My own pursuit of hoppiness and great beers lead me to Ebenezer’s Pub in Lovell, Maine for their 6th Belgian Beer Festival.  This trip has been managed by the Bieropholie website.  I could gather with friends and get a private driver for the whole weekend.  Isn’t that beautiful?

We left Montréal on Friday to reach Le Siboire, another great brewpub that opened within the last three years in our province.  Located in Sherbrooke, it came to the world in an old train station.  Brick walls, wood, nice view of the brewery, smiling staff, and with music not too loud that offers an inviting ambiance to a quite young crowd.  A tasting panel revealed a high quality of beers, without defaults.  The Belgian White Capricieuse and the Abbey Tripel Trip d’automne III where among my favourites.  The brewer Jonathan Gaudrault, poured us some of his new Citra Pilsner directly from the fermentor.  These new hops (for me) provided a bold citrus taste and made this sampling experience very interesting.  I like it when brewers go out of normal bounds to make the effort to try new recipes instead of just keeping the classical blonde, brown, red and black.

On Saturday, we pick up some US bottles to bring back to Canada at Glen Beverage, in the cosmopolitan city of Glen.  Lots of classics (Stone, Rogue, Dogfish Head, Sierra Nevada), so we didn’t purchase anything special there.  Few hours after, we reached Lovell, Maine.  I was expecting for a crowded site, without any place to put our tents and it stressed us a little, but when we showed up, there were plenty of places, so much that we could have a table for twelve.  Except the glasses and the t-shirts printed for the event, nothing gave us the feeling that a beer event would take part here.  Instead of a legion of beer geeks, families with kids and grand parents were in the place.  It was miles away of my first thoughts.  Nevertheless avoiding long queues, and being served promptly always a pleasure.  The tap menu was a real Belgian Beervana. A majority of beers I’ve never tasted before and some I’ve never even heard of. This sort of experience pleased our group. I give big thumbs up to De Struise Black Albert, an imperial stout brewed specifically for the pub, a great mix of vanilla, coffee and black chocolate flooded through 13 % of alcohol.  Simply excellent.  Another great extreme brew was the Mocha Bomb, also from De Struise.  Another explosion of coffee, chocolate and bourbon barrel.  Again, I discovered a brewery that creates products that brings your tastebuds to another level.  Thanks De Struise.

I had the opportunity to have my first Cantillon (Cuvée des Champions) on tap.  Acidic (of course), sour and a bit funky.  Great Cuvée that you want another pint of.   I had, like everybody in bar, a glass from a Methuselah of Val-Dieu Triple.  I think this bottle has been offered by Chris, the owner.  If not, thanks to the guy who order a too big bottle and to his decision to share it with the rest of us.

For the evening, an event has been planned by the pub, and Alan Sprints from Hair of the Dog was invited.  I thought there could be a booth, a promotion on HOTD beers, some special kegs, but the event was a presentation from Alan in the Ebenezer cellar including a tasting of Doggie Claws, Matt and Dave.  Yes what you red is definitely true, a taste of Dave.  Of course, some selected bottles from the pub’s cellar did complete this presentation/tasting.  Would you like to see the pictures?  Well, don’t ask me.  I wasn’t there.  Only 20 peoples were admitted in the cellar and the entrance was sold at 50 USD $$$.

Everything has a cost in life, and it is valid for beer, too.  I choose to not pay this amount for 2 ounce tastings.  Try to appreciate a beer when you share it with 20 people…  Even if it is a rare bottle, it is quite ridiculous. Sometimes, you have no obligation to join the family.  That’s why I continued to have beers with my folks at the table.  At the closure, we received a bill of 966 $ USD for the whole table.  Ouch!  But it was so good.

This huge dinner has been continued at the tent village beside the pub with folks randomly met.  We brought some of our great brewery products of Québec like Microbrasserie Charlevoix and Unibroue.  Some other folks from brought growlers of Hill Farmstead brewery.  This brewery will be considered for another trip to Vermont.

