Yet again, it was impossible to try everything. I suppose that’s a sign that I should be willing to dump more beer, but I’d rather interpret it as the event doing a good job bringing a wide variety of beers for sampling. We hit the tables hard, and got through a good number of them, though, and there were only a couple beers that I wanted to try which ran out before I got to them. Cider Row was improved, which made Amanda (who’d not the most enthusiastic beer drinker) quite happy.
It was a fantastic time and I ended up learned several important lessons:
- Pacing yourself is everything. You’d think this would be common sense, but some of us have to learn the hard way. This year I did a good job pacing myself, and made it from open to close.
- Pacing is easier if you have friends. We met up with a bunch of guys we knew from the Milwaukee Blitzdkrieg men’s roller derby team, and chatted with them between beer stops.
- If you have a friend, it’s better to let them hold your glass than to lose it. I ended up having to get a new one because my original glass walked off.
- A pretzel necklace will increase your stamina considerably. A pretzel necklace with beef jerky is even better. A pretzel and jerky necklace with Wint-O-Green Lifesavers will let you end the event with fresh breath.
- And my most important lesson: I don’t like barley wine. Not at all. No apologies, but after trying it both last year and this year, I can say for certain it’s just not for me. I’m sure there’ll be people who are appalled to hear that I’m such a philistine, but I’d rather spend my trying beers I’m likely to enjoy than trying to convince myself I need to acquire a taste for barley wine.
For the most part, I didn’t really have any beers that I didn’t like, and I tried beer from a lot of breweries in a lot of styles. I confirmed that I’m a fan of bourbon barrel aged beer, though, and that when you’re doing a scotch ale, sometimes less is more.
The one beer we tried that stood out was by Rogue which created a beer based on Portland, Oregon’s Voodoo Doughnuts “Memphis Mafia” doughnut. Chocolate, Banana and Peanut Butter. The Banana was pretty strong in this ale. Amanda liked it (which is a good sign, because she likes Bananas, but not fake banana flavoring), but I have my reservations. Unlike Amanda, I wouldn’t drink this by itself, but I think it would do well as a beer float.
All-in-all this was a great time, and the perfect Christmas gift.
