Belgian Brew Fest Revisited
We were rummaging through some of our old beer literature (before we had refined our rating system) and came upon a small notebook we kept one year ago to the day at the Ommegang Brewery’s Belgian Brewfest.
As is our custom, we tried to keep an ongoing log of our beer-tasting experiences. Predictably, the handwriting gets worse and worse as the event goes on. But here, for lack of a better post, and to mark the one-year anniversary of our trek to Cooperstown, I present our brief — some might say glib — ratings of each beer.
NOTE: Two different scales were used for rating purposes. Bill used a letter-grade system, Javen used a four-star (****) system. Hopefully this will not be too confusing. Due to our ever-worsening mental state on that date, we can’t always read our own writing from the event; please excuse spelling errors and/or mislabeled beer. We had a very good time at the brewfest, but our penmanship suffered, partially due to our slight inebriation, and slightly due to the fact that I was writing n a 4.5 x 3.5 inch notepad which had been dampened by the torrential monsoon that came down about halfway through the festival.
The Beers:
Brooklyn Blanc
Bill: B+, Javen: *** (out of ****)
Victory Whirlwind
Bill: A-, Javen: ** 1/2
Flying Bison Barnstormer
Bill: B, Javen: ** 1/2
A’Chouffe Houblon
Bill: C+, Javen ***
Middle Ages 11th Anniversary (Double Wheat)
Bill: B+, Javen: *** 1/2
Stone (not sure which, just says “2006”, maybe the Vertical Epic 06/06/06, possibly Old Guardian)
Bill: B+, Javen: ** 1/2
Avery Reverend
Bill: B, Javen: ** 1/2
Avery Salvation
Bill: B+, Javen: ***
Dogfish Head
Bill (Raison D’Etre): B-, Javen (Festina Lente): *
Otter Creek Holy Otter
Bill: B, Javen: ***
Otter Creek Otterbahn
Bill: B-, Javen: ** 1/2
The Shed – Hoppy Illumination
Bill: B, Javen: ***
Appalachin Hefeweizen
Bill: B+, Javen: ***
Appalachin Grand Cru
Bill: B, Javen: ***
Butternut Dark (or maybe Bark) Sleep
Bill: B, Javen: ** 1/2
Butternut Weinniessie
Bill: B, Javen: ** 1/2
Weyerbacher Prophecy
Bill: B, Javen: ***
Weyerbacher Merry Monks
Bill: B-, Javen: ***
Troegs Holiday
Bill: B-, Javen: ***
Troegs Naked Elf
Bill: B, Javen: ***
Iron Hill Belgian Wit
Bill: B, Javen: ** 1/2
Unibroue Fin du Monde
Bill: B, Javen: ***
Blanche de Chamble’
Bill: B+, Javen: ** 1/2
We won’t be attending this year, however, we assume the festival will somehow soldier on without us.
Next year we will go. I, being very well versed in Belgium beer, will rate each one.