GABF 2014:Day 2

The Great American Beer Fest on Friday was just as hectic as the night before. Friday assignment was to interview Kim Collins, head brewer at Barrel and Bottles in Golden CO. She was gracious enough to talk to me while pouring beers. 

DAY 2

I had another early entrance but this time I waited at the Dogfish Head booth to get a taste of their Chocolate Lobster Ale.  Sam Calagione was there giving an interview but his staff was pouring beer into pitcher and was taking them so long while ignoring the crowd waiting for their beers. I was curious about the Chocolate Lobster since watching the BrewDog series on the television when they were in Boston. They made a seafood ale with clams, crabs, lobsters and a little funk from them seating in the mash. Thank you Sam for not doing that with your Chocolate Lobster! But I plunged forward and got a taste of this odd crustacean beer. I was good, a nice chocolate forward flavor with some odd taste in the end but it didn't distract from the beer at all. 

As I was walking around, I stumbled into a line for New Glarus Brewing and since I like their beers waiting in line was well worth it.  After having their Brown Peach, which by the way, was peachy good, I then was on the hunt for Kim Collins, head brewer at Barrel and Bottles in Golden, CO.  Even though I was at the event the day before, I was still unfamiliar with where each region was located. I finally found her and she gave me a quick interview. 

Short's Brewing Co was another stop with two great beers that could almost be called desserts, the Bourbon Carrot Cake that was sweet but at the same time boozy and the Wood Master, a American brown ale fermented with Northern Michigan maple syrup and toasted pecans was also delicious. 

I found another new brewery, Brugge Brasserie from Indiana. I had the Framboise that wasn't bad, I should have stop there again and had another one of their beers but I forged onward through the masses trying to find more new breweries.

Apple Blossom Brewing from Arkansas, they don't make ciders as their name might imply. The owners of the brewpub were on hand and we very friendly to answer any questions. I had their Hazy Morning Coffee Stout; it would definitely wake you up with the amount of coffee in this brew! The oatmeal stout was aged with 30 pounds of Arabica coffee.

I live in Colorado that has over 170 breweries scattered throughout the state and I haven't been to a good portion of them.   Pagosa Brewing is one of those that haven't had their beer before.  I had their Peachy Peach Ale that was really good. I don't know why I never tried their beers before, maybe Pagosa Brewing hasn't sent any styles I liked. (?)

New Belgium had a large booth and taking a tip from Kim Collins the head brewer at Barrels and Bottles brewpub in Golden, I had the Chocolate Stout which was very good with a good chocolate coffee taste. 

Friday came and went with a tired correspondent taking home some good memories of the second day of GABF.

Post Brewing- Chicken and Beer Dinner

Last week Post Brewing had a beer dinner organized by Barley's Angels Colorado.  This event was mix gender so I brought my husband, Larry.  Post Brewing is located in downtown Lafayette and has become a very popular place with the locals.  Along with being a brewery, Post Brewing is a restaurant that specializes in chicken, cooked in many ways and comfort foods.

The night started with checking-in with Deborah Cameron, who is the founder of the Barley's Angels Colorado .   Scheduled as a added activity was a brewery tour with Brew Master, Brian Selders. Cyn Goodman, of the Colorado Beer Trail was there video tapping the event.

We were given 2 beer tickets that were included with the dinner. While we waited, beer sounded really good so as it turned out if you were going on the tour there was a complimentary 5 ounce pour of any beer they had for the event.  The "bar" was a table that had a jockey box on top with three taps; Ol' Zippy, a Premium American Ale that is 4.5% ABV,  Meathooks, Dark Mild Ale at 4.1% ABV, and a collaboration with Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head, Bulky Oxen is a session Barley Wine that is 7.7% ABV.

Meathooks, Dark Mild Ale.

Bulky Oxen, a session Barley Wine.

Brew Master, Brian Selders.

The brewery tour was with the Brew Master, Brian Selders. Brian designed the brew house to be very efficient with quality control.  As we know, that is a major issue with small breweries, inconsistency from batch to batch of beer.  The brew house was very clean and very technological. The start of the tour was the grain room then to the main brewing area.  All was clean and shiny, so he probably wasn't brewing that day.  The brew house was very impressive for such a small brewery. Brian brews on a 15 barrel system with 75% of the finish product going into kegs.  He supplies beers for the other restaurants owned by Big Red F.

After the tours were done, Deborah spoke about the upcoming events of Barley's Angels Colorado and Brian Selders spoke about his philosophy of brewing beer for Post.  He brews for the food like what compliments the menu at the restaurant. None of his beers will be big. I know it is disappointed especially with his long employment at Dogfish Head as one of the brewers. But you have to give him credit that he wants the customer to enjoy the beer with any of the dishes on the menu.

First course was a side salad and rosemary cheddar biscuit paired with one of the two beer tickets. I had the dark mild ale that went well with the salad.

The next course was rotisserie chicken with brown gravy, fried chicken with country gravy, and green chili mac & cheese topped with bread crumbs, all was served family style. I had the rotisserie chicken with the brown gravy and chili mac & cheese, I thought the biscuit would have been good with this course as well.

We met some nice people from Denver and Thornton, who we chatted with before and during dinner. Thanks to Deborah Cameron for this event, I really enjoyed the evening. Thanks to Post Brewing for provided the dinner and beer.