What were some of your favorite beers from the festival? My top three (in no particular order) were Laurelwood BA old reliable, Anchorage deal with the devil, and Fremont old bridge rider. I also enjoyed a few pours of Notorious, but I'm not counting that as a barley wine. Thank for the awesome event Brouwers!
Deal with the devil, alesmith oldnumbskull (hoppy), glacier old woody, abacus, ba bigfoot, ba old reliable from laurelwood, alaskan rough draft, killer penguin, abacus, and old godfather to name a few. I was disappointed that something was wrong with the 2010 arctic devil it tasted way off...but overall it was the best taplist in years imo
long line at the start and a busy "first wave" but overall it was not too bad, kinda slowed down around 6pm. The crowds were well managed...
I haven't gone in a few years, so I was curious. Last time I went it was a complete madhouse; standing room only and VERY slow service. The beer line-up is always pretty amazing, so maybe I need to try it again next year.
I showed up at 11:30, stood in line for a few minutes until we were informed they were at capacity, and then swung by bottleworks to fill out my own Hard Liver collection for the night after deciding I didn't want to spend my Saturday navigating lines and crowds. The highlight of my night was sipping an assortment of tasty barley wines while getting pummeled in Super Mario Kart (SNES version) by my little brother.
Yeah I second the 2010 Arctic Devil being off. I was super disappointed by that, but oh well, plenty of other amazing beers were there. The Green Flash/Cigar City Candela Rye was crazy, probably the most interesting beer I had on Saturday.
I was pretty underwhelmed by some of the offerings but Deal w/ the Devil, BA Old Reliable, Old Proper were at the top of my list. Arctic D was wonky! My biggest letdown was Bainbridge Old Toe Jam.
It was pretty thin in the jam category but the taste was pretty much what you would expect from an Old Toe.
Any chance Fremont's Old Bridge Rider is the same as their 575 from WA Open House? I had the latter but not the former. Another vote for A Deal with the Devil. I, too, unfortunately tried 2010 Arctic Devil. Sound's Old Scoundrel was also a disappointment. And I don't believe Big Al's Ol' #1 was deserving of first place.
Final table was: 1) Big Al's 2) abacus 3) anchorage (and in no order) Black diamond Storm watcher Snipes Doggie claws Angels share (either this or uinta. I forget) Old numbskull Naked city
