews, so why not try it ? Therefore we want and will do the main work ourselves and keep the scale of the brewery like it was. Since then, the brewery and its beers have been an inspiration source for a lot of brewers. Oerbier is brewed from no less than 6 malts." -- importer