FOOLCiRCLE

So yesterday (04.05.08) was the 1st Annual (?) Cure For What Ales You (CFWAY) Homebrew Fest. Overall I’d say it was a smashing success.

Things were suppose to run from 1-5PM, so I figured I’d get there around noon with plenty of time to set-up and get organized. I showed up around 12:15 and felt late. The back room was already laid-out and filled-up with brewers, great. I then saw that the next adjoining room over they were starting to set-up tables too. So I put my stuff over there, it definitely felt like I was off to the side instead of being in the middle of the action, oh well. I brought along a cooler with 20 of my Belgian Dubbel style beer and a smaller cooler with 4 each of my Belgian Tripel style and my Imperial Stout, Vader. The Dubbel was my featured beer that I was slinging all day long and the one that was entered into the competition they had. The Tripels I leaked out at about 3:30 and the Vaders at about 4:00. I had a little wipe-off board in front of my cooler so I could adjust what it was I was serving. The Dubbels lasted almost until the end and the Tripels and Vaders basically were disappearing as they hit the table.

I got to try some cool beers yesterday, but not as many as I would have liked, mostly I couldn’t get out from behind my area. But some of the beers I got to try were a Belgian Single, an Imperial IPA, a Vanilla Porter, a Licorice Stout, a 14% Imperial Stout, a Smoked Porter, a Coriander Amber, and a couple different Ciders. It appeared as if there were many different levels of experience showcased at the event, some guys I talked to had just started homebrewing in January of this year and others appeared to have been homebrewing their entire lives. One guy had a massive set-up where it looked like he had six different kegs poring, wow.

Again, overall it was a really good time, only one minor flaw that stands out and that was my own fault – no food and water. I had arrived around 12:15 like I said and hadn’t eaten anything at that point nor drank or brought a lot of water. So after several hours of sampling, working, and not drinking any additional water my body needed a break and was in desperate need of some food to keep functioning properly. Basically I ran out of beer at about 4:30 and I was going to clean-up my stuff and then come back in and try to enjoy myself before the fest was over. Well I guess with the lack of water, food, and being weighed down with my coolers and such I had a rough time getting out of the place. Fortunately I had a bunch of friends there who were willing to watch out for me and cover my back, and before I knew it I was taking a break, enjoying a chicken pita sandwich, and a bottle of water. After that I was feeling much better. Next year, they need to provide free water and I need to remember to eat, one of those things I often forget.

But to end on a super positive note, as I was leaving to load up my stuff I was informed that I couldn’t leave (which I wasn’t planning to) because I had just won Best of Show! Wow, that took me off guard, in a good way of course. I don’t know if they made announcements or what, but I sure didn’t hear anything. As a prize for Best of Show I received gift certificates to How Do You Brew, Xtreme Brewing, Iron Hill Brewery, and a pound of hops of my choice – I took 8oz. of Cascade and 8oz. of Centennial – time for some C-Hop Pales Ales! Again, overall it was a really great time and I hope they continue to do it next year and the years following.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 6th, 2008 at 10:12 am and is filed under Homebrew. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.