Great American Beer Festival 2010!

09.09.09 Vs. 08.08.08 Vertical Epic Ale's

We just returned from Denver for the 2010 Great American Beer Festival this last Sunday. It was our second year and was just as amazing as the first. The same four went as last year; the three writers and our friend Rob from Austin who we wrote a post on detailing his first homebrewing experience!

This year was the 29th annual festival. There was over 2,200 beers served in the main convention center hall which was the biggest variety served at any beer festival, ever! There were 462 breweries serving over 36,000 gallons of beer to over 49,000 attendees. This year there were four new categories: American Style India Black Ale, Wood and Barrel Aged Strong Stout, Pumpkin Beer, Field Beer.

We went to the Friday night session and the Saturday afternoon session. We salute those who attend all four sessions as it truly is an impressive feat!

Sam's Number 3

Before our session on Friday, we went to the Falling Rock Taphouse which is a GREAT beer bar. We were able to meet Dean, one of the brewers from Pike Brewing in Seattle, WA. He was nice enough to entertain about three hours of questions regarding commercial brewing and was a great guy to hang out with. Their beers were great at the festival. At the taphouse we imbibed Russian River Consecration and Redemption, Stone 08.08.08 Vertical Epic Ale and 09.09.09 Vertical Epic Ale, 2010 Sierra Nevada Estate Ale, among others. They actually set a record for fastest keg poured non-stop with the Sierra Nevada keg. They were all amazing beers. This hampered our ability to go hardcore at the first session and we ended up trying about 110 different beers. The second session on Saturday we were able to try about 175 or so.

Some highlights:

New Glarus - Rasberry Tart

Russian River - great stuff

Cascade Brewing - all of their sour beers are great!

Jolly Pumpkin - all were great, Biere De Mars especially

Lost Abbey - Angel's Share and their Framboise

Pike Brewing - meeting Dean

The pizza by our hotel!

SAM'S NUMBER THREE - EAT THERE FOR BREAKFAST WHEN YOU ARE IN DENVER!

The beers we returned with!