EBF Highlights

NOTB:

Pappy's Sugar Shack
WWS Bourbon Barrel
Plead the 5th
Cascade
No Place Like Home
White Chocolate
Bourbon Narwhal
Stone RIS
DFH Immort Ale 2006
Chardonnay Little Yella Pils

EBF:

Allagash FV13
Cambridge Gruit
Justin Blåbær
Founders Midnight at the Oasis
Sierra Nevada Bloodshot and Fungoo
Goser the Goserian
Black Tuesday
Sour in the Rye
Sour Black
Elvis Brau
Trophinator

 

Also was upset (though the fest overall was awesome as always) that I didn't get to try any Firestone Stickee Monkey and Avery Tweak.. Both ran out in a ridiculously short amount of time.
Highlights:
Firestone Rufus was insane (and I typically hate Brett)
Black Tuesday was great, even in the <1 oz sample size
Heady Topper was incredible (never had it before)
Lost Abbey Mayan Apocalypse was awesome
Throwback Fat Alberta chocolate/peanutbutter stout tasted like a chocolate/PB milkshake
I REEALLY hope Weyerbacher bottles Sunday Morning Stout

 

Throwback killed it. The Bohemian Pilsner with Jalapeno was amazing and clean. Truly hit the spot. Fat Alberta was the second best beer with peanut butter I've encountered (behind Funky Buddha of course), and their other offerings were solid. I seriously want that jalapeno beer all the time.

Justin Blabaer was solid, as was the Thomas Hooker Mexican Chocolate Stout pouring at the NERAX table.

Spite had a nice pepper flavor and heat, but the base beer left a little to be desired.

 

Have to go with Dogfish Head's Sah'tea on this one. Wasn't really expecting much from it, but I was pleasantly surprised with how well chai tea blended with the beer. Very aromatic and well balanced. Chai is also my favorite breakfast tea so I think I may have found the perfect AM brew.

 

Hightlights for me :
Finally trying heady topper, well worth the hype
CBC #hashtag
As someone mentioned, Throwback was on point. Really surprised by their offerings
Likewise with Shorts , really creative and nicely done.
120 min with the mosaic hops
Evil twin saison, one of the best I tried all day

 

NOTB:
BA Plead The Fifth
Bruery White Chocolate
Cascade Noyaux
Jack's Abby Numb Swagger
Lost Abbey Veritas 011

Saturday Sessions:
CBC Pearls of Wisdom
Evil Twin Justin Blåbær
FW Stickee Monkee
Founders Spite
Trophy Rosemary Gose
Mystic Entropy

All definitely stand out in my mind as beyond excellent.

 

Sure, Heady is always amazing, but two that stood out for me were the Sam Adams Thai Lemon Basil, and the Smuttynose Bloom. Really tasty beers! CBC #Hashtag was no clouch either.

 

Personally, you can beat Heady Topper. I also loved #Hashtag, Frost Monster, and Tweak.

I have to say though, Rhizing Bines was one of the worst beers I had ever tried. What an awful after taste. I was very disappointed.

 

I agree about rhizing bines, but disagree about frost monster. Tasted watered down and just flat in terms of taste.

 

NotB standouts for me were:
2008 Stone IRS in Bourbon Barrels (probably my favorite of the weekend)
Dark Horse BB Plead the 5th
LA Double Red Poppy
Cascade Noyaux
Allagash Midnight Brett

EBF night session:
Avery Tweak
Allagash FV 13
FW Rufus & Barrel 22
Harpoon Velvet Touch
Weyerbacher Sunday Morning
Cambridge Hashtag

Not too upset about missing out on a few things as that happens at every fest, but I was a bit bummed that FW only tapped 2 beers at a time, and didn't have a time for when the next two (wild weisse and sticky monkee) would go on. They told me to come back in an hour-hour and a half and when I did all that was left was Wookey Jack. Not a big fan of staggered or timed tappings, but oh well.

As usual I had an amazing time and thought they were well run. I did however feel that Friday was more crowded than usual; I've been to 6 of the last 7 NotB/EBF and NotF/BBF weekends and never felt Friday was as crowded as this past one, and I know several people agreed with me. I was also surprised to get an email saying people could convert their Friday tickets into Saturday tickets, which I have never seen before. I know Friday usually has 100 or so less people than the Saturday sessions; was this not the case this year? Anyone else feel Friday was a little more crowded than normal?

Still had a great time and can't wait for NotF/BBF in the fall!

 

While maybe not as "extreme" as some of the bigger names, 4 Hands stole the show for me. Their whole lineup was spot on. Cuvée ange, Chocolate milk stout, Pyrus, Home...... Wish their distro was a little bigger.

 

Mdfb79- Friday did seem packed, far more crowded than Saturday day.

 

It was very crowded but everything seemed to move ok. And the free chips were awesome. If it weren't for the epic (but well worth it) Cascade line...

 

Changing speed, biggest lowlight, Firestone Walker running out of everything within an hour of the start of session 2. (Except Wookey Jack.). Giant sign, 4 beers listed. Not a drop of any!

 

Allagash FV 13 and CBC #Hashtag were my faves of things I got to try for the first time. And of course Heady Topper was great

 

I think it was a very fresh batch. It really did taste amazing.

 

^ Agreed. I don't understand the math of having a measely 12 bottles of Black Tuesday being enough for even half of the 850 people roughly there on Saturday afternoon. I am assuming that a second case of it did not come out for the evening sesson, but someone can confirm that I suppose. The only real disappointment for me.

Best in show for me was Veritas 011 Friday and Tweak Saturday.

Awesome event overall! Cheers.

 

BT was at both afternoon and night sessions.

 

Black Tuesday
Tweak
Fv13
Sour in the rye
Framminghammer
120 randalized

Wish I tried multiples of Black Tuesday. Went way too quick