FredFest 08 Beer Lineup

Published on Thursday, May 8th, 2008

The fabled day approaches, and I just got an e-mail from Preston Weesner, one of the organizers, containing the beer lineup for FredFest 08. You might want to grab some paper towels, unless you have a drool-proof keyboard.

  1. BridgePort Brewing, Bourbon Barrel aged Old Knucklehead Firkin
  2. Laurelwood Brewing, Bourbon Barrel Aged Olde Reliable Barleywine
  3. Widmer Brewing, Altbier!!!
  4. Lompoc Brewing, Oak aged LSD
  5. Deschutes Brewing, Br. Abe Belgian ale
  6. Rockbottom Brewing, Oak aged IIPA
  7. Cascade Brewing, 2006 Wild Blackberry ale ( Flanders red style)
  8. Lucky Lab Brewing, Double Alt
  9. Hopworks Urban Brewery, 2007 Kentucky Christmas
  10. Hair of the Dog, Cask Fred from the Wood
  11. Full Sail Brewing, Bourbon BBL aged 1998 Old Boilermaker
  12. Rogue Brewing, Brewer Ale
  13. Roots Brewing, 2006 Pinot Noir Oak aged Epic
  14. Ninkasi Brewing, Dry Hopped Cask Tricerahops
  15. Firestone, ?????
  16. Jim 2007, Holiday Ale Fest Collaboration with HOTD

How to Make a Booze Sandwich

Published on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

Courtesy of the incredibly imaginative people at CadaverBlender (via deadspin)

We’ve all been there, some sporting event or music festival featuring ridiculously long lines with a $6 cup of flat Budweiser waiting at the end and figured there has to be a better way to get a drink.

Well the guys over at CadaverBlender just got back from the infield of the Kentucky Derby where they came up with a great solution: the booze sandwich. While many places will let you bring in your own food, most frown upon bringing your own adult beverage, so the simple solution is make your booze look like a meal.

Here it is in a nutshell: Fill a 16 oz. water bottle with your booze of choice, hollow out a nice, appropriate sized French roll, insert bottle, add some lettuce, possibly some meat around the edge, wrap the sandwich in Saran Wrap and I bet not a single security guard in the country will hassle you at the bag check.

Here’s a couple photos (courtesy of CadaverBlender)
booze sammich

booze sammich2

Remember, please drink responsibly.


FredFest 2008 Beer Auction

Published on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008

Uh oh. Sarah’s leaving me to attend this by myself (well, with three other BS’ers), and now there’s this incredible list of auction beers - one of which literally has my name on it … anyone else headed to FredFest on Saturday? I seem to have an extra ticket if you need one, or perhaps I will give it away in a contest …

Online Rare-Beer Auction Supports FredFest 2008
Beer aficionados across the nation will be reaching for their wallets this weekend when rare beers and vertical collections will be highlighted at the first-ever FredFest Online Beer Auction.

The auction starts at 3 p.m. PDT Friday, May 9 and begins to wrap up at 3 p.m. PDT Sunday, May 11. The auction is designed to run concurrently with FredFest 2008 - a celebration of the 82nd birthday of Fred Eckhardt, the Dean of American Beer Writers, which is taking place May 10 at Hair of the Dog Brewing Co., in Portland.

“FredFest started as a surprise 80th birthday party for Fred, but is coming back around in its third year as a fundraiser in the memory of fellow beer scribe and friend, Michael Jackson,” said FredFest co-organizer Lisa Morrison.

Each year, Eckhardt is asked to choose a charity for FredFest. This year, he chose Parkinson’s Resources of Oregon, a local affiliate of the National Parkinson Foundation. Jackson had been battling complications from Parkinson’s disease when he died last summer.

The first-ever FredFest online auction was the brainchild of Hair of the Dog owner Alan Sprints, Ben Love of Hopworks Urban Brewery and Matt Maples of Liquid Solutions bottle shop.

Here is a sampling of some of the lots up for auction:

  • Hair of the Dog Dave 1994 (375 ml)
  • Hair of the Dog Adam #1 1994 (12 oz.)
  • Full Sail Old Boardhead Vertical: 1998 & 1999 (12 oz.), 2001-2007 (22 oz.)
  • Pike Old Bawdy Vertical: 1996-1998, 2006-2007 (12 oz).
  • AleSmith: Old Numbskull (750 ml), Grand Cru (750 ml), Horney Devil (750 ml)
  • Lost Abbey: Older Viscosity (375 ml) Angelâ s Share (375 ml), Lost and Found (750 ml)
  • Rodenbach Alexander 1991 (330 ml) and Rochefort 10 1999 (330 ml)
  • Westvleteren 12 1997 (11.2 oz.)
  • Anchor Brewing Commemorative Michael Jackson’s 60th Birthday Beer (1.5 L)

Other breweries included in the auction are Avery, Midnight Sun, J.W. Lees, Big Time, Fish Tale - and more. An entire list of auction items and more details can be found at www.liquidsolutions.blogspot.com.


