So last Thursday we headed up to New England to begin the trip and I will talk about more of the details with reviews of specific places we went at a later time.  I wanted to talk now about day one of the festival and that is Night of the Barrels.  This was a night specifically for breweries to showcase their barrel aging skills with beers.

The event took places in the Cyclorama at the Boston Center for the Arts on both nights.  As we waited outside in the cold we attempted greatly to keep blood flow going through our feet while continually hearing locals tell us about how it was not as cold as normal for the time of year.  Regardless of where you are from sub 30 degrees is cold and last I checked words of encouragement don’t have true body warming qualities.

Once inside the small venue we had our plan of attack and started hitting the numerous breweries.  All the breweries were around the outside of the walls while the middle had tables and chairs all over.  Right away we noticed the line at Funky Buddha as the longest.  Their Morning Wood (Wide Awake it’s Morning aged in a whiskey barrel) was seemingly the must have straight of the bat for many.  And within 45 minutes it was gone, the first of the night.  We did luckily have it and I must say that the barrel comes through wonderfully.  It doesn’t overpower things but instead leaves some nice subtle sweetness and oak notes.

My top beers of the night are as follows.

• Cambridge - Honey Badger
• Funky Buddha – Morning Wood
• Allagash – Ghoulship
• Dark Horse – King of the Forest
• Lagunitas – Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout with Brett and Raspberries

In the chaos and small quarters it may be easy to lose your inhibitions and get yourself in trouble early at a fest like this.  A key we found was staying in a group.  If a brewery had multiple beers we would each get one when we got to the table and then share between us.  That way we all got to try them without having to have a whole sample.

Also eat and drink water.  There was free food there all night so we continually grabbed mini grilled cheeses and pretzels to nibble on.  And the water stations aren’t just for rinsing your glasses.  After rinsing pour yourself a cup to drink.  It keeps you hydrated through things.

I was pretty happy that we hit up everything we wanted to try in about 2 hours.  It was that time we decided to beat the crowds and head off.  There was a small pizza joint across that street that had our names on it.

Now just a couple things that I didn’t really like.  The venue was small.  It was fine for the Night of the Barrels as there were less breweries and less people.  But as I will mention tomorrow, Saturday’s session was much more cramped.

Next was the sampling cups.  I’ve been to numerous beer fests and in many different states and this is the first time I have ever gotten a little disposable plastic cup.  We paid a good amount of money for these events and sure they were great but you would think a nicer cup would be given for the amount spent.  Preferably one you could take home as a memento of the occasion.  I mean I paid less money for the GABF Members Only session and I got an actual glass sampling cup.  I know it’s a little thing but someone said that those usually go a long way.

But all in all it was a great event.  We enjoyed the beers we had and the company we had along with us.  It is definitely an event I think every beer geek should do at least once.

My friend and podcasting partner Phil in crime invited myself and my girlfriend over to his house for a very, very small sour tasting unlike any other.  Along with our friend Tony, we each supplied a bottle of an uber rare sour beer.  Just take a look at the picture.

If you can’t tell by the picture this is Isabelle Proximus, Veritas 006 and Duck Duck Gooze.  All of which Lost Abbey had a hand in oddly enough.  These all are sought after and rare sours and I was just happy to be sharing these with good friends.

Just some short thoughts, Isabelle was everything that I had hoped it would be.  Beautiful American style sour that I could just drink all day long.  Duck Duck I’ve had before and it’s always a delight to have.  A lot like a traditional Belgian version in almost every way.  And the Veritas, well we had some issues with that but not taste related.

I went to open the bottle and was taking off the cage with the cage broke and the cork just shot out of the bottle.  While I got over the shock of that about 5 – 10 seconds later Old Faithful started to arise from the depths of the inside.  Of course a mess ensued but we got it under control rather quickly to where we didn’t lose a lot of it.

The Veritas was like a really well aged Framboise.  Tons of very tart and acidic raspberries in the taste.  Just delicious.

Well I just wanted to share with you what I did for my Thanksgiving.  I hope yours was just as good and spent with just as good company.

So this got me thinking to what I would bring with me if I could take six beers on a desert island.  So here is my list.

1. The first choice will have to be a nice refreshing wheat type beer.  These are always good on hot summer days and being on a desert island will definitely be a hot day.  It was a tough choice but I think I am going to go with Allagash White on this one.  It was tough because I think Ommegang Witte or Avery White Rascal would do good as well I just feel the great refreshing quality of Allagash White wins this one out.

2. Next I’m going to go with a nice easy to drink lager that is also refreshing.  To me this was a no brainer as I’m going with Samuel Smith’s Pure Brewed Lager.  A lot of other people say that Victory’s Pils is great but we don’t get that down here in Florida and I have not had it yet.  So I’m going with what I have had and know.

3. The next one may be a little odd but it is just so good.  I’m going with Ommegang’s Chocolate Indulgence Stout.  Yeah you wouldn’t really think of stouts being something to take but this is a lot thinner in body than most stouts and is just wonderfully made.

4. I got to have a nice hoppy beer of course and I’m going to agree with one of the other lists and take Bell’s Two Hearted Ale.  This to me is the perfect example of an IPA and one that I recommend to people that have never had an IPA before.  It doesn’t go overboard and just does everything right.

5. I’ll take Captain Sig’s Northwestern Ale from Rogue next.  It is just a great flavored beer that is not too heavy and just very smooth.  Plus the water theme adds to it.

6. Lastly I’m going to go with Spaten Oktoberfest Ur-Marzen.  Many people don’t think this compares to a lot of the other marzens out there but I just love this one.  It’s sweet and malty and just goes down easy.  It is exactly what I would want to be drinking at Oktoberfest, if my local one actually carried Spaten products.

I tried to stay away from heavy beers on this as I am on a desert island for the scenario.  I went with mostly refreshing and easy to drink beers that would make the hot days a little easier.

I want to hear what your six pack would be.  Leave a comment and let me know!