Monday, February 11, 2008

The BISTRO'S 8th Annual Double IPA Festival


Saturday February 9th was a good day to die. Or at least once The Bistro's big time mega killer doozie of all IPA fests was in the books it would have been....and frankly I would have not even noticed. Ok, OK..that's about as dumb as those lines in the movies about "Waking up in the morning with my throat cut"...but you get the idea.
Fortunately Zack and I got a nice 2 hour ride around San Ramon completed prior to heading over to the Bistro so we were primed and thirsty. The event was in full swing by the time Terri, Zack, Oralia and I arrived which was just after noon thirty. We quickly paid the 25 dollar entrance fee and with our small fluted sample glasses in hand we dove into the hoppy fray.
This was the third time I had attended this event and I immediately recognized that it had grown a bit since my last visit three years ago. Literally grown out onto the street West of the bar proper. This new tent addition was a good thing, my three year lapse in attendance was mainly due to my shear inability to get to the beers on my last visit. Sardine packed beer sipping just isn't my favorite thing don't cha know.
And yes..this event is definately a beer sipping experience. No pints are poured during the event which runs from 11am to 8pm. Which considering the abv of most of these hop monsters is a pretty logical rule.
Anyway....I made my way outside and went straight for the Seabright brewing "DoubleWide"....why??..because it was on the end and easy to get to of course. Before I began my sampling I consulted the official event beer guide and noticed there were 34 beers listed. I also heard that there were some omissions and that the actual number was closer to 40.
It was at that moment that I realised I wasn't going to be able to do any personal judging in this cramped and crowded environment so I just decided I would keep track of the beers I sampled...in the order I sampled them. And wing it when I got to this point.
My good Buddy Rick was fortunate enough to get an invite to be one of the official judges for the event so I figured he could fill me in later on what happened with all the ultra secret downstairs goings on...should there be anything of interest besides some massively overworked tastebuds. This is how it went.....
1. SeaBright "Double Wide" - solid but unremarkable.
2. 21st Amendment "Hop Crisis?" - Probably my favorite new beer of the day.
3. Green Flash "5th Aniversary Double IPA - Along the lines of the Imperial.....not a bad thing
4. Great Divide "Hercules Double IPA" - No recollection here
5. 21st Amendment "Hop Crisis? - Yep...already back again
6. Avery "Uber-Schwein Imperial Red" - I think this is the Hog Heaven incognito
7. Flying Dog "Double Dog" - This stuff won? Hard to believe. Too light in body.
8. Pizza Port "Hop 15" - Couldn't stay away from that for long
9. Russian River "Pliny the Younger" - see above
10. Valley Brewing "Uberhoppy" - Excellent beer from the Stockton brewery....surprised me
11. Schooners Grill "Alpha Avalanche" - Wow...Schooners nailed it. Nice.
12. 21st Amendment "Hop Crisis?" - Hey...the line was short!
13. Anderson Valley "20th Anniversary Imperial IPA" - Disappointing.
14. Firestone Walker "Union Jack" - Good brew from Paso Robles
15. Russian River "Pliny the Elder" - Had to have some
16. Pizza Port "Doheny Double IPA" - Was a lot better last time I was in San Clemente
17. Speakeasy "Double Daddy" - Solid beer...usually in my fridge
18. Mad River Brewing "Steelhead Double" - See above
19. Bear Republic "Racer X" - I 've always really liked this beer (Silver Metal winner)
20. Butte Creek "Revolution II Organic Imperial IPA" - Definately the best Organic I've tried
21. Drakes "Denoginizer" - uhhh what?
22. 21st Amendment "Double Trouble IPA" - Not nearly as tasty as the Crisis.
23. Jupiter "Quasar" - help me
24. Moylans "Hopsickle" - why? (Bronze Metal winner)
25. uhhhhhhhhhh.......time for a burrito yet?


'Only' 25 samples and yet Rick's breathalizer had a reading of .32 on it at one point. Or was that for Terri? Either way it was a grand time that ended with Super Burritos at La Imperial (how perfect is that name after a day of Imperial IPA's) just around the corner.
Fortunately Zack kept himself in check and was performing the designator driving duties due to the fact that he was signed up to race in the "Cherry Pie" crit in Napa the next day.
Naturally you should check out the pacificbrewnews site for addition Double IPA fest information and definately for Rick and Tracy's photo's.
Oh ya...who won the event? As of now the only info I have on that is Flying Dog "Double Dog" won the Gold Metal and Russian Rivers "Pliny the Younger" won the peoples choice award.
Incidently "The Younger" was not allowed to compete in the compitition due to it being billed as a "Triple IPA". Bogus politics if you ask me...but justice was served as Vinnie still took home the popular vote.

2 comments:

Baublehead said...

I think Mrs. Hop Hunter peaked the "toy" at .32 with another young lady getting a close second at .28.

As for the beer, I second Hop Crisis as being very good. Also high on my list were Hop Stoopid, Uber Hoppy, and the Green Flash 5th Anniversary.

Drew said...

Thanks ffor this