Lying to FedEx

Published on Friday, May 2nd, 2008

I dropped off my entries into the Sam Adams Longshot contest at FedEx Kinko’s Wednesday morning. According to Sam Adams’ web site, shipping beer is allowed by most commercial carriers if the beer is being shipped for analytical purposes. Still, they make it very clear that shipping beer to their three drop locations nationwide should not be done via USPS, and both FedEx and Kinko’s web sites make it clear that alcohol is not supposed to be shipped (with exception above).

Not trusting your average FedEx customer service specialist to be aware of the arcana of alcohol shipping (ok for analysis, not for consumption), I decided to tell a fib if I was asked what my packages’ contents were. Bruce told me he wrote “Beer Supplies” on his slip; I thought I’d try “yeast samples.”

Sam Adams didn’t make my life any easier - the shipping address was for “Sam Adams Homebrew Competition” c/o “Beer, Beer and More Beer,” in Riverside, California, and the clerk did ask what was inside. I replied with my canned “yeast samples,” which he followed up with “But not liquid, right?” I think he may have been hinting that I should respond in the negative (which I did) a la the gun store clerk in Beavis and Butthead who asks repeatedly “You boys eighteen? … Let me try this again … you boys eighteen?”

In case you’re wondering, I sent in my English brown ale in two variations, one of which was bottled with a Torrefazione Palermo coffee bean in each bottle (”Bitter Seed Brown”). Bruce sent in his Blueberry lambic and an old ale. We’re both looking forward to getting our judging sheets back, which is a really nice benefit of participating.

I love the idea of this contest, which puts the winner’s beer into mass production by Sam Adams, and sends the finalists to GABF for free, but it seems some of the mechanics could be more finely tuned. Maybe they could add dropoff points in each state? It’s not as if they don’t distribute nationally - maybe the delivery chain could work backwards just this once.

Did you enter the Longshot contest this year or in years past? How’d you handle the shipping dilemma? Must we all be liars?


Viva Las Hofbrau

Published on Thursday, May 1st, 2008

As a former resident of Southern California, I used to be quite familiar with weekend trips to Las Vegas. Now that life has slowed down a bit and getting there is a little pricier than a three hour drive, I get out to Vegas about every other year…. but earlier this week that’s exactly where I found myself. Vegas.

One thing I figured is this will be a vacation away from good beer, and for the most part I was right. The beer of choice in Vegas seemed to be Bud Light in the aluminum “bottle”; talk about a beer wasteland… with one notable exception, The Hofbrauhaus

Designed to be a faithful recreation of the Hofbrauhaus in Munich (I wouldn’t know, I’ve never been), Eryn said it did look similar, which in Vegas I suppose is good enough. Here’s what I do know, this place was fun and the beer was good.

Pardon the photo quality, all I was armed with was my camera phone. Here’s a general interior shot, as you can see, it’s got a high ceiling making the place feel nice and open. The beer garden was closed for a private reception full of what I can only describe as drunken nerds. We arrived in town on a Sunday, so the place wasn’t packed, I’d say the room was running at about 40% capacity but I could see on a Friday or Saturday a packed house. hb1

Arriving on Sunday also meant I missed the tapping of their seasonal Maibock on Friday. Checking in at a healthy 7.2% ABV, the Maibock was surprisingly light with a nice malty body. Unfortunately they wouldn’t serve it in a liter mug, so here’s Eryn with our puny half liters of Maibock and Dunkel.
hb2

Like any good German beer hall there was a band. The photo may not tell the whole story, but I think it is safe to say these Austrians do quite well with the ladies. I don’t understand why the dude in the lower right is wearing a lei in a German beer hall.
hb3

The food also exceeded expectations. We ordered a sausage sampler plate seen below featuring some of the best frankfurters I’ve had this side of Ottos along with an excellent Brat and a chicken sausage. We also enjoyed a schnitzel with some delicious german potato salad.
hb4

After the Maibock, round two arrived in the form of a liter of the Dunkel. Sweeter and with a little bit of caramel, the Dunkel was another excellent beer.
hb5

As you can see, it’s BS Brewing approved.
hb6

So, with all this beer flowing, fun music playing and plenty of toasts, what do you think happens, even on a slower Sunday night? That’s right, lots of dancing on tables and benches. Although not this guy, another did do enough table dancing and high fiving people he eventually got cut off, so don’t go completely crazy. Drink responsibly.
hb8

Overall, if you’re looking for beer that isn’t Heineken, MGD or Michelob Amber Bock and you want to soak up a little of that faux-Vegas Octoberfest feel, I recommend the Hofbrauhaus Las Vegas as a refreshing change from the noise and clutter of the Strip.

The Hofbrauhaus is located on Paradise Road, across the street from the Hard Rock and is open from 11 to midnight on weekends (Fri & Sat).

Disclaimer: My meal and airfare was paid for by me; lodging was courtesy of my wife.