Back home on Sunday, we stopped at the Moat Smoke House & Brewing Co.  It’s been a while I had beer for breakfast.  Gee, I discovered that passion has limits.  The worst is that I wasn’t impressed by what I tasted, and it was not caused by the early hour.  Do you know only one great beer is brewed with blueberries?  Can it be only used for jam and pies please?  That was my feeling of the Violet’s B’s Blueberry.  On the opposite end of the spectrum, the German Hefeweizen was quite refreshing.  I can’t really recommend that place, but if it’s on your way, you might give them a try, but try to have a breakfast before.

marc@brewpublic.com

Posted under beer events, beer reviews, places to drink beer

By Marc Demeule

It is so true that simple ideas are often the best.  The Trou du Diable team simply wanted to create a “get together” with other brewers they appreciate but just don’t have the chance to visit often enough.  A total of 15 breweries shared the Willow Street for a one evening and the only competition was to serve the crowd that attending the  first (and I can surely announce it will now be annual) event simply called “La Soirée des Brasseurs” (the brewer’s night).

The setup has been reduced to the minimum:  A tent for two breweries, a table and great beers in small quantity.  All the rentals were supported by Le Trou du Diable, so no sponsors were on the site.  Two live bands, Jah Cutta and Afrodizz , gave a live show and a musical atmosphere to the evening.

What where the great beers of the event?  Here are my preferred, in a completely random order. Read More…

Posted under beer events, beer reviews, brewpubs, places to drink beer

By Marc Demeule

I recently attempt to the 11th edition of le X de 1000, the biggest homebrewer event in Québec. The managers and volunteers did a great job to plan, set up and execute the event. Attendees even received serigraphy glasses. The annual brewing theme was chosen at the end of the previous year. A sweet chaotic and ethylic brainstorming result that our Senators (René Brasseurs Illimités, Jean Brasseurs & Frères and Nicolas Bedondaine et bedons ronds) decided that every style brewed in a previous edition (porter, tripel Belge, IPA, Scotch ale, barley wine, stout, saison, brown and mild ale, trappiste & 10%+) would be considered as an imposed style style imposé for the 11th edition.

Every other beer could be presented as freestyle (style libre) for this very friendly competition. The winner has the privilege to tell everybody that he wins this edition and is allowed to hoist the trophy  for a year. It is also appreciated if he pays to engrave his nameplate on the trophy… Read More…

Posted under beer events, beer reviews, places to drink beer

By Marc Demeule

I like to come to Québec to visit my family, friends and their kids and also for the summer festival.  We had a real good edition with plenty of concerts from artists like Iron Maiden, Dream Theater, Rush, Social Distortion, GBH, Jello Biafra and so on.  But what about the beer?  Unfortunately, the festival was sponsored by Molson and the only products available on the site were Molson Dry, Molson M and Aquafina, which is the only bottled water that has an ugly taste because it is bottled from tap water  (thanks Pepsi).  Well, I can understand that only macro breweries have the money to sponsor such a big event, but it is always boring to attend a rock concert without anything good to drink.

Nevertheless, I took the weekend to pubcrawl Québec’s breweries, too.  Here’s where I went:

La Korrigane
The name of La Korrigane comes from an Icelandic codfisher transformed into an exploration ship.  Their expedition in 1934-1936 brings back a collection of 2000 ethnic objects of Polynesia, Indonesia and Egypt.

I have been very lucky and a bit insolent to attempt to the newest brewery in town, La Korrigane.  In fact, the place wasn’t really opened.  It was just a practice for the real opening night and only family and friends were invited to this event where the new staff was experiencing a new location, with new equipment and the first batch of recipes that hasn’t been tested with the water of the city.  So, okay, I promised to the owner to be objective in my comments and I wrote one page for the suggestion box.  The renovations of this huge building present a location easy to access (Corner of St-Joseph and Dorchester) with a terrace and eventually a kitchen (please offer more than burgers).  It will certainly help for the revitalization of St-Roch neighbourhood.

Beers tasted there revealed much potential.  I will surely return to measure the evolution when the installations will be fine tuned.  The only thing I could notice was that the beers had a mouth felt too thin.  I experienced a witbier (Mary Morgan) with good aroma of banana, citrus and a bit of yeast. The blueberry beer (Emiliy Carter) didn’t impress me because I found it too acidic.  The red and the oatmeal stout (Cornik) presented a some acidic taste, too, but where quite interesting.  The blonde (Vila) was my preference with a light touch of flowers and honey.

