Liveblogging the Holiday Ale Fest

I'll be trying to liveblog from the well of the Holiday Ale Fest today. No idea how (un)succesful it may turn out to be. One thing's for sure: iPhone + jostling crowd + distractions + beer ... typos will be made.

10:09 am. HAF have annunced the 11am tastings. Three beers from Bear Republic, including one aged in a 100-year-old cognac barrel. (!)

11:42 am: the eagle has landed. Crowd mellow but growing. First pour Dogfish chicory stout. Eh. Chalky, tannic. Not me fave.

12:21pm: the Trebuchet, Bear Republic's cognac-aged beer, when warmed, was very nice. A trippel, intense, alcoholic. Ninkasi's lavender heather stout--also a bit charred. Herbs are ... odd.

12:39: First pour of Cascade Sang Noir. Damn, what a beer. Moving on to another will take some willpower.

1:01: Block 15's entry is a real winner. Aged on oak, but dry-hopped. Oak is a bit overmuch--I would have blended it 50-50 with a non-oaked batch. Still, impressive.

1:24: first whoop. Crowd getting big, lines still okay.

1:43: second whoop.

1:52: Ill Tempered Gnome. Huge, massive, large, ginormous, and so on.

2:07: another Sang Noir or Dupont?

2:19: damn. Mislaid Sally...

3:02: long chat with Peter Kruger, the Bear Republic brewer, and just learned that they do spontaneous fermentation!