What a weekend! Man! Before I go off for the next 10,000 words recapping the Boonville Beer Fest, I would like to thank Jeremy, Ashley and Jen from New Belgium Brewing Company for giving us the opportunity to tag along with them. You guys are way cool and I can’t thank y’all enough for having us.
That being said, this weekend wasn’t all rainbows and puppies. Friday night was a whole lot of logistical uncertainty. Sammy and I were supposed to meet up with Jeremy and the other New Belgians over at Toad in the Hole, and English-style pub in Santa Rosa. According to Google maps, getting from San Jose to Santa Rosa takes approximately 1 hours, 51 minutes. We left our house at about 2:30pm and didn’t park in Santa Rosa until 6pm. The Friday afternoon commute was a bitch! Whatever. It just made everything at Toad in the Hole that much better. I’ve written about Toad in the Hole in a separate post.
After dinner, received a phone call from Jeremy telling us that they had just arrived at Anderson Valley Brewing Company (AVBC). With that news, we were on our way. From Santa Rosa, we had to take 101N to Hwy 128. It’s not uncommon for highways to become the main street in many small towns. Boonville is no exception with hwy 128 being the town’s main street. As we found out on the drive back home, hwy 128 is a scenic highway that runs parallel to a river for a good part. The other half winds through the mountains and becomes very interesting with a variety of blind corners, tight turns and switchbacks. This is all fine and dandy during the day but when you’re driving in the middle of the night as we were, it can be a bit harrowing. There are no lights on hwy 128 and despite the clear night, we were forced to drive with our high beams on just to see what’s ahead of us. After a white-knuckle drive that seemed to last on and on, Sammy and I arrive at the intersection of hwy 128 and hwy 253, which is essentially where AVBC is located.
We pull into AVBC expecting to see just a handful of people only to find the place is abuzz. It was colder than anticipated, yet there were campers scattered throughout. The tasting room was filled with people and hidden under the veil of darkness, a persistent murmur of voices and laughter emanated from the distance. I rang up Jeremy only to be greeted with his voicemail. As was suspected, mobile phone service was sketchy at best, non-existent at worst.
After leaving a few voicemails, Sammy and I take the truck to the back of the property where the majority of the campers seem to be. It is crowded. There are cars parked everywhere there was room and just beyond them, tents. I heard from Jeremy that we’d be camping on the back 40 (acres) of the AVBC lot and figured that it can’t be that big so I tell her to sit tight while I look for him.
What I thought was the main campground ended up being just the top level of the back 40. Stumbling through campsites and trees, I make my way down to the second, and much larger, level of the campsite. It felt a little overwhelming looking for the New Belgium needle in this haystack of camping brewers but I kept at it. I walked the perimeter of the second level campground, almost hitting my head on a low-lying tree branch, before deciding to head back. There was a third lower level of campground to walkthrough but I decided to make my way back to the car. Maybe Jeremy had called while I was in the back 40 where cellular service was nil.
On the way back, I run into Dan Satterthwaite, the brewer for Gordon Biersch San Jose. I think he’s a bit surprised to run into a stranger in the dark who knows him by name but after I re-introduce myself, he assures me that we can camp just about anywhere and we’ll be fine. With things looking up, my phone rings with a voicemail.
Jeremy had come to the front part of the property to pick up his friend Jen, who is also an employee of New Belgium Brewing Company. The four of us gather our things and head down to the second level of the campground where we find Ashley (another New Belgium employee) warming herself by the fire at their campsite… located right next to a tree with a low-lying tree branch. Sonofabitch.
I am not averse to going camping. I find it fun, actually. We just don’t go very often. As a result, I am not really familiar with how to erect the tent we borrowed from Sammy’s sister. The last time we used it was… 2 years ago? A year? Not surprisingly, Sammy and I are both stumbling in the dark trying to pitch this tent when we are pleasantly interrupted by the sounds of a marching band. A marching band, a “one time, at band camp…” marching band. At first I think that one of the breweries has employees all comprised of former marching band people and think of how cool that it. In the end, it’s really the Humboldt Firkin Tappers, a group of former marching band people who apparently travel to different beer festivals and play contemporary music rearranged to work with marching band instruments. We finish setting up the tent to David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”.
