Pumpkin Fest, Belgian Beer Fest, & Insane Tap Lists

Thanks to breweries and beer organizations both local and from afar, Boston is getting spoiled over the next week and a half in terms of awesome beer events. The two big events are at the beginning and end of the stint - Cambridge Brewing Company's Annual Pumpkin Festival and BeerAdvocate's Belgian Beer Fest.

Best Use of Pumpkins...Ever!

Tomorrow marks the third annual Cambridge Brewing Company Pumpkin Festival, which entails costumes, pumpkin beers, and a 150 pound pumpkin which is actually used as a vessel to serve beer!

The beer list is incredible, specifically CBC's unique pumpkin beers: a Pumpkin Saison with Curry Spices, Pumpkin Barleywine, Barrel aged Wild Pumpkin Porter, and the list goes on.

• When - Saturday, October 30th @ 4pm
• Where - Cambridge Brewing Company, Cambridge, MA
• Cost - $10 at the door and pay per serving (admission includes pint glass!)

Tomme Takes Over Armsby Abbey

Smack dab in the middle of the week is an event at Armsby Abbey in Worcester. Tomme Arthur from Lost Abbey/Pizza Port is taking over the tap lines - 22 taps of pure California goodness! The tap lines will be filled with rarities such as Devotion, 2008 Older Viscosity, Cuvee de Tomme, and Double Fruit Framboise. The specifics on this event are available over at BeerAdvocate.

• When - Wednesday, November 3rd @ 6pm
• Where - Armsby Abbey, Worcester, MA
• Cost - Free admission, pay per serving

EDIT - Alec from Armsby posted on BA that Cuvee de Tomme will NOT be available at the event...according to Tomme, "its not ready yet."

Belgium in Boston

BeerAdvocate rounds out the week with the great Belgian Beer Fest and all the festivities that go along with it. While the actual festival may be well sold out, you can still get your fix of Belgium with events at The Publick House and Lord Hobo.

BBF Pre Party

Starting at 6pm on Thurday (11/4), The Publick House will be hosting the official BBF Pre-Party with co-hosts BeerAdvocate and Allagash. In addition to the expansive Belgian beer menu that The Publick House normally boasts, Allgash will be pouring a number of rare and exciting beers, including a coolship offering, Larry (wild ale), Avance (BSDA), and the two beers specifically made for the BBF - Big Little Beer and Little Big Beer.

• When - Thursday, November 4th @ 6pm
• Where - The Publick House, Brookline, MA
• Cost - Free admission, pay per serving

NoTF and Lord Hobo Post Party

Friday is holds the infamous Night of the Funk, in which brewers from around the world come to show off the funkiest, tartest, most delicious beers that they could conjure up. Don't feel left out if you can't make it, Lord Hobo is throwing a serious party with vintages of Cantillon and Drie Fonteinen. The beer list posted on the BeerAdvocate event page also mentions multiple Mikkeller kegs, Jolly Pumpkin, and some Belgian classics such as De Ranke.

• When - Friday, November 5th @ 6pm
• Where - NOTF @ Cyclorama in South End, Post Party at Lord Hobo in Cambridge, MA
• Cost - NOTF is soldout! Lord Hobo is free admission, pay per serving

BBF Sessions 1 & 2

The main two session of the Belgian Beer Fest take place on Saturday, with Session 1 running from 1pm to 4:30pm and Session 2 running from 6pm to 9:30pm. I'll be attending the day session, and based on previous BeerAdvocate events, expecting a great time with amazing beers.

• When - Saturday, November 6th @ 1pm and 6pm
• Where - Cyclorama in Boston South End, MA
• Cost - Both sessions are soldout!

Take advantage of these events! Boston is lucky to have the beer scene it has and it pays off for all who want to enjoy!

American Craft Beer Week Events in the Boston Area

American Craft Beer Week officially started today, May 17th, and continues through May 23rd. The week commemorates small, independent craft brewers, and we, the drinkers, get to help celebrate by consuming some of America's finest craft beer. Between the American Craft Beer Week website and BeerAdvocate, I've compiled the following list of some beer events that will be going on around Boston and Massachusetts:

Rock Bottom Brewery

Between the hours of 5 and 7 P.M. from the 17th to the 19th, Rock Bottom will be giving open house tours with the brewers.

Harpoon Brewery

Harpoon Brewery will be hosting a special beer tasting on Wednesday, May 19th at the Boston brewery at 6 P.M.

