Still here in Denver. It’s cold and rainy. We hope that the weather gets better when we fly back on Tuesday or else we’re stuck here. As much fun as we’ve had in Denver, it’s always good to go home.
Before I get into my quick notes, I would like to say that BetterBeerBlog local favorite Firehouse Brewery and Grill in Sunnyvale, CA earned Silver for their Firehouse Porter in the Brown Porter category! Let’s show them some love and support by buying a pint of their award-winning beer. If you see their brewmaster Steve Donahue around, feel free to congratulate him on a job well done.
As the name of the post would suggest, these are my quick notes from my time here and at GABF. I’ll bulletize them for quick reference:
- Redstone Meadery has some unique blends of meads but we felt rushed.
- Avery Brewing Company has some seriously big beers. Great tour.
- Twisted Pine Brewing Company had an “okay” pale but they won Silver for their Big Shot Espresso Stout in the Coffee Beer category. We didn’t try that beer though.
- Gold Medal Dinner at The Kitchen with Adam Avery, Sam Calagione, Tomme Arthur, Rob Tod and Vinnie Cilurzo is beyond short description. Maybe “holy shit this was an awesome event!!!!” could be used but it would still be lacking. Will post decriptions and photos in more detail. Definitely worth every penny.
- We met James and Andy from Basic Brewing Radio. Great people from a great podcast. They got me back into home brewing and it was great to hang out with them at the Gold Medal Dinner and then later on at GABF.
- Coopersmith Brew Pub has a “hanjabi”, which is their Punjabi Pale Ale on hand pump. I still giggle when I say this beer’s name.
- New Belgium Brewing Company has an excellent brewery tour.
- Estes Park Brewing Company’s Wapiti Brown Ale is good and their Pumpkin ale isn’t bad.
- Left Hand Brewing Company’s Jackman APA is pretty darned good. They also won Bronze for their Sawtooth Ale (didn’t try) and Silver for their Milk Stout (we did try, soo good).
- Pumphouse Brew Pub has decent beers and food. They won Silver for their Brush Fire Ale.
- O’Dell Brewing Company’s IPA is pretty good and so is the 90 Shilling. They took Bronze for their Irish Red ale entered in the Pro-Am competition.
- GABF Member’s Only Session is the session to go to if you want to avoid the crowds and actually have fun. The other sessions, based upon interviews of the volunteers, are much more rowdy. If I were going back to GABF, I’d definitely do the Member’s Only session and maybe the first session. Lots of cool people to talk to and most of the brewers easy to talk to. A well run event.
We’re still here in Denver at the time of this post. Sammy and I still have a few more places to hit on our list of breweries. With over 400 pictures taken so far, I can tell I have my work cut out for me when I get back but I’ll do my best to keep the posts coming. Until then, here’s a link to the 2008 GABF winners. Give them a look over and pick some up if you’re able.
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