Great American Beer Festival

Thursdays the BottleBlog will feature an update on various exciting things going on at Joe Canal's: Reports of our travels, special event coverage, and more! Today we travel with Tom and Ryan Broderick to Denver, CO for the Great American Beer Festival, held on September 16th - 19th, 2010.

Immediately after landing at Denver International Airport, the first thing on their agenda was to try the legendary New Belgium Fat Tire on tap. They both agreed that it’s definitely one of the most balanced and easy-drinking beers they’ve tried. It doesn’t get too malty or hoppy and stays simple enough to be thirst quenching and pleasing to drink. After checking into the Brown Palace Hotel Tom and Ryan ate dinner at the Ship Tavern on the first floor of the hotel. Despite the fact they were famous for the prime rib, Tom couldn’t pass on pairing an Odell’s 90 Schilling (a roasty, nutty amber ale) with fresh Rocky Mountain trout and almondine. Ryan paired Great Divide’s Titan IPA with a filet mignon. “To me, IPA’s and good steaks are the best combination.” –Ryan Broderick

After dinner, they relaxed at a nearby bar and sampled a few beers that aren’t often on tap in Jersey. They drank and snacked at the Cheeky Monk Belgian Beer Café, one of the “coolest” restaurants they have been to. There, they met three great brewmasters: Sam Calagione (Dogfish Head Brewery), Bill Covaleski (Victory Brewing), and Greg Koch (Stone Brewing Co.). They enjoyed tasting each respective breweies’ versions of Saison du Buff and noticing the differences between them, despite the recipes being the same.

At the festival itself, there were countless amounts of breweries from all over the country. It was a true testament to the major growth of craft beers in recent years. While they enjoyed sampling from familiar breweries such as Dogfish Head, Allagash, Founders, Victory, Stone, Troegs, Oscar Blues and Lagunitas, they took particular interest in hitting the breweries we don’t see in Jersey, like Deschutes, Three Floyds, Russian River, Goose Island, The Lost Abbey, Dry Dock (which was a relatively unknown brewery that won several awards), Tommyknocker, AleSmith and others. They had the pleasure of tasting Deschutes’ The Abyss for the first time – one of the most sought-after and highest rated Russian Imperial Stouts in the world. “Believe the hype,” Tom recommends.

Other highlights: Dogfish seemed to have had the longest line in the entire event, as they were pouring a lot of brewpub-only beers, such as Portamarillo, an imperial porter fermented with Brazilian rapadura sugar, and GraintoGlass. Troegs’ “Flying Mouflan” won the award for best Barleywine style. Goose Island won the bronze medal for their Bourbon County Stout, a bourbon-barrel aged imperial stout, which Ryan declared as“…probably the best stout I’ve ever tried.” Founders was pouring their Canadian Breakfast Stout, which is an entirely different monster from KBS, but outstanding in it’s own right. On the Canadian Breakfast, Tom said, “Aging a coffee stout in maple bourbon barrels tastes as good as it sounds – it was the smoothest stout I’ve ever tried.” Russian River Brewing Co. was also a hotspot of the fest, and the brothers tried Pliny the Younger – easily the best IPA Tom has ever had.

Tom and Ryan had a great time seeing where all the breweries came from, as so much of the United States was represented. From Allagash Brewery up in Maine, to Saint Arnold Brewing Co. in Texas, to Alaskan Brewing Co. in Alaska – it was amazing to see award-winning, quality beer come from so many different states. Overall, it was an incredibly special experience for industry experts and beer fans alike.