Armsby Abbey Beer Geek Week

The people over at Armsby Abbey in Worcester are hosting Beer Geek Week with a killer line-up of beers. They are tapping the first beers today, Monday the 17th, and will continue to run through the full list. More info is available at the BeerAdvocate event page.

Amherst Brewing

Amherst Brewing is holding a Craft Beer Week which starts today, Monday the 17th. More information can be found at the BeerAdvocate event page.

Cape Cod Beer

Cape Cod Beer in Hyannis will be offering free brewery tours at 11 A.M. on Tuesday the 18th.

Mayflower Brewing Company

On Saturday the 22nd, Mayflower Brewing in Plymouth will be hosting a special brewery tasting with beer samples, food, and live music. The cost is $10 at the door.

Haverhill Brewery / The TAP

Haverhill Brewery and The TAP will be releasing Special Reserves and seasonal beers this week. More information to follow on their website: http://www.tapbrewpub.com/

For more Craft Beer Week events and information, visit the American Craft Beer Week Events page. And if I missed any that you know of, let me know and I will update the list.

Also, while I'm not sure they intended to hold this festival during American Craft Beer Week, Julio's is hosting their Spring BeerFest on Sunday, May 23nd from 1 to 4 P.M.. I've been to one of these festivals before, and it was a great time with a solid variety of beer to sample. Plus, Julio's selection is tough to beat, so you'll probably come back with some treats. More information can be found at the BeerAdvocate event page and at the Julio's website.

EDIT: Learned of another ACBW event going on, this one being hosted by the guys over at Beeriety. The event is on Thursday night, 8 P.M. at Charlie's Kitchen in Harvard Square. According to the event's page, it is co-hosted with the Boston Tumblrs group.

Ramping Up for Boston's Belgian Beer Week

With Oktoberfest festivities coming to an end this week, Boston beer lovers have got something great to look forward to: The Return of the Belgian Beer Fest, hosted by BeerAdvocate on October 16th and 17th. Two days of Belgian and Belgian-inspired beers from the a large number of breweries makes this a top event for the 2009 calendar. Not to be outdone by themselves in previous years, the Alstrom brothers have put together a themed Belgian Beer Week leading up to the festival. The scheduled events include an Ithaca beer dinner at Green Street on October 12th and a pre-festival party at The Asgard on October 15th. In addition to these events, a special beer dinner is being held at Eastern Standard on October 14th: Gallia Belgica. Not only is this sure to be an adventure for the pallet, but guests will include a handful of well-respected and renowned brewers: Tomme Arthur of Lost Abbey, Will Meyers of Cambridge Brewing Company, Patrick Rue of The Bruery, Dann Paquette of Pretty Things, and Rob Tod of Allagash.

Information on all these events and tickets for the Belgian Beer Festival can be found at BeerAdvocate.com. The tickets are selling fast, and Night of the Funk tickets should be gone very soon Night of the Funk has just sold out. I will be at NotF as a volunteer, and at Session One on Saturday as a drinker. Hoping to meet some great people and drink some awesome beer!

Mini-Belgian Beer Fest at Julio's on Sunday

For those who just can't wait for BeerAdvocate's Belgian Beer Fest in October, Julio's Liquors in Westborough is throwing their 2nd Annual Belgian Beer Fest. The event is this Sunday, August 16th, and goes from 1pm to 4pm. In addition to the 25 confirmed brewers who will be pouring, there will be cheese and chocolate tastings to complement. For more details on the event, check out Julio's Event Calendar.

Tickets Still Available for American Craft Beer Festival!

I just assumed that this was already sold out, but it looks like tickets are still available for BeerAdvocate's American Craft Beer Festival this Friday and Saturday! This weekend is going to be a wash, so if you have any interest in beer you need to check this festival out. As I mentioned yesterday, the beer line-up is awesome and it will be a great atmosphere. You can get tickets via the BeerAdvocate Website, or possibly at some beer bars across the city, including Deep Ellum, Sunset Grill & Tap, and the Lower Depths to name a few. However, I'm not sure what the deal with their availability is.

BeerAdvocate Recognition and ACBF

Boston.com has a great article on BeerAdvocate and the Alström brothers (thanks to Jordan for passing along), which discusses how BA was founded, the story behind BA's success, and what they've done with the craft brewing industry.

