GABF Beer Tasting at The Pumphouse

The Pumphouse in Longmont has been doing these really great beer tastings every month during 2010. I have attended them all except for the Strong Ale one in February (I missed out on getting my ticket in time).

The tasting for October focused on winners from the Great American Beer Festival. The guest speaker was Gary Glass from the Brewers Association. He explained how the judging process works and presented the 14 different winners. He also reviewed the category for each winner. There were 3,594 different beers entered in the GABF from 522 different breweries. These beers were judged by 150 judges. That's a lot of beer!

Our greeting beer was the Pumphouse 4-Alarm Copper Ale. This beer is a German-style Altbier that won a GABF medal in 2004.

The beers we sampled were:

Miller Light - Gold winner in the American-sytle Light Lager (category #29)

Trumer Pils - Gold winner in the German-style Pilsner category (#25)

Del Norte Manana - Gold winner in the American-style Amber lager category (#33)

Pyramid Apricot Ale - Silver winner in the Fruit Beer category (#3)

Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale - Gold in the English-sytle Pale Ale (#43)

Mountain Sun Illusion Dweller Pale Ale - Silver in the English-style IPA (#44)

Firestone Walker Double Barrel Ale - Silver in Double Barrel Ale (#52)

Firestone Walker Pale 31 - Silver in American-sytle Pale Ale (#45)

Bristol Laughing Lab - Bronze in the Scotish-style Ale (#54)

Walnut Brewery Old Elk Brown - Gold in the English-style Brown (#56)

Ommegang 3 Philosophers - Bronze in the Belgium-style Abbey (#67)

Bristol Old #23 Barleywine - Silver in the Barleywine category (#79)

Twisted Pine Big Shot Espresso Stout - Bronze in the Coffee-flavored Beer (#6)

CB and Potts Dark Side Lager - Bronze in the European-style Dunkel category (#32)

My personal favorites were the Firestone Pale 31, Firestone DBA and Twisted Pine Big Shot Espresso Stout. Yum!

Beer Log from Scotland Trip

Jennifer's Beer Log from trip to Scotland (and a couple of days in England/Wales)




Friday, 8/27
Inveralmond Brewery Ossian 4.1% ABV at the Bell Rock Tavern in Tayport
Brewdog 5AM Saint Amber 5.0% ABV at my friend's house in Tayport
Brewdog Trashy Blonde 4.1% ABV



Saturday, 8/28
Deeside Brewery Lulach 4% ABV at the Ship Inn in Stonehaven
Inveralmond Brewery Independence 4% ABV at the Ship Inn in Stonehaven
Inveralmond Brewery Ossian 4.1% ABV at the Bell Rock Tavern in Tayport
Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA 5.3% ABV at my friends house







Sunday, 8/29
St. Andrews Ale at The Russell Hotel in St. Andrews
Brewdog Punk IPA 6.0% ABV at my friend's house in Tayport
Badger Fursty Ferret 4.4% ABV



Monday, 8/30
Cairngorm Trade Winds 4.3% ABV at the Taybank in Dunkeld
Inveralmond Inkie Pinkie 3.7% ABV at the Atholl Arms Hotel in Dunkeld
Boddingtons - didn't care for this one.

Tuesday, 8/31
Kelburn Misty Lord 4% ABV in Dundee (didn't care for this one)



Wednesday, 9/1
Jennings World's Biggest Liar 4.3% ABV at The Criterion in St. Andrews (tasted like Elderflowers, a little sweet but very delicious)
Caledonian Deuchars IPA 4.4% ABV at the Edinburgh Airport
Adnams East Green 4.3% ABV at my friend's house outside of Bristol, England

Thursday, 9/2
Wadworth 6X 4.3% ABV at The Boat Inn in Chepstow, Wales
Cottage Brewery Planet Ale 4.3% ABV at The Boat in Penalt, Wales
Black Sheep Ale
4.4% ABV at my friends house outside of Bristol, England



Friday, 9/3
Marston's Pedigree
4.5% ABV at the Llandoger Trow in Bristol
Orkney Brewery Northern Light 4% ABV at the Bailie in Edinburgh
Houston St. Peter's Well 4.2% ABV at Abbotsford in Edinburgh
Brewdog Alpha Dog at Hector's in Edinburgh

Saturday, 9/4
Edinburgh Gold 4.8% ABV at The Doric in Edinburgh
Belhaven's Best 3.2% ABV at the Hawthorn in Edinburgh

Early August Beer Adventures

I was invited to a tasting event for New Planet Beer on 8/5 in Boulder. New Planet is coming out with a Pale Ale later this month. We were given 4 different recipes to taste and rate.



