I’ll be honest with you – this week was not very exciting. I worked Monday night, made spaghetti and watched Double Jeopardy on Tuesday night, relaxed on Wednesday night, ate sushi and celebrated a friend’s birthday on Thursday night, and ended up eating half a frozen pizza, drinking wine, and watching Bachelorette without my pants on for my Friday night festivities. These were all enjoyable activities (especially the ones where I don’t have to wear pants) but the REAL fun started on Saturday afternoon. What was on Saturday you ask? Well – I shall tell the tale.
Saturday was the Iowa Craft Brew Festival. And I was a VIP entrant for the event. Super exciting. I couldn’t wait to drink as much brewery beer as I wanted and work on my tan while I was there. As a VIP person for the event, you got an awesome testing glass (not just a big shot glass like the REGULAR people) and an early entrance from the rest of the crowd. Because why wouldn’t you want to start drinking an hour earlier than everyone else? There were 45 different breweries featured with over 200 different beers available to try. Sadly – I did not make it through all 200+ beers. I think I would have needed to have someone carry me home after that business. But I did do quite well with trying at least one from each brewery. There were a couple that I cut short – because I’ve had a Sam Adams or two in my life, as well as Leinenkugel’s. There were 16 breweries I didn’t quite try – I just counted to see what I missed – and looking through those, I’ve had about 6 of them so really… I only missed 10 breweries. Pretty good for being out from 1-5 pm on a sweltering 95 degree day in June. Speaking of that – I got a nasty sunburn too. Was it worth it? Obviously. I should probably remember to wear sunscreen next time I’m out for more than 30 minutes on my lunch break.
My grading scale went like this:
· Duh = of course it was delicious
· Eh = I’d drink it… but it’s not my favorite
· A Checkmark = yep I’ll do it
· Completely Scratched Out = not a chance I will ever drink this again OR I dumped it over the bridge it was so bad
· Write In Brews = there were a few of these not in the book that were write-in BIG WINNERS
· A Question Mark = we weren’t sure what to think about it. Didn’t quite elicit a check mark, but also didn’t really deserve an “eh” either
(The grading was pretty cut and dry at the beginning, but as the day went on we begin to add in grading option. That’s what happens when you start tasting delicious brewery beer at 1 pm!) So. Some of the obvious “Duh” grades went to Angry Orchard (love me a sweet, cider beer), Confluence Brewing Company, Exile Brewing Company, Samuel Adams, and Leinenkugel’s. Confluence and Exile are the newer breweries in Des Moines and come HIGHLY recommended by me. Definitely worth a trip downtown to hit up these places.
Now for some of the “eh” grades. Overall, there weren’t BAD breweries. There were definitely bad beers (in my opinion – maybe not for everyone) but no real breweries that had been completely crossed out. Goose Island Brewing Company in Chicago got some checkmarks for their 312 (duh) and an “eh” for their 25th Anniversary as well as their Summer beer. I’d drink them… but not forever. Madhouse Brewing Company in Newton got an “eh” grade for their Honey Pilsner and a HELL NO for their Coffee Stout. Now I’ve had some DELICIOUS coffee beers before, but this one was definitely not one of them. Which is a bummer because I’m all about the local brews. Millstream Brewing Company in Amana, Iowa is going to probably be a road trip sometime this year. They got a Check for the Double IPA (better than a single IPA apparently) as well as a write in for their Hefeweizen. DE-LISH. Pretty sure that’s worth a 2 hour drive for some yummy beers. Possibly to bring home in a growler… possibly. Let’s see… some others that are worth talking about. Looking through my notes, I can tell that I had started getting lazy with my judging. Not with judging people there – I got plenty of that done. Definitely a great place to people watch. Third Base Brewing Company in Cedar Rapids got two checkmarks for their Beggar Jon’s and Black Cobra. Mostly I just liked the names they had for their brews – with Czech Your Head, Flying Aces, Jedi Braid, and Red Rocket. That’s how I was deciding which beer to try at most places. If it had a creative name, I’d try it. I don’t know if that’s exactly how you’re supposed to choose your brew… but that’s how I roll.
Toppling Goliath Brewing Company in Decorah got DQ’d in the process – they ran out of beer by the time we made it to their booth. Sorry guys – I was ready to try pseudoSue or Tsunami Pale while I was there. Better luck next year. Number 7 Brewing Company in Ankeny intrigued me with their lack of advertising, a “TBD” note in the book when listing the brews they brought, and their back story. Number 7 is basically the 7th thing on the owners’ bucket list – open a brewpub. They’d been home brewing and BBQing for years, so they decided to cross “Number 7” off their bucket list, and here it is. Now I need to try their food and see what it’s really all about. Such a great thing for another locally owned business. We tried their Number 7 American Amber (got a checkmark) and the Drunken Sailor IPA (that got a ? ranking). They also offer CoCo Bessie Milk Stout (hopefully a boozy chocolate milk) and the KB Kolsch. Worth a trip up north to try it for sure.
Some honorable mentions for ICBF 2013 include Albia Brewing Company (a write-in “roadtrip?” note), the Arrogant Bastard from Boulevard Brewing, Moose Drool and Brushtail (a write-in) from Big Sky Brewing Company, Boone Valley Brewing Company with their Dunkelweizen (I’ve never met a Dunkel I haven’t liked), Roxie Red Ale and Stout, Chew-Baca from Confluence (comes out in a few months and I cannot WAIT), and Twisted Vine Brewery’s Swashbuckler Summer Ale.
So there we have it, folks. My two cents worth for Iowa Craft Brew Festival 2013. I hope some of you were out enjoying the sights and tastes and sunburns like I did. Worth it. If you have any questions or suggestions on brews I should try or steer clear from, let me know. I’m always up for a challenge, even if that includes crappy beer nights.
The quote I’ll go to close this out is something I’d love to tell people, without it sounding like I’m being rude. But with so many people complaining, whining, bitching and moaning I see on social media, I think this seems fairly appropriate. (And I apologize ahead of time… for the profanity.)
“Life is so damn short. For fuck sake, just do what makes you happy.”
The end. Off my soap box. Now go enjoy a beer, don’t bitch about your “terrible” life, and just freakin enjoy it. Drink beer, make friends.
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