Hop Fest, TDR Spring House, a roundup.

The Drafting Room's Spring House location rolled off of their firkin of Bitter and robbed the hop farms leaving a wake of ethanol seeds in their dust. Their 3rd Hop Fest showed a great and varied list of beers from around the US and celebrated two of my favorite well hopped Belgian ales as well.

Spring House had their pre-planning hats on for Hop Fest. Guests had their choice of full 12 oz pours (for almost everything), 10 oz tastes, and 5.5 oz sample glasses ordered Sushi style in any configuration they pleased. It was really nice to be able to taste those beers I was curious about and have all of the must haves without having to get rolled out of the joint.

I actually took some notes on Saturday, so here was my schedule:

Nugget Nectar (on cask) - this was trailing off a bit, good but i've had fresher casks of NN in my day.

Pliny - the big boy. Everyone knew this keg had been waiting a while. Darn if old Pliny still doesn't taste really good. It lost a lot of flavor and aroma in the months. (Tune in tomorrow for some hard hitting, breaking news on this front)

Houblon Chouffe - oh yes. I love this beer and this keg was pouring wonderfully. Of my first three beers, the one that travelled the farthest tasted the freshest. Go figure.

On to the flights...5.5 oz'ers

Maharaja
Lagunitas Hop Stoopid
Sly Fox Sterling IPA
TDR 13th Anniversary (brewed by Troegs..Imperial Pils with Nugget, Warrior, Hallertauer, and one or two more varieties). This was one of my favorite beers of the day.....of the week.

Then something dangerous happened...my second flight arrived. In 10 oz glasses.

I looked at the table and knew it wasn't meant to be. Especially with Maximus as the day's finale`.


Dock St. Rye IPA
Great Lakes Elliot Ness
Green Flash IPA
Lagunitas Maximus

We had some food somewhere in the middle and in that regard TDR has never let me down.


"That's a lot of beer on the table."

A lot of familiar names and faces out on Saturday. Some just a few feet away without my realizing. The hard consonants were in full effect: Capone, Kolesar, Chandler. Soft cons didn't slouch either: Med, Ms. Hugger, and Michaelson all great folks to chat with.


Meeting of the minds.

Next stops...Victory Dinner, Ortino's Northside, Full Mooner (at which i believe i'll be pouring. This Sunday, Ugly Moose garage. I think its DFH, Sly Fox, and Weyerbacher. Factual details to follow, or email me.)