L’Inox
As I remember, this brewpub is the oldest (1987) that is still opened in Québec.  They recently move to a new location, so the occasion was perfect for a visit.  Only three beers were on tap because the affluence of the summer festival.  Simply called Blanche, Blonde and Rousse (white, blonde and red), I had glasses (no tasters available) of beers that respected the standards.  The white presented touches of citrus and the red some caramel malts.  The best was the blonde, American pale ale that presented a hoppy taste from five different hops.  It was simply great on a sunny terrace.  I shall visit this place when seasonal beers will be available, but on such a touristic street (la Grande Allée), I think this brewpub will now have the happy problem to fill up the mass of tourists instead of the local beer geeks.  Good for the volume, but please don’t forget to brew funky things.

Microbrasserie Le Corsaire
Le Corsaire is located in Lévis, just next to the ferry boat of the St-Lawrence River.  So the best way to access it is to take this ferry which gives an exceptional view of Québec and his Frontenac Castle.  The brewer, Martin Vaillancourt, made some of his classes at the aforementioned L’Inox as well as in England, so this brewing style is strongly and well represented here since 2008.  Here is what I’ve tried:

Tanaka blanche, wheat ale with ginger,  Seeräuber Pilsner,  Galère pale ale,  Bristol ESB, Maya blanche au miel, Corsaire Alt, Davy Jones Stout, Session bitter and Session bitter on cask.  Unfortunately, no IPA was on the board, but I had something very hoppy with the Session Bitter on cask.  What a great beer!  80 IBU and only 3,5 % of alcohol.  I would have took pints and pints of it but had to leave to take the last ferry back to the north shore.

I’ve been lucky (and lonely) because I was the only passenger for this travel on a ferry that can carry close to 40 cars and a bunch of pedestrians.  David Suzuki would have certainly not agreed with this, but there were no other options.   A good thing is that this session bitter will probably be Le Corsaire’s next beer to be canned (no bottles, but cans for this brewery).  At least, this travel didn’t produce five tons of CO2 for nothing…  Sorry Mr. Suzuki and Mrs. Earth.

To conclude, well I have to admit that the Québec City beer scene is away from what we can have in Montréal.  Of course, the quality is improving, but with the exception of the cask bitter, I haven’t tasted a lot of really exceptional beers.  On the other side, all the tasted beers were correctly brewed and did not present any technical defaults.

If you’ve  already come to Québec, you’ve probably taken note that I’ve forget to visit a brewery.  No, I haven’t forgotten.  I visited it but won’t talk much of it.  When you have a tasting tray and three of the beers are totally acidic, it is not normal.  The worst is when you mention it to the staff, they agree but still continue to pour it, because the place is full and people just don’t make the difference.  I don’t like that.  Instead of giving my money for default batches, I would prefer to make a donation for cancer research.

Brewpublican Marc Demeule lives and quaffs craft beer near Montreal, Québec and is an honorary citizen of Beervana. Marc@Brewpublic.com

Posted under beer reviews, places to drink beer

By Marc Demeule

The 17th edition of the biggest beer festival in North America is now past.  Another attack to my liver, but I’m sure that such good beers can’t be harmful.  The popularity of this event can be observed at the two 2 hour lines during the weekend.  Entrance to the festival is free, so the maximum number of participants needs to be limited to avoid an overcrowded site.  When you are lucky enough, you can take some vacation time for the opening on Wednesday.  It wasn’t my case this year, so I had to go the crowded way.  Okay!  I just used the exit to enter, pretending I was a volunteer in a booth and it worked fine so I skipped the long queue.

In Beervana, a selection of 500 beers, including 240 new brews is called a local beer store.  Nevertheless, I can assure that the selection we had for 2010 was interesting.  In addition to Québec and Ontario breweries, we were able to taste new products from Belgium, Brazil and Italy.  