We tasted #2, #5, #41 and #530. I thought they were all very good but favored #5. #530 was very hoppy (and good) but more of an IPA than a Pale Ale. I found #2 the least interesting but it might be the best for mainstream America.

Next up, I volunteered for the Gnarly Barley Beer Festival in Loveland that was held on Saturday, 8/7. There were 22 breweries attending including Oskar Blues, Left Hand, New Belgium, Grimm Brothers (new brewery in Loveland)and Equinox Brewery (new brewery in Fort Collins).

I spent the morning pouring for Equinox Brewing. I had a great time working with Colin from Equinox and Nancy from House of Neighborly Services (the recipient of some of the proceeds from the event). We were offering Equinox's Sunrise Golden Ale and Orbit ESB. I really enjoyed the Orbit ESB.



Then on Sunday, 8/8, I was invited to a friend's house to try some New Glarus beer. My friends picked up a few beers while they were back in WI about a month ago. My very sweet friends sent me home with a six pack which included a few Road Slush (Stout), a Crack'd Wheat, a Fat Squirrel (brown ale) and a Moon Man (pale ale). I am looking forward to drinking these soon.

Summertime Pilsners

I attended the monthly tasting at the Pumphouse Brewery on 7/27. This month was Pilseners and our guest speaker was Bill Eye from Dry Dock Brewing Company.



We tasted: Corona (Mexico), Stella (Belgium), Heinenken (Holland), Pilsener Urquell, Czechvar, Bittburger, Paulaner Pils, Spaten, Budweiser (US), Boulevard Pilsner (american style lager), Pumphouse Pulaski Pilsner (German-style), Left Hand Polestar (German-style), Oskar Blues Mama's Little Yellow Pils (Czech-style), Gordon Biersch (Czech-style) and New Belgium Blue Paddle (Czech-style).


On Aug 2nd, I attended the monthly meeting of Ales for Females at Left Hand Brewing. The focus of this meeting was also on Pilsners. Head Brewer, Ro Guenzel, was our guest speaker. We tasted Left Hand's Polestar Pilsner, Pilsner Urquell and Miller Lite. These beers were served with german pretzels from Helga's Deli in Aurora, CO and Lowensent Extra Mustard (extra hot mustard from Germany).

Ro said that this is the beer he uses the most to judge the brewing capabilities of breweries since these beers are difficult to brew. I guess that is similar to how I use salsa to judge a Mexican restaurant. All good Mexican restaurants should be able to make an excellent salsa.

The Polestar Pilsner from Left Hand and Mama's Little Yellow Pils from Oskar Blues were my favorite of all the pilsners I tasted that week. But, I must admit that I am not really much of a lager lover.

Ales for All!

Ales for Females - October meeting

The October meeting of Ales for Females (put on by Left Hand Brewery) focused on beers with coffee. Actually, the only beer we had was the Terrapin Midnight Project Depth Charge Espresso Milk Stout – a joint venture between Left Hand Brewing and Terrapin. It was sooooo delicious. It tasted like stout with coffee and cream. Personally, I love coffee and I love beer.

They served the beer in a glass and as an ice cream float. Boston Cream Pie was also served and went nicely with our coffee beer.

Our guest speaker was a guy named, Mike, that works for Allegro Coffee. He had us taste coffee brewed three different ways so we could see how not only does the type of coffee matter but also the way it is brewed.

Unfortunately, Left Hand was nearly out of the Expresso Milk Stout so I wasn’t able to buy any.

Today, I bought a few other beers made with coffee:
• db double black stout with coffee – a limited release by Redhook Ale Brewery

• Péché Mortel(French for mortal sin)– Imperial Coffee Stout by Canadian brewery, Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel!

•Coffee Porter by Meantime Brewing (UK)

• Stone Collaborations – Kona Coffee, Macadamia, Coconut Porter

I plan on having my own beer with coffee tasting sometime soon. Will keep you posted.