I'd like to first of apologize for not posting in a bit. I've been crazy busy, and I have a post about our most recent beer to add, plus some updates to the white house porter.
That aside, this is the debut post from Coren. When she posts in the future it will be with the tagline Coren's Corner, so why not start with her first review?!
Without further ado...here is her post.
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Why hello beautiful beer people. My name is Coren and I confess...I am a beer geek. Brian, the main blogger, has mentioned me a few times with some of the recommendations of beer (I am the big fan of Three Floyds Beer, and his occasional muse).
He has given me the opportunity to review a recent trip to the great city of St. Louis for Schlafly’s Fresh Hop Fest. This event happened on October 27, 2012 and it was definitely one to remember.
Being the great guy that he is, Brian got me on the list to volunteer at this yearly event. Now, I have been to a couple beer tastings and festivals in the past, but I have never seen the other side. Some of those events were good, a few were pretty bad and others left me wondering, WTF? So, I had a pretty good idea of what was to be expected from an attendee. However, being a volunteer for the first time, I was a little nervous, but anxiously optimistic.
Schlafly is well known in the St. Louis area, and to me as well: I am in love with their Oatmeal Stout. If I remember correctly, the brewery has been around for over 20 years. What makes the Fresh Hops Fest special is the fact Schlafly invites other breweries from around Missouri to participate and serve their own beers. The only catch is each brewery must come up with a beer that is made with a special sort of fresh hop, hence the title of the festival. For example, Urban Chestnut altered the recipe of their flag ship beer called Winged Nut by adding St. Louis-grown Canadian Red Vine hops.
Well, let’s get back to me volunteering. My position was to man the Hefeweizen station (it is an American wheat ale, not a traditional hefeweizen, but never mind that). Now, you may be asking, “Why was there a Hefeweizen at a Fresh Hops Fest?” It is as simple as this: not everyone that attends these festivals is all about hoppy beer.
With me wearing my Schlafly Winter ESB shirt, I was ready to take on the masses as the festival opened at 2pm. Beer geeks, homebrewers, hop heads, and beer festival-virgins started to head into the patio at Schlafly’s Bottleworks. The weather that day was crisp and very fall like at roughly 40 degrees
With the mix we had in the crowd that day, the first timers would come up to me and ask questions like, “What exactly do I do here?” or “What beers would you recommend?” I simply told them to just try each beer at least once, the go back to the ones you like. And if you truly did not like any of the exceptional creations that were made for this day, come back to my station for a “safe” Hefewezein (also provided were Schlafly’s Oatmeal Stout and Pale Ale).
What I found to be somewhat amusing, I kept getting the same people coming back to me, but I figured, whatever floats their boat. I found myself being a bartender for a day, and you know what, I totally rocked it. At one point, I did have a line of about 10 people waiting, which I managed pretty well I think. I also did kind of take over other stations and started to pour the other beers, when the need arose. The enjoyment of being at such a fun festival was truly making me a happy girl and this made time fly so fast.
I enjoyed watching how men and women were so serious about tasting each beer. They would first smell the aroma, look at the color, take an assessment, and finally take a taste. That is how you figure out the different flavors and complexities the beer has to offer, which I now do unconsciously (thanks, Brian).
Volunteering gave me a radically different idea of what exactly a craft beer community is all about. This collection of people are about making a good beer, sharing that with the world, getting feedback, and trying again. You can love a beer and declare it as the most amazing thing since sliced bread, or utterly despise it. Hell, you can bitch about it all you want and what was gross about it. But, breweries take such pride in every one of their additions to the craft beer culture. Craft beer is for sure making an impact in today’s society and it is certainly making “The Big 3” take notice. And that good cause for that: people want their beer to taste good, and that is why festivals like Fresh Hop are great to attend.
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