Thanks to the courtesy and generosity of the Baltimore City Paper and the fact that I have two other commitments that date, I am able to offer two tickets to the City Paper Brew Fest this Saturday, April 24th, being held rain or shine 1-5 PM on the square at the foot of Broadway in Fells Point--yes, outside Max's Taphouse, Bertha's, Jimmy's Diner, and the rest. Retail value: $60.
To win the tickets, I'm going to run a different kind of contest: I have before me a copy of "1001 Beers You Must Taste Before You Die." I'm looking through it myself; stay tuned for a fuller review.
I want each entrant to name six beers they would add to a new edition of such a list, and a brief clause as to why they nominate each of the six beers. To make it more challenging, I'm going to ask you to exclude any beer above 8.0%--this is perhaps the easiest way to automatically eliminate any of the "extreme" and "holy grail" beers (Thomas Hardy's, Samichlaus, Dogfish Head World Wide Stout, etc.). I'm looking for nominees that make me think, not just a braggart's check list.
Of course, my selection will be completely subjective. If you don't like that, I'll have my wife pick a winner. So write and select to impress.
NOTES: The winner will have to either pick up the tickets from me on Friday, or pick up the tickets at another location (probably Max's Taphouse) on Saturday. I intend to select a winner during the Max's Taphouse's new draft kick-off event on Thursday the 22nd; if you're there and see me at my laptop, check in with me.
Disclaimer: Anyone I can identify as employees of the City Paper or participating breweries are ineligible, as is Drinky Crow.
4 comments:
I will comment even though I can't go this weekend. (I am not sure what the 1001 beers are that are listed in the book, but I dont think that they would have had these beers in it):
1- Stillwater Stateside- just like jmooy on the first post. this is a great beer. I have ordered a pint every time I have gone into a pub that has it.
2- Jolly Pumpkin La Roja- this is a great Flemish Red that is not overpowering sour. It would be a great beer to show someone what the sour is about, but not turn them off completely from the start.
3- Victory Wild Devil- IPA drinkers would love it, Belgian drinkers would like it- I found so many different flavors hiding among the different levels of this beer. (I have had a bad bottle of this beer, and found that you have to hold it for a bit after buying- I think they release it too early after bottling)
4-Troeg's Nugget Nectar- Seriously hope that is beer is in the book. To me it is an explosion of hops in your mouth.
5- Bear Republic Racer 5- this is my favorite west coast IPA. Great smell/taste. Citrus, grapefruit, pine. All how it should be.
6- Selin's Grove Brewing Shade Mountain Oatmeal Stout- This beer looks perfect (I think the look of a stout is super important). Creamy head that holds its ground, super dark almost black beer. Great tasting, easy to drink, only 4.8%. Fantastic
(and no, I didn't put SGB on the list to get the bonus point- if I wanted to get bonus points I would have grabbed a couple of growlers when I was there again last weekend, as you know, great beers)
I hope I don't have to enter again! Ha! Don't forget about me.
A) I hope to win these tickets
B) I don't have the book of which you speak and hardly a moment to pick it up, so sorry if any arre in there...
C) My list of 6 beers to drink before you die would certainly have local "bent" as I am quite proud of my home state of Maryland. That being said, I also am a fiend for hoppy IPA's...
1. Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA - This is just a welcoming hoppy ale for the 3 hour drive to the Delaware shore, pull into one of the tax free liquor stores, grab a 6 pack, pop one into a pint glass and begin the relaxing weekend at the beach.
2. National Premium - My father in law was in advertising for National campaign and must have stored a thousand cases in his basement in Cape May NJ, so I believe he may have a 6'er or two left, and whenever one surfaces I am reminded that, Boy is that a delicious simple lager.
3. Resurrection - Sorry, I warned of a local bent, and here is the mack daddy of local beers in my opinion. To be able to sip a goblet of "Belgian ale" this delicious and perfect, for less than 4 bucks in a place as aesthetically pleasing as Brewers Art, and Hamilton Tavern, with good "chips" to accompany it, can't pass that up before you die.
4. The first "good" beer I ever drank was a Spaten Optimator, when I was 18, an older friend introduced us to the pleasure of good beer. Now I've had plenty beers better than that one, but if it could swing someone into appreciating good beer as it did for me, god bless it.
5. Pacifico - Not super original, but I'm a beach rat, and this one tastes a whole lot better than the other beachy beers, so I would hate to have died with nothing other than Corona to have reached my palate while sitting in the sun.
Clayton
‘In more than twenty things, which I set down; This done, I twenty more had in my Crown’ (John Bunyon)
Firstly, I make NO apology for limiting my selection to ‘cask conditioned’ ales (nothing compares! :-) Secondly, I’ve limited my selection to beers that can (with a little effort) be found relatively easily in England. My SIX nominations, derived from some 30 years of imbibing are:
Cain’s Dark Mild (3.2%), Robert Cain Brewery, Liverpool
A truly dark mild, with a wonderful rich creamy head and a distinctive roasted malt taste. I always make a beeline to the Cain’s stand at GBBF.
Crouch Vale Brewers Gold (4%), Crouch Vale Brewery, South Woodham Ferrers, Essex
A wonderful pale golden ale with gorgeous aromas and a superb balanced sweet fruit & bitter hop taste. Twice voted Supreme Champion Beer of Britain.
Fullers London Pride (4.1%), Fuller, Smith & Turner, Griffin Brewery, London.
Probably, the classic British pint! A well balanced pale brown beer with citrus, malt and hops all in evidence on nose, palate and aftertaste. Try it in a Fullers pub!
Kelham Island Pale Rider (5.2%), Kelham Island Brewery, Sheffield.
A full bodied straw pale ale (flavoured with North American hops), with a good fruity aroma and a strong fruit and hop tast. Voted Supreme Champion Beer of Britain 2004.
Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby Mild (6%), Sarah Hughes Brewery at the Beacon Hotel, Sedgeley, West Midlands.
Our forebears drank this wonderful dark strong ale, which is still faithfully brewed by John Hughes to a recipe written down by his grandmother in 1921 (although probably older - the brewery dates from 1860). Once tasted, never forgotten!
Robinson’s Old Tom (8.5%), Frederick Robinson, Unicorn Brewery, Stockport.
Almost as old as the brewery itself (I hope you’ll forgive the extra 0.5%!), Old Tom, voted Supreme Champion Winter Beer of Britain, THREE times. Described as a full bodied dark beer with malt fruit and chocolate on the aroma. A complex range of flavours that include dark chocolate, maltiness, port and fruits with a long bittersweet aftertaste. Simply wonderful!
Enjoy them!
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