NERAX (2018)

I believe Edward is there every year...just a matter of catching the one day it's on. I was lucky once and caught it the day it was on. But I'm there mainly for non domestic stuff.

 

Last 2 (maybe 3) years they've tapped Edward on Friday night.

 

My wife has asked me what I want to do for my birthday... perhaps this is the answer!

 

NERAX is my one beer festival every year. Love it! I'll be there Thursday and Sat afternoon. And maybe Wednesday.

Don't forget the NERAX kickoff party too! It will be this Monday at Redbones with 2-3 casks and free apps.

 

I go every year, Saturday afternoon. Then finish up at Worden Hall for dinner.

If I'm lucky I go twice a year, and hit up Notch and Howling Wolf afterwards.

 

I'll be there Thursday. I'm there for the UK beers with UK hops. Or the German gravity kegs, but it has been a few years.

 

I can confirm Edward is part of the line up this year dry hopped w Simcoe in the cask. No word on which night it will appear — hopefully Wed when I’m there! Cheers all - looking forward to another great NERAX fest.

On a related note — later this month on Sunday 4/29 — the NERAX inspired mayday cask fest will be held in Watertown at the Canadian American Club. Much smaller in scale but very similer set up, clientele and quality of beer. Check it out at http://www.maydaycask.org/

 

I'll be there Friday. I used to go multiple evenings, and volunteered a couple times, but work and family has taken a toll on my beer fest-ing.
NERAX is still my favorite fest and the one I won't pass up.

 

I'm going to volunteer this year for the first time so hopefully I don't screw up anybody's good time.

Is it considered bad form to show up drunk?

 

I presume you're joking, but pre-gaming is considered uncouth at this fest. For volunteering, you get a certain number of tickets to use in your break time, plus hanging around afterwards they'll have some beers out.

 

Definitely joking

But thanks for the tip on the drink tickets. I did not realize that was part of the bargain!

 

Does a beer list get posted ahead of time? Checked the website and didn’t see it.

 

They don't post the beer list anymore -- stopped a few years ago. Doesn't make sense to me.

 

Yeah. The primary reason I would go would be to drink imports that were brewed for cask. I dislike most hoppy American beers on cask, so not worth it to me if that’s what makes up most of the list.

 

I believe it's because they don't want to basically guarantee beers that they can't yet. I'd rather them not post than catch the wrath of "the entitled". It's worked for the past couple years..
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

I couldn't agree with you with more on the hoppy American beer thing and honestly I'm not sure I tasted anything that wasn't built from the ground up for a cask that I thought was improved by being offered in that format.

That said, given that the ticket is cheap and the beers are reasonably priced half and full (imperial) pints rather than 2 oz. samples, it's pretty easy to find enough beers that are up your alley to make it worth the trip. Heck, if there's even one beer you want to drink it would possibly be worth it as a genuine 20 oz. beer for 8$ is pretty hard to come in Boston.

I've only been once so take that for what it's worth, but I really enjoyed it and I'm someone who generally avoids the festival scene.

 

They always have a balanced set of offerings throughout the fest -- mix of UK and American beers -- mix of ultra traditional and non traditional -- so I don't think you will have to worry about finding several beers at each session that fit your likes. Cheers.

 

Totally worth it. Although, that also includes the $10 ticket.

I always find plenty of beer that I enjoy, and plenty of traditional cask (although I feel the Milds have been few and far between the past few years).

I don't even show up until about 1/1:30 for the Saturday day session. Even though there's plenty of beers I enjoy there, I don't feel the need to rush there and start drinking at noon.

 

They are pretty meticulous about the cellarmanship aspect of serving cask, and day to day readiness can make the tapping schedule quite a moving target. And sometimes casks are deemed unfit for service altogether. They used to do beer lists and tapping schedules, but it seems that some people were unable to temper their expectations accordingly and would complain about missing whatever specific beer they made the trek for, so now they keep it a bit more nebulous.

We're currently cycled off of our English yeast strain as we start to brew for the Belgian Beer Fest, so we sent a firkin of Laser Kitten (session IPA) with an extra dose of Citra and Mosaic in the cask. Generally agree with some opinions about American style hoppy beers on cask, as I feel the format can make alcohol stand out in these 6%+ dry bodied beers, but I usually quite like stuff in the APA territory on cask. That said, it's probably also true that cask IPA is helping keep the format alive, given how incredibly monolithic tastes seem to be at the moment...