Further Thoughts from the Great American Beer Festival

Correspondent Ed likes to drink while barefoot
photo by Kingfox	via PhotoRee

We've been inundated by our readers with requests for a list of the best beers we had the pleasure of drinking while out at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver last week, and we've decided to respond. Today's entry will offer you some brief thoughts on which beers struck a particular chord with our educated tasting panel.  Although the beers below may not appear on the list of Medal winners at the event, in our opinions they were the best of the small and somewhat random sample we tasted, and well worth seeking out:

Stone Brewing Suitable for Cave Aging American Porter: Another monster beer from one of the craft beer industry's biggest names. Brewed in memory of Danny Williams, and a beer of which Stone can be justifiably proud.

Great Northern Brewing Wild Huckleberry Wheat: Montana's best known craft brewery produces an extremely drinkable wheat ale flavored with native huckleberries. It's a unique spin on a lighter beer, and almost as cool as the retro Airstream camper the brewery brought along as a prop for photo opportunities.

Hoppin' Frog Brewery B.O.R.I.S the Crusher Oatmeal Imperial Stout. Big, boozy and chocolate. Boris lives up to its name.


Ballast Point Brewing Habanero Sculpin IPA. Wow. A west coast IPA subtly infused with the heat of a habanero pepper. Although our mouths are on fire, we're still craving just one more sip to slake our thirst.

Golden Road Brewing Berliner Weiss contained just the right level of tartness. This new entry from LA proves that the brewery's beers are living up to their massive hype.

Russian River Brewing Framboise for a Cure American Wild Ale: Here's that word again -- tart.  But this much loved Northern California brewer got the balance just right. The strawberries are evident, but not overwhelming.

Shorts Brewing Peaches & Creme Fruit Beer. Peachy, creamy goodness from Northern Michigan. A beer that definitely lives up to its name.

Cigar City Brewing Good Gourd Imperial Pumpkin Ale: Hands down the best pumpkin beer we've had this fall.  Real pumpkin flavor, not a cloying attempt at pumpkin pie sweetness.


This is farlieonfootie for October 18.