Over Hyped Pliny (drink local)

So, I had Pliny the Elder last night.

You know Pliny, right? Russian River's Pliny the Elder has won the top spot on Zymurgy's Beer in America list for 6 consecutive years. It is one of those beers, at least here in Colorado, that is popular enough and rare enough to find that when it is on tap somewhere, it doesn't last long.

Beer geeks love Pliny the Elder.

I love Pliny the Elder. I think it is a wonderful double IPA. It is crisp and clean with just the right mouth-feel. It is wonderfully hoppy both in flavor and in aroma. It has everything a West-Coast IPA should have.

But, gosh I think it is over hyped.

One of my first Zymurgy BBIA posts was about Pliny. I wrote at the time that I didn't think this was the best beer in America. I don't really mean that as an insult. It certainly deserves to be mentioned among the best beers in America.

My Thanksgiving Beer Lineup

Merry Thanksgiving everybody!

Thanksgiving is obviously a big food holiday. For me, it is also a beer holiday. As you may or may not know, beer is a far superior drink with which to pair food than any other alcoholic beverage. Over the course of the day, I am likely to try a few.

In addition to various SheppyBrew beers I have on tap, I also have bottled beers that I'm likely to drink today.

Lagunitas Sucks

It doesn't, you know.

Lagunitas doesn't suck.

There is a story behind Lagunitas Sucks Brown Shugga’ Substitute. Lagunitas has a wildly popular Christmas seasonal called Brown Shugga'. It is a pretty big beer at about 10% abv. In 2011, Lagunitas was going through expansion construction at the brewery, and some brewing equipment was late arriving. As I remember the story, since Brown Shugga' was a such a big beer, it tied up the equipment more than Lagunitas could spare, so they were not able to get it out as a seasonal that year.

But, they had to get some seasonal out, and so they made Lagunitas Sucks to substitute for Brown Shugga'. The name is sort of an apology to fans of their regular seasonal. I don't think anyone actually thought that this was Lagunita's fault. The name was just a joke ... the beer company making fun of itself.

Friday Night #GABF

The Beer Model and I attended the Great American Beer Festival last night.

Great Festival as always.

You probably remember from yesterday, that we went in with a "plan".

We got there late because of having to drop off the kids and taking a new light-rail route with which we were a bit unfamiliar. The nice thing about getting there late is that the line is practically gone. I didn't really feel like we missed all that much either.

I didn't start off with E16 Russian River Brewing Company, but I did come around to it eventually to check Supplication off my my Best Beers in America List. I got lucky on the line and it only took me 4 minutes to get to the front. I have a feeling that the line would have been longer at the beginning of the night, so for this beer, it was a blessing in disguise to get to the festival late. I do think that Supplication was the best sour that I had all night. And I had several.

2014 #GABF Friday Night Plan

I always go into the Great American Beer Fest with a game plan. I think the main reason is that 600 different breweries in one place is sort of intimidating. Having a plan helps me stay focused and I think it enhances my beer fest enjoyment.

This year, my wife has taken the time to do a "plan" so part of my plan is to go where she wants to go. I guess that is fair considering most years I get to dictate where we go during the fest.

Unfortunately, her plan involves Pumpkin Beers. Berry Beers. Cream Beers. And Peanut Butter Beers.

Can you imagine having to drink several different Pumpkin beers in one night? Yeesh!

So, here is my plan ...

Getting ready for the 2014 #GABF

It should come as no surprise to you that I am attending this year's Great American Beer Fest. I am, in fact, fortunate enough to have tickets for both myself and my wife to attend Friday Night and Saturday Afternoon (the members-only session).

I don't really have a plan this year. Maybe one will formulate before Friday.

The beers at the festival were released just a couple hours ago. I have not spent a whole lot of time looking at it, but I did check the beers left on my (Zymurgy's) Best Beer in America list. Of the beers that I still need to try on the list, only Russian River Supplication will be served at the festival.

Generally speaking, I tend to stay away from long lines at GABF, and usually Russian River has one of the longest lines. I am trying to decide if it is worth the effort to check off one beer if I have to wait in this long line.

I guess we will have to wait and see what I decide.

Still left on "my" list:

#5. The Alchemist Heady Topper ... Brewery will not be at GABF
#6. Lagunitas Sucks ... Have a bottle at home
#28 Russian River Pliney Younger ... not on the beer list
#30 Russian River Supplication ... The only beer on this list at GABF ... E16
#39 (Tie). Russian River Consecration ... Have a bottle at home
#39 (Tie) Troegs Nugget Nector ... Brewery at U25, but this beer is not on the list
#49 (Tie). Founder's Backwoods Bastard ... Brewery will not be at GABF

All Day IPA

Well, if you follow this blog, you probably know about Zymurgy's 2014 Best Beers in America list. When I last blogged about this list, I mentioned:

"To be honest, I picked up another one of these in Florida. I'll "officially" check it off the list after I blog about it."