Not only is the BA Website and magazine great for beer drinkers to go read up on beer reviews and find out about events and releases, it holds a real power for brewers. David Yarrington of Smuttynose Brewing sums up this power nicely, saying "we don't have the dollars to spend on marketing or advertising...The ability to generate these underground buzzes is something we can't buy." I can think of a number of beers which I never heard of, but then read something about them on BA or other beer sites and was instantly curious as to what this beer was like. The article mentions the Portsmouth Brewery's Kate the Great, which got a cult-like following with the help of community sites like BA. Now there is an annual Kate the Great Day, where enthusiasts meet at the brewery on the release day of Kate the Great. I can't imagine there is much advertising done by Portsmouth Brewery, but the way that they have embraced this following is a great example of how craft brewers can reap the benefits of organizations like BA.

On a semi-related note, BA is hosting the American Craft Beer Festival this Friday and Saturday. It should be a great time, with a seriously impressive brewer line-up, sporting 300+ beers over the 2 days.

Harpoon Summer Session this Weekend

Boston is consistently getting some 70 degree weather, so I think it's safe to call it summer around here. And with the onset of such pleasant weather comes the popularity of delicious summer brews. This weekend Harpoon Brewery is throwing down their Summer Session in good ol' Harpoon Brewery fashion...parking lots, tents, live music and "why-am-I-paying-$5-for-a-beer-when-I'm-at-the-brewery" pints of Harpoon. If you've been to a Harpoon festival you know the scene, and it can be a good time, especially with good music. This year's music line-up sounds promising, with both DJs (namely RageFoxx and Baltimorodor duo of Boston's own HeartThrob) and bands including the lively Televandals.

Here are the quick details of the event:

• Friday 6/5 - 5:30pm-11pm
• Saturday 6/6 - 3pm-11pm
• Cover is $20 and includes souvenir pint glass and one drink ticket
• CASH BAR - $5 a pint
• Expected beers on tap - Summer Ale, IPA, UFO selections (White and Original)

Eventful Week for Boston Beer Lovers

Starting this Tuesday, the 21st of April, Boston's beer scene gets put into overdrive with the start of the Craft Brewers Conference at the Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center. This conference brings together brewers and other vendors from across the globe, culminating a true global beer scene in the city of Boston.

While the conference is largely focused on industry members, like brewers, distributors, etc., it brings with it a large number of events that us consumers can take part of. From beer dinners to special beer nights, any beer lover should be able to find something of interest this week. To find a comprehensive list of events going on this week, take a look at BeerAdvocate's Events Calendar; just filter by Massachusetts as the location.

Whether it's attending a dinner with beer pairings, or a simple night out at a bar with a featured brewery, make sure to indulge in the global beer scene in Boston this week.

10th Annual Boston Beer Summit

It's that time of year again; the weather is warming up, patios are beginning to open, and the Beer Summit is set to host another one of its festivals. This year marks the 10th annual Boston Beer Summit...not sure if they are doing anything special for it, but the brewer line-up looks pretty impressive so far.

As usual there are three sessions: one on Friday night (April 17th) and two on Saturday (April 18th, afternoon and night sessions). Tickets for the Saturday night session are already sold out, so if you are looking to go it would probably be wise to buy soon. The 2008 Beer Summit was fun and had a solid line-up, plus the nice weather made for an even better day. Let's hope Boston can ditch this gloomy, rainy, April-showers stuff by then.

Extreme Beer Fest Recap

BeerAdvocate took over Boston's beer scene this weekend with their annual Extreme Beer Fest. With a pre-party on Thursday night, Night of the Barrels on Friday, two sessions on Saturday, and a post-party on Sunday morning, there was certainly plenty of beer to be enjoyed. Although the EBF has come and gone, it was an amazing event, with a enormously impressive line-up of brewers and extreme beers. I was able to attend session one on Saturday and snapped a few photos of some of the brewers, people and the event's cool venue, the Cyclorama.


A total of 33 breweries were at the Saturday sessions of the EBF, each on average bringing 3 or 4 of their deliciously extreme beers. Much of the country was represented, with West coast brewers such as Stone and Bear Republic, Dark Horse and Founder's from the Midwest, and a solid representation of local and East coast brewers, like Foothills Brewing of North Carolina.


Dogfish Head sponsored the event and had solid showing of beers, including the BeerAdvocate-Dogfish Head collaboration, the BA Select, or as voted by members of BeerAdvocate, "Up-Up-Down-Down-Left-Right-Left-Right-BA-Select."


I really enjoyed the event, and was able to try some of the best beers I've had in quite some time. For starters, I was finally able to try Troegs Nugget Nectar, which has this cult-like following...I now know why. A great local beer came from the Cambridge Brewing Company, a barley wine called Arquebus. One of the more unique beers that my friend and I kept on going back to was Foothills Double IPA, aged in bourbon barrels. The bourbon comes through in the beer's after taste, which was unbelievabley smooth and tasty. There were so many good offerings it is tough to recollect any other real specifics, but overall an awesome selection. Ultimately, all this beer drinking left us with some drunken creativity late in the session. We tried to show a small sampling of some of the beers available at the EBF.


