I closed out this past September in Denver, Colorado, as I have a habit of doing every couple of years or so. Because, you see, autumn in Denver is Great American Beer Festival time, and regardless of what else you might think about the acknowledged “largest beer festival in the world,” there is simply no better occasion in which to grab a snapshot of the U.S. brewing industry.
Featuring more than 1,650 beers from 384 breweries, the GABF is the 25-year-old granddaddy of North American beer fests, trailing in longevity only a handful of international beer sampling events, including the four year senior Great British Beer Festival in London. While other beer fests may welcome more visitors – the attendance leader in the States is the Oregon Brewers Festival, which was this year visited by more than 55,000 beer aficionados, while the 2006 GBBF’s 66,000 attendees easily eclipsed both the OBF and the GABF’s record 41,000 ticket holders – there is simply no place in the world where more different types of beer are on offer.
And what variety was contained within that selection! From a peanut butter beer served by Coors’ Blue Moon division – which, believe it or not, wasn’t bad, albeit in a rather one dimensional fashion – to some of the finest non-Belgian tripels I have ever come across, including an outstanding Black Tulip from Michigan’s New Holland Brewing, to the superb, blended 10th anniversary Firestone Walker ‘10’ from the northern California brewery of the same name and the trio of soured ales from the three outlet Iron Hill brewpub chain, there seemed almost no end to the countless variations on the beer theme.
Which is not to say that more traditionally minded beer drinkers were left thirsty. For those of a Bohemian bent, there was the hometown Sandlot Brewpub’s perfumey Schtolen Pils, the eventual gold medal winner in that category; organic ale fans could take heart in Laurelwood Brewing’s firmly malty Organic Free Range Red, from Portland, Oregon; Austin, Texas’ Live Oak Brewing brought with them their perfectly crisp, supremely quenching Live Oak Pilz; and for those in search of a something a little more potent, the brothers Trogner of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, had their wonderfully complex Tröegenator Double Bock.
Other stand-outs: pretty much all the Lost Abbey beers from San Diego’s Port Brewing, especially the complicated malt profile of the barrel-aged Angel’s Share; the Orval-inspired Matilda from Chicago’s Goose Island Brewing, served on tap; Brugge Brasserie of Indianapolis’ Diamond Kings of Heaven barrel-aged quadrupel; the world’s strongest beer, Sam Adams Utopias, which is pouring surprisingly well for so potent and relatively young an ale; Anheuser-Busch’s Stone Mill Organic Pale Ale (really!); the fruity-funky Grand Cru from Omaha’s Upstream Brewing; the sublime (an unfiltered, 20% rice content blonde ale called Samurai) and the ridiculous (the massive but beautifully balanced Oak-Aged Yeti) from local Denver brewer, Great Divide; and virtually anything touched by the outrageously talented hands of Russian River Brewing’s Vinnie Cilurzo, of Santa Rosa, California.
There was more, no doubt, but a man can only sample so much. I suggest that next year you think about getting yourself to Denver and compiling your own list. The 2007 GABF will take place from October 11 to 13.