Here I am blogging about it. The beer I picked up in Florida was Founders All Day IPA.

It sort of sucks that Colorado doesn't get Founders beers, when Florida does. I am not going to complain about it, though. It is what it is, as they say. At least I was able to pick this up.

Jai Alai IPA

Cigar City Brewing doesn't distribute to Colorado. It always has a huge line at GABF. I have a policy of trying to avoid huge lines, so I've never had Cigar City beers there. In fact, when Zymurgy's 2014 Best Beers in America list came out (see my blog post of the same name), I had never had one of their beers at all. Ever.

Cigar City Brewing does appear to be wildly popular. I always felt I should try it some time.

And this year, Cigar City's Jai Alai IPA made the list at #42.

My wife's family gets together every 2 years for a week or so for a family reunion. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you may realize that this is the reunion that inspired the T.Ra.Sh. Mexican Lager. As luck would have it, this year's reunion was in Florida. I'm not a fan of visiting Florida in the summer, but this time it works out for my quest. I was able to pick up and try the Jai Alai.

Zymurgy's 2014 Best Beers in America

Well, I mentioned just a few days ago that Zymurgy’s 2014 Best Beers in America came out. At the time, I had only seen it in the e-Magazine and had not found the web page on the AHA website. Now I have seen the AHA web page.

Here is the link:

Zymurgy’s 2014 Best Beers in America

I also mentioned that I had not really done much with the 2013 list (see How I ended up on my list). I started out with 11 beers on the list that I had never tried. I still have 6 left. I guess that is ok, but a little disappointing compared to 2012 where I ended up only with 2 on my not-tried list.

Personally, I think the list should be called "Most Popular Beers in America", because it really is a popularity contest. Zymurgy readers get to vote on the list. In fact, if you want to see what I voted for, see My Best Beers in America. Most of mine did not make the final list, but that is ok.

How I ended up on my list

Well, Zymurgy's 2014 Best Beers in America list came out yesterday.

I didn't really do much with the 2013 list. When I posted Zymurgy's 2013 Best Beers in America, there were 11 beers on the list that I had never tried.

Now, I still have 6 beers left. Most of them are on the 2014 list as well, and I'm not sure I'll have any better luck getting to them this year than I did last year.

Here are the 2013 beers that I still have not tried:

T9. Lagunitas Sucks (on 2014 list as well)  16. The Alchemist Heady Topper (on 2014 list) T27. Troegs Nugget Nectar. (on 2014 list)  31. Russian River Consecration (on 2014 list)  T32. Russian River Supplication (on 2014 list)          45. Firestone Walker Parabola  

My Best Beers in America

If you follow this blog at all, you probably know that every year I seek out beers I have not had on Zymurgy's Best Beer in America list. Sometimes I even tell you about the beers and/or my progress (see http://blog.ericshepard.com/search/label/Zymurgy%20BBIA). I voted for the list a couple years ago, but missed the voting last year.

I actually voted for this year's list a couple days ago. I even posted on the SheppyBrew Facebook Wall that I would share my vote ... so here we go.

Against the Grain

I keep meaning to do more posts for "The Session" (aka Beer Blogging Friday), but I keep not getting around to it. Maybe I'll be better in 2014.

In case you have no idea what I'm talking about,  "The Session" is simply an opportunity once a month for beer bloggers from around the world to get together and write from their own unique perspective on a single topic. Each month, a different beer blogger hosts the Session, chooses a topic and creates a round-up listing all of the participants.

If you want to know more ... feel free to visit Brookston Beer Bulletin and read about "The Sessions".

Anyway, the first topic of 2014 comes from Rebecca at The Bake and Brew. In her article, Announcement! The Session #83 – Against the Grain, she asks ....

"How much is our taste or opinion of a craft beer affected by what friends and the craft beer community at large thinks? What beer do you love that no one else seems to get? Or what beer do you say “no thanks” to that everyone can’t get enough of?"

Interest topic ... right? Personally, I think there is lots of "peer pressure" in the craft beer community.

2013 #GABF Friday Night

I survived my first night of GABF. Not only did I survive, but I think I did pretty well in regards to My Friday Night #GABF Plan. Surprisingly, my wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model) agreed to go separately to the Convention Center. She dropped off the kids and I got into the festival line before the place opened. Now I owe her one.

I think this is actually the first time I got into line before the doors opened. I got sort of antsy not moving. I think it is better just to get there after the line starts to move. You get in a little later, but you don't have to wait as much.

This was not part of the original plan, but my first stop was AC Golden. I know that being owned by Coors, they are not technically considered a Craft Brewery but I like their beers generally and I keep hearing about how wonderful their sours are. There, I had American Wild Ale, which I thought was a fantastic sour ale; Peche, which was a great peach flavored sour; and their IPL, which was also awesome. I also hit Asher Brewing Company, which was right there.

