The Beer Retard - Winter Beer Festival 2007

My liver is still functioning. I've made two trips to the Big Wood Festival and have one more before I regale you with details. For now I'll wax ineloquent about the Winter Beer Festival. Last year around this time, this festival was the first I'd ever attended. Looking back on the last twelve months, I can see how far I've come in terms of beer knowledge (and also how far I have to go). This past Friday, I got over to Hale's Brewery for the 2007 incarnation of the Winter Beer Fest. This year's event was much more enjoyable for me for a variety of reasons.

First of all, I know more people than I did last year. My friend Steve was there (as he was in 2006), but this year I've come to know a few of the brewers and other local beer people. Also, as I mentioned above, I'm now armed with a greater overall knowledge of beer. While I haven't homebrewed or gotten a chance to take BJCP classes, I do feel that all the tasting and reading I've done over the last twelve months is starting to pay dividends. I feel more comfortable at these kinds of events and almost feel like I'm part of the beer community (or something like that).

One thing that made the event more enjoyable this year was better planning by its organizers. A key change was expanding the event's space and giving brewers additional room to set up. It created a much less crowded and claustrophobic feeling (something that's pretty rare at these types of things). They also cut down on the number of tokens handed out for the $23 admission fee. This year's number declined from ten to six. Part of me was happy with this change since the overall level of drunkenness seemed to be much lower than 2006. I include myself in that drunk group since, to the best of my recollection, the final few tastes I had last year were not ones that lingered in my memory for more than a few minutes. With the rich flavors and high alcohol of the winter beers, a little bit goes a long way. However, I do think six might be a bit on the low side. Eight would've been a good compromise. I ended up having an extra taste or two thanks to Matt from Schooner Exact and I left in good enough condition to enjoy a meal with friends and not be overly obnoxious.

All seven beers I tried were good to very good. Nothing stood out as a completely mind-blowing experience, but a couple were ones I will seek out again soon. Those are:

Northern Lights Winter Ale - less of a winter ale than an IPA (albeit a stronger than usual one), this beer had an intense hop flavor and aroma that appealed to me. I was told that it was the use of Simcoe hops that did it.

Schooner Exact Hoppy Holidays Ale - deliciously hoppy like the Northern Lights, but more of a winter ale in appearance and complexity of flavor. Can't wait to drink more of this while it's still around.

I also tried and enjoyed:

Snoqualmie Avalanche Ale - enjoyed this one much more than I did last year. Maybe I only had it out of the bottle and not the keg. It was cut from the same hoppy cloth as the Northern Lights and Schooner Exact, but with a more complex malt profile than the Northern Lights.

Finally, there's the following (which I sadly didn't take notes on and can't do justice to days later):

Anacortes Noel Ale (cask)
Silver City Imperial Stout 2006
Diamond Knot Industrial Ho Ho 2006 - think I enjoyed the 2007 I had a couple weeks ago more than this version
Iron Horse Belgian Black Ale