I never go to the Music City Brewers Festival. Every year the evening session (i.e. the DUI session) sells out, and who wants to wander a shade-free park on a blazing hot day. Nashville’s unpredictable weather usually throws a violent summer thunderstorm into the session, so it’s a bad bargain for those opposed to inclement weather and drunken crowds.
The beer festival trend is getting ridiculous anyway. Now beer events are myriad, with Grand Cru's own beerfest getting squeezed by upstarts looking to make a few bucks (all of our proceeds go to charity). In October, there are three local beer festivals that could crowd us out.
My night job means I usually get involved in some way. I didn’t touch the festival site, but managed two quality beer moments.
Preview Night, Mark 2
Middle Tennessee’s main beer distributor, Lippman Brothers, held their preview party, a rare occasion for us beer sellers to interact with company representatives. Aside from our affable New Belgium Beer Ranger John, we don’t get much face time with people working for the breweries.
The sticker collector in me to wrangled a few new numbers from Stone. I also got a big answer. We haven’t seen any of its three-way collaboration beers in Nashville. We missed out in the brilliant Saison du Buff and the intriguing Highway 78 Scotch Ale. Stone only sends a little of its collaboration beers this far south, and the Carolina markets get first dibs. Needless to say, there is no second round of that draft. It’s the only hole in Middle Tennessee’s Stone portfolio, and it won’t get filled anytime soon.
Kentucky Brewing Company finally made it into the market. Their excellent bourbon barrel ale, aged in fresh whiskey casks from Woodford Reserve, sparkles like few barrel-aged brews. Their flagship Kentucky Ale, a mix of a red ale and pale ale (in essence, a hoppy red ale), made for decent session brew.
The people from Boulder Beer Company were pure delights as always. They poured Mojo and Kinda Blue, their blueberry ale which finally graduated from bomber bottles to six packs.
The biggest surprise was North Carolina’s sole entrant, Craggie Brewing. They based Antebellum Ale on an 1840s recipe that includes molasses, ginger and spruce tips. The beer goes light on the alcohol (4.2 percent) and high on flavor. All three ingredients pop, and more than sate my love of old-style beer recipes. Their Bourbon ale was okay, but not the revelation of Antebellum Ale.
It was a little moment, but a good one. Too often, we never get close to the operations behind our favorite beers.
The Humid Miles to Yazoo
Foreboding gray clouds drifted over Nashville Saturday morning, not the best atmosphere for a day of outdoor activities.
At 2.5 miles, it was the shortest race I ever ran. It might have been the most uncomfortable. Rain poured before and after the run, and dullest butter knife could have parted the humid air. As much as I wanted to stop along the course, it was pointless. Stopping meant no break in the sweating or the heat, so it was better to run , finish and mill around indoors.
Without a clock, I had no idea how long it took. Once in the taproom, the staff lined up rows of Gerst Amber, Yazoo’s attempt at the recipe of a long-dormant Nashville brewing institution. It was an impressive lager, easy-drinking but flavorful.
In the taproom, the organizer announced that Yazoo’s sustainability policy meant we could all take our pint glasses home and wash them there. It was an unexpected bonus on top of the nice race shirt.
I must thank the Music City Beer Society meetup group for assembling this. Only two of us ran it, but it was good to get back involved with the meetup. I spend too much time away, and they are a good group.
The 2.5-miler served a second purpose: the unofficial kickoff to my training for the 2011 Murfreesboro Middle Half. More on that as summer progresses.
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