Last Call
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Honestly, I was not ready to go when “Last Call” was announced. I still had beers on my list to try, I hadn’t attended enough seminars, and brewers were still telling stories.
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Reflecting on my time in Denver, I realized the GABF for many is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. However, because I live in the northwest, I am lucky that the world of craft beer is large and some of the best breweries in the country are in our region. Besides the 16 Treasure Valley breweries, there are a lot of local beer festivals. You don’t have to travel outside the valley to immerse yourself in the craft beer culture. Anytime you want to learn more about craft beer, you can visit one of the local breweries and talk to one of the brewers; you’ll be amazed what the art of craft beer involves.
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If you want to learn more about craft beer through home brewing, there are many homebrew stores in our area and a huge home brewing community (click here for more information). Start brewing now, and you may be the next Pro-Am medal winner!
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Remember, to keep current on the local craft beer scene, always check Boise Beer Buddies first!
The Brewers Association is a not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent American brewers, their beers and the community of brewing enthusiasts. Without the support of the Brewers Association, the GABF and THE world of craft beer would not be the same. Thanks, Brewers Association!
STAY TUNED!
The Great American Beer Festival...
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Through The
Eyes of a Junkie
by: Dmitri Vidergar
Idaho Breweries
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Eight breweries represented the Gem State at the GABF this year: Boise Brewing, Payette Brewing, Slanted Rock Brewing, and Sockeye Brewing from the Treasure Valley, and Grand Teton Brewing (Victor), Post Falls Brewery (Post Falls), Rants And Raves Brewery (Moscow), and Kootenai River Brewing (Bonners Ferry) from the rest of the state. Two won medals: Boise Brewing for their Black Cliffs American-Style Stout and Kootenai River Brewing Company for their McGreagor Scottish Ale. Way to go, Idaho!
Pro-Am Competition
The Pro-Am competition annually judges homebrew recipes created by amateur brewers who join forces with professional brewers to create original recipes. This year’s medal winners were:
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Gold to Just Rye’te brewed by Clifton Ellis and Panther Island Brewing Co in Fort Worth, Texas.
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Silver to Vernal Equinox brewed by Gary Layton and Starr Hill Brewery, Crozet, Virginia.
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Bronze to The Kolsch Experiment brewed by Shawn Miller and the Altitude Chophouse and Brewery in Laramie, Wyoming.
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Notable from our region was Wee Heavy, a Scotch Ale brewed by Rob Wick and Reuben’s Brews in Washington.
Food Pairing
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This session married the food junkie with the craft beer junkie. Twenty-two stations offered pairings of craft beer and exquisitely prepared food that complemented the flavors of both. Dishes ranged from salads to desserts. The chefs, and in most cases the brewers, were on-hand to answer questions about the ensemble of matched flavors. As I tasted and tried to take notes, I thought about the potential to take many of these concepts back to Boise to create pairings of my own. A few of my favorites included:
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Ninkasi Total Domination IPA from Eugene, Oregon, paired with smoked brisket pastrami, sauerkraut aioli, and rye crumbles from Tim Rattray of The Granary ‘Cue & Brew in San Antonio, Texas.
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New Orleans Lager and Ale Brewery Rebirth Pale Ale out of Louisiana paired with scallop ceviche and charred tomato salsa from Fanscisco Millan of Row 34 in Boston, Massachusetts.
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Real Ale Brewing Co barrel-aged 20th Anniversary Ale from Blanco, Texas paired with tete de pho banh mi made by Nathan Anda: of the Red Apron in Washington, DC.
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Also of note was an outstanding blended sour-style beer from The Lost Abby Brewery in San Marcos, California, crafted from 40 different individual beers it was truly one-of-a-kind.
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And from our region, the Grand Teton Brewing Co in Victor, Idaho, paired their barrel-aged Brett Saison with Emerson oysters on the half shell from Jax Fish House in Denver, Colorado!
