beer, beer, & more beer

So this year I volunteered to work security on Thursday night of the GABF. The new official title is "safety team". It took the coolness factor of the yellow t-shirt down a couple notches. Nevertheless, I can't complain about a comp ticket for 1 shift of "safety team". Granted I couldn't drink at all, but it was still fun to be there & people watch.

Friday night & Saturday afternoon I volunteered to pour beer. My team was pouring for on of the "South" sections. In particular, I was pouring for Boscos, "The Restuarant for Beer Lovers". They're located in Memphis, Nashville, and Little Rock. They had about 9 tasty brews. Very tasty. In fact, I have to say that of all the beers I tasted that night, Boscos was some of the best. I mostly poured their Hefe-weizen and their Roggen Bier. The hefe was paired with a prop of circus peanuts. The brewery reps said it was meant to be tongue in cheek. The Friday night when they opened the circus peanuts, I thought I might have to move to a different table, the smell was so off-putting for me. The Saturday I had to actually try it for myself. I have to say that, yes, it does go well with & indeed even improved the flavor of, circus peanuts (two bags of circus peanuts were emptied by the end of each session, in case you don't believe me; I only saw 2 people ixnay the "pairing"). The hefe won bronze last year & silver in 2005. The rep said maybe it was "over the hill"....but that hefe won gold on Saturday afternoon!

I was also pouring for a brewery out of Louisville KY called Bluegrass Brewing Company. Their motto is "Beer is Food". They had 4 or 5 beers presented. I never really got a rundown on what their beers were. Unlike Boscos, the rep for BBC wasn't around much in the early part of the night. I did enjoy one called "Du Hast" and one called "Anvil Steam". The next table over was also BBC, but a different location. There was a very tasty Bourbon Barrel Stout (aged in bourbon barrels) and an equally tasty porter(?? I probably should've written this down b/c darned if I can't remember now).

Saturday I bounced around between Bosco's, BBC, and another great brewery called Blackstone Brewing Company out of Nashville. They had a fine "kolsch style" beer called Chaser that is similar to Sunshine Wheat, but totally blows Sunshine Wheat out of the water. The brewery won silver for it's Nut Brown Ale -it was good & tasted "nutty", really. It was smooth & easy to drink unlike some nut browns -like Sammy Smith's- which is more like food -really- than beer. AND they won bronze for their St. Charles Porter -also yummy. The brewery at the next table over won gold for it's Red Brick Blonde. I'd say it was a prize winning section where I was located!

Tomorrow, more on the good, the bad, and the undrinkable...