Surviving Fest Season

As many of you are aware we are at the beginning of Fest season.  From here on out it will seem like there is a beerfest every weekend.  For example this weekend I am aware of four Beerfests, none of which will my wife and I be attending.  So if you love beer and enjoy going to fests, this is your season. 

 Some of you that are reading this may have never had the opportunity to go to a beerfest.  So I will provide a brief synopsis of a beerfest:  a beerfest is usually an event that brings together multiple breweries and distributors to present numerous beers to the people possessing tickets to partake of the beer.  

I hope to help you think of ways to enjoy your day at the fest and still be functioning afterwards.  So in other words: to keep you from looking like you have never been to a beerfest.  First thing is do a bit of research about the fest, where it is, how long it lasts, what you receive with you ticket purchase and what is nearby for afterwards.  Also good facts to know are the breweries represented at the fest, as well what type of pours you will receive from each booth.  All of this will help you lay out your game plan to make it through the fest.  There are a few people that I know that take this prep work very seriously and have color coded laminated sheets for their plan of attack. 

Since almost all beerfests have websites with the above information that is a good place to start.  Usually the fest will have the information available for the fest goers a week or two in advance.  Some even have pdf files that you can print and use to devise you plan of attack.  If you do not feel like doing all of the prep work don't worry you do not have to do it if you don't want to.  Since some events are big enough for a line before the fest, you will have time to look over the book or flyer that they had out to you in line.  Also if you want you can fly by the seat of your pants and not plan, that happens to the best of us.  There are times when I have just forged ahead and just went with the flow. 

The beer available at the fest varies from light easy drinking beers to special barreled aged high alcohol beers.  An interesting way to attack a fest is to stick with one or two styles of beers.  At most fests, just tasting all that are available of a style or two will get you your moneys worth.  At some of the bigger fests like Great Taste of the Midwest, you may not be able to sample every beer of your chosen style.  If you are at a big enough fest you can chose a state or just pick certain breweries that you want to try.

Ok so you are now inside the fest grounds what to do next?  At most fests we set up our base site, this includes chairs, blankets and coolers of food and watern provided that the fest rules allow you to bring these items in, so again check the website before going to find out what is allowable inside.  So with base camp set it is off to try the beer.  Usually my wife and I start off together exploring the beers. Since almost always we are with friends we wind up spending time apart as well.  If you get separated don't worry some times that is the best time to find that one special beer.

As the day proceeds and you have hit you bucket list of beers, begin exploring for others.  The main thing is to pace yourself, if you plan on going somewhere after the event.  There is no way you can try every single beer at a fest unless it is a really small fest, so don't worry about what you are missing out on. 

The important thing is to have fun at the fest.  So if your well laid game plan does not get accomplished don't worry.  Also if possible talk to the brewers at the booths, let them know that you appreciate them being there.  At some events this is possible, but at others it is not since all you are doing is backing up a line of people wanting a sample of beer.  Another thing to do is keep track of the time, even five hours can go by in what seems to be a matter of minutes.

When the fest is over listen to the event staff and do what they say.  They are just trying to make it easy for everyone.  Since most fests are held in public places, the fest has a defined liquor license meaning they can only serve beer during the fest hours.  So do not try to get that one last beer from a booth as you are leaving.  Once outside of the fest grounds make sure your glass is empty, most cities will arrest you for open containers. 

Another good bit of advice is have a hotel within walking distance or have a designated driver.  No one needs the cost and pain of a DUI!  We plan ahead at the fest we attend for a room close by the fest grounds. 

Once back to your room make the decision of crashing or continuing to go.  In my experience if you crash you do not recover to go out later.  Hopefully you paced yourself so you can continue on to enjoy the surrounding area. 

So hopefully these are a few useful pointers to help you survive the fest season.

QC Beerguy

 

Brand Identity

The other day I saw a Facebook post of a friend asking another friend if they had a beer in the area that they live.  I looked at the beer's label and thought I recognized it as one I had had before and wanted to help a friend out.  Upon a quick search I was able to find the beer and where it was distributed, unfortunately not anywhere close to either one of my friends.  Upon finding the beer, I was surprised it was one that I had never had and could not figure out why it looked familiar.

During my wondering about the familiarity of the beer label, I began to think how important it is to a brewery to have an easily recognizable beer brand identity.  I am sure many beer drinkers either consciously or unconsciously chose a beer to drink because of the label or some other part of the beer brand.  To them the brand identity equals a quality beer.

