Top Ten Things I learned at GABF

10.     Brewer tickets are better than 

Willy Wonka's  Golden Tickets 

            They get you access to real toilets vs porta-potties

9.  Never judge a beer by it’s color

8.   1 oz samples of 3,100+ different beers  

is more than enough to find yourself 

sufficiently over the legal limit

7.     You don’t have to be a 

          ballerina,  toddler, or female 

to wear a tu-tu

              

6.  By the end of the sampling sessions

         it is like your are  walking around in a

      mine field of beer farts

5.  The only place where the men’s restroom line

is 3x longer then the women’s

4.     A cute girl or an ugly girl with great boobs

  will 9 out of 10 times 

get a pour over the restricted 1 oz. sample if a guy is serving

3.   95 % of brewers have facial hair

2.   When someone says “you have to try this”

 with no reason but a smile

      It is gonna taste  bad!!

1.     DO NOT DROP YOUR GLASS

Unless you like  thousands of people looking at you and yelling “ahhhhhhhhh”

A BEER EPIPHANY

  I make no secret of the fact that, despite being a brewer’s wife, I have very limited knowledge of craft beer in general and even less of a palate of what constitutes a good beer from a bad beer.    I  admit I used the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver, Colorado this past weekend as an excuse for me to escape my job, kids, messy house, and all responsibilities in general and just to spend a little alone time with my husband.   I had come up with 1001 different reasons why I thought it would be good for Kevin and me to go.  Turns out I didn't need any of them, cheap plane tickets and a weekend of drinking beer was enough of a reason for him to agree to the trip.  

The trip for me almost did not happen do to sick kids, but thankfully my mother, a retired nurse, was loving and foolish enough to take care of them and encouraged me to go.   Stepping on to the plane in Savannah I was feeling a little guilty leaving them behind, however by the time our plane landed in Denver I was over the guilt and ready to enjoy the long weekend of freedom.

To