We were happy that Saturday in general was not nearly as cold as the day before but once that sun went down waiting in line again brought on the challenge of staying warm.  Oddly enough we were pretty much in the same exact spot in line as the night before.  We planned our course of attack once again in line and when the doors opened we tried to get to it.

This time instead of all the breweries along the walls they had some there and some in the middle.  This cut down the amount of space to just hang out and relax.  This along with there being more people for the Saturday sessions led to some big time clutter in spots.

Right away Funky Buddha and Short’s had big lines and they pretty much stayed that way the majority of the night.  We continued our plan of each person in our group getting a different beer from whatever brewery we went to in order to let us try as many as we could.  And in about 2 hours again we hit almost everything we wanted to have with maybe less than a handful of exceptions.

My top beers of the evening were as such.

• Stone – Punishment
• Funky Buddha – Passionfruit Berliner Weisse
• Cigar City – Hungarian Oaked Peach IPA
• Founders – Canadian Breakfast Stout
• Captain Lawrence – Cuvee de Castleton

A few breweries like Heavy Seas, Evil Twin and Dark Horse didn’t receive a beer that they were each hoping for.  They seemed to have gotten lost in distribution or accidentally sent to an account.

I must say that I was also a bit disappointed in some of the Dogfish Head offerings.  While I initially had no intention on trying Dirty Fermentini, I don’t like olives and the idea of them pureed and put in beer sounds disgusting to me, I ended up having it after a friend told me it didn’t taste like anything.  After sipping it I had to agree.  It was rather watery and didn’t really taste much other than some sweetness.  Then Positive Contact, which was a beer that I really did want to try sort of came up flat as well.  Just didn’t really get any of the ingredients that it was said to have.

But again it was a great night of great beers.  We were happy to see our friends at Funky Buddha be so well received and numerous posts on sites all over and Twitter seemed to say they stole the show for the whole weekend.  They even got some major props from Tomme Arthur of Lost Abbey and Sam from Dogfish (all be it completely spelled their name wrong).  We are proud to say we have a great brewery in South Florida.

As I said yesterday this is absolutely a fest that every beer geek must do at least once.  Take friends with you as it is even more enjoyable than it already is when you can take in the great times with those that you love being around.

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.

The brewers came out in full force again for this one so here are my top 5 beers of the festival.

BrewBar – Ziko’s Revenge – The upcoming brew on premise spot in Jupiter came out with a number of solid beers but their Ziko’s Revenge stout offered complex flavors with a nice full body.

Cigar City Brewing – White Oak Peach IPA – White Oak IPA from CCB is one of my favorites and their Peach IPA is a really tasty one.  Put them together and you get an awesome IPA with mixes of the peach and a nice white oak finish mixed in with those hops.

Due South Brewing – Saison du South – While many were talking about the Caramel Creame Ale (and rightfully so) it was the saison from Boynton Beach’s newest addition that got me happy quick.  Light, dry, citrus, cloves, horse blanket and enough funk in this would make anyone think it was made in Belgium or France.

Funky Buddha Brewery – Maple Bacon Coffee Porter – Yes I’ve had this plenty of times before but it’s been awhile.  The line for this was ridiculous with people once again chanting “bacon” just like last year.  There was even a fight in the lines during this.  I don’t condone this sort of stupid behavior at all but I think Funky Buddha has a new t-shirt they can make. Beer You Would Fight For.  I want credit.

Due South Brewing – Caramel Creame Ale – I couldn’t go the top 5 without having this one on there.  Yes I liked the Saison du South more but damn is this a fine beer.  Just think of those little candies that have the caramel with the creame in the middle of them.  Now imagine that taste in a beer.  It’s all there.

Honorable Mentions
Funky Buddha Bonita Applebum
Cigar City Church on a Hill
BrewBar Mystery Beer
Brewzzi Double IPA
Treasure Coast Brewers Club Key Lime Wheat

Those were my tops.  What about yours?  Leave a comment if you agree or disagree.