Extreme Beer Fest 2011

We attended Beer Advocates Extreme Beer Fest for the first time this year. Now when most people think Extreme along with Beer they think high alcohol , hop monsters and barrel aged bombs. This year Beer Advocate decided to change peoples minds by asking every brewer to try to bring a "session beer" (session beer is low alcohol usually below 4.5%) but still have it be EXTREME. Beer Advocate termed it project ESB, extreme session beer. The Alstrom brothers of Beer Advocate teamed up with Dogfish Head Brewery and Katalyst Kombucha to come up with a collaborative brew that was fermented from a Kombucha culture (a symbiotic culture of yeast and bacteria that is normally used to ferment a natural beverage with supposed holistic/natural/homeopathic healing properties). Having sat in on the beer forum we learned that next year the Alstrom brothers plan on making it mandatory that the brewers bring at least one session beer. We commend Beer Advocate for yet again pushing the boundaries of beer and living up to their name and Advocating Beer.
Now on to the beer we decided to pick out three beers each to highlight and the beers we chose show the broad range of choices from low ABV Kombucha Blend to heavy hitting 18.2% ABV Black Tuesday.
T's Top 3 (in no particular order)
1)Dogfish Head / Delaware / www.dogfish.com
Ginger Kombucha / Namaste Blend (Kombucha ABV?/Namaste 5%)
2)Ithica Beer Co. / New York / www.ithicabeer.com
Lebleu wild ale with blueberries 4.8%
3)Shorts / Michigan / www.shortsbrewing.com
Almond Joy experimental 6%
The kombucha blend was a light refreshing "beer" that would be excellent for an all day BBQ or a "beer" to finish up with at the end of the night.
Lebleu was a delicious supersour beer that T says is "One of the best sours I have ever had"
Almond Joy was a candybar in a glass with subtle coconut and chocolate, very smooth.
Of course the three chosen by T are either limited release, one-off or not available in MA.
A's top 3 beers
1)Hillfarmstead Brewery / Vermont / www.hillfarmstead.com
Ephraim Imperial IPA 10.3%
2)TheBruery / California / www.thebruery.com
Black Tuesday Imperial Stout 18.2%
3) Firestone Walker / California / www.firestonebeer.com
Velvet Mekin Barrel Aged Oatmeal Stout 8.5%
Ephraim was one of the best IPA's I have had rivaling Pliny the Elder and Lake Erie Monster, having an aroma of tropical and citrus fruits and a hop taste that hides the alcohol making this a very dangerous beer.
Black Tuesday had the flavors of roasted malts, chocolate, dark fruit, dried berries with a full body and sweet bourbon throughout.
Velvet Mekin mirrored its name with a mouthfeel like no other beer I have had , almost slippery. It was chocolaty, sweet, malty and had a very low roasted flavor.
A's choices are no easier to get with one being a 3hour drive up to the nanobrewery to try to hunt it down, another not yet distributed in MA and the last only available from the brewery.
The beers were by far the best things at the fest but not the only specialty products available. The Big Cheese Boston made us a "drunken" grilled cheese like no other, Rye bread with Cheddah Pannini pressed. YUMMY! Our other snack was a waffle from Waffle Cabin out of Vermont warm, sweet, crispy, soft pillow of awesome (no syrup necessary). Only thing to say is SUPER YUMMY!
If you get the chance to attend one of Beer Advocate's festivals the Alstrom Brothers and their crew do it right. Beer,Food, Info, Great Atmosphere (EBF had 1000plus people in a small hall without issue) for a reasonable price , it is really worth it. Hope to see you at their next fest which is the ACBF or American Craft Beer Festival which is in June. Let us know if you are going and maybe we can meet up.

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