To check out more photos of the Extreme Beer Fest, just head over to my Flickr photostream.

The Sun WineFest '09

Thanks to Michelle down at Mohegan Sun, I was able to get a couple passes to the 2009 Sun WineFest this past weekend. I attended the WineFest last year, but was excited to see what new brewers and distributors would be attending in 2009. The passes got us into the event before the public start time, so we were able to get a good fill of beers and wines with almost no wait. The wine, beer and food were all awesome, but the only thing missing from last year was the liquor distributors! Although I'm not 100% sure why they weren't there, I am pretty sure it's because it got very sloppy towards the later hours last year. I vaguely recall girls being carried out by friends and significant others (so you'd like to think at least).

Even though I was looking forward to tasting some whiskies, there were plenty of distributors and beers to keep us satisfied. There was a range of beers available, from craft brewers like Dogfish Head, Flying Dog, and Cisco, to more macro beers like Heineken, Anheuser-Busch and Diageo beers (Guinness, Harp, Smithwicks). One distributor had a great selection of craft and Belgian beers, so when we went in early on Sunday morning I made a point to go talk with him. After going through a few saisons, he poured out some of La Goudale, a French saison brewed by Les Brasseurs de Gayant. I'll be keeping an eye out for this beer in the local stores.

One of the highlights of the festival was Brooklyn's Local 2, which won't be coming out until March 2009. The Local 2 tastes similar to the Local 1 because I believe it is brewed with the same hops as the Local 1 (can't remember what the guy said specifically). Since the Local 2 is an Abbey Ale it is quite a bit darker than the Local 1. If you enjoy the Local 1 I would definitely try the Local 2 when it comes out in March.

The good thing about the Sun WineFest is that when you are done with the beer and wine, you got the whole casino to keep you going for the night. My second year in attendance was a blast, I'll be back next year for sure.

Upcoming Beer Festivals to Keep You Warm

As the cold weather sweeps into Boston, it helps to start thinking of activities around the city that are not only enjoyable, but will keep you out of brutal conditions. Luckily for us beer drinkers, Boston is full of bars that treat us with selection of "winter warmers." But one thing even better than the bars is beer festivals! In the next two months there are two great beer festivals: Beer Summit's Winter Jubilee (January 16th and 17th) and Beer Advocate's Extreme Beer Fest (February 20th and 21st). I've been to a few Beer Summit events, and the turnout is always good. They give you tickets (12 I think) for beer, but the brewers don't really take them and fill you up without question. I haven't been to the Extreme Beer Fest before, but have only heard raving reviews about it.

Both festivals have a Friday night session and two Saturday sessions (day and night sessions). Below are some more details on each of the festivals:

Beer Summit Winter Jubilee

Location: The Park Plaza Castle
Beer Summit Website

• Session 1 - January 16th, 5:30pm to 9:30 pm, $40 per ticket
  
• Session 2 - January 17th, 12:30pm to 4:00pm, $40 per ticket
  
• Session 3 - January 17th, 5:30pm to 9:30pm, $40 per ticket
  

Beer Advocate's Extreme Beer Fest

Location: The Cyclorama at the Boston Center for the Arts
Beer Advocate Website

• Night of the Barrels - February 20th, 6:00pm to 9:30pm, $50 per ticket
  
• Session 1 - February 21st, 1:00pm to 4:30pm, $40 per ticket
  
• Session 2 - February 21st, 6:00pm to 9:30pm, $40 per ticket
  

Both of these events are sure to be a good time. If you are one for trying something different, the Night of the Barrels sounds like it will be amazing - "100% wood-aged beers w/ upwards of 50 offerings." $10 more than the Saturday sessions, but it will definitely be exclusive (only 500 tickets being sold) and memorable.

Beer Advocate Belgian Beer Fest

Who doesn't enjoy drinking beer with ghastly high ABV in the middle of the day? I sure do, and that's why I will be attending the Beer Advocate Belgian Beer Fest in the upcoming weeks. The festival is quickly approaching and if you haven't bought tickets yet, now might be a good time.

Starting with a night session on Friday, September 26th and two sessions on the 27th (1 to 4:30 and 6 to 9:30), Boston will be full up on the Belgian beers after this festival. Here is the other nitty gritty you may need:


- Prices are $40 for Saturday sessions and $50 for the Friday session


- Will be held at the Cyclorama at the Boston Center of the Arts

Make sure to come prepared with a stomach ready for potent beers and waffles galore.

