Barley's Biggest Little Beer Fest Delivered!

"How I Spent My Sunday Afternoon" by Li'l Marvy.

Here, with all these people and all those beers.
Barley's Seventh Annual Biggest Little Beer Fest delivered on all promises; some extraordinarily good beers were brought by breweries upping their game. My, my.

No way to choose a favorite from this unique bunch but couple stands outs for me that day:
Anderson Valley Rosé Gose, Lagunitas Rum BA Brown Shugga, Manlandia Meth Head Stole My V-Dub, a home brew saison, and Highland Brewing Company's Missing Pieces IPA made my day. And I haven't even mentioned the Belgians down at the Trappe! And a La Folie 2010 in the Library Room.

Look for them in the photos. What a day.

Darby Wilcox and Her Peep Show kept the energy levels up and Pizza slices fended off any hunger pangs that might have interfered with a tasting schedule. Behold the images:

Chili Cook-Off Helps Fend Off Cold Weather

So, if you judge an event's success b y the size of the attending crowd, then yesterday's Quest Chili Cook-Off was an over-the-top success; if you judge Chili Cook-Off's success by the quality of the entries, then judging for a winner gets more and more difficult; and if you show up an hour or more after the event opens, then you don't get any chili. Such was the case for Quest's 4th Annual Chili Cook-Off, yesterday.

(Note to myself: Next year, get there early!!) https://www.facebook.com/events/492337207788225/
Anyway, lots of people got their samples and voted and an overall winner was announced. I''ll just let the pix tell the story:

 Cheers! (please pass the Tums!)

Yep, Virginia, It's Another Bottle Share

was a fortunate participant in the latest #gvlbrewcrew bottle share. Friends have been traveling and brought back regional brews. All were excellent, couple of standouts were Jaune and Joie from Westbrook Brewing Company, Hop Fiend from Boojum Brewing Company, Snow Flurry from Mother Earth Brewery.

Special thanks to Bob Muller for sharing the La Folie Grand Reserve Geisha from New Belgium Brewing. Running out of superlatives here. Peruse the photo to see the others.

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AfrikaansAlbanianArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBelarusianBengaliBosnianBulgarianCatalanCebuanoChichewaChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CroatianCzechDanishDutchEnglishEsperantoEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekGujaratiHaitian CreoleHausaHebrewHindiHmongHungarianIcelandicIgboIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseJavaneseKannadaKazakhKhmerKoreanLaoLatinLatvianLithuanianMacedonianMalagasyMalayMalayalamMalteseMaoriMarathiMongolianMyanmar (Burmese)NepaliNorwegianPersianPolishPortuguesePunjabiRomanianRussianSerbianSesothoSinhalaSlovakSlovenianSomaliSpanishSundaneseSwahiliSwedishTajikTamilTeluguThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduUzbekVietnameseWelshYiddishYorubaZulu

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New Brew Saturday Success

Following up on the New Brew Saturday visit to Zillicoah Beer Company, here are the beers we, as a group, enjoyed and got excited about.
Their Pilsner was classic in style with very balanced flavors and a treat to the palate. Refreshing and dry.

Their Session Breakfast Porter was simply amazing; never knew you could even brew a porter with 3.8% abv. Chocolate and coffee notes up front, the lactose adding a very creamy mouth feel, clean finish. Certainly could have had more than one... but I was working, you know. 

I liked their IPA (surprise) cause among other things I am a fan of Mosaic and Galaxy hops, which this beer served up abundantly. Very drinkable.

My last taste was of the Imperial Stout, a big one at 10% ABV and equally big in body and flavor. Excellent mouth feel and lingering finish all contributed to making this a good Winter weather choice for sipping slowly, preferably with a friend (or friends) in front of the fire.
 
They have chosen to specialize in open-fermented farmhouse ales and lagers (check out their special lager glass tankard) and with Jonathan and Jeremy's brewing backgrounds combined with the satisfying beers we tasted, look for big things from this new venue.
Located on the French Broad River, they have a perfect location for next year's warm weather season. 

A note of caution tho: the entrance can be a little challenging so keep a sharp out for oncoming traffic when you turn downhill into the brewery. Some additional pics now, showing Jonathan working some yeast and Jeremy busily pouring as the crowd began to wander in.

Cheers!
 

Sour & Cider at The Community Tap

Community Tap's Sour & Cider Social is now in the Greenville Fabulous Events history books, hope you were able to participate. I'm glad I was able to fit it in to my schedule (another beer event across town required research as well) and was ably rewarded; some very puckery beers were offered up, all very special. In between sampling the array of sours and ciders and gnoshing at the charcuterie table, ran into a bunch of familiar faces; Big Jon from the Bacon Brothers, Shawn and Lindsay from Birds Fly South, Harvin Bedenbaugh from The Den at Lowe's, Ed Creighton from The Wheel, Chris Hooper from the bike trails, Brent Hodgson from Sierra Nevada and many, many others. Obviously, it was a very popular event. As is my wont, I managed a few snaps when my hands were free of beer or cheese. The results follow: Mike Okupinski Anna Evans Okupinski Harvin Bedenbaugh Ed Creighton Chris Hooper Brent Hodgson