The Mondial de la Bière also included a beer judging event among Quebec microbreweries.  The platinum distinction of the 2010 edition was assigned to a Pinot Noir oak aged Belgian with brettanomyces (Trippe à 3 à la Brett) from À la fut, Saint-Tite.

Gold medals have been awarded to:
- Le Saint-Bock, Montréal with RIP (Russian Imperial Porter), Sacrilège (Imperial Stout), Sacrilège Ultime (Imperial Stout) and Malédiction (Sweet Stout)
- Microbrasserie le Bénélux, Montréal with Congo (Belgian IPA) and Cuda (West Coast IPA)
- Microbraserie Le Trou du Diable, Shawinigan with La Saison du Tracteur
- Broadway Pub, Shawinigan with Sein d’esprit (German Hefeweizen)
- Hopfenstark, L’assomption with Saison Station 55
- McAuslan, Montréal with St-Ambroise Oatmeal Stout

On my own way, I did experience new brews from Brazil Cervejaria Bamberg and Cervejaria Wäls.  Italia was well represented with Birrifico Artigianale Karma, Birrifico del Borgo and Birrifico Baladin.  The Big Swell IPA from Maui Brewing reminded me great Northwest hoppy beers, so did the Dr IPA from Kuhnhenn Brewing Co.  I’ve missed La Folie from New Belgium, but had their 1554 black ale.

Quebec breweries now offer more Saison beers on their regular tap selection.  Two years ago, it was rare.  For 2010, the new trend is to spice up recipes with brettanomyces.  When will we have sour ales?  Probably in one or two years…  Hope to see you for the 2011 edition with a new location for the festival and more beers to discover in an indoor environment, so rain won’t stop us tasting.

Cheers.
marc@brewpublic.com

Posted under beer awards, beer events, places to drink beer

By Marc Demeule, Brewpublic’s Quebecer Beer Trekker

Crossing the border for another beer adventure can lead to unexpected discoveries.  Our first stop was at Burlington’s American Flatbread where we enjoyed their famous pizzas and sampled a few Vermont beers from Zero Gravity Brewery.  I also had a Cuvée de Jacobin that made me remember good times at the Casacade Brewery (but it didn’t equal all the extreme sour ales I had in Portland)…  We gather with other beer geeks for few trades.  Charlevoix Lupuplus, Dieu du Ciel!, Saint-Ambroise Barleywine, Corne de Brume are some of our products that can be easily traded to US geeks.  At least, they don’t have access to those ones!

We reached Winooski Beverage Warehouse for a quick beer shopping session.  The selection always gets better here.   They have all the classics US craft breweries, but also a good selection of Belgian products.  I was pleased to find some Mikkeller Single Hop Amarillo IPA and Tomahawk IPA.  Now I’m just waiting for a special event to open them.  Because we have an environmental conscience, we brought some of our empty bottles and were surprised to discover a recycling center behind the beer store.  I saw three guy sorting all the bottles and cans.  It was the first time I saw such an organization in a beer store.  Is it the same everywhere?   Maybe they recycle for other places because you can’t generate enough empty bottles from this one spot to keep three dudes employed.

Have you ever hear about the Trapp family?  The land they own in Stowe, Vermont is absolutely unique.  But what interested us is that they recently (end of January) opened a brewery.  “High in the Green Mountains, low in a labyrinthine basement beneath the Austrian Tea Room at the Trapp Family Lodge, Allen Van Anda toils away like a crafty alchemist, pouring water and yeast into shining stainless-steel vats and hoping the combination turns into something close to heavenly”.

Our contact arranged a meeting with Allen, the brewer.  He leads this brand new brewery which specializes in German-style beers.  We had the chance to taste three beers, a Helles, a Bourbon Barrel Bock, and a Dunkel.  These beers help to increase the beer standards in Vermont.  For now, distribution is in its early stages, but they will be soon become more widely distributed. And, if you happen to see one of those kegs in your preferred bar, ask for a pint.  We will have to make a detour by Stowe when we’ll come back to Vermont.

