Photo TR: BACT Attacks the Beer Fest

This past weekend was the annual Great Brews of America beer festival up at the Split Rock resort. Last year Adam, Tom, Ellen, Leann, and myself all attended and managed to score a room at the newly opened Great Wolf Lodge nearby. Well with friends Heath and Kim now ready for their first beer festival, we were ready to go again. Unfortunately, Great Wolf no longer had rooms available for just 1 night big enough for all 7 of us, so we switched things around a bit. Instead of some sort of amusement rides, we decided to just drink instead, and that ended up becoming pretty amusing!

Part 1: Friday night's festivities

On Friday, Heath and Kim picked me up and our task was to get to our accomodations for the weekend, Casa de Dorneydude. A task simple enough, but we always like a challenge. So instead of heading right there, we went out to dinner first, at the other Drafting Room in Spring House, just outside of Philly. The menu was pretty much the same, but the beer list was somewhat disappointing. Drafting Room is pretty good about keeping their website up to date with what beers they have on tap. Sadly, a lot of the stuff we were eyeballing even on the drive there ended up being gone from the menu. We still made due with what we could get, and it was pretty good. Still, we all prefer the other Drafting Room in Exton better.

But since I was trying to kick the Oaked habit, I went with a Festbier to finish off the night

Kim's MAJOR Hopface!

Heath seemed to be the only one who really enjoyed it. Tom and Kim aren't into hops much

Next, everyone got a bottle of Oaked Bastard, courteousy of me

Even Angel came to help kick the Troegenator. She's a good ferret

Hey Nicole, Lou, Tom's Bar is prepared for a visit from you gals

Even Kim helped, since she was done driving for the night

And so, thats what we attempted

On tap was Victory's Festbier and Troegenator. Our task was to kick the Troegs

About an hour later we arrived at Tom's Bar, where he was awaiting us with beer

On the way out, we were gonna get klepto and steal this, but I had no room in my jacket

Heath then gave the Rogue Shakespeare Stout a try. He seemed to like it

Next up I went with the Hacker Pschorr Oktoberfest. Yummy!

Heath started out with the Drafting Room's 12th Anniversary Ale on cask, brewed by Troegs

Very Christmasy with some cherry flavor too. Kinda like drinking a wreath

I decided to get the Anchor Christmas since it was just tapped the day before

The draft list is pretty impressive, but a lot of the things they mentioned on the website were nowhere to be found

This building was weird, like it used to be a banquet hall or something with the covered valet area and all

Part 2: Saturday

Saturday of Beer Fest weekend in the past we visited Weyerbacher and Which Brew. But this time we decided to take Tom and Adam to a place they haven't been yet but we loved, Union Jacks in Boyertown. The draft list hadn't changed much since we were there 2 weeks ago, but thankfully they have a bottle list that's amazing. Union Jack's was a big hit with everyone. The beer assortment was awesome and the food was good to boot!

Only Leann seemed to not care for Mephy

Beer GOOD!

Ellen liked it so much, she refused to let Adam have it back

But in reality Tom liked the Mephistophiles too

Adam and Heath split the Avery Mephistophiles while Tom made goofy faces at them

I went with the Flying Dog Dogtoberfest

We were all feeling brave enough for one more round, so Ellen started with the Legacy Midnight Wit

Tom, Mr. St. Bernardus, went with the St. Bernies Tripel, while Heath broke the seal

Ellen then got all Franziskaner on us, getting the Dunkel-weiss herself

Adam finally got brave and went West Coast with the Mad River Jamaica Sunset IPA

This Belgian Grand Cru was really nice and sweet

My next brew was my favorite element, Atomium

Heath loves his stouts

Round 2 for Heath was the Bells Rye Stout, with a very sad Pope on it

Mrs Revesz started out her day with a Sly Fox Black Raspberry Reserve

Heath and I went with the Union Jacks exclusive Hoptimus Prime, which transformed our tastebuds again

Like Leann, while Tom enjoyed a Franziskaner Dunkel-weiss

Some of the ladies went with some good fruity lambicness

Pretty impressive to see Weyerbacher Eleven on tap somewhere

Union Jacks looks a little bit different during the day

After Union Jack's we thought it would be a good idea to stop off at Shangy's (The Beer Authority) so we could all pick up a case of something we hadn't had yet and then trade with everyone. Following that up for the evening was back to Tom's Bar for...more drinking!

and the night ended with more karaoke. Only the finest Bon Jovi, GNR, and Journey songs!

which was super sweet for an IPA. Almost more like a hoppy Belgian

120 Minute IPA from Dogfish Head...

Beer guitars...

