This is the final update for Baltimore Beer Week 2010...Friday(10/15), Saturday(10/16), and Sunday(10/17).
Friday was an uneventful day for me, I did a little solo pub crawl around Fells Point starting at Bertha's Mussels. I looked through the schedule and knew they were having Stoudt's Oktoberfest as a special, I like Oktoberfests and the Stoudt's is one of the better ones out there. I also went there for the free pint glass give-away with purchase(I collect glasses).
After hanging out at
Berthas roughly 30 minutes I decided to hit my next stop...Duda's Tavern. They had a Flying Fish Oktoberfest beer on special also. I haven't seen many if any Flying fish on tap around town so I wanted to get there to try one while it was around. Not as good as the Stoudt's Oktoberfest but an okay beer. Again hung there for about 20 minutes and rolled out to my next place...This time headed to
Alexanders Tavern.
It was the start of the
Flying Dog 3 day Indoor Block party, where they were gonna have all kinds of Flying Dog Beers for $3.00 a pint with free glassware...Kegs would be continuously switched as they were kick for the 3 day event.
Once I got there though, it was so busy...elbow to elbow...not my kind of good time. I like bars with atmosphere(Alexanders does), but when it is overcrowded I don't have fun...So I did an about-face and walked across the street to
Max's Taphouse for the East Coast vs. West Coast event...I was sooo looking forward to trying the
Brooklyn Brewing - Detonation Ale from the Brewmaster's Series...So when I got there I did indeed ask for it.
It was not a disappointment at...Citrus hop to the "enth" degree for the nose, strong alcohol character with a decent balance of malt and hops for the taste, with a sweet full body throughout. A very good brew from Mr. Oliver and co. This too was the only brew I had at this bar, before hitting my last stop for the night....
Right around the corner from home is this "new" bar with nice a granite bartop, hardwood floors, a projection TV along with numerous other flat-screens...I think I've been here before, oh well yes I have....It is the gorgeous new "Alonsoville" upstairs bar at
Alonsos Restaurant.
At Alonso's they were having an
Oskar Blues Brews & Bar-B-Que event. Live Blues, Brews & and a menu of Bar-B-Que foods. They had alot of Oskars beers on tap(the whole line-up) with a special firkin of Dale's Pale Ale Dry Hopped and Old Double Bagger Barleywine. I new a fellow blogger was there hanging out also, so that made another reason for me to check it out. I walked in and sat next to Brad from BeerInBaltimore, said hello to the owner Steve, and was introduce to a rep from Legends distributing here in Baltimore. He shat the poop for about an hour about beer the
Beer Bloggers Conference I'm going to in a few weeks out in Boulder, Co. I had the excellent barleywine and got a few Oskars can beaded necklaces. Good conversation and good beers...can't go wrong with that combo.
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On Saturday October 16th, it was time for the long waited for event at
Pratt St. Ale House for the Seventh annual "Chesapeake Real Ale Festival". 40 Firkins of specialty brews from around the world...Brewdog, Devils Backbone, Evolution, JW Lees are just a sample of the brews that were here for us to try as much as we wanted. I tried about half of the available brews with
Devils Backbone - Sorachi Ace hop infused "Kung Pow" Pale and Pratt Streets very own
Oliver Ales - Freddy's Revenge(A Nightmare On Pratt St.) Pumpkin Seasonal, standing out to me as the most original and best tasting. I tried a brewery from Pearl Island, Ny new to me called
Defiant Brewing. They offered a Belgian Witte that was okay but nothing to write about unfortunately. I also got a chance to try
Nebraska Brewing Co. for the first time...They offered an IPA. It was okay as well, hop was dull with no real pop. One othe unique brewery that was there and actually had a above average brew was
Barrier Brewing Co. from Oceanside, NY. Their offering was called Bulkhead Red, and it was nice an malty sweet with a good amout of floral hop presence. I will be checking them out in the future.
I was very pleased with what Mr. Stephen Jones Brewmaster of Oliver Ales put together. All in all, I was completely impressed with the overall experience, from the beers to the food, and the atmosphere.
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So Sunday October 17th came and the grand finale for
Baltimore Beer Week 2010 arrived with the inaugural Baltimore Beer Festival at Canton Waterfront Park. Anticipated this event due to the tremendous amount of vendors showing up, the great location, and the showing of the Ravens/patriots Football game on a Big LCD screen.
My father and I got there right at 11am when they were supposed to be letting in the VIP ticket holders. They weren't really ready for us but let us in anyway...we quickly hit the VIP tent area where they had a few beers that were only available to us...
The Judges Bench sponsored the VIP area and exclusively served up
Southern Tier Brewing DIPA - Unearthly,
Uniboue - Terrible and
Boulder Beer - Never Summer Ale(Firkin). After getting some brews we walked around to see what else there was to offer. All kinds of breweries were here, along with many reputable food establishments.
Nicks Fish House was where we chose to grab our grub...A combo of Half a Crabby Grilled-Cheese & half of a Real Beef Steak sub. Both were great and i would definitely recommend going down to south Baltimore to get them both.
We continued to go to booth after booth getting beers before we stood in the area near the big TV to watch the football game. Basically after we got watching the game we mellowed out with the drinking...one here one there...and at half-time we headed home.
This week was "Re-diculous" in so many ways...Great events, great beers, great friends old and new, along with great supporters and venues. If this is the way it's gonna be for each Baltimore Beer Week we only have the sky as the ceiling.
Standout events for me other than Opening Tap, during the week were the Heavy Seas Urban Pyrate Cruise...Flying Dog event at Alonso's Restaurants' new upstairs bar "Alonsoville"...Dogfish Head event at Alewife with Sam Calagione...Chesapeake Real Ale fest at Pratt Street Ale House with Oliver Ales.