A last stop at Waterbury to the Alchemist Pub and Brewery is necessary.  I’ve talked about this place a few times, so what was new on the taps?  A Heady Topper Double IPA.  Simply malty enough to support a blast of pine and citrus (claiming 120 IBU, we could expect it). I took a taster tray, just to be sure that this double IPA was my preference and I was right, it was.  Please, don’t change the recipe.

At the Canadian border, we were been caught.  No alcohol importation for a day trip.  So I had to pay 10$ of taxes for a case of 50$.  It is nothing when you figure the trip we had.  Thanks to Émilie, our designated driver.  We owe you one.

marc@brewpublic.com

Posted under beer reviews

by Marc Demeule

April 2^nd, day off and sunny time.  In a car driven by friends, it’s my first visit to New York City for another beer trip.  As usual, our first stop was at customs.  We were not alone.  Too many people like us decided to take advantage of Easter time in a city that could satisfy our eyes and, in our case, our thirsty throats.  It took an hour and forty five minutes before being welcomed to the United States of America.  Smile, Big Brother is now watching us.

Spuyten Devil was visited three times during that trip.  The tap turnover revealed a diverse selection of bottles.  The little terrace behind the bar is just perfect in the afternoon when the temperature reaches up to 27 (about 81 F) degrees.  In the evening, the place got rapidly crowded.  Can 50 people have a seat inside?  Probably not.

Best beer tasted:  Kuhnhenn Mayhem Belgian Dark Strong Ale

The Barcade is the perfect bar if you liked the 80’s as much as I did.  Nostalgia is a good seller.  The bar owns a collection of classic arcade machines like Paperboy, Contra, Donkey Kong, 1942…  A real kid garden.  The beer menu is more than interesting with 24 taps and one cask.  The beers poured were too cold.  Nevertheless, the bar was a little bit overcrowded so the beer temperature didn’t preoccupy me that much.  It could be nice to visit again this bar, but at the open time to avoid the crowd.

Best beer tasted:  Ithaca Cascazilla

Our tourists’ visit led us to the Empire State Building where we discovered that this noble giant houses a brewery named Heartland Brewery and Rotisserie.  Driven by the discovery instinct, we tried their eight brews.  My first impression was the similitude with the Rock Bottom in PDX.  Those impressions were only true of the motif.  Not one of the beers were infected, but nothing was interesting, even the IPA wasn’t much to speak of.  This place is for the family, not good for a beer crawl.  Anyway, we took a crazy cab (the myth is true; they really do drive like hell!) and reached our next destination.

Least unpalatable tasted:  Farmer Jon’s Oatmeal Stout

The Blind Tiger

I’d like to live in this neighbourhood and have this place for my daily draft beer.  Dick’s Brewery has invaded the tap menu (18 of their 28 offerings) when we showed up.  Those tiny bars are getting crowded rapidly and I’m getting to an age when you appreciate having a drink and a seat.

Best beer tasted:  Allagash White

Rattle n Hum

The next time I come back to New York, it will be my first destination.  Their slogan, “No crap on tap” is true for the 40 taps and two casks proposed.  Cool staff and rock music of the 90’s complete the ambiance of this taproom.  Eight taps were dedicated to Bear Republic during our visit.

Best beer tasted:   Bear Republic Rebellion Simcoe

The Ginger Man proposes a cozy lounge ambiance.  When you can have access to their comfortable sofas, you conclude that you could spend the rest of the night there, with the 66 different taps offered.

Best beer tasted:  Birrificio Pausa Cafè, Tosta

If you’re a vegan, skip the following lines.  The Fette Sau BBQ will fulfill your meat expectations.  Lamb, pork shoulder, Angus beef, beans, and sausages are served and priced according to the weight.  The more you eat, the more you pay.  Built in an old garage, this place is owned by the Spuyten Devil folks.  We were there for the opening and I was surprised by the queue of meat lovers.

And the beers?  Nine taps, served in Mason jars for 5$ a pint.  Great selection.

Best beer tasted:  Arcadia White

d.b.a wasn’t scheduled in our brew tour, but I discovered it as another nice place with an inviting terrace.  You know, kind of bar without excessive noise and without a giga plasma tv on every wall?  Just nice.  What did I find there?  A bottle of HOTD Fred #75 for 6$.  Isn’t that life beautiful?  Don’t try to guess on the best beer tasted here.

