All I want for Christmas....

This is my Christmas list this year.  First off, my Five beers that I have enjoyed and want more of this year.

1. Stone Vertical Epic 09/09/09.  This was the first porter that I have enjoyed in a while.  The beer has more of a sweetness, not much burnt maltness to it.  Delicious.

2. Troeg's Nugget Nectar.  I am looking forward to this beer coming out again.  We were fortunate enough to get some in August, and I still have a bottle for over New Years.  But there is nothing better than Nugget Nectar out of a cask.

3. The bottles of Flying Dog's Raging Bitch.  I know they will be out soon, but it should be now.  I can't wait to get this and share it with my friends who cannot get it.

4.  Jolly Pumpkin anything.  So glad the Michigan Brewers Festival allowed me to sample their beers, and then the present from my brother to enjoy WeisenBam and La Roja.  I just want more.

5. Kuhnhenn Brewing's Solar Eclipse Imperial Stout.  One of my favorites from the MBF.  Their Simcoe Silly was almost just as good.

6. Basically any of the other delicious samples from the MBF, New Holland, Arcadia, and Short't to name a few.

7. I was happy to be introduced to Koningshoeven.  It was requested that I try it, which I thoroughly enjoyed, by the chef at Jack's Bistro because they were out of...

8. Witkap Pater Dubbel.  Grape Kool-aid.  I don't know why, but I get grape kool-aid from it.  Yes, I know there is other stuff, but what blew me away was the grape kool-aid.

9. My Base Beers.  They are the special beers that no matter what, you know what you are getting, and it is a good one.  60 Minute IPA, Racer 5, Yuengling Lager, etc.  It doesn't matter.  It established the style for me.

10. My next beer, because that is my favorite kind.

The (Michigan) Beer List

This is what we partook of during the Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Beer Festival. Full list of available beers can be found here.

My favorite: Kuhnhenn Brewings Simcoe Silly, a Belgian Pale Ale is made with Simcoe Hops (some of my favorite), leading to a unique beer. I need to have my brother pick up some for me.

Arbor Brewing: Abby Normal, Batch 2000 Strong Pale Ale, Uskratch Mai Bock

Arcadia Brewing: Cereal Killer Barleywine, Sky High Rye

Copper Canyon Brewery: RyePA Double IPA

Dragonmead Microbrewery: Bill's Witbier, Juggernaut Double Red Ale

Founders: Centennial IPA, Red's Rye PA, Barrel Aged Red's Rye PA (no, I did not have the Kentucky Breakfast Stout, I messed up)

Hopcat: Hopopotomus IPA

Jolly Pumpkin: Perseguidor 4, Roja du Kriek, Weizen Bam w/Hibiscus

Kuhnhann Brewing: Simcoe Silly, Solar Eclipse Imperial Stout

New Holland Brewing: Brother Jacob Dubbel

Old Hat Brewery: Bees Knees Honey Ale

Right Brain Brewery: Little Italy Honey Basil

Saugatuck Brewing: Barry's Best Bitter, Bamberg Rauchbier

Sherwood Brweing: Green River Wheat IPA

Short's Brewing: Huma Lupa Licious IPA

Walldorff Brewpub and Bistro: Padawan Pale Ale, Strawberry Rhubarb Cream Ale.

I know I missed some of the beers that my brother had. This is what I remember trying, or him trying. As you can see, the list was pretty extensive, and very diverse. We tried to be creative with our selections, but as you can see, I kept going to the ales anyhow.

Beer Fest and German Park

I travelled out to Ann Arbor to visit my brother, as well as take in some good brews from the "Great Beer State" (apparently that is one of their nicknames). I after arriving at Detroit Metro and a quick drive to Ann Arbor, I found myself getting ready for the brews. Bell's, one of Michigan's largest breweries, was not going to be present, so we cracked open an Oberon, their most popular beer. Although I do not typically drink wheat beers, this beer is smooth and delicious.

We hopped in the car and made our way to Riverside Park in Ypsilanti. There wasn't much of a line, thank goodness as I heard the line can extend for a while, and grabbed our cup and tokens. This festival gave you 12 tokens to start. At each brew, you could pay one token for half a cup, or two tokens for closer to a full cup. The smarter of the two of us stated that the pourers normally had a heavy draw, so we only ever paid one token, and towards the end of the night- no tokens (it was a long night with strong beer).

Overall, there were 50 breweries there. Some where just typical places that brew typical beer. The bulk of the breweries brewed high quality suds, but what we went for were the breweries that really tried something special with their beer. There were a few breweries that I wanted to get to, since you can't, or it is hard to, get them in Maryland. Founders, Jolly Pumpkin, New Holland and Arcadia were the highlight breweries for me.

Even if we had been to some of the breweries, many brought brew that they have never pushed before. They could have been rejected trials, or could be beers that are coming out. Talking to one of the brewers, they felt like trying it to see what it would do (Strawberry Rhubarb Cream Ale from Walldorff Brewpub). The brewers present were very accommodating to questions, especially from my brother, a home brewer.

The long day pushed into the night. Thank goodness we had a ride home, we surely were not in any shape to drive.

I will post the beer list that we had, as well as thoughts on the beer in a different post.