Finally able to relax and have some New Belgian Springboard on tap, I slowly take the scene in. It’s tent city. There are neighborhoods of tents everywhere built by the employees of different breweries. It’s almost like these fantasy movies (e.g. 300, Lord of the Rings, and Troy) where you see a sea of tents and bonfires scattered here and there surrounded by people all just hanging out until they go to war the next day. Exactly like that, except we’re drinking really good beer and don’t have to wake up the next day to die in a war to stop the Persians/save Middle Earth/bring back some adulterous slut.
Despite all the commotion, the marching band and the occasional “Whooooo!”, it is a very chill atmosphere. Most of the brewers all know each other, if not know of each other. Being a brewer is a bit like joining a small club. There’s only a few thousand members nationwide and everyone is connected by the power of beer. As a result, people are coming and going from each other’s camp, hanging out, trying different beers, and even smoking out on occasion. And because everyone there is connected by industry, there is a much different vibe than a regular campsite would have. There’s no “keep to yourselves” attitude. It’s very… community, for lack of a better word.
“Ironman” by Black Sabbath as interpreted by the Firkin Tappers comes on in the background while we’re huddled by the fire. Not more than 6 feet from the fire and you’ll notice a significant temperature drop. I notice each camp is starting to pull in ranks around the fire. The crescent moon dips below the horizon line and the sky instantly lights up with hundreds of thousands of stars. Living in the city, the lights of the city often outshine the nightscape and you forget about the stars sometimes. Looking up, it’s hard to fathom how we forget about the stars. Sammy and I take our cue from the moon and decide to call it a night.
Sammy and I roll out of the tent the next morning at about 8:30am. I don’t get up this early for work yet I’m up this early on a Saturday. I’m surprised to find that we’re one of the last people up and about. The majority, if not all, of the brewers are up and making breakfast, playing Frisbee golf or doing other things to keep themselves entertained. Having planned to do much of our eating at restaurants or at the festival itself, Sammy and I only bring snacks. She whips out the cinnamon raisin bread and spray-on butter (I can’t Believe it’s not Butter brand. Most of us eating can’t believe it is butter) for us to share with our hosts while I pour out some beers. It’s 9am and just about everyone has a beer in hand. How cool is that? Historically, beers were often part of a ploughman’s lunch as beer is fortified with B vitamins and is full of carbohydrate goodness. They don’t call it “liquid bread” for nothing.
At Jeremy’s call, we pack up our gear and head over to the fairgrounds where the beer fest is being held. It’s different being on the brewer’s side of the beer festival scene. As a participant, I go to these different festivals, try the beer and try to make friends. If I’m lucky, I’ll get to talk to a few brewers but more often than not, I don’t get the chance to do so.
It is 11:30pm when we’re done setting up. Jeremy has 4 kegs hooked up to two jockey boxes while Jen and Ashley have spread around New Belgium bottle openers and sell sheets to the front of the table. At this festival, New Belgium is pouring their Abbey, Springboard, Mothership Wit and their famed La Folie. It’s no secret that I take horrible tasting notes when I’m out. Sometimes, I don’t take any notes whatsoever. I’m not sure what it is about me but I need the strictest of controls when sampling and tasting a beer. When I’m out and about, I find it hard to focus. It’s even more difficult to focus when all I smell is wood. Even though we’ve changed clothes, there’s still a hint of firewood smoke on my clothes and hair. Its pervasive, almost all encompassing. I should’ve picked my nose clean to clear it of any smoke-infused nose nuggets but here, in public and in plain view of all the brewers setting up shop around us, I thought better of it.
It’s a bit too hot to have the Abbey. We’ve already had the Mothership Wit before and the Springboard at camp, so I eagerly pour myself a glass of La Folie. For those not familiar, La Folie is a sour ale that has been aged in wood for 3 years. The final product is often a blend of young and older barrels to achieve a more consistent product. The aroma is pleasant and sour. The flavor is almost identical. This is a tart and tasty beer. It’s literally mouth watering, slightly astringent and puckering. Despite it’s 6% ABV, I find this to be a refreshing beer on many levels. I don’t know this at the time but I’m going to regret only pouring myself one glass.