The Gutter

After a mix of arcade and beers, the owners of the Barcade decided to mix another concept with beer:  bowling.  Here is the Gutter.  Take a pair of bowling shoes and strike!  My score:  105

Best beer tasted:  Dogfish Head Raison d’être

Half time

1800 bottles.  I don’t care if it is the largest selection in the world, I’m just happy to be there for beer shopping.  They have everything, even some Fred and Ruth.  Bill:  ± 216 $

Gilded Otter Brewing Company.  On our way back, we tried this awesome brewery.  It is the first time that I see the brewing installations located through the place like this.  Unfortunately, the beers are very ordinary.  The brewer will need to improve his recipes.  It is not just necessary to have products that are not infected, but you need to improve your products as well.  On a strictly beer point of view, it was a deception.

Conclusion:  There are great beer places in New York City and every style is offered so you can always find something that will accommodate your palate, but you may expect to pay a bit too much for bottled beers.  What about Brooklyn Brewery?  It was closed.  Even brewers can expect a break for Easter.

Next major beer event in Québec will be Le mondial de la bière in June.  Come and visit us!

marc@brewpublic.com

Posted under beer reviews, places to drink beer

Brewpublic’s Quebec Marc Demeule informed us early this morning of a new beer recently approved by the European Union trademarks authority to the dismay of an Austrian village. According to Spiegel Online, a German firm was permitted to register the brand name “Fucking Hell” for a new beer.

Fucking is an Austrian village in the municipality of Tarsdorf,o the Innviertel region of Western Upper Austria. The village is located 21 miles (33km) north of Salzburg, and 2.5 miles (4 km) east of the German border.

According to Wikipedia: “Despite having a population of only 104 people, the village has become famous for its name, particularly in the English-speaking world. Its road signs are a popular attraction for visitors, and they were often stolen by souvenir-hunting tourists until 2005 when they were modified to be theft-resistant.”

According to Wikipedia, “In 2009, the European Union’s OHIM trade marks agency disallowed a German brewery to market a beer called “Fucking Hell”. They sued, and on 26 March 2010 got permission to market the beer. They claim the beer is actually named after the Austrian village Fucking and the German term for pale lager, hell.”

Further the article from Spiegel Online adds:

The Trade Marks and Designs Registration Office of the European Union said in a statement that it had rejected a complaint that the trade mark “Fucking Hell” was upsetting, accusatory and derogatory.

“The word combination claimed contains no semantic indication that could refer to a certain person or group of persons. Nor does it incite a particular act. It cannot even be understood as an instruction that the reader should go to hell,” the Office said in its statement.

EU Trademark Office Has No Problem with Name

“Fucking Hell” was an “an interjection used to express a deprecation, but it does not indicate against whom the deprecation is directed,” the Office added. “Nor can it be considered as reprehensible to use existing place names in a targeted manner (as a reference to the place), merely because this may have an ambiguous meaning in other languages.”

That is good news for German marketing executives Stefan Fellenberg and Florian Krause, who own the rights to the brand name, and who had referred to the town of Fucking in their application to register it.

Tittelconsulting, a marketing agency, said in a statement on Monday that the owners will use the trademark to manufacture a variety of products including clothing and beer. “It includes the marketing of a beer among other things,” Tittelconsulting said in a statement.

The new brew was likely to be presented in August or September, it added. Contacted by SPIEGEL ONLINE, Fellenberg declined to give further comment, so it’s unclear where the beer will be brewed.

It is likely to heighten Fucking’s fame, which is something Meindl, the town’s mayor, isn’t happy about, given the trouble the name has caused it over the years. “Twelve or 13 town signs have been stolen. We’ve taken to fixing them with concrete, welding and rivets.”

The Bavarian towns of Kissing and Petting have the same problem, as does the eastern German town of Pissen. But so far, there are no plans to name a beer after them.

Don’t be surprised to see a beer in the future from the Labrador town of Dildo.

Posted under beer news

Fill up the car, grease your liver correctly and be prepared for the Extreme Beer Fest (EBF), managed by the Beer Advocate (respect beer). It was my third participation in this event.

