Head up to Easton, PA tonight for this special brewery release. The follow up to Rapture, with only 350 cases available. Great for summer and great for cellaring.
http://weyerbacher.com/blog/2012/06/sour-black-release-event/
Lansdale Beer Fest 2012 was a Success!
Lansdale Beer Fest is in the books. Saturday was a beautiful day for an outdoor event: 80 degrees and sunny. My group and I attended with VIP tickets and find it’s certainly the way to go at an event of this nature. We were admitted an hour before the “official” fest began, food was provided, and we were able to sample more than 2 dozen beers that were only available during the VIP session.
The 4 tents seemed to be divided by wholesaler; Gretz, Origlio, Muller, etc… It made sense to set up the venue that way, but it didn’t make finding the breweries any easier. Thank goodness for the provided map, which I used for the first 30 minutes then stuffed into my pocket. That’s also what happened with my notepad: thorough notes, followed by not-so-thorough notes, then cliff-notes, then a check or X symbol, then done. We’ll say I was having “too much fun” to take notes, yes, that’s my story and I’m sticking with it! All the organizers did an admirable job with event planning. As a patron, everything I saw seemed to be going smoothly.
As far as the beers go, the selection was ridiculously good! Who would ever think that breweries the likes of Lost Abbey, Jolly Pumpkin and Mikkeller would be at a local beer fest. Impressive. There was also a very good showing from some local breweries including Freewill, Round Guys and Prism. My personal highlights included: Deschutes Brewing- The Stoic. Another of my favorites were the selections from Innis and Gunn a Scotch Ale that was aged in various casks like Rum and Highland. The local breweries are always a highlight. But, my favorite beer of the day was Mikkeller’s Chipotle Porter- thick, rich, and amazingly delicious with a nice amount of spiciness. I have to find some more of that. My taste was only about 1 ounce – they were having trouble with the tap.
One improvement I would address for upcoming years was the lack of swag. I grabbed a few great stickers for Wells Bombadier and Breckenridge breweries and a couple of coasters. I was able to purchase a nice snifter from Philly Beer Scene for a cheap $5. But overall, I would have liked some more stuff to grab. I’m sure it had to do with the wholesalers filling in for the breweries. Maybe it’s me, but I like that stuff.
In the end, a great day was had by all. After the fest, we patronized a local establishment for someplace to sit and eat – Molly Maguires on Main Street Lansdale… great chicken fingers. Looking forward to next year!
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