What happened next was some karaoke...

We decided to hold off on the other "world class beers" and actually had an authentic Belgian ale hand brought over from Belgium

For dinner, we had a sushi chef come and make us some rolls.

The fridge is still loaded with bottles

Which strangely tasted EXACTLY like the Stock Ale!

Next up was the Hole in the Rock marzen style

The Berkshire Springs Stock Ale wasn't too bad (though it wasn't too good either!)

Tom also broke out a case he got last Christmas of a bunch of "world class beers" (turns out they were all made by Joseph Huber Brewing though)

Tom's Bar, where everyone has a seat

A really good spicy wheat beer!

Since the Troegenator was kicked the night before, Tom also picked up a keg of Flying Dog's In Heat Wheat

Everyone gets their purchases ready so we can go home and enjoy them

I find something I cannot live without, another case of Oaked Bastard

Not to be outdone, Jeff Johnson has his own beer too!

Not only does Hair of the Dog made an Adam beer for Adam, they also make a Ruth beer for Dr. Ruth!

I make a strange discovery

Adam and Heath are quite pleased, like kids in a candy store

I totally expect to see this sign again when I die

On the way back to Tom's, it was a short detour to Shangy's.

Part 3: Sunday

Sunday was our actual day at the Beer Festival, everything up until that was just priming the stomach, liver, and kidneys for what would happen. The Beer Fest is a great way to try lots of stuff without getting too drunk (unless you want to). For $23 a person, the ticket isn't too high, and there's plenty of different things to try. Every year seems like there is less and less breweries there though, less variety, less food vendors, and less high alcohol stuff. But this year did see some new faces, like my local Legacy as well as Erie Brewing, Sly Fox, and Ommegang, who took the top prize from us with their Red Bock, a Bock made with Cherry syrup that tastes just like a cherry Jolly Rancher. Yum! Harpoon also surprised us with their Winter Warmer, heavy in the cinnamon. It was definitely an awesome time and we've already got the calendar marked for next year.

On the way to the other rooms, we had to stop and see the turtles. None were from Southport though

With a Jalapeno pretzel and some Hop Devil I was quite content

Victory had my 2 hoppy babies on tap

Though only to wash his glass out!

But he gave into temptation and went over there for some beer himself

D'oh! He caught us!

Ut oh, what happened, Adam!?

When Tom wasn't looking we snuck over to BBW for some CH-47, their IPA

Troegs was there again, but didn't bring Mad Elf

Some live entertainment played acoustic stuff

It was a nice surprise to see Penn come out. Though we really didn't feel anything too special from them

Though eventually other Beer Teams come and ruin your exclusive drinking time

If you get there early enough, there really aren't bad crowds

The Four Horsemen of the Beerpocalypse laugh at Adam and his empty glass

Its time to kick up my liquid arrogance with the Bastard!

One of my favorites is also one of the farthest to travel, Stone!

Dogfish didn't bring the World Wide Stout this year, but did bring their Pangaea, made from something from each continent

Heath gets his first beer at the fest from Dogfish Head, 60 Minute IPA

Just before the event starts there's little going on besides final setup

The hard core veterans are ready for another year of pounding back the beers

More photos

And so, another Beer Fest goes in the record books, this time with more BACT representation than ever before. Until next year...

Heath survives his first beer fest. Pound it!

Leann didn't care too much for the Arrogance though

So we end our night with some Arrogant Bastard, since thats what we are!

Over at BBW, the place looks like a Ghost Town. Apparently everyone caught on to its Country Club mentality

And it was quite tasty!

As the day comes to a close, lots of breweries break out their seasonal stuff. Sly Fox had their Christmas Ale

Even Crazy Jake found his way to the Beer Fest for the first time

Also needing food, I went totally German potato salad. Better than the Fest Haus!

