 Cleveland Beer Week Wrap - A Bit Backwards
Oct 25, 2011 | dtrivisonno | Return
Well, all the planning & craziness of the week long ClevelandBeerWeek has passed. I want to take a few posts to wrap up on some of my favorite events that we attended this year. That said, I am going to do this a bit bass ackward. I'll start with BREWzilla, and work my way back. I wanted to keep up with the events, but there were so many I didn't have time to go to the events, AND write. Sorry.
ClevelandBeerWeek was an absolutely SICK week. If I might be allowed a complaint, it would be that there were so damn many events, it was impossible to make all the ones I wanted to go to. That said the ones we got to were amazing. I will get back to Culture Yourself, and a couple other tastings and such in time, but for now... BREWzilla. The granddaddy of the week.
BREWzilla was, as it always is, the quintessential CBW wrap party. More breweries and beers than you can shake a stick at, and four full hours to make the rounds. Being part of a brewery, we had a limited amount of time ourselves. Duty called, and we had a booth to look after! We did, however, manage to get our fair share of beers from the event.
A favorite starter for me was was Cincinnati, Ohio's very own Rivertown Brewery. Admittedly, I passed on the 'Hop Bomber' Pale and went straight for the good stuff. They brought their International Beer Fest, gold medal winning 'Lambic'. I honestly don't know if I could get enough of this stuff!
Another real highlight for me was the Brewers Circle (VIP) Room. Here there were some great rare, one off, and special beers. I was particularly fond of the Sierra Nevada 'Torpedo' on cask. The cask to draught beer difference is amazing, and this was no exception. Also, Stone 'Imperial Russian Stout' vertical tasting. Three years (if my blurry memory serves 08, 09, & 10) of the Stone brews. It was amazing to see how they age over the years. I love verticals, and am glad that they didn't go so far back that the beers were deteriorating.
Back on the floor, Sierra brought their 'Fritz & Ken on Bourbon Barrels' and '2x4 on Bourbon Barrels'. Both were equally nice, but I thought the 'Fritz & Ken' held it's own better on the barrels.
As for Ohio? Cleveland, specifically? Well represented. Cornerstone, Fat Head's, Great Lakes, Hoppin Frog, Market Garden, The Brew Kettle, Thirsty Dog, & Willoughby Brewing were all out in force. If I omitted, I apologize, there were just SO many amazing breweries there. The big guys? Yeah, they were there. I have to admit, the big guys really brought their A-game. They pulled out all the stops to make sure the beers shined for BREWzilla.
So, the bottom line? If you haven't been to BREWzilla yet, shame on you! Get the heck there next year! For ClevelandBeerWeek2012; you guys have some CRAZY huge shoes to fill. I don't know how you'll do it, but I cant wait to find out! Thanks to ClevelandBeerWeek, all the people who showed up and packed the events, those who stopped and said hi to us (and made our day on many days), and all the brewers out there who share their amazing craft. See you ALL in 2012! CHEERS!
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