VAIL BEER FESTIVAL RAISES THE BAR

The Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywines Festival has outdone itself again. A boutique international specialty beer festival hosted in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, the event has become known in industry circles as one of the finest. This January three new facets were introduced to this brightly sparkling gem for its eighth anniversary, causing rave reviews among appraisers.

The 2008 event showcased over 175 different international specialty beers from 76 breweries for the Commercial Tasting at the Vail Marriott Mountain Resort. Featured Brewmasters Doug Odell of Odell Brewing in Ft. Collins, CO and Tomme Arthur of Port Brewing & Lost Abbey in San Diego, CA both led educational seminars and an incredible dual Brewmasters’ Dinner. Arthur spoke & sampled his Veritas series during his seminar, an extremely rare opportunity, and Odell addressed the various aspects of hops and barley with samples of both raw and finished products. Chefs Mercer Mohr of the Vail Marriott Mountain Resort and Bruce Paton of the Cathedral Hill Hotel in San Francisco together hosted the Brewmasters’ Dinner and collaborated with Arthur and Odell to create an interesting and outstanding menu, showcasing both big and Belgian style beers.

Statistically the Big Beers Homebrewing Competition saw new heights this year also, with 204 entries being submitted from 14 states. Best of Show honors went to Rich Krahl from Thornton, Colorado for his “Wedding IIPA” brewed for a fellow homebrewer’s wedding. For a full list of winners and styles, see www.BigBeersFestival.com.

Exciting additions to the Big Beers Festival were an additional double Brewmasters’ Dinner to open the event weekend on Thursday night, featuring Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery and Adam Avery of Avery Brewing Co., and two new Seminars. The Dogfish Head/Avery dinner was a high octane, mega-beer, seven course double pairing dinner at The Blue Tiger Restaurant in Vail. Rumor has it that these brewers may make this dinner a Big Beers annual event!

The first new seminar to evolve was hosted by Julia Herz of the Brewers Association, and pitted American Craft Brewers and Importers against each other for the best beer pairing. Contenders chose between Schareffen Berger Chocolate 62% Cacao (semi-sweet) and Grafton aged Cheddar 1 year (red wax) to pair with an undisclosed brew from their own portfolio for the challenge. The 2008 trophy for the “Big Beers Global Competition: Cheese & Chocolate Challenge” went to Peter Bouckaert of New Belgium Brewing Co. with his Mothership Wit pairing with the Grafton Aged Cheddar selection. Second and third place honors were bestowed upon Sam Calagione for his World Wide Stout paired with the Schareffen Berger Chocolate, and Adam Avery for his Mephistopheles Stout and the Schareffen Berger Chocolate. Other contenders included Will Meyers of Cambridge Brewing Co, Sean Knoll of Artisanal Imports and Jay Baum of Manneken-Brussel Imports.

The final addition to the festival is an extremely innovative seminar highlighting some of  the industry’s finest boundary-pushing brewers. White Labs Yeast Company’s Joanne Carilli-Stevenson hosted and underwrote the first of an annual series called “Brewing Outside the Box: Brewers Gone Wild!”.  Four of the country’s leading brewers spoke on an Experimental Brewing topic of their choice supported by several of their own beers, resulting in a fun and rare opportunity to share brewing knowledge with the best. Will Meyers of Cambridge Brewing Co [Cambridge, MA] spoke on “Creating New Beer Styles”, Peter Bouckaert of New Belgium Brewing Co. discussed “Brettanomyces and Microbiology”, Adam Avery of Avery Brewing Co [Boulder, CO] showcased “Cellaring: Why, When & How”, and Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery [Milton, DE] explored “Ancient Ales”. Carilli-Stevenson provided Einstein wigs and wizard hats, highlighting the fun camaraderie of the group. One attendee commented that the seminars alone were easily worth the price of admission; more than 175 beers to sample was a bonus!

A success from start to finish, the 2008 Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywines Festival was pleased to host a record number of attendees and is able to donate the largest contribution to the Vail Valley Charitable Fund in its eight year history. For more about the Big Beers Festival, its celebrity guests, fabulous dinners/menus,  seminars, the list of 2008 attending breweries and the Vail Valley Charitable Fund, see www.BigBeersFestival.com .