Savor DC 2016

I think this is going to be what you see going forward, unless a bar puts on something truly insane.

Our beer scene has matured and there's outstanding beer here on a daily basis.

There are also many more options, which dilutes the overall crowd at any given place. If I were a patron, there were at least 4 events yesterday that would have been on my radar. That simply wasn't the case 3 or 4 years ago.

 

I had it over the weekend at the brewery and was a bit underwhelmed as well. I, admittedly, am not a huge fan of the regular Deceiver (too sweet, kinda ordinary), and just didn't think the Mexican Hot Chocolate version was all that different. I would've liked a lot more spice than what I got. I'd give the regular Deceiver a 3.75 and the Mexican Hot Chocolate a solid 4. Neither of them even approach their IPAs.

 

What's everyones top 5 / top 10 heading into the actual SAVOR event? Here's where my heads at (by interesting description / previous knowledge; not BA raings):

- Melvin: 2x4
- Stickmen: Bannana's on Fire
- Two Roads: 2015 Kriek
- Lewis & Clark: Prickly Pear Pale Ale
- Hardywood: BA Raspberry w/ Vanilla Bean
- Great Raft: Oceans Between Us
- 4 Noses: BA Vier Neuzen

 

Is anyone at CK right now? Trying to see how crowded it is and whether they're still pouring darkness.

 

As a huge fan and part of the hype train of Mexican Hot Chocolate - I agree, this batch wasn't as good as their last batch (I thought the last batch had more complexity). But considering Aslin is still tweaking both their base Deceiever recipe (they hoped to improve the mouthfeel) and their process I expect them to dial it in with the next batch.

Relative to the other world class spices stouts though I wouldn't discount Aslin. There were about 8 of us who did a bottle pour this past Saturday. Among the spices stout contenders were Huna ('15-'16), Bomb!, Mexican Cake ('16) Aslin' Meixcan Hot Chocolate, and Abraxas ('15). There was one clear winner and while Aslin wasn't it, Aslin wasn't out of their league.

 

who was the clear winner? Abraxas?

 

Don't sleep on Crux Fermentation Project Tough Love.
Never heard of D9 but their beers sound interesting.
Bells BBL Expedition
Curious to see what Lost Anby is bringing, I think they replace Devil's Backbone but can't find what they are bringing.

 

Drink all the Ghost in the Machine you can get. You will not be disappointed.

 

^ Enjoyed that quite a bit today, but I wasnt surprised as I was drinking Envie during Mardi Gras.

 

My favorite beers from last night:

- Crux - Tough Love (best beer of the night for me)
- Melvin - 2x4 Imperial IPA
- Bells - BA Expedition Stout
- Deschutes - Abyss Rye
- Adroit Theory - Tryptych

 

I'm with you DHofman, mine were:
1. Tough Love, best of the night and have the other Crux beer, One Off.
2. Bells Expedition
3. Ad Idem and also have the other Lost Abbey beer
4. Abyss
5.Truth
6. Ghost in the Machine
7. Ortolan Bunting by Adroit
8. Stavropol

Overall the Sours and Stouts were good. Was disappointed with most of the IPAs.

Also did the Jim Koch Salon. He was entertaining.

 

Glad to see Crux getting some recognition. If there's such a thing as a beer scene better than Portland, it might be the one they have going on in Bend, and Crux is right at the top of the list of breweries there. So many beers out there that non-locals haven't even heard of because they are so saturated in great beer that hype never builds.

Also pretty happy to see the "maturation" of the scene here. I've been really turned off by the "competitiveness" of the scene since moving here, and maybe these sparsely attended events and availability of tickets to Savor are a sign that the area is moving into a new, more enjoyable for everyone phase.

 

Jay, Breweries like Crux is what keeps me coming back to Savor every year. Beer that I've never had and never will unless you live in their area.

I just wish savor had 3 levels for breweries. The sponsors, the lottery, and also a selected group. When they booted out Devils Backbone it wasn't like Lost Abbey was drawn out of a hat, they wanted to replace them with a killer brewery.

 

Has anyone ever been to the Firestone Walker Beer Festival. I've never seen a lineup like that one. It's on my bucket list!

 

Bringonthebeer.com based out of Oregon gets lots of crux fermentation project and ships to va.

 

My exact top 5. Multiples of each.

 

Went to some dumb savor after party at bar deco. Got to have 2x4 for the first time in 2 years and it was damn good. Hop Shocker was good as well.

 

Went on Saturday. Got burnt out on IPA's after a while. Seems every one had a DIPA or some sort of IPA and nothing really stood out. Beers that caught my attention were Lost Abbey's Ad Idem, Country Boy's Flanders Red, Bell's BA Expedition, Ocean's Between Us Brett IPA and Rye Abyss.