I started typing up this report and realized it was getting quite lengthy. So, I decided to spread it over two posts. Here is Part 1, Part 2 should be up by tomorrow evening.
First off, my trip to the KLCC Brewfest didn’t go quite as planned. My wife was sick last week, one friend from work was out of town and another had to make an emergency road trip Friday evening. This left only Jesse and myself to attend Eugene’s first beer festival of 2010.
When I arrived at the festival around 6:00pm, the event center was still pretty empty; the only line, the one at the entrance. After making it inside and picking up my glass, I grabbed a program and headed off to a table so I could wait for Jesse and start plotting my drinking course. I found the list of breweries participating in this year’s Collaborator brew, eleven in all. Block 15, Brewer’s Union Local 180, Eugene City Brewery, High Street, Hop Valley, Maui, Ninkasi, Oakshire, Southern Oregon Brewing, Steel Head and Valley Vinter & Brewing had all brought their version of the Belgian style Cascadian Dark Rye Ale. I also made my first decision of the night, to skip the Ninkasi, Oakshire and Eugene City Brewery booths. I would be visiting all three the following day for Zwickelmania and without my wife to shepherd me, I couldn’t get too carried away sampling.
Jesse arrived shortly after I finished looking over the program and we headed off the Brewer’s Union table. Ted Sobel had two casks set up, serving Frost on the Bumpkin and his version of the Collaborator brew. I talked with him for a couple minutes and found out that he had recently delivered a few casks to Block 15, who had just finished setting up a proper beer engine. So, good news for those of you living in Corvallis, you now can try a Brewer’s Union ale without making the trip to Oakridge. Ted also has a guest cask from Block 15 on tap at his public house.
I ended up trying both of Ted’s brews. Frost on the Bumpkin, his 7-grain Rye Winter Stout was a very grain-forward ale. It had a big, thick body and went down silky smooth. As for the Collaboration brew, it poured just as dark and thick as the stout. Compared to the other Collaborations I tried later, Ted’s version had a much fuller body and mellower hop and yeast notes. While not as bold as the others, the cask conditioning set it apart from the rest of the pack. Here is a side by side of the two brews; stout on the left, collab’ on the right.
Next we stopped by the Widmer booth to see what all the Deadlift hoopla was about. Now, I don’t have an outright hatred for Nelson Sauvin hops, but I do find them to have a strong artificial tangerine flavor; something like a Jolly Rancher. With Deadlift, they were in no short supply; the hop completely dominating the taste. As a 3 oz. sample the brew was drinkable, but I think I would have a harder time enjoying an entire bottle.
Hopworks’ table was near Widmer, so next I tried the Secession CDA. This one was a bit of a let down; tasting like a milder version of W’10. I’ll admit my tongue was probably blitzed from the Deadlift that preceded it, so I may not be giving it a fair shake down.
Next up was one of our favorite brews of the night; New Belgium’s Dark Heather Saison. The brew was spicy and had a lingering heat. Had I tasted it blind, I would have guessed it was a Unibroue beer. It also had a flavor that I couldn’t quite place at the time, but my notes say “Chai tea.” Looking at New Belgium’s site, I’m guessing this was cardamom.
Following the New Belgium booth, I ran into my first snag of the evening. I went to the Maui table to sample their version of the Collaboration brew and was told by the server that he didn’t think they were participating. Later I learned that with the exception of Brewer’s Union, all Collaboration brews were being poured at a single booth on the other side of the building, Maui included. While at the booth, I did try the Coconut Porter. If you love coconut, this is a beer for you; completely saturated with the flavors of sweet, toasted coconut. If you are like me, you can appreciate the craftsmanship, but after one or two, the coconut starts to become a little too much.
This also brings up my first couple of festival facts. There were eight porters at the brewfest, five of which were flavored; High Street’s Mocha Porter, Hop Valley’s Vanilla Porter, Kona’s Pipeline Porter, Laurelwood’s Vanilla Porter and Maui’s Coconut Porter. And of the 100+ beers being served, I only saw two that were barrel-aged. The first was a bourbon barrel version of Silvermoon’s Snake Bite, Bourbon Bite. The second was the next brew I sampled, a bourbon barrel version of Arrogant Bastard.
I had initially assumed this was just going to be Oaked Bastard, but was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was indeed barrel-aged AB. It poured a murky orange color, similar to Upright’s Billy the Mountain. The aging also seemed to have mellowed out the Bastard. The hops were much more subdued and there was a strong vanilla aroma and flavor picked up from the barrels. The brew was very smooth, showing only a hint of alcohol warmth after the finish.
Since the bourbon barrel Bastard marked the half way point in my beer tasting, this seems like a good place to wrap up part one of my report. Before I go, I’ll toss out one more festival fact. Out of the 50+ breweries participating in the brewfest, there was only one no-show; Fish Brewing.
Cheers!
Kevin
(Edited for grammer and spelling)
Hmmm, I find Secession (spelling, by the way) to hit the mark more than W’10 (which isn’t bad). Give it another try sometime.
Bill,
Fixed the spelling. Apparently Word changes ’seccession’ into ’succession’ instead of ’secession.’
As for the beer, I found the aroma nice (dry-hopped?), but to me, the flavor hops were lacking. Again, this may be more the fault of the Deadlift that it followed that Secession itself.
Looking at my notes, I see that I wrote, “watered down W’10.”
I noticed that Market of Choice started stocking the beer, so I’ll pick up a bottle at some point and give it another try.
Cheers!