World Cup Beer #16

Pietra Biere Ambree
Chestnut Beer

Aroma - Lots of vegetable with not much else

See - Clear light bronze, with a thick white head that dissapates quickly

Mouthfeel - medium

Flavor - There is an intense bitterness with vegetable aftertaste. The beer has a typical "cerveza" flavor with more bitterness, sweetness and flavor. Note to self: Do NOT brew with chestnut flour. There is not much else to say about this beer as I do not like it and can not finish it. I recommend to PASS on this beer.

World Beer Cup - Beer #15

Caldera Brewing Co.
Caldera Dark Lager Munich Dunkel
(pics to come soon)

Aroma: A light malty hints of chocolate, caramel and toffee

Sight: Dark brown with a Red/Amber tint, has an offwhite head that dissapates to a ring

Mouthfeel: Medium to full body

Flavor: Sweet rich caramel, hint of chocolate and a subdued roasty flavor. Mild hop flavor. Finishes mild sweet with an easy bitterness flavor. After taste remains clean. This beer is very smooth and drinkable, I like it. I could drink a few of these on a hot day.

Overall: This beer has a great complexity and richness due to the use of the various munich malts. It is basically a subdued bock. I like it and want more!!! Damn its a seasonal beer that they don't can. Oh yes, this brewery cans their beers.

GOLDEN FLEECE UPDATE:
Team Columbia still has the yellow, green and white jerseys. Tomorrow will be the first serious mountain climb stage, so watch it! Oh yeah, they also finished 1st and 2nd yesterday, getting their second stage win.

World Beer Cup Wrap-up

After two weeks of getting over the carziness of the World Beer Cup I still feel as if I need more rest. It was so much fun, yet so very tiring. But, I will do it again in a heart beat! In fact I plan on going to the next GABF and WBC in 2010 in Chicago. Here is a small bit of what I can remember right now of who I met and what happened.

I was able to meet many "rockstars" in the industry, both professional and homebrew. People like John Palmer, the More Beer guys, the Brewing Netowork crew, and many other QUAFF members in my club who have won many prestigous awards. In the professional ranks I was able to meet Tomme Arthur from Port Brewing/Lost Abbey, Peter Broukart from New Belgium, Jeff Bagby from Pizza Port, Nico, Mark, & Bill from Turtle Mt. brewing (my hometown), Jeff Jinnett from Chama River brewing & Marble brewery (from my hometown & won two medals). I also got to talk to and meet a few brewers from the east coast JT at Smuttynose Brewering, Jason Perkins headbrewer - Allagash.
You must visit there website as they are brewing up a spontaneous beer, which they have documented on there website. I also have a beer called "Innoculator" that I scored at the WBC, which was never sold, it was an experimental. I can't wait to try it.

This is what stands out for now. Thank you to everyone whom I met at the WBC and I can't wait to hang with you guys again at the 08' GABF. Everyone came here for the beer, but in the end it was the human interaction that made the event and experience. Thanks for making it so fun and memorable!

Below is a list of my new favorite breweries to check out!
Bull & Bush brewery
Upland brewery
Midnight Sun brewery
Allagash brewery (already liked those guys, but have a renewed interest due to their recent experimentation)

Beer #3

Beer #3
(from World Beer Cup)
Fernie Brewing Co.
First Trax Brown Ale
(English Brown Ale)
British Colombia, CA

Aroma: Fruity, caramel malt aroma
Appearance: Very clear brown color with a lasting small white head
Flavor: Malty caramel/chocolaty balanced with bitterness
Mouthfeel: Light to medium mouthfeel and carbonation
Overall Impression: Very drinkable and an absolute english ale. There are some chocolate tones with balanced bitterness, very smooth but on the sweet side. This ale may be too light in flavor and body and marketed towards the mainstream guy and not the craft beer geek.

WTF?

Today was the first day of the World Beer Cup and the best word to describe it was...Cornucopia! There were so many beers it was amazing. There were 6 rounds with many beers in each round. The amazing thing was the beers that did not get passed on got sent to the sample table...THE SAMPLE TABLE! So Amazing!I got to sample so many beers I can not remember all of them but here is a sample:
Terrapin Rye Pale aAle
Il Vicino Baltic Porter
Rouge Old Crustecean
Ommegang Chocolate Del...
Ommegang Rare Vos
Ommegang Wit
Moylans Double IPA
Moylans Hopsickle
Dogfish head 60' IPA
Many Pizza Port
Pizza Port Imperial Red
Pizza Port Shark Attack
Lost Abbey 10 Commandments
Odells Red Ale
Odells Pils
(Japanese) coconut porter
Maui Coconut Porter
Many fruit beers
Unibroue apple
Unibroue strong ale
New Belgium La Folie
Many Flanders Reds
Rogue Chiptole Ale
Rogue Chocolate Stout
Rogue Hazel Nut Brown Nectar
Rogue Morimoto Black Obi Soba Ale
Rogue Moritmoto Soba AleYes, Yes, Yes I at some point had palet fatigue, but I can not tell you when that was. Most beers were very delicious and would purchase many of them down the road.I got to steward the table that had: other Belgian beers, strong ales, english esb's

I got to take home: Le Proef Boruweru La Grande Blanche, Howesound Brewing Nut Brown Ale, Rogue Old Crustacean 2006, Rogue Imperial Red Ale

What does tomorrow bring???