Brewfest 2009: Day 1

(this is the first of likely two posts about this year's Oregon Brewers Festival, specifically covering beer sampled on Thursday)

The significant other and I continued the beer week with her mother taking us to the OBF for a rousing round of beer sampling. I generally prefer to get to the brewers festival on the opening day to avoid the larger crowds, but in addition to being less crowded there tends to be fewer individuals there drinking with a direction. Towards intoxication that is. There still remains far too many cigar smokers letting their smoke disable the taste buds of others, along with the once every five minute group cheer, but Thursday remains my preferred day for rating and comparing beer.

We started our sampling at the northern end of the festival grounds at trailers eight and seven. My first beer was a sample of Laurelwood's DOH (double Oregon hefeweizen), a favorite of last summer making a return visit. The DOH this year is not as lively in flavor as its predecessor, with a noticeable drop in the amount of citrus that it possesses in both aroma and initial flavor. It remains a substantial and quaffable up-hopped summer ale, but is nonetheless a let down from the quality of the previous year's iteration. The second ale tasted was Kona Brewing's Coconut Brown Ale. This brown ale, made using toasted coconut, both smells intriguing and manages to retain the toasted coconut flavor in the finished beer. While I am not generally a fan of brown ales, this added element created an interesting drink that while not necessarily being one I would want to drink a six pack of is definately worth sampling just for the experience.

I next sampled Amnesia Brewing's Goldyhops, a dry hopped golden ale. Normally I am a major fan of Amnesia's beers but this ale fell short of my expectations in several key areas. While the aroma was slightly earthy with a biscuity edge that spoke to an ordinary, flavorful golden the flavor itself lagged behind the aroma's promise. A slight hop start to the taste quickly shifted to a overly dry yeasty finish, similar to stale biscuits. The significant other disagrees with me on this beer, finding it to have a honey biscuit aftertaste that is a reward after a pleasantly bitter finish. While I obtained the Goldyhops she had picked up a taster of Old Market Pub & Brewery's The Kraken Imperial IPA, a 103 IBU beer that was partially aged in Kentucky Bourbon barrels. To me the bourbon barrel aging had almost no noticeable effect upon the beer, indicating to me that it was either not aged long enough on accident or only intended as a gimmick to jump on the barrel aging band wagon. Aside from the diversion of the barrel aging it is a decent Imperial IPA sweet smelling aroma and a strong hop start to the taste. In the similar vein of big beers, the significant other's mother sampled Widmer's KGB, and Imperial russian Stout that they generally roll out at their gasthaus location every winter. While it is upsetting for Widmer to not grace us with an original creation, the KGB is definately worth the sample if you have never tried it. At 70 IBUs (partially due to the extra hopping at boil and whirlpool stages of brewing), it has a strong hop profile to balance the heavy coffee and chocolate and malt flavors that dominate this inky black beer.

Other beers that I enjoyed tasting from my first day of the brewfest included in no particualr order: Boulevard Brewing's Tank 7 (a farmhouse ale with a pleasant blend of hops tio balance it's belgian style spice, at a warming 8% ABV), the Collaborator brewed Saison Christophe (A drier than normal saison with a fantastic orange peel aroma and exceptionally full flavor), Southern Oregon Brewing's SOB Gold (a golden with a great biscuity smell and tasty finish), and Deschutes' Miss Spelt (a beer made utilizing an old form of malt making for a tasty amber).

Beers to avoid include all the usual fruit beers, such as 21st amendment's Hell or High watermelon, Eel River's Organic Acai Berry Ale (sweet water), and both of the "Razz" berry wheat ales from Vertigo and Cascade. Ballast Point's Big Eye IPA smelled great but did not live up to it's scent, partially due to the dominance of the simcoe hop over the other three used in it's production.

More after saturday!