9/29-10/1
Denver, CO
Even the bears try to get into
this event!! The newly expanded and completed Colorado Convention Center
was once again the home for the 24th annual GABF. Nearly 30,000 beer lovers
attended this year's event which only seems to get better.
This was our 5th visit to this
event since 1998 and still held a great fascination for us. This year,
there were almost 1700 beers to sample and lots of food vendors and others
of interest. Cooking demonstrations took place throughout the event with
lots of beer cuisine and renowned brewers and chefs joining forces to pair
the best food with the best beer.
We arrived in Denver on Wednesday
to enjoy a little pre-GABF eventage. Our first stop is always the Falling
Rock Tap House, a beer institution in this town! They have 69 taps and
lots of bottles! This week is especially great as they tap one-off beers
from the best breweries in the world and also hold special events all week.
This is not a place to be missed!!! We hooked up with Dave Brodrick of
Blind Tiger in NYC and Warren Monteiro of Ale Street News fame and attended
the Brewers' Event at Wynkoop. There we tasted some of the best beers coming
to the event and finger foods to cleanse the palate. We met up with a lot
of beer luminaries and even got a picture with John Hickenlooper, the Mayor
of Denver and owner of Wynkoop. It was a great night!
Thursday, we visited Great Divide Brewing for their Kickoff Party, as we have for the last several visits. Always a great time, I met up with my friend Stan Hieronymous, the great beer writer whose new book, Brew Like A Monk, just came out that day! Be sure to pick up a copy from beertown.org or Amazon.com or your favorite bookstore. I also had a chance to meet Daniel Bradford, publisher of All About Beer, the premiere beer magazine in the US. Andy from Flying Fish was in attendance who I don't even see here that often! Of course, we had the chance to taste all their beers and have some good cheeses, breads and sausages to boot! I hope they will be coming to NJ soon. I know Dave talked to them about coming into NYC!
Onward to Blake Street Tavern, home of the Flying Dog Brewery, and some really fine food. We met up with the Ale Street News group and had some lunch and a photo op. The winners of the Garden State Brewers Guild contest won the free trip to Denver and were enjoying the fruits of their rewards. This was Tom Baker's (Heavyweight Brewing) first trip to the GABF and he was enjoying meeting all his brewing brethren.
There is so much to do in Denver
even when this event is not in town. Brewpubs, beer bars, museums, the
Zoo, all add to the enjoyment here. Public transportation abounds and anyplace
can be reached wioth a minimum amount of effort.
Then comes the big night! Thursday
night starts the Festival and is the best time to get your beer tasting
done. All the beers are available and is the least attended of the nights,
though that is changing as the realization comes to all. Usually, there
are more people from NJ and PA, but this year, many did not attend. We
still see a lot of our friends from many of the brewpubs and breweries.
The whole crew from Iron Hill, Nodding Head, John Harvard's, & Basil
T's Red Bank, were all represented.
And they all won medals!!! Iron Hill won 2 golds and a Bronze as well as Large Brewpub of the Year!!! Congratulations to Mark Edelson and his crew for a job well done. Now the whole country knows what we have known for years! Nodding Head came away with a Gold and a Bronze. A good job by Gordon Grubb who has filled the big shoes left by Brandon Greenwood! John Harvard's in Wayne won a Gold also. John Rehm, who came in to help the weary Brian McConnell in one of the 3 JH's he's been brewing for, came in on top his first time out! Great work to both of you!!
Of course, this trip is all about
the beer and we enjoyed our share. I added quite a few new ones to my list
and tasted lots of variations on styles and new flavors. A lot of great
new breweries and brewpubs are opening up all over the U.S. and this is
the one place you can try all their products without having to travel all
over!
So, if you want to enjoy the
best of the best, be sure to make plans to attend this fantastic festival
at least once. Ale Street News offers a trip there every year leaving out
of Newark, NJ and I'm sure there are lots of others sponsoring trips from
everywhere or just get a group of friends together and make reservations
at one of the many hotels in Downtown Denver! You certainly won't regret
it!