To the left of the New Belgium spot is Two Rivers Cider Company. Sammy and I get a pouring of their Pomegranate cider and this is one of the best tasting ciders I have ever had. It is light, effervescent, pink in hue and refreshing beyond compare. The sweetness is balanced out by a sour undertones allowing the pomegranate fruit flavors to shine without stealing the show. If there were ever a “chick drink” this would be it. Regardless of gender, this is an immensely enjoyable drink that everyone I know would like.
Sammy starts to snap pictures of whatever brewers have already set up. Before we even begin our rounds, we meet up with Randy Griggs, BJCP judge and production manager at the More Beer! store in Concord, CA. We’re joined by Morgan (I don’t remember his last name, Fox I believe) who is also a BJCP judge and brewer at EJ Phair Alehouse also in Concord. In fact, both the More Beer! store and EJ Phair are located in the same plaza. Randy tells us that once he found out his store wasn’t going to have a presence at the festival, he volunteered to help the EJ Phair folks pour. Sammy and I met both of them when we were stewards at the AHA Homebrew Competition at Devil’s Canyon Brewing Company some weeks back. It’s good to see they remembered us.
With only about and hour to go before the general public is admitted to the event, Sammy and I take this opportunity to finally grab a bite to eat and to take photos of the breweries in attendance. We get halfway through before Sammy realizes she forgot something at the campground and needs to go back. We part ways with Sammy heading back to AVBC while I continue to take pictures and sample beers.
At this point, my note taking has gone to hell so I don’t have much to write about. I remember trying the La Fleurette (sp?) from Russian River Brewing Company (RRBC) but not taking any notes. By this time, the general public has been let in and it’s a mad dash by everyone to get this drink on. Here are the few notes I did take:
- Pizza Port AtTENuation – Belgian style strong pale ale. Good Belgian yeasty notes in the aroma backed with some fruit notes as well. Smooth, strong. 9.5% ABV
- Firestone Walker Union Jack: Great nose! Sweet with medium strong floral, hop characteristics. Strong hop flavor and bitterness without being overwhelming.
- Black Diamond Belgian Blonde: Fruity notes (peach), yeasty character. Light malt aroma and flavor with fruit notes and a dry finish.
See? Horrible note taking.
With Sammy having returned by this time, the two of us head over to the gazebo area to meet up with the other Bay Area bloggers. The first person I meet is Jessica from The Thirsty Hopster, followed by Jay of Brookston Beer Bulletin and Jay of The Hedonist Beer Jive. We keep our conversations light and beer-centric, of course. When prompted if we’ve tasted anything good, we all pull our out notepads to check what we’ve reviewed so far. I found that moment to be pretty high up on the beer geek scale. While I am only superficially familiar with Jessica and Jay (Hedonist), I haven’t heard about the other Jay before. After listing his beer writing credentials, I feel pretty silly for not knowing about him. Jay has been featured in just about every beer publication around, including Zymurgy, Beer Advocate, San Francisco Chronicle and Celebrator.
Sammy is pretty hungry after her walk to and from AVBC so we cut out from our Bay Area beer blogger summit. I have every intention of coming back and hanging out with them. I had questions for Jessica and for Jay (Brookston) but it all had to wait. By the time we got back to the gazebo, everyone had parted ways and I didn’t hear from anyone until my email inbox a few days later.
At this point, I stopped drinking. Weird, yah, I know. It’s just the vibe of the festival was changing. There were a number of guys walking around with their shirts off and a few hippies running to and fro’. People were pissing behind bushes, in corners and there was a lot of drunken shenanigans starting up. What started off as a cool festival of beer appreciation was turning into a frat party. As a result, I was turned off by the whole thing and we headed back to the New Belgium stand where we helped them take down the rest of their equipment and headed back to the campsite.
