What You Should Have Drinked...Dranked...Drunkeded #5

First Annual Fall Beer Festival

First off, I’ve got to rail a little against the title. It’s not an annual event unless it’s happened a second time. It’s a journalism thing. That’s the only thing I didn’t like about this little Saturday “daycation” I took.

Nashville holds two annual beer festivals that I’m aware of. The first, the Music City Brewer’s Festival, is held in the oppressive July heat and is pretty pricey if I remember correctly. The second is the Tennessee Beer Festival. It’s held at Two Rivers Mansion and is easier on the wallet, but the selection isn’t as attractive.

Now my favorite watering hole, The Flying Saucer, is attempting to put on their own little shindig.

This grand event was held in front of the Saucer’s 10^th Avenue location. The reserved parking spaces and a bit of the street were closed off to accommodate the entry tent, five beer tents strung together, a small food tent, a DJ tent (music provided by a couple of DJs from Lightning 100), and a few rows of picnic tables and folding chairs under a larger tent. All in all, not a ton of room for a big crowd, but I guess it was a good thing that there wasn’t a huge crowd, at least not while I was there.

My plan was to get there at noon, when it began, and leave at 10 p.m., when it ended. Things happened beforehand that caused me to show up about 45 minutes later than planned, and, well, nothing happened that caused me to leave early, I just couldn’t drink anymore beer. I gave it my best shot, but I guess I was found lacking. It was for the best, though, what with having to get up at 5:15 the next morning when all three kids decided they needed to be awake.

Now, I’m going to just admit that I can’t recall why I liked the beers I liked. Ditto for the ones I didn’t like. I had 13 high alcohol content brews, and they took a bit of a toll on me (don’t worry, I stopped drinking about an hour and a half to two hours before I went home…no problems there). I can remember that there wasn’t a one that I didn’t supremely dislike, and there were quite a few that I’d like to sample more of.

Here’s my tally for the day:

1. Terrapin Side Project Hopzilla Imperial IPA
2. Left Hand Twin Sister’s IPA
3. BBC Hell Fer Certain
4. Fritz & Ken
5. Dogfish Head Punkin
6. He’brew Rejewvenator ‘10
7. Stone Smoked Porter
8. Rogue XS McRogue Scotch Ale
9. Dogfish Head Sah’tea
10. Left Hand 400lb. Monkey
11. Yazoo Hop Project
12. Stoudt’s IPA
13. Terrapin India Brown Ale

I also filled my belly with a Space Club (my personal favorite sandwich on their menu) and fries during a trip inside and two brats on buns outside.

I also walked away with a nice Schlafly key chain/bottle opener. And I don’t even feel bad about not having their Oktoberfest.

Attendance was sparse for most of my time there. I think it was most crowded between the hours of 4:00 and 6:00. The bar inside was full each time I went in, though, and with the ability to travel in and out at will, it’s a bit difficult to say exactly how well attended the festival was. I hope it was well enough received for this to actually become an annual event. I ended up sampling 12 beers (I’d had the Yazoo Hop Project before) that I’d never had before. And although I was by myself for half my time there (a big thanks to Katie V. for hanging with me for a few hours!), I think if I properly pestered enough people sooner than I did this time, I’d be able to drag a decent crowd along.

Sierra Nevada Anniversary Ale (Beer Review)

From the label:

"Featuring Cascade hops, this delightful brew celebrates our history as a pioneer of the craft beer movement."

I picked up this six pack because I figured it was a limited brew celebrating a pretty important anniversary. I didn’t realize it was a seasonal beer that they made every year. It’s their 28th anniversary this year. I felt a little cheated.

This beer has a very light, fruity aroma. I’m not quite sure what I’m smelling, possibly grapefruit or some other citrus, but it’s very nice and inviting. It’s got a nice color to it, sort of an opaque bronze. The first taste has the bitter quality that I associate with Sierra Nevada (I’ve had their Pale Ale and their Summerfest). With subsequent drinks, the bitterness seems to subside while the fruitiness of the aroma starts to show up.

Out of the three types of Sierra Nevada that I’ve had, I’ve got to say that this is by far my favorite. It’s easy to drink and full of flavor with just enough of an aftertaste to be pleasant and not overwhelming. If this is what I can expect each year from Sierra Nevada’s Anniversary Ale, then I’ll be looking forward to it’s yearly release, regardless of what anniversary they’re celebrating.

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Listening to: Tool - The Pot
via FoxyTunes