C'est What's 19th Annual Fall Festival of Craft Breweries

[Bobsy]

Hi. I just got back from an extensive tasting of the beers at the festival, and I also have to share in the feeling of enthusiasm. I was extremely pleased to see the wide variety of styles tried by local brewers, many of which were carried off with aplomb. For me, top marks went Nickel Brook for the Uniek (this was totally unexpected as I'm not a big Nickel Brook fan), Scotch Irish Kellertrubes and Great Lakes Double Pumpkin Ale.

[sstackho]

Agreed! Twas a good time.

In our pseudo-blind taste tests (one member of our group gets the beers and doesn't tell the others what it is until after it's rated), I managed to have 4 beers tied for my top rating (For the love of Dog - just make a decision!!).

They were the Scotch Irish Kellertrubes, the Great Lakes Double Pumpkin, the Great Lakes Devil's Pale Ale and the Grand River Plowman's Ale.

There were a couple of misses. I think my lowest rating might have been to the cask Black Oak Maple Nut Brown - and I very much like most things that come out of that place. But this one was very thin.

[Gedge]

Highlights: Double Pumpkin Ale, Plowman's

Lowlights: Peppermint Porter (tasted like toothpaste mixed with soviet grade chocolate), Black Bullet (the less said of the better) - Trafalgar, I beg you, please stop.

[jaymack]

What a great night! First timer here, but I will definitely go back.

Didn't mind the Black Bullet, but what was up with Church Key's Flanders Sour Brown? That gets my vote for Oddballl of the Night.

Didnt' get Great Lakes' Pumpkin but Grand River's was pleasant.

I'm not an expert in Marzen/Oktoberfest styles, but really enjoyed Mill Street's attempt (anyone else get a grap gum aroma?).

Barley Days Wind & Sail dark Ale was very nice too, well done.

[sstackho]

Ah yes, the Sour Brown. Definitely the oddball of the night.

I think it smelled like cheese. And tasted like cheese. And I like cheese. But did I like the beer? Um.... I don't know!

Oh, and was C'est What really selling full pints of the 14% Black Bullet?

[viggo]

Unfortunately it took a bottle of Sierra Nevada Bigfoot to get the taste of that Church Key Sour brown out of my mouth.

[georgemilbrandt]

I am embarrassed to say that I did not notice that the tap labels got mixed up and the Kellertrubes and Hop Head were reversed. So, in effect, we had an impromptu blind tasting of the two. We will label the results correctly when we release them.

So if you hear any of your buddies crowing about the virtues of either of these brews, please make sure they know which one they tasted. My apologies to Perry and Bruce.

[shintriad]

I am embarrassed to say that I did not notice that the tap labels got mixed up and the Kellertrubes and Hop Head were reversed. So, in effect, we had an impromptu blind tasting of the two. We will label the results correctly when we release them.

Ha! And hear I was ready to label the "Helen Keller" (as some people apparently nicknamed it) the Best in Show. I thought it was highly hopped for the style! Too bad I never got to try the real deal, ah well.

[JerCraigs]

I am embarrassed to say that I did not notice that the tap labels got mixed up and the Kellertrubes and Hop Head were reversed. So, in effect, we had an impromptu blind tasting of the two. We will label the results correctly when we release them.

So if you hear any of your buddies crowing about the virtues of either of these brews, please make sure they know which one they tasted. My apologies to Perry and Bruce.

At what point was this corrected? I saw Bruce from Durham camped out at the bar so in theory he would have noticed this?

[Derek]

Were they initially the right way around? My first sample was the keller (or so I thought). It looked a little murky. I could taste some American hops, but it didn't seem too citrusy.

Five minutes later someone else had a sample, it looked clear, and they commented on the citrus flavour & aroma.

A couple hours later I went back for half pint of the keller and then I really noticed the grapefruit (which I didn't get the first time around).

?

I am embarrassed to say that I did not notice that the tap labels got mixed up and the Kellertrubes and Hop Head were reversed. So, in effect, we had an impromptu blind tasting of the two. We will label the results correctly when we release them.

So if you hear any of your buddies crowing about the virtues of either of these brews, please make sure they know which one they tasted. My apologies to Perry and Bruce.

[kinguy]

Ah yes, the Sour Brown. Definitely the oddball of the night.

I think it smelled like cheese. And tasted like cheese. And I like cheese. But did I like the beer? Um.... I don't know!

Oh, and was C'est What really selling full pints of the 14% Black Bullet?

I missed out on last night, but was there today trying some of the leftovers. I wanted to try the Sour Brown to compare it to New Belgium's La Folie, which I had the pleasure to try at the brewery last month. I can't say I didn't care for it, but La Folie has nothing to worry about.

I thought the Sour Brown smelled like dried fruit. When I asked my wife, who doesn't drink beer, what she thought, she said it smelled like vomit. I don't think she was far off.

I also got the dregs of the Maple Nut Brown...maybe it was because it was the end of the cask, but it had an unpleasant after taste, and could have used more maple.

Didn't mind the Peppermint Porter...a little thin, but better than the last few Trafalgar beers I've had. The Uniek Kriek was just okay. Not bad, but nothing special, and I like fruit beers.

Of the five I had, the Hazelnut Chocolate Ale was definitely my favourite.

[georgemilbrandt]

From start to finish they were switched.

To tell them apart (without making any judgments about flavour) , the Kellertrubes was the cloudier of the two.

[sstackho]

Interesting! I didn't rate (what I thought was) the Hop Head all that highly - but that's probably because it wasn't particularly hoppy.

So then, it is actually the Hop Head that was tied for one of my best ratings of the night.

As always, thanks for running the event, George! I always look forward to these.

[georgemilbrandt]

County Durham swept the top three with Durham Hop Head, C'est What Caraway Rye, and Durham Hop Addict finishing ahead of the pack, all with median scores of 37. The Hop Head was inadvertently tasted "blind" as it's tap label was switched with the Scotch Irish (Helen) Kellertrubes Lager for the duration of the Festival.

The Most Curious award for the most rated beer, goes to Trafalgar for Smoked Oatmeal Stout. Close behind was the remarkably unique Church-Key Flanders Sour Brown. It should be pointed out that Great Lakes Double Pumpkin Ale sold out when the festival was a mere three hours old making it the most consumed beer if not the most rated. On the other hand, past festival winners St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout, C'est What Coffee Porter, and Mill Street Tankhouse Ale were not rated enough to make the rankings.

Full details can be found at http://www.cestwhat.com/tasteresult/festival2007.asp