BA

Apparently "Beer Advocate" is too much to say, so all the members just call it "BA."

I was trying to find out about some beers that were going to be at the Sunfest. My world wide web search turned up the beeradvocate site, which I've seen online before, but never lingered because all those people judging/reviewing just intimidated me. But I have gotten over that, and after I signed up, I found the BA event at Bread & Cup.

There were a little over twenty people gathered around three or four tables arranged in an L-shape. And fortunately for me, there was a seat open at the far end of the table next to the people I soon realized were the ones I wanted to hang out with. I was right next to a brewer from Nebraska Brewing Company, who was sitting across from his wife, and on my left was a cool guy with a really great beard. After everyone went around introducing themselves, including their BA handle (lame), and finished the beer they got from B&C, the samples started going around the table. Sam, the bearded guy next to me, brought a Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales E.S. Bam from MI. Tyson, the brewer on my right, brought a growler of a weizenbock he had done for NBC. Jason, the guy to the right of Tyson originally from Salt Lake, brought a Wasatch Double Bock that was really great and one of the Flemish Primitive Wild Ales from De Proef. His definitely had a lot of funkiness going on the brettanomyces was in full force adding all the horse blanket you'd want. There were also a couple bottles from Port Brewing in San Marcos, CA, and two of Boulevard's Smokestack Series that aren't on the market: the saison with brett (weak), and a bourbon barrel aged version of their quad (which I liked).

Why I considered myself so fortunate to sit next to the folk I did was because they've been all over where I want to be as far as beer goes. Tyson and Angela just got back from the Craft Brewer's Convention in San Diego at Stone Brewing. They were actually in Wisconsin in January, a month before me, so we both had been to the Great Dane in downtown Madison and New Glarus (but Dan the Brewmaster was on vacation when they were there). Sam seemed to have a great knowledge of some Michigan breweries like Jolly Pumpkin and Dark Horse in Marshall, MI, plus an excellent taste memory of other beers like Three Floyd's Dreadnought. He had a great anecdote about how he visited Jolly Pumpkin with his wife and step son after three days at the roller coaster park in OH and his son wanted to meet the dog Bam that is on a lot of bottles from Jolly Pumpkin, but when they got there the landlords didn't allow dogs, so no dice and no Bam.