2008 Brewers Heritage Festival
May 11, 2008 8:41 am Beer EventsOr should I call it the 2008 Brewers Heritage Messtival? Boy was it muddy. Still a lot of fun seeing everyone down at Forest Park enjoy the best beer St. Louis has to offer.
Or should I call it the 2008 Brewers Heritage Messtival? Boy was it muddy. Still a lot of fun seeing everyone down at Forest Park enjoy the best beer St. Louis has to offer.
Chuck S. :
Date: May 11, 2008 @ 10:32 am
Great time! 2 main issues hopefully will get addressed:
1) while we are packed belly to butt in the tents, why do clowns feel the need to fire up a nasty ass cigar, or even cigarette? Can’t they go outside the damned tents for that? It totally ruins the tasting experince.
2) Is there a better way to keep groups of 20-something gals from hanging out 2 feet from the taps? Can’t we get a way to move these groups back a bit. Was frustrating at best trying to get a beer.
Best beer: STL homebrew clubs’ infused IPA. Awesome! Also their Chocolate Rasberry stout. Nice job, guys!!! Everything they had was wonderful.
Sam H :
Date: May 11, 2008 @ 11:24 am
My biggest gripe from last year fell on deaf ears, they left those damn tables in the tents AGAIN! Get those things away from the taps and make people get out of the way!
I agree about the cigars, that totally blew my senses when trying to enjoy the aroma of the Augusta Belgian Saison.
Oh, and there HAS to be a better location for this, I used to play football on that field but it is now destroyed beyond repair, how does AB/Schlafly get away with destroying on of the larger fields in Forest Park and then allowed to have the same festival on the same grounds the next year?
If you didn’t make the 6-10 last night, the last 45 minutes of the fest were filled with rain, hail, lightning, and the drunk frat/sorors doing belly flops and slides in the mud pit between the tents. It went from a social beer tasting, to a drunken frat party in 20 minutes.
I enjoyed the infuser that Schlafly brought for the homebrew tent, but Mich Porter was being pumped through it, such a waste of hops…..
Jim Zavist :
Date: May 12, 2008 @ 6:38 am
I agree with the etiquette problem (step away from the taps!) and the locational “challenges” - the only good thing about being in a park is that you don’t need to worry about spilled beer. In future years, find someplace paved - put up the tents in front of the K-Mart on Manchester (east of McCausland) and ypu’ll have a win-win situation.
Eric Burnley :
Date: May 12, 2008 @ 1:13 pm
Just to clarify, if that infused IPA at the StLBrews tent you were talking about was in the Saturday 12-4pm session, it was probably the firkin of Augie’s Rye Pale Ale brewed at O’Fallon that was dry hopped with a bunch of Simcoe hops. Awesome grapefruit quality. I poured the last half or so of it (sorry my big head was in the way of your pic, Mike).
Thanks for drinking some of our beer! I have yet to hear if they went through it all or not (i doubt it). Probably should have an inventory reduction party.
I put up a few pics of Augie tapping that firkin at the fest as well here.
Chuck S. :
Date: May 12, 2008 @ 3:44 pm
I just assumed it was an IPA, after I overheard a couple guys talking about it..anyway, it was freaking awesome! The whole homebrew gang were a pleasure to talk to, and, has really racheted my interest up a bit!
Derek Bean :
Date: May 13, 2008 @ 10:10 pm
The firkin (dry-hopeed Augie’s Rye Pale Ale) and the hop-infused Schlafly APA were two different kegs.
The infusor was really cool, but honestly, I didn’t care for Hallertau hops with the Schlafly APA.
Pavement? The former K-Mart lot on Manchester? Would these really be better settings for a beer festival?
And, as far as playing sports in Forest Park, I played soccer for years on the fields over by I-64/ The Jewel Box, and Forest Park has always been renowned for having the worst fields imaginable. I once played on a field by The Jewel Box that seriously had the remains of a sawed-off goal post sticking a quarter of an inch out of the ground!
Bob Beckmann :
Date: May 14, 2008 @ 3:09 pm
Thanks for the compliments on the Chocolate Raspberry Stout (I brewed it for the festival). My only regret was that I was not there Friday night to serve it - I heard it was popular and went QUICK. Glad you enjoyed and I will plan on making more for next year.