Some of you may be wondering what I am talking about when I say beer brand identity.  It is that special quality that is associated with that particular beer.  Here are a few examples:  the shark (actually a dogfish) on Dogfish head beer, the portrait on a Sam Adams bottle (no that is not actually Sam Adams on the bottle, it is Paul Revere) and the special script Budweiser on a bottle or a can of Budweiser.  These breweries along with many others have taken great time and pride in making their brand recognizable.

Once a beer drinker finds a style of beer or a brand that they like, they become conditioned to look for that familiar label or emblem.  Yes we are just a step above Pavlov's dog when it comes to beer.  That brewery becomes their favorite and they usually remain loyal to that brewery.  This is why breweries are so concerned with trademark infringement and protecting their brand.

A couple breweries that I know will go to litigation to protect their brand are Budweiser and  Pete's Brewing Company.  Budweiser has a continuing court battle on going around the world against Budvar ( the original Budweiser), lately AB InBev has been winning most of the court cases thus in the U.S. we see Budvar.  Pete's is very protective of their Strawberry Blonde, they even have sent a cease and desist letter to a local brewpub that makes a blonde ale with strawberry.  So needless to say they did not get "bent" out of shape and changed the beer's name to Strawberry Ale, a more generic term.

There are other breweries that have taken the route of working things out without lawyers.  A good example is Collaboration not Litigation Ale, brewed by Avery Brewing and Russian River Brewing which they brewed together after they found out that they both had a beer called Salvation.   Since they are friends they decided to work things out over a beer instead of getting ugly about it.

Another big reason that breweries are protective of their labels and brands is that it is a big capital outlay to produce the labels and brands.  Many breweries pay either a marketing company or an artist to develop and produce the labels.  Also once the breweries come up with the labels they then have to have the labels approved by the ABC, both state and federal level in most cases.  The ABC has strict guidelines as to what is acceptable and if it is borderline it will not be approved.  So it is very important to the brewery, since they had a large cash outlay to produce the label.

Once a label or brand is produced the brewery will usually take the steps to at least copyright if not trademark the brand or label.  It is reputed that the oldest registered trademark is the red triangle of Bass Brewery in England, they have been registered since 1875.  A couple other breweries claiming long trademark usage are Lowenbrau and Stella Artois.  As you can see breweries are very protective of their brands and labels.

So next time you grab a beer take a look at the label before you take a drink and ponder what they brewery is trying to say with their label.  Then just try to image how long it took for the brewery to get the label in your hand.

QC Beerguy
 

Crust- Stone Oven Pizza

Last week my wife, our oldest daughter and I went with some friends to Crust- Stone Oven Pizza https://www.facebook.com/CrustPizzeriaAndPub in Bettendorf, IA.  Since it had opened with in the last month we figured it was worth a shot.  When we entered the door we were quickly greeted and seated.  Looking around the restaurant you notice a slick, dark interior with ample lighting and large windows.  They also have a patio for those that wish to dine outside. 

The menu is one page, but there is enough variety that no one will go away hungry.  We started off with cheese curds as an appetizer.  Our friends were really impressed, since they are from Wisconsin.  The curds they were buttery and smooth.  Also they had a raspberry jalapeno dipping sauce equally as good.  The pizzas were delicious as well.  We ordered three pizzas a pepperoni, a chicken artichoke, and a three meat (all were a type of Italian meat).  The pizza is Neapolitan style, so it is hand created with a thin crust.  The sauce and cheese blend together in a wonderful symphony of flavor.  The pizza appears to be heavy but is surprisingly light and easy to eat.  They also have a couple desserts that we passed on this time.

They have a full bar with top shelf liquor, a good wine list as well as a very good but not over the top amount of beer.  They have at least 12 taps, a mix of local, mass produced, import and craft beer; including Bell's Oberon, Two Hearted,  Bent's Uncommon Stout, Great River's Dos Pistolas, Peroni and a few others.  Beside the taps they have about 30 or so bottled beers.  The bartender that waited on us knew her beer, which is always a plus when a restaurant serves quality beer. 

We were all pleased with our first visit to Crust.  The only slight downfall was the price of the beer, they seemed to be a bit high on the amount.  Thus making it more likely that you will have a couple beers with your meal, but not making it a hang out place to sit and enjoy a few beers with friends.  We are looking forward to visiting again and trying out some of the other pizzas on the menu.  Also our bartender told us that you can do a build your own pizza or calazone.  So if you are in the area give it a shot.