Boston Beer Summit Recap

Session 2 of the Boston Beer Summit was a good one, with plenty of breweries (I think the final list was something like 66) and mass amounts of beer. We got there pretty much smack on 12:30 and it was already pretty busy; definitely busy than it was the same time last year. But the Castle never felt overcrowded, even when it came time for a (frequent) trip to the bathroom...they were smart enough this year to get some port-o-johns so the lines weren't as bad as last year.

But the beer! Most of the breweries were local to New England and New York, but there were a few outside the northeast. We started with IPAs only...and now that I think back on it that was a pretty bold move. I was definitely feeling their rath within the first hour. Our plan was to try and pick the type beer from a number of styles; but honestly, that didn't work so well. I do know that for IPA's I enjoyed Sebago's IPA (Maine) and Redhook's Longhammer (New Hampshire).

Unibroue is a brewery that I love that was there. I think they are most recognizable for their magical fantasy land labels. All there beer is crazy delicious and their label artwork is awesome. Check out the Maudite label.


I've been meaning to post up a review on some of their beers...in due time.

Oh, and check out the official Boston Beer Summit mug that everybody got. Mini beers!



In all it was a good time and got to taste some good brews. I'm looking forward to the American Craft Beer Fest in June.

Cheers!

Cambridge (UK) Beer Festival

Although not the Boston area Cambridge, it does share the name.

Thanks to Stonch's Beer Blog, I was made aware of the Cambridge Beer Festival going on May 19th to the 24th...which just happens to be the same time I will be there!

Apparently it is the second largest beer festival outside of London, with over 37,000 visitors in 2007! The festival boasts 170+ "real ales" and over 60 foreign beers and ciders. Take a look at the cask setup they had going last year...


Just a little excited...

Boston Beer Summit and Bar Golf

I'm pumped...and cannot wait for 12:30 Saturday afternoon to roll around for the session 2 of the Boston Beer Summit.

For those who couldn't get a ticket to the Boston Beer Summit Saturday session, you could always join the Boston Bar Golf Invitational pub crawl. Here is a example breakdown of the scoring structure from the website:

Hole 1 - Par 1 - Bonus Shot is 1 Tequilla shot
Have 1 beer - Score 1
Have 2 beers - Score 2
Have 2 beers and spilled a drink - Score 1
Have 1 beers and a Tequilla shot - Score 3
Have 2 beers and a Tequilla shot, but I fell down: Score 2

Whatever drinking activity you choose, it should be a good weekend.

Boston Beer Summit 2008

It's almost that time of year again...tickets for the Boston Beer Summit go on sale tomorrow, March 4th. The Summit is happening April 18th and 19th (Friday night and all day Saturday) with 3 sessions. I'll be trying to go to the Saturday afternoon session, 12:30 to 4:00 p.m...last year was a blast, I'm sure this year will be equally as fun. A sample of some breweries include:

Long Trail
Spaten
Mercury
New Century
Flying Dog
Sierra Nevada
Magic Hat
Saranac
Shipyard
Oskar Blues
Grittys
Gearys
Redhook
Smuttynose
Buzzards Bay
Rapscallion Brewing
Stone Coast

For Boston Beer Summmit tickets, check out their page:

Boston Beer Summit Tickets

Cheers!

The Sun WineFest '08 at Mohegan Sun

So I made it down to CT this Saturday and stayed over the night. We went to this place in town for some quality sushi/sake drinking and while talking with some friends, found out that The Sun WineFest was going down at Mohegan Sun the next day (Sunday). Even better, free tickets would be supplied!


This festival did not disappoint; a nice selection of beers, basically free shots around every corner you turned, and more wines than you could possibly drink. There were a few beers, scotches, cool liqueurs that stood out, such as Gordon & MacPhail Scotch, a chai liqueur called Voyant, and Dale's Pale Ale. I will soon have a follow up to this post with some photos and a review/info on Dale's Pale Ale...it is probably the best beer to come from a can.

I'm actually a little disappointed in myself, as I cannot remember any of the names of the good wines I had. I know for sure one of the crap ones was from Long Island, but that doesn't say very much now does it? One notable wine booth was a Glastonbury company, the M&M Family of Wine. They seem to know all that is wine; even got a little lesson myself while I was there. If you want to learn about how to make your own wine or need the actual grapes to make wine, these guys have what you need. Thanks to Christina from M&M for hooking us up with the free tickets to the event too.

Cheers!