I also got to eat Vermont's best burger! You can go read that later! Or now. Just don't forget to come back and read this one, because I am putting a lot of work into it.
First things first: I should not be allowed to drive a car in any kind of urban environment. It is just an absolute disaster. I should move to a city and sell my car so that I'll never have to drive again!
This festival had a lot less free stuff. That is ok since it had a lot more beer! I will just need to attend some more festivals so that I can up my swag-load. Hey, the walls of Burger Bros slash my man-room aren't going to decorate themselves! I need as much beer-related paraphernalia as I can get my hands on. I also bought a new pint glass and a couple of t-shirts. Good weekend all around in the acquisition department.
We were at the festival for the opening bell of the final session, which meant we were some of the first people in line at Lawson's Finest when 6:00 rolled around the tasting began. Good thing too! I started off my festival with Noonan's Tribute, which was their special brew in honor of the recently deceased Greg Noonan. It was pretty good, but I bet it would have been much better if it had been cold. It also reminded me of Christmas. I don't know how to explain that any better. After we got our beers, the line behind us was absolutely out of control. Probably the longest one we saw all night. And there were some long lines.
Next I moved over to Longtrail and tried the Black and White. It was super-citrusy. Maybe even too citrusy. It didn't really taste like a beer. For me, the sample was more than enough. I probably wouldn't buy this on its own, but I wouldn't be pissed off it was included in a mix-pack.
Up next was Otter Creek Stovepipe Porter. I am really starting to get into these dark beers. This one was especially heavy, which means it is not Kathryn-beer. I liked it a lot, and I will probably grab a 6-pack next time I am at Table & Vine.
Alright, so we're off to a pretty good start now. Two beers out of three with no real prior knowledge counts as success in my book. The line at Magic Hat was not very long at this point, so we got into it and I got an Epic Elixir. The description said that it was a "malty amber ale with toffee and caramel." That description did not match the beer that I was drinking at all! The beer I had was very sweet and still good, but I didn't notice any toffee or caramel. This would be another good mix-pack beer.
Beer #5 was Harpoon 100 Barrel Series. I am not sure what this beer was all about, but I didn't like it. Also, I hope you like foam! This beer was extra foamy, which is fine because that just means I had less of it that I had to drink. Harpoon was also selling things like t-shirts, bumper stickers and dog collars. I tried to get Kathryn to buy a collar for Odin, but they were gigantic and would have actually been a belt for the little guy.
At this point, we saw our first and only pregnant woman. Seriously, get these people out of the brewers festivals!
Moving on to the next group of tents, I tried the Mountain Ale from The Shed. This was a brown ale, so think of Newcastle but better. I would recommend this one to others. I also need to find out where some of these beers are sold. Maybe you should find them and get them for me for my upcoming birthday.
Next was the Gardner Ale House Naked Stout. I think this beer may have been misnamed, as the person serving it to me was fully clothed, and I did not end up naked after drinking it. It's a stout, so you pretty much know what you're getting when you order it. I think this would be a really good beer with a meal, like steak.
I wanted to get the Espresso Amber Ale from Peak Organic next, but the line was simply ridiculous. Very sad, but we could come back later. Or so I thought.
The line at Smuttynose seemed reasonable, so we ended up there and I got the Robust Porter. This thing WAS robust! I bet Kathryn would not have liked this one either. To me, it was like getting a kick in the tastebuds. Wake up, jerks! I liked it. And again, Smuttynose is fun to say.
We then went over to Northshire Brewery where I sampled the Battenkill Ale. This was another brown ale, but it was very light. There was also no real aftertaste or "stickiness" when you drink it. I thought it was pretty good. I also ended up getting my pint glass from this place because I liked the font.
Madison Brewing Company had their stand next door, so we figured we might as well go there next. I chose the Wee Heavy, which was. . . something. It was really weird. I did not particularly care for it. The tap had a funny looking fat guy on it though, so at least I got a laugh out of it.
We continued along the row of tents to Jasper Murdock's Ale House, where I was super excited to try the Whistling Pig. Alas, there was none to be had. They must have run out during one of the previous sessions, so I had to go with the Fuggle & Barleycorn, which was not especially good. I was very disappointed with the whole thing. Thanks a lot, jerks.
Finally, we found McNeill's for what turned out to be the final beer of the night. I chose the Firehouse Amber Ale, which was awesome. It was similar to a #9, which is great. I think it would qualify as my favorite beer of the night.
Sadly, at this point we got in line at Peak Organic as the angry clouds began to roll in. Just as we got under the tent, which would put us in the first few people in line, the organizers came around telling everyone to stop pouring beers. Apparently it's not safe to have thousands of people outside drinking when there is lightning hurtling down from the sky. Who knew. We made our way back to the parking lot and took our new stuff, shirts, and beer opinions back to Motel 6 to call it a night. All things considered, I enjoyed the festival. I am waiting for them to open up registration for next year's festival so that I can book a closer hotel.
Oh yeah, those "urinals" inside the port-a-potties? What's up with those? They seem like far more of a challenge than I could possible see myself attempting.
-Jon
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