Boston Restaurant Examiner
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Popped in for an hour of the BeerAdvocate & Harpoon Brewery's 3rd annual American Craft Beer Fest. There was 325 craft beers from more than 80 American brewers on Friday, and so how to plan my attack? I hoped to attend Saturday night as well, but where to begin? I didn't want to go to the same places I loved last year; there were new brews to try.
Asked a volunteer for a couple of faves, and he steered me toward Harpoon's 100 series, and Stone which was featuring all cask.
On the way I stopped by Kennebec River Brewery, who in addition to some sort of brew and rafting event they were promoting, they also let me sip a pilsner that they were pretty proud of. "With pilsner, it's much harder to hide behind a mistake like you can wtih an ale," said the pourer.
Next door, New England Brewery out of Connecticut had a great Belgian ale that had lots of clove and banana to it, which brewer Matt Westfall said would be perfect with "seafood, period."
I then wandered to Harpoon's Bill Lahey, who poured me a 100 Barrel Series' Potts' Landbier, a crisp session German-hopped and Noble-hopped lager, only 4.8% alcohol, brewed by a couple of German interns who just finished up yesterday. A medium-colored beer, Lahey said it would go with most meats, including charcuterie, a mild cheese.
Tried a dessert-worthy watermelon ale which was sweet and smooth, moved over to a great lawnmower beer from Cape Cod Brewery, a golden ale that was pleasant.
Another volunteer pointed me to Rapscallion, which had a huge following for its Honey ale (hints of cascade and nugget hops balanced by a subtle honey aftertaste, and 4.5% alcohol, good with BBQ), but I fell for the stronger Premier Belgian Blonde that was loaded with clove and coriander. Rapscallion is brewed out of Holyoke's Paper City, and is a straight to restaurant and keg kind of beer; the lager is the more accessible everyfood kind of beer. Said Cedric Daniel, brewing local beer that only travels to Mass. and R.I. is not only environmental, but preserves the flavor. "No preservatives or additives," he added.
I did hit the Stone IPA cask dry-hopped with nugget that added an herbal taste, but I saw the lights flashing overhead and headed over to the longest line at the fest, for Duck Rabbit Craft Brewery out of North Carolina. Growing impatient, I had a friend save a place while i hopped next door to try another recommended brewer, Blue Hills, and their punchy 9% unfiltered Imperial Red IPA didn't disappoint, with its sweet malt finish. "It's fairly bitter, but not a mouthful of pennies," said Andrus, who recommended pairing it with blackened fish.
I headed back for the Duck Rabbit beer, but after my friend got a pour, the taps were shut off. That was some iine. Hope to try you tomorrow because, as one of the pourers was telling me, they aren't serving locally, and there's no immediate plans to do so. But everyone in this line seemed to be coming back for seconds and thirds -- in a hallful of brewers, this means something.
New England,
and Saturday. Held at the Seaport World Trader Center Boston, ACBF is the largest celebration of American craft beer on the East Coast, and there'll be speakers to offer up beer education.
Tickets are $40 per session and includes one session, all 2 ounce beer tastings, a tasting cup, and special speakers.
* Friday Session; 6-9:30pm
* Saturday, Session One; 1-4:30pm
* Saturday, Session Two; 6-9:30pm
Expected attendance capacity per session is 5,000; up from 4,000 last year.
Here's a list of brewers. Hill Farmstead Brewery (VT) will not be at the fest due to complications at the brewery.
Here's a checklist for you from RedPint:
And some food options include All Beef Pearl Jumbo Hot Dog (Steamed in Harpoon Beer) and a Whiskey River Honey Barbecued Pulled Pork Sub Sandwich; vegetarians can get a Plum Tomatoes & Fresh Mozzarella with a Sweet Basil & Roasted Garlic Infused Olive Oil Served on a French Baguette, or
Cheddar Cheese, Sprouts, Lettuce, Red Onions & Apple Chutney served on Whole Wheat Roll. Legal's Test Kitchen and Aura/Tamo are among nearby restaurants.