Boonville is the biggest beer festival we’ve attended to date. All of the other beer festivals have been nice, chill events. The majority of the people who attend the past beer events we’ve been to have been down to earth, easy to talk to, and most important, respectful of beer. It seems the larger event, the more mainstream the event, the worst people are. It’s less and less about the beer and more about getting wasted. Maybe I’m expecting too much but you’d never see this anything like this at a wine festival. It’s just frustrating to see such a wonderful collection of brewers and breweries helping to put on good festival pour beer to people who just don’t appreciate it.
For the most part, the festival did go well. With the exception of the Pizza Port incident, there were no fights. Despite the availability of marijuana, there were only two people detained by the Sheriffs. I guess when compared to the vibe happening at the AVBC brewer’s campsite, the festival itself pales in comparison.
Saturday night carried over a lot of the good vibes from Friday night. If anything, everyone seemed to be more relaxed, as if getting over the festival was some huge hurdle. The kind folks at AVBC prepared a BBQ dinner for the brewers as well as a bonfire. As the day turned to night, folks came and went from one campfire to another.
Pat Mcilhenney and his son from Alpine Brewing Company hung out with us for most of the night. A dozen or so beers later, we managed to talk them into sharing their bottles of sour ales with us, a lambic called Briscoe and a kriek named Chez Monieu. The lambic had a tart, yet sweet aroma that carried on to the flavor. There was little to no hop aroma or flavor. The characteristic “barnyard” aromas were subtle. While not an excellent example of the lambic style, this was a damn good beer. The kriek was more of the same, except with cherry notes in both the aroma and flavor. This makes sense as the lambic was the base and Pat added the cherries during the last 3 months. Pat also mentioned how these beers were kept up in his attic at the brewery. As you can probably guess, it gets mighty warm and keeping his beer up in an attic isn’t going to help keep them cool. As a result, Pat kept an air-conditioner on for the better part of several months as the beer aged in wood barrels.
Not to be outdone, Jeremy brings out his last bottle of Le Fleur Monsieur, a Belgian Golden Strong Ale. As the story goes, Jeff Lebesch (founder of New Belgium) was riding his bike through European villages famous for their beers. Somewhere in France, Jeff suffers from what I will kindly call “an upset stomach”. Tired, despondent, and near tears, a French boy approaches Jeff and says, “Le fleur, monsieur?” before handing him a flower. The beer is sweet smelling with fruity and yeasty notes. The flavor is a mirror of the aroma. I notice a little bit of warmth from the alcohol. It’s a pretty good beer but not as refreshing as the lambic and kriek from Alpine. I’m dealing with apples and oranges here so it’s not really a fair comparison.
The Firkin Tappers are back and run through another medley of songs. This time, I stand right at the perimeter of the action instead of taking it all in from a distance. The fire in the center of the circle is bright and illuminates the “drum major”, who by now is shirtless and conducting his band from a folding chair as the Super Mario theme songs blares from behind him. Sammy and I stay for a few songs. At one point, the “drum major” starts to put on his shirt but the crowd catcalls for him to leave it off. I for one, would’ve appreciated him with his shirt on but seeing as they take requests, he takes his shirt back off. Someone from the audience yells out, “I NEED MORE COWBELL” and the Tappers oblige. Sammy and I leave for out camp as soon as they’re done playing “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult. Yes, there was enough cowbell for everyone.
We wake up bright and early the next morning in order to make it back in time for our various Mother’s Day events. As some of the other campers are just getting breakfast ready, Jen leaves first, followed soon after by Jeremy and Ashley. I’m just a little melancholy as we’re pulling out of AVBC and head back onto hwy 128. I am still in disbelief that I was able to participate and appreciate the Boonville Beer Fest as both a fan and as a “brewer”. Overall, the good far outweighed the bad in this event and I look forward to coming back either as a fan or on the brewer’s side. If possible, I’d like to come back on the brewery side of things as I feel I didn’t get a chance to talk to as many people as I wanted to. Sometimes, there’s a lot to be learned by listening. In any event, I’d like to thank the Jeremy, Ashley and Jen from New Belgium for having us out there with them.
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