QC Beerguy

A few QC updates

Just wanted to hit a few happenings in the QC area.  Both Bent River and Front Street have opened up their second locations.  Looking forward to visiting both new locations, if you have a chance go check them out.  Also Blue Cat has unveiled its American Pale Ale.  As they describe it as refreshing, medium light body with plenty of hops!  6% ABV and 40 IBU's.  Great River has a small batch Golden Ale and their latest beer Dos Pistolas Negra.  As they describe it as a Mexican-style Dark Lager that is light, crisp, and smooth with just a hint of caramel.  ABV 5.6%.

So that is a quick update on the QC beer scene,

QC Beerguy

Big Brew Day 2012

As with every year the first Saturday of May is Big Brew Day, this year it was May 5th.  My homebrew club participated as usual this year.  This year we were hosted by Blue Cat Brewery http://www.bluecatbrewpub.com/ and the owner/brewer Dan Cleveland.  We were able to utilize the grassy area behind the brewpub for our brewing.  Dan went above and beyond and found out the necessary rules from the city of Rock Island so we could brew in peace.  After we fenced off both ends of the green space we were within the city's rules. Thankfully the day was a warm and sunny day.

MUGZ http://www.mugzhomebrew.org/ had at least eight different brews going during the day.  We had anything from light summer beers to hoppy IPAs.  One particular beer was brewed by several women of the group.  They annually enter their beer into the women's only events around the United States.  All in all everyone had an enjoyable day.

Inside Blue Cat, Dan had a couple of special seasonal beers on tap,  The first I tasted was the Maibock, it was a bit more caramelly than I would expect for this style, but it did have the desirable hint of pilsner malt and was rather high in alcohol as well.  Also I noticed it was a bit dark for the style, but I did enjoy the beer overall.  The second seasonal was Red Toad ESB.  It was a really nice English style ESB.  It had a noticeable hop presence with a really nice caramel presence.  This is a beer that can be a good session beer.  I thank Dan for having these good seasonal beers on tap during Big Brew Day.

As I said it was a very enjoyable day and before I had to leave for prom duties with our daughter I had a lot of fun.  If you are looking for a homebrew group to join in the Quad Cities MUGZ welcomes all brewers.   We welcome all levels of brewers from the beginners to the hard core all grain brewers.

QC Beerguy 

Toppling Goliath Brewing Company

I have had the pleasure to have a couple of beers from Toppling Goliath and have been very impressed with them.  For those of you that are unfamiliar with Toppling Goliath http://www.tgbrews.com/site/ I will help you become a bit more familiar with them.  It is a microbrewery in Decorah, IA with a tap room, so you can go to the source and try their beers.  Their motto seems to be "Big Beers Brewed in Small Batches".  They distribute their beer in North East Iowa predominately with a handle full of locations in the LA Crosse, WI area.  From the website it looks as if they currently only distribute by the keg, they are hoping to be bottling sometime this summer.  They have 5 core beers with many seasonals, a Hop Patrol Series and a few barrel aged beers.  So I am sure that they produce a beer that will meet everyone's likes.

I came across Toppling Goliath's beers at Bodega Brewpub http://www.bodegabrewpublax.com/ in La Crosse, WI.  John, the manager of Bodega, a few months ago mentioned that Toppling Goliath would be doing a tap take over at Bodega.  Unfortunately for me I was not in town when that happened, but fortunately for me the tap take over was a success and since then Bodega has had beers on tap from Toppling Goliath (TG). 

The first TG beer I had was Golden Nugget, an IPA 6% ABV 56 IBUs.  It poured golden yellow with a dense white head.  The aroma was of floral and citrus hops and the taste added a good malt backbone to offset the floral and citrus hop flavors.  It is medium bodied with a good amount of carbonation.  Overall it was a very good and lively IPA.

The second TG beer I had was Biter Double IPA, they do not list ABV, but say it has 154 IBUs.  With six different hops used int this beer it is a hop heads dream, I know I sure liked it.  It poured a deep gold with a dense with head.  They aroma is of hops and more hops.  This beer bucks the trend of having pronounced garlic or catty hop aroma in DIPAs.  A strong malt backbone equals out the hops in the flavor.  Medium bodied with a good amount of carbonation.  The beer became better as it warmed and I greatly enjoyed the beer.

Needless to say that after enjoying two of TG's beers I look forward to trying more beers from Toppling Goliath.  Maybe even some day I can find my way to Decorah to tapping room to try even more of their beers.  Hopefully as they grow they will find their way to some of the beer fests in Iowa and Wisconsin so more people can enjoy their beers.  I suggest that if you have a chance to try a Toppling Goliath beer give it a chance.

QC Beerguy