Before, let’s take a look at this 800 miles car trip. Surprise! Our first stop is at the US customs. New security rules… well, they look inside the car, asked us questions and didn’t really understand why four guys would attempt to Boston for a beer festival. We started earlier so we could have a first beer tasting for lunch at the Martha’s Exchange Restaurant & Brewing Co. Eight homebrews where on tap, including an India Red on cask. Thumbs up to the Another Ale, an American pale ale brewed with Simcoe and Warrior hops. Food was quite greasy, so that’s why we will return there only for the beers.

EBF

A walk from our hotel leads us to the queue for the first event: Night of the barrels

( NOTB ). A very special, exclusive, and all inclusive evening of wood-aged beers (from fresh oak to bourbon barrels to wine barrels), guest speaker panel, tasty snacks, complimentary hydration, chance to rub elbows with the industry. Not to be missed. Limited to 500 tickets. For a 3 ½ hour session, over 50 different beers were offered at will. Yes, at will monsieur! Even if you try to be cartesian, it is unfortunately impossible to drink all these beers in a short period of time. I can assure you that all Russian River products can perfectly be aged in barrels with brettanomyces. Supplication, Beatification, Consecration and Temptation are incredible chef d’oeuvre. Lost Abbey Angel’s share grand cru is a magnificent blend. Captain Lawrence presented a special blend for the event. For all of you in PDX who likes Cascade products, order some of CL brews, you will be pleased of their sour ales. Portland brewers were represented there with Rogue (John John Dead Guy Ale) and Full Sail (Top Sail Imperial Porter Brewmaster Reserve 08 and 2010).

Even if I recommend attempting to this event once in your drinking life, I discovered that my consumption capacity is affected by barrel-aged products. After a couple of tasting, I would have appreciated something softer, just to change a little. Perhaps that I will skip this session at a subsequent visit and scout for Boston’s breweries and taprooms instead. That’s exactly what we did to achieve this first beery day.

Cambridge Brewing Co.

Cambridge Brewing Company has been founded in 1989, which makes it the oldest brewery-restaurant in the Boston area. They installed the brewery in a refurbished mill building where exposed brick, light woods and earthy colors combine for a casual, lively atmosphere (adapted from their website, I don’t have such a good English). Close to Boston MIT, the place serves a crowd of students and they certainly learn good things about beer over there. My favourite brew was the Big Man Ale, an American strong and hoppy ale that felts refreshing after all these barrel aged beers. The other 5 beers tasted there did correspond to their respective style (amber, porter, tripel, scotch ale, pale ale). An excellent local brewpub.

Session 1 of the Extreme Beer Fest.

100+ Extreme Beers from upwards of 27+ American brewers. Quite possibly the best fest on planet Earth, and now in its 7th year, this is the original fest that helped define what “Extreme Beer” is all about. This epic celebration of American brewers who push the boundaries of brewing will feature a stellar line-up of creative and unique beers. Limited to 1,000 tickets per session. A must. Simply a must for the quality of beers presented here. First thing to do is to try to get the most precious ones. Instead of Night of the barrels where the kegs had no ending, the situation is critically different today. Alex gave me a sip of the Sierra Nevada vintage 1994 Bigfoot barleywine. This keg runs out in less than an hour, same thing for the 27 % 2009 Samuel Adams Utopias. Gone! A real chicken run and you can’t drink those precious beers like macrostuff. The strategy I adopted was to have one and taste it while being in another line up. Russian river with Pliny the Elder & the Younger had a huge line up, so did Dogfish head with magical brews like the World Wide Stout and the 120 minutes IPA. I would like to drink gallons of those beers. A Lagunitas Hop Stoopid remembered me that Brewpublic anniversary party at Savaveza’s. Good times there.

I had the chance to have a Lost Abbey Framboise di Amarosa (well I thought the name was Frambooze…), added at the last minute to the line up. So intense, raspberry, lactic, kind of drinking a glass of jam… so I had another madame s’il vous plaît.