The Milk Stout Highway
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My milk stout quest guided my 2-day journey through the GABF that would have otherwise taken months of travel (probably longer considering the many distractions) across the United States. In total, I tasted beers from nine different regions and 61 breweries and savored 19 milk stouts along the way! My short list for favorite milk stouts includes:
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4 Hands Brewing Chocolate Milk Stout – St. Louis, Missouri,
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Boxing Bear Brewing Chocolate Milk Stout – Albuquerque, New Mexico (Sweet Stout or Cream Stout GABF Gold Medal),
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Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro – Longmont, Colorado),
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Belching Beaver Peanut Butter Milk Stout – Vista, California, and
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Tailgate Beer Peanut Butter Milk Stout – Nashville, Tennessee
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Of those on my short list, the Chocolate Milk Stout from Boxing Bear and the Peanut Butter Milk Stout from Tailgate Beer are my favorites. Boxing Bears’ Milk Stout also won a gold at the World Beer Cup earlier this year and I can see why with the smooth taste of this stout and lightly sweetened with all natural coco nibs. The peanut butter in Tailgates’ Milk Stout really balanced well and gave the extra wow to this beer. If you put a pint of any of these stouts in front of me, however, I would savor every drop!
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Along my journey, I found a few other favorites outside the milk stout category that must be mentioned:
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O’Bay is a delightful ale from the relatively new Waverly Brewing Company in Baltimore, Maryland. Tasting this beer caused me to reminisce about my favorite homebrew recipe – Holiday Cheer from the classic book The Complete Joy of Homebrewing (Papazian, [Avon], 1984).
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Maibock from Blind Tiger Brewery and Restaurant in Topeka, Kansas. This beer is very well balanced. I could have sat down in the middle of the noisy crowd and found my happy place while enjoying a pint of it.
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Grapefruit Sculpin IPA from Ballast Point Brewing in San Diego, California. Maybe it’s the appearance (including the artwork) or balance of citrus in the hops, but to me, this IPA has the perfect aroma, mouthfeel, and taste in the huge world of IPAs.
Craft beer junkie. The personality test was conclusive. Accepting my diagnosis, I put my adventuresome spirit for craft beers to the test and planned to attend one of the largest beer festival in the world – the Great American Beer Festival (GABF).
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Being a first-timer, I wanted to take in as much as possible, so I spent several months becoming more familiar with the DNA of this event. The GABF has called Denver, Colorado, home for most of its 30 years. While the iconic aspens change color and elk bugle not far away, beer enthusiasts enjoy the “world” of craft beer in the Mile High City for three days usually in early October. The event is divided into 4-hour evening sessions Thursday through Saturday, with one morning session on Saturday. Individual tickets provided admission to one session. This year boasted the largest attendance to date with over 60,000 people, tickets sold out in just over an hour!
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In total, there were 780 breweries (eight from Idaho), 7,227 beers in the competition, and over 286 medals awarded. For those who wanted more than just a tasting, other events included food pairing, a Brewers Studio to meet the brewers, the annual Pro-Am homebrewers competition , booths and information from local brewery and state guilds, the Beer Geek Bookstore, Beer X: CraftBeer.com (educational and interactive stations), a silent disco, and an encore of select 2015 award-winning beers.
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Inside the GABF, the hall was divided into eight U.S. regions (Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Rocky Mountain, New England, Pacific, Pacific Northwest, Southeast, and Southwest) along with the Brewers Studio, Pro-Am competition, guilds, etc. (To visualize the scale, see map.)
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As a first-timer “training” for the festival, these statistics were staggering, not to mention the size of the venue the Denver Convention Center is 90 times the square footage of the Grove Convention Center. At times the lines (and crowd) resembled the size, excitement, and anticipation of a summer crowd at Disney World or the Super Bowl. My plan was to focus on the 22 "official" milk stouts at the festival, but I also wanted to absorb as much of the GABF spirit as possible.