This year's Oktoberfest was pretty fun, well organized and featured more breweries than those of previous years. DuClaw certainly cleaned up the field taking several bronze, silver, and gold medals for the brewery competition. A big congratulations to Red Brick Station for winning the Governor's Cup for the first time, with "Something Red". (Clipper City won the cup each of the past two years.)
Alas, I did not place in the homebrew competition, but I can say I tried! One thing that ticked me off about the contest was the fact that none of the winners were present to claim their trophies. It was explicitly written on the entry form that the winners had to be there to claim the goods. - As a matter of fact, let me step up on my soapbox for a minute - When the emcee took the mic and broadcast that it was time to announce the results for the homebrew competition, he asked for all of the contestants to step forward toward the stage. I did as the man asked, and found myself standing, alone, in front of the stage. Everyone else was in a line 20 feet behind me. Was I embarrassed? Hell no, I participated! I am proud that I gave it a shot - so are all of my friends and family! And I was certainly proud to stand in front of Volker Stewart, the main man behind Brewer's Art, as he read the results. However, I am very upset that the winners seemingly trivialized this contest. Screw you! If I can make it to a 12:30 Saturday meeting, you can too. I personally fell they should have forfeited and given the trophy to the next person in line. I'm not saying it was me or should have been me, and I am certainly not jealous. I honestly believed I had a fair shot, which is why I entered! Just don't be a jerk and assume that, at the end of the day, you'll get the prize if you aren't there. <sarcasm>A great example of conradery was felt and experienced.</sarcasm> Thank you.
We continued walking around and began the tour of taste. I'm pretty sure we made our first stop at The Wharf Rat. :) I had a strong dark ale, and our friend Erica tried a beer that was brewed with either honey or maple, I can't recall. What I do remember is it was tasty and refreshing!
We moved on to Clipper City, the Balto-MarzHon was fresh and on target! With a mug of Marzen we walked out to the track and watched the "Carry your wife contest". I'll tell you what, it was ridiculous. There were a couple of wicked face plants and I hope the young ladies are feeling better.
After the race was over, we retired for a few minutes for some food. I'll tell you what, as always G.T .Roadsters had some of the greatest sandwiches around! They have a tow-behind smoker that is loaded with wood, ham, beef, and turkey. Man, that was goooooood stuff!
The food was even better when washed down with Brewer's Alley cask-conditioned New Moon ale. Hoppy, smooth, and fresh. Quite possibly one of the best beers I have had in my life. Top 10, at least.
Erica tried the Pumpkin ale from Growler's. I sipped and enjoyed it, but she thought it was a little too spicy.
We walked over to DuClaw for some Misery, a wheat wine (which they were out of). So, we tried the Frambroise - a funky Belgian brewed with raspberries. For the first lambic-style beer, I was very, very impressed.
We continued walking around for a few minutes more and I ended the day with a fine sample of DuClaw's BlackJack Imperial stout.
Aside from my personal rant, the event was overall enjoyable.
