KLCC Brewfest Report Pt. 2

This is part 2 of my report on the KLCC Brewfest. If you missed the first part of the report, it is available HERE.

So, when I left off last time, I had just finished trying Stone’s Bourbon Barrel Arrogant Bastard. The table we were sitting at happened to be right next to the Ninkasi booth, so Jesse got a sample of Unconventionale. I went back on my earlier decision to skip their booth and got a pour of Dry-hopped Tricerahops. I tried Jesse’s Uncoventionale and was surprised by how much it changed since sampling it at the Portland Holiday Ale Fest. The herbal notes had subsided, leaving only a hint of lavender. The Tricerahops was a bit disappointing. Not that it was bad by any means, it just wasn’t any different than the non-dry-hopped version. I had Jesse give it a try and we agreed that other than a stronger aroma, the dry-hopping didn’t really add much.

At this point I was about out of tickets, so it was time to find the Collaboration ales. I started off with Steelhead’s brew and Jesse tried Oakshire’s. Both beers had a strong peppery aroma that wasn’t present in the version from Brewer’s Union. Oakshire’s brew was packing a CDA level of citrus hops while Steelhead’s beer was far less bitter, letting an underlying sweetness poke through.

I also tried the Collaboration from local homebrew shop Valley Vintner and Brewer. Their brew traded the peppery yeast aroma for one of sharp citrus hops; more like a typical CDA. The yeast took a back seat in the flavor as well, the brew leaning heavy on its hops. I didn’t notice the rye in any of the 4 brews I tried; the spicy yeast masked any flavor contributions from the grain.

I wandered around the collab’ table to see what else was being served. I didn’t see tap handles for Block 15 or Southern Oregon Brewing. I did spy a Maui handle with a sheet of paper taped over the face that read, “Because We Can,” the name of this year’s collab’. At this point, I was down to two tickets and decided not to continue with the Collaboration brews; I like to end a festival with a couple spur-of-the-moment picks.

The first of my two impulse picks was Oregon Trail’s Smoke Signals, a 7.3% Rauchbier. The brew was a pretty straight-forward interpretation of the style, maybe a touch less smoky and bit lighter in body than a traditional Rauchbier like Aecht Schlenkerla.

My last beer of the night was Wakonda’s Sneaker Wave, a 11.75% Imperial Pilsner. This thing was fantastic. It was crisp and clean with a strong noble hops flavor and no trace of the high ABV. I believe I was told that it was hopped entirely with Saaz, but as I said, it was my last beer of the evening and my attention to detail was waning.

Apparently I wasn’t the only one impressed with Wakonda’s brew. Sneaker Wave took 2nd place in the People’s Choice Award. First place went to Hop Valley’s Alpha Centauri and Block 15′s Six Hop Wonder received 3rd. If I had to pick a top 3 from among the beers I tried, it would be:

1. Wokanda Brewing – Sneaker Wave
2. Stone Brewing – Bourbon Barrel Arrogant Bastard
3. New Belgium – Lips of Faith: Dark Heather Ale

Looking over the list of beers that were served, IPAs again ruled the day, with 18. They were followed by Pales (11), Porters (8) and Stouts (6). There was also a fistful of ciders, in fact they would have tied with Stouts if Fish had shown up. One of the ciders at the fest was Crispin, who displayed big banners telling me to drink their brew over ice. Now, I had never heard of Crispin, but I remember reading that iced ciders were a big deal in the UK a couple years ago; Strongbow even put out a special ‘ice’ version of their signature brew. Unless someone is going to come out singing the praises of Crispin, I think this is a trend I will be skipping.

Well, I think that about wraps up my report. I had a good time at the KLCC Brewfest, despite being a couple men (and a wife) down and missing the homebrew competition. I had planned on entering a couple brews, but completely forgot about it until after the registration had closed. Congratulations to Justin Mills-Price for not only remembering the competition, but also winning best of show with his Black Hole Porter. I believe part of his prize package is getting to be assistant brewer for a day at Ninkasi.

I guess I should start working on my Zwickelmania write-up now…

Cheers!
Kevin