My Friday Night #GABF Plan

If you've been following my blog over the past couple days, you know I've started to formulate a Game Plan for the Great American Beer Festival. In case you have not been following along, you can catch up with #GABF Game Plan Beginnings and #GABF Week (I've been slacking).

Do I need a Game Plan? Probably not, but I like to have one. When you walk into the huge hall at the festival, it is a bit overwhelming, and I find that it helps to have at least some sort of direction to follow. So, at least for the first night I always write down a plan. This is the first year I am not going to the Thursday night session, so this year, Friday Night is the first night I have a plan for.

This year, it looks like dropping the kids off where they need to be is going to introduce complications to the time-line, so the plan depends on when we get to the convention center. If things get too terribly screwed up, we might have to move some of the beer drinking to the Saturday session.

#GABF Game Plan Beginnings

Soon after I posted, "#GABF Week (I've been slacking)", I got an email from GABF telling me that all the beers are available on their website and on their iPhone and Android apps.

Awesome. One thing that drives me crazy every year is that I never know what beers are going to be at the festival until after I get there Thursday night. Of course, it figures that the one year I don't go Thursday they get those announced before the first session, but I'm not going to complain (much). It still would be nice to get the list of beers (or at least most of them) a little earlier, but at least they are moving in the right direction.

So, now that I know what beers are going to be there, it is easier to start to formulate a game plan.

3 Floyds Dreadnaught

When we went to South Dakota last month, we met my wife's sisters and their families about mid-way through the week. They all live in Illinois, and knowing that they had better access to 3 Floyd's Brewing company, I asked them to try to pick up some Zombie Dust. Zombie dust is one of the beers on the Zymurgy's 2013 Best Beers in America list that I am trying to drink my way through.

My brother in law made a heroic effort, but apparently, they don't live quite close enough to the Chicago Land area to get 3 Floyd's beers by them. He even made a road trip to a good craft beer store in attempts to pick some up.

Myrcenary Double India Pale Ale

So, if you follow this blog, you probably remember that I am trying to track down and drink the beers that I have never tasted on the Zymurgy's 2013 Best Beers in America list. Surprisingly, there was a beer this year from Colorado that I have never tasted.

Odell's Myrcenary Double IPA

There are lots of beers I absolutely love from Odell Brewing Company in Ft. Collins, Colorado. In fact their IPA is #1 on my Colorado 6 pack list. I am sure if I had tried Myrcenary before doing that list, I would have seriously considered adding this beer to it.

It is a great beer.

According to the Odell web site, the beer is "named for Myrcene, a component of essential oils in the hop flower" and is "brewed with a blend of hops containing the highest levels of Myrcene".

#IPAday Domination

I like American IPA's, but it amazes me a little bit how they have somehow become so pervasive in the craft beer landscape. Sometimes it feels like public perception is that IPA is the only craft beer style out there. There are so many great beer styles out there, but somehow the IPA gets the most attention.

Case in point ... my list ... Zymurgy's 2013 Best Beers in America. I can't think of a more quintessential group of beer geeks than Zymurgy's readers, and you would think that the 50 best beer list would be representative of all beer styles.

You would be wrong, though.

All 5 of the top 5 on the list are IPA's, and over half are IPA's, double IPA's, or imperial IPA's.

If that is not enough, there are several others that are very IPA-like such as Black IPA's or very hoppy pale ales.

Hennepin Farmhouse Saison

I was in the liquor store last week looking through the beer section when I found a four pack of Ommegang's Hennepin Farmhouse Saison. Knowing that it was tied for 46 on  Zymurgy's 2013 Best Beers in America list, I grabbed it. I tried the beer over the weekend.

Ommegang's Website says that Hennepin Farmhouse Saison is an "ale brewed with grains of paradise, coriander, ginger, sweet orange peel." It is 7.7% ABV and 24 IBU.

My sample was a hazy pale gold with a fluffy white head and lots of carbonation.

The aroma was lots of Belgium farmhouse funk blended with the various spices. I got significant orange (probably from the coriander and orange peel).

It tasted pretty much the same, although I think the orange was a little more lemony. It starts out sweet with spiciness in the middle and does finish off pretty dry (as a saison should).

Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale

As you probably know, I've started trying to find beers that I have never had from the Zymurgy's 2013 Best Beers in America list.

At the same time I picked up Firestone Walker Wookey Jack, I also got a 4 pack of Boulevard Brewing Company's Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale, tied at number 32 on the Zymurgy list. This past weekend, I gave it a try. With all the IPAs on this list, a saison was a welcome change.

Boulevard Brewing Company is located in Kansas City, MO. Its website says it is Missouri's 2nd largest brewery. According to the Brewer's Association, it is the country's 12th largest craft brewery.

Boulevard distributes to Colorado. It seems odd that I've never had any of their beers. I'm glad the Zymurgy list got me to try Tank 7.