SPECIAL REVIEW: The 2011 Great American Beer Festival

The Dirt
The Great American Beer Festival (GABF), or simply known as Beerfest amongst those who have attended before, is one of the grandest beer festivals one can attend. Typical beerfests are on a Saturday afternoon and might have a dozen or two breweries on-hand, while GABF is three days with 450+ breweries and 2,000+ beers for 2011. It is held every year in the massive Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver. This year marked the 30th Anniversary of GABF, running from Sept. 29-Oct. 1.

What's Special
This year marked the 5th straight GABF that my partners in crime and I have attended, and over the years we've witnessed and established a number of traditions that make GABF even more special than it already is.

Every year legends such as Dogfish Head, Sam Adams, and New Belgium have some of the longest lines at the festival. But no brewery has a longer line than New Glarus (pictured above-left). We make it a point to make New Glarus our first stop each year, and now that we have American Homebrewers Association memberships, that means getting in just before GABF officially opens, allowing us to get in line early. This year's lineup was a bit weaker than in the past, but their Raspberry Tart is one of the finest. It's like eating fresh raspberries, but tart and delicious as a beer.

Dogfish Head is probably a close second to New Glarus' line (pictured above-right). This is likely due to their always outstanding lineup, but also because founder Sam Calagione is back there serving beer (pictured pouring me a beer below-bottom). He is a rockstar in the craft beer world, and it's always a treat to get a sample straight from him.

But Sam isn't the only notable name we see at Beerfest. Over the years we've had the true honor of getting to know John Leinenkugel, one of the three Leinenkugel brothers of the Leinenkugel Brewery (pictured with us above-top). John is a hoot and a great guy who always loves talking beer with us, including what's happening on the Leinenkugel docket. This year John was joined by his brothers Jake and Dick, who too are upstanding guys. And this year's visit with John was extra special, as he presented us with a box of their Russian Imperial Stout signed by him and Jake (see below).

Highlights
It's impossible to try every single beer at GABF - well, if you want to live to tell about them - but that makes for some diamonds in the rough. Here's a list of what stood out at this year's Beerfest:

• Bull & Bush Legend of the Liquid Brain - a delicious imperial stout from a local Denver brewery that is worth a visit on its own. Also gets props for a crazy unique name (see logo below-left).
• Avery Immitis Barrel-Aged Sour Ale - might be one of the best sours I've ever had. What is certain is that this was the best beer I sampled at the festival. The bad news: it was a very limited release.
• Russian River Brown Ale - aged in oak barrels with cherries, this beer filled the void that we all have for New Glarus' Belgian Red - very delicious. Their other offers were quite tasty too, and had a healty line at all times.
• Dad & Dudes Breweria Toffee Porter - the first time I've seen toffee used in a beer, and a porter was the perfect vehicle for it. Kind of wonder why it hasn't been used before. Not something I'd drink often, but was tasty and unique.
• Dogfish Head World Wide Stout - this may be the 120 Minute of dark beers, as it certainly has its alcohol profile (18%).
• Sam Adams LongShot: Derf’s Secret Alt - one of the three beers that attendees can vote on to appear in the LongShot variety pack, this one stood out amongst a very strong showing this year. I believe it won, so be on the lookout for the LongShot 6-pack.

Overall, the Rocky Mountain section probably had the strongest showing, with solid beers from even the smallest and lowest-profile breweries. And if you ever happen to be in Michigan, see if you can get some beer from Shorts Brewery - very good stuff.

Cap It
Overall, Year 5 was one of the best despite being one man down on night two (NOTE: do not drink a growler's worth of barrel-aged imperial ales - you will get sick). This year's most popular styles seemed to be Oktoberfests (makes sense given the time of year), pumpkin beers (including imperial), beers aged over cherries, and barrel-aged beers in general. Needless to say, it was Cloud 9 for our taste buds. And as always, GABF was what I like to call the largest gathering of the happiest people on earth. The countdown to 2012 is already underway.

The Final Word