Instead of other beer teams and their handshakes, we decided upon a headbutt

In need of food, Heath and Kim go for the perogies, soaked in butter

and I run back to Ommegang for the last of the Red Bock. Holy Cherry Jolly Ranger, Batman!

Once the Hop Wallop is gone, Storm King makes his debut at the fest

Rammstein is known for their heavy German influences, and their funny sayings

and rinses out his glass

Once again, Tom heads to Bethlehem Brew Works

Everyone lines up at 3pm at Victory's stand for the tapping of Golden Monkey, their Belgian Tripel

The hit of the fest, Red Bock from Ommegang in Cooperstown, NY

Talon: The Grip of Beer, a Barleywine from Mendicino Brewing

mmmm, spiced meat. Definitely good for the stomach

Awww, now I'm sad

Back in the main room Heath and I sample the Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale 2006. More hoppy compared to previous years

In this room Leann was the happiest with Mikes AND Twisted Tea representing

Quite tasty compared to the Bohemian Pils

The inevitable shot of me sticking something in my mouth. This time a Dock Street Amber Ale

Happily buzzed off of some Legacy beers

Food is good, but not when its still looking at you!

...apparently!

Tom and I didn't care for the Hocus Pocus. Or was it this...

Magic Hat brought some stuff, but their beers just feel weaker and weaker all the time

Hooray, Legacy finally made it. And they brought the most variety with 4 different styles!

Great report. Looks like you guys had fun. I had some Troegs this weekend.

For dinner, we had a sushi chef come and make us some rolls.

OK, now I hate you all. I need sushi!

dt

Would anyone on here happen to know of any sort of events like this in southern Ontario?

Looks like you guys had an amazing time, you've all inspired me to go out and try some truly unique beers.

Shawn "New to the not-so-mainstream beer" Goode

Awesome report. I've tried to find local festivals around here recently, but I had no luck. One of the local breweries down here puts on a pub crawl, but there's not much until the spring. Looks like you guys had a good time.

I figured I'd piggy back Derek's awesome photos with some of my own. Not sure how far I'll get but I'll start with our trip to Union Jack's.

I leave you with one last shot of the Mephastopholis goodness. This beer knocks you on your ass. Good thing Heath and I split the 12 oz. bottle.

Tom tends to go with the Belgians which usually is a good choice. This Urthel Flamy Dark Ale was damn tasty.

Is this an illusion or the real thing? Leann takes a sip of the powerful stout. Don't believe she liked it though.

Not even the sad Pope on Heath's Rye Bock bottle can stop his enjoyment of Mephastophalis.

Derek is loopy over his Flying Dog Dogtoberfest.

I made a great choice splitting the expensive Mephastophalis Imperial Stout with Heath. This stuff is AMAZINGLY good! Best beer of the weekend and one of the best brews I ever had!

Ellen's third beer is the Legacy Midnight Wit. This one was excellent! I love the bottle art too.

Derek is happy with his Atomonium. Love the glass!

Ellen goes with what Tom had. She's a huge fan of Franziskaner and they do make a quality product.

Finally! I try the Mad River Jamaica W.IPA. I thought this was about average for an IPA.

The service was pretty slow at Union Jack's and I'm sad to have an empty glass for too long.

Even the Hop Devil tattoo enjoys Hoptimus Prime!

Tom and Leann represent the international flavor of BACT as Leann drinks a Lindenmann's on tap and Tom has the Franziskaner Dunkel-Weisse.

The Stone Brothers are loving their Hoptimus!

Ellen goes with the Sly Fox Raspberry Reserve. We were both disappointed in this one. American micro-brews have a tough time with fruit beers.

Much to the disappointment of fellow BACT'ers, I skip the Hoptimus Prime and go for a Middle Ages Anniversary Double Wheat. Very hoppy for a wheat. Not a bad thing!

Their tap list is nice but their bottle bible is very impressive. Most of opted for some draught selections to start.

On Saturday we gathered at Tom's place and off we went to Union Jack's. I swear, this place seemed so far away from Allentown...are we in Delaware or something?

Work has been very rough lately so I was very excited for the weekend. Tickets in hand!

Here's the flyer for the long awaited annual trip to Split Rock for their Classic American Beer Festival!