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| 10th Annual Virginia Beer Festival |
| Friday, 20 May 2011 00:00 |
|
On Saturday, May 14, the sky was ominous and the rain threatened to pour at any moment, but that did not deter me from making the trip from Richmond to Norfolk for the 10th Annual Virginia Beer Festival. My resolve was recognized and rewarded by the beer gods in every conceivable way. There were absolutely no traffic delays. If you're from Hampton Roads, then you know this is a major miracle. In addition, the rain held off for the duration of my visit to Norfolk. This allowed me to make wise use of my time at Town Point Park to enjoy as many of the great beers this festival had to offer.
When I arrived, there was a large crowd waiting to get into the festival, while hundreds of others were already enjoying themselves inside. Like me, many thought that it might rain, so they waited until the last minute to decide whether to take the risk. The good news is that the risk/reward ratio at this event was very high. Upon entry, I received my sampling glass and map of the area. For the second year in a row, I got the impression that the organizers had read my mind. All the beers that I was most interested in trying seemed to be positioned really close to each other. The layout was similar to last year. There were food vendors near the main entrance. The main stage along with the VIP seating area were located in the rear of the park adjacent to the Elizabeth River with the main vending area positioned in the middle of everything. There were several strategically placed water stations and plenty of open space for blankets and lawn chairs as well. The tasting stations were placed along outer edges of the park. These locations allowed everyone to find the beers they wanted to taste and then return to their chairs and blankets as required. The ability to purchase pitchers of what you really liked made this an ideal set-up.
Since my time was limited this year, I tried to come up with a strategy to cover as much ground as I could. In order to do so, I decided to get a sample of a beer to help me think. That beer, Franziskaner Weissbier from Munich became the catalyst for my beer themed adventure at this years festival. I decided to try as many wheat beers as I could. For those who read my posts, you're probably familiar with the term Weissbier. As a refresher, Weissbier is German for white beer. This style, also known as Weizenbier or wheat beer, is a German beer style that must always be top-fermented under the rules set forth by the German Purity Law. So, with my theme in place, I sought out every weissbier, weizenbier, hefeweiss, hefeweizen, and wheat beer in the park. There were quite a few, so I'll highlight the ones that I really liked. Not that I had a bad one, but there were just too many to list. The fine beer pourers stationed next to my new friends from Franziskaner were in possession of Paulaner, who make a very good hefeweizen. Paulaner is also brewed in Germany, so it's similar to Franziskaner, but Paulaner is probably a lot easier to find on store shelves. If this is your favorite style, you'll be happy to know that Weihenstephaner, and König Ludwig were also represented. If you're a Belgian beer drinker, you'd have enjoyed the wheat beers from La Trappe and Tripel Karmeliet. Closer to home, the wheat offerings by Widmer Brothers, Flying Dog, and Abita were also excellent. Each year, I'm always impressed by Legend Breweries Hefeweizen. This year was no exception. They always make thinking globally, yet drinking locally so easy. Other local breweries represented this year were St. Georges from Hampton, Starr Hill from Charlottesville, and Alewerks from Williamsburg. I'd also like to welcome the new kids on the brewery block: Beach Brewing Company from Virginia Beach and O'Connor Brewing Company from Norfolk. I sampled beers from each and they were very impressive. I hope to be able to visit each of them soon. Before you get the impression that I spent the entire day enjoying awesome refreshing wheat beers from around the world, let me mention a couple of the unusual beers that I sampled. First, there was Hoppy Feet, a black IPA from Clown Shoes, located in Massachusetts. This dark brown glass of liquid goodness was awesome. It has a mix of dark chocolate and caramel on the nose with lots and lots of hops, roasted malt and molasses on the palate. Okay, I'll admit that I sampled it more than once, but only because it was that good. Second, there was Gouden Carolus D'Or - Grand Cru of the Emperor. Attendees of the festival may not be aware that this beer is actually called Cuvée Van De Keizer Blauw. It's brewed by Brouwerij Het Anker from Belgian. This Belgian Strong Dark Ale was absolutely my favorite from this years festival. As the name of the beer style suggests, the beer is dark brown with a nose that is very complex. I sensed malt, yeast, spices, fruit and alcohol. The taste was amazing: smooth, sweet, and silky. I couldn't resist trying it again. It was indescribably good. It also weighed in at 12.5% ABV. This rare treat is only brewed once a year in very limited quantities on February 24th to commemorate the birthday of Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor. I look forward to enjoying this beer again soon. So, there you have it, the 2011 Virginia Beer Festival -- untapped. I'd really like to thank the organizers of this magnificent event for inviting me again this year. Events like this are what make my job fun and easy. I'd also like to thank all the nice people that I spoke with during the day. It was great to talk beer with everyone and share stories while enjoying good beer. It was also great to see so many of my favorite breweries represented: Ommegang, Dogfish Head, Stone, Oskar Blues, 21st Amendment, La Trappe, Brooklyn, Breckenridge, Southern Tier, Left Hand Brewing.... If you weren't there, you missed a great experience. I'm already looking forward to next year. As always, whether drinking locally or globally, with friend or with strangers, please do so responsibly. Until next time...prosit!!! To create link towards this article on your website, copy and paste the text below in your page. Preview :  Powered by QuoteThis © 2008 |
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