November 25, 2008

Flashback: 11th Annual Pizza Port Strong Ale Festival

Jonny Fullpint American Strong Ale, Beer News, Festivals, Pizza Port Carlsbad 0

TheFullPint.com takes a trip down memory lane, and remembers last years Pizza Port Strong Ale Festival. If Norman Rockwell did beer festival landscapes, this would have made for quite the classic. TheFullPint.com will be on hand for the 12th Annual Strong Ale Festival, December 5, at the VIP session. Read on to see what kind of fun is in store.

In no particular order, we tried casked Avery Czar, Bear Republic Racer X, Great Divide Oaked Aged Yeti Imperial Stout, Victory Golden Monkey, The Lost Abbey Gift of Magi, Pizza Port Night Rider Imperial Stout, Stone Brewing’s 2006 Double Bastard Oak Chipped, Firestone Amber Strong Ale (Did not get the official name, it was at the cool people table off to the side), Ballast Point Victory at Sea, and Ballast Point Three Sheets Barley Wine on cask. You might be wondering how after our lunch of double IPA, and that line up, how we managed to even remember that. Well, I wouldn’t be able to share the nuances of each ale, all I can tell you is they were fantastic, and agreed with our systems. Not one upset stomach, no acting out of line, nothing. Just big smiles, and lots of friendly people to meet. The peak of the evening was egging on two nice females to display affection to each other(see pic below). Boy they did, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

As the night got later, sounds of taster glasses dropping became more frequent. Every time you would here one drop, the entire crowd would oooh and ahhh over it. I have only been to a half dozen beer festivals, and I think by far, this was the best one. I think a tad bigger venue would be ideal, but as stated, after a few tasters of 9% abv ale, you really forget to notice. Everyone seemed jovial, and courteous, which isn’t always indicitive of close confines and booze. I would love to share more of my experience, but honestly, it is very fuzzy after all of our taster tickets were spent.