Beer Bloggers Conference - Day Two

Day two of the 2013 Beer Bloggers Conference officially started at 9:30am. The morning was dedicated to some good information and education, geared toward me and my fellow beer bloggers. We learned everything from current beer blogging statistics to the mechanics of pouring beer. Good stuff, but probably too boring to the non-beer bloggers for me to explain in depth.

At 12:30pm, we went upstairs to have lunch. Of course, because of the beer-centric crowd, this was no ordinary lunch. It was a 4-course meal that paired each course with a beer, and it was put on by the National Beer Wholesalers Association. The run-down of the meal went like this:

1. Gazpacho paired with Rogue Brutal IPA
2. Crab cake and fennel salad paired with Stillwater Stateside Saison
3. Barbecue skirt steak and roasted sweet potatoes with Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot
4. Boston cream pie with Allagash Black

The food and brews were pretty much all delicious (this was my first time eating gazpacho, and I don't think I'll be joining that fanclub). My favorite pick of the 4 pairings was the crab cake and saison, hands down.

After lunch, there was one more educational session regarding social media best practices, then we jumped on a bus and rode to our next destination: live beer blogging at Burke Distributing/Massachusetts Beverage Alliance.

Live beer blogging is something they've done at this conference before, but was totally new for me. It's the beer blogging equivalent of speed dating. Breweries rotate from table to table visiting beer bloggers. Two staffers from each brewery get five minutes at each table to tell you about their business and pour and describe their beer to you. All while that's happening, you (the beer blogger) has to either post to your blog, facebook, or twitter, etc, before it's the next brewery's turn. It was crazy fast and intense. This being my first time, I decided to post to Untappd, which I also have set up to feed into my twitter account. That was a lot of fun.

After the craziness that was live beer blogging, the buses took us to Harpoon Brewery. They had given us beer bloggers months of advance notice and allowed us to vote on a beer style that they would brew specifically for our visit. The style that won? An imperial white IPA. As we walked into the brewery, they were handing out samples of that beer. It was really, awesomely good. Then we walked through the brewery until we arrived at the beer hall, where we were treated to a beer and cheese pairing and delectable dinner. Once again, this would have been a great way to end the night, except that it wasn't over!

The buses brought us back to the hotel, where we began the very first "Beer Social" in this conference's history. Basically, it was bunch of breweries pouring samples while us beer bloggers geeked out and used all available forms of social media to talk beer. They had a live broadcast of the BBC13 hashtag projected on the wall for all to see as we chatted, tweeted, facebooked, and instagramed.

Wow, that was a fun, busy day. I crashed hard that night...

Beer Bloggers Conference - Day One

Yesterday was the first day of the 2013 Beer Bloggers Conference. I am very excited to be able to attend this event at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel in, of course, Boston, MA. I had such a busy beer experience happening on the first day that I wasn't able to post this at the end of the day like I wanted to. So, I figured the next best thing would be a post first thing in the morning before I get into even more beer fun.

The Beer Bloggers Conference started in 2010 and has been successful enough to continue annually. It happens at a different city every year and involves some great beer experiences that us bloggers can write about. This is the first year that I've been able to attend.

I arrived in Boston just before noon and made my way to the hotel. The conference wasn't going to start until 2:30pm, so I thought it would be a good time to have lunch. Funnily enough, there was a Rock Bottom Brewery just a quick walk away. While I was there, I enjoyed a couple brews with my food and chilled until it was time to head back to the hotel.

I went to pick up my conference name badge and was happy to receive this awesome gift from Hydro Flask:

It's a stainless steel, powder coated, double walled, vacuum insulated growler. Cool, right?

After picking up my badge and growler, I walked over to the trade show that was kicking off the event and sampled some brews. One that definitely stood out was Ghost Face Killah, a chile beer made with Anaheim, Fresno, Jalapeno, Serrano, Habanero, and Bhut Jolokia (aka Ghost chile). This was probably the spiciest beer I have had yet, but not much hotter than the chipotle pepper Black Marlin Porter I had at Ballast Point a few months ago. I sampled some other delicious beers (which helped cool my palate) and then hopped on the bus outside the hotel.

The bus took us to the original brewery of Boston Beer Company for a couple keynote speakers, dinner, and more tasty beer. Jim Koch, founder of the brewery, was one of the speakers and gave a fun and relaxed speech that I may eventually have access to on video and will post if things work out. After the speech I was fortunate enough to go into the barrel room and sample some 2012 Samuel Adams Utopias with Jim:

After the Utopias tasting, I thoroughly enjoyed the food, beer, and conversations with my fellow beer bloggers. This was a great evening. But wait, we're not done yet! We loaded up the bus and headed to Stoddard's Fine Food and Ale, where some pirates were ready to show us a good time.

Heavy Seas Brewing put on a Pyrates, Pints, and Poets party for us at Stoddard's. There were many beers to sample and I did my best, but wasn't able to hit every one. Here's what I did try: Red Sky at Night Saison, Small Craft Uber Pils, Davey Jones' Lager, Loose CANnon IPA, Red Sky with lavender on cask, Siren Noire Imperial Chocolate Stout, and Peg Leg Imperial Stout aged in Bourbon Barrels. I can honestly say that I really enjoyed every single one of those beers. I wonder if they'll ever make it to Minnesota? Fun little tidbit for you: apparently, Heavy Seas is the largest producer of cask ale in the United States. It definitely showed at the party, as there were a good number of casks present.

Well, I'd say it was a great first day! Uh-oh, it's getting close to starting time for day two, so I better get going. Keep watching the blog to see what adventures I have today!

Beer Brief #45 - Serendipity

Brewery - New Glarus Brewing Company, New Glarus, Wisconsin

Beer - Serendipity

Style - Oak-aged sour fruit beer made with apples, cranberries, cherries, and fermented with brettanomyces

ABV - Can't find an official source, but most pages I found listed it as either 4% or 5.1%

Color - Reddish amber with a light tan head

Aroma - Cranberries and sweet cherries dominate

Flavor - All the fruit comes through beautifully, apples and cherries blend perfectly with the cranberry tartness, there's also a small touch of caramel and a slight amount of earthy bitterness

Verdict - If you're ever craving an alcoholic version of sparkling fruit juice, Serendipity might just fit the bill. The big fruit aromas and flavors completely dominate this brew and give the drinker a juicy, delicious treat. This beer was created because a cherry shortage wouldn't allow New Glarus to make their usual Belgian Red. The bottle label says "Happy Accident Fruit Ale", and I completely agree. Happy accident, indeed!

Beer Brief #44 - War & Peace

Brewery - Fulton Brewing Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Beer - War & Peace

Style - Russian Imperial Stout aged on Peace Coffee's Guatemalan Organic Dark Roast

ABV - 9.5%

Color - Thick black with dark brown around the edges and a tan head

Aroma - Molasses, chocolate, coffee, a waft of fruit - maybe blackberry?

Flavor - Brief toffee, tiny bit of raisin, dark chocolate, full coffee roastiness, dark berry, earthy bitterness

Verdict - This is now one of my favorite coffee beers! The coffee was integrated nearly perfectly in my opinion by making it's presence well known while still remaining balanced enough that the imperial stout character comes through clearly. Then, there's the added bonus of the luxuriously creamy mouthfeel...