A discovery from Italia, Birrifico le Baladin. Xyauyù Fumé 2006 is certainly the weirdest beer I’ve drink. This barley wine smells like smoke and taste like kind of ashes and peaches. Even if it has 13,5% of alcohol, it is quite soft. A very strange beer sold at 50$ USD. The aging process of this beer seems complicated and takes 2 years ½, which explains the high cost of that unique product.

Wormtown brewing presented a Medieval Ale. It is always interesting to learn and figure how beer might have been brewed in the past times. This beer has been mashed one hour, put into a fermentor, casked and served 36 hours after brewing. It gives a flat beer with a taste of cereals and a touch of herbs. Interesting recipe which combines history and alcohol.

After all those (and others) incredible beers, we went to the Sunset Grill & Tap. This place offers the biggest beer selection on tap I’ve ever seen. 112 taps. Can you beat that PDX ? A Turbodog from Abita Brewery and a Bear Republic Racer 5 kept me in shape before dinner. Every time we come the Sunset is during the EBF. I would like to see this place when it is less crowded, if it happens. Nevertheless, the service was excellent and it bar is a must, just for the view of the 112 taps line… Think of it!

We choose to have a dinner at the John Harvard Brewery. This brewery is very nice, but those extra large tv screens does give a sports bar ambiance, which doesn’t fits to me. Anyway, we tasted 5 brews there and conclude that everything was good, but not exceptional. A good brewery to initiate your fellows who only drink major’s breweries. If they don’t like, they could listen the hockey game while you sample the beers.

On our way back, it is essential to fill up the car with good and precious bottles at Julio’s Liquor Store. Just imagine the Belmont Station with enough space to shop with a cart between rows. I saw few bottles of Cascade Kriek ale, but they disappear suddenly, bought by somebody with a no-ending throat. Anyway, the choice offered here is so amazing. As long as you have enough budget (some bottle are getting quite expensive), you can fill your cart with great brews impossible to have in Québec. Our cellars will be more respectable, for a while.

After the loading process, we drove to New London, NH at the Flying Goose Brewpub & Grille. We had a good surprise there. 15 different beers are offered to local consumers. I did prefer their porter and the brown ales offered. Haven’t found incredible beers there, but everything been good, which is a good point.

The last beer stop we had will be described in another post. I really think it is deserved. Keep on reading.

Towing times to town.

Yeah! It’s been a long a time I had a major failure with a car. Our driver exploded the water pump before the US customs. We’ve been able to run the car to Canada and then make an hour towing ride back to St-Hyacinthe. Three beer geeks squeezed on the front seat. Shit happens, but we saved the beer.

On remet ça l’an prochain, c’est sûr!

marc@brewpublic.com

Posted under beer events, places to drink beer

Brewpublic’s Marc Demeule and his homebrewing friends had a one of a kind brewing session, in extreme conditions of the Quebec winter.

We decided to brew an extreme IPA with all the leftover hops we had.  For a 50 liter batch, we included 20,8 oz of whole and pellet hops.  We also threw in all of our leftover home grown hops (maybe a half pound of Mt Hood).  With an anticipated 140,9 IBU, according to ProMash, we only expected something that could be drinkable, but extreme too.  If you want the complete recipe, just e-mail me.

The particularity of that brewing session was that we had -10ºC in the garage and the vapour generated created condensation that could contaminate when cooling.  Let’s say that when a functional ventilation system is added to the garage, it will be better.  Insulating the mash tun is also necessary to keep a constant temperature.  The funniest thing was when we realized that we had no water to cool our beer.  Frozen pipes!  Even with a torch, no water from the outdoor access.  It is so nice to live in a Nordic weather country.  A brand new home garden hose bought at the nearest hardwork center saved our batch by hanging from the ceiling to finally chill the beer (and the entire house) for a little while.  Always brew when you’re wife is gone to avoid problems…

The result is a double IPA, 8%.  Amber, good foam holding.  The cereal taste is present, enough to balance the taste for few seconds before you feel and explosion of hops, resinous, herbal taste.  It will never possible to brew that again, but we will appreciate it down to the last drop.

Santé.

marc@brewpublic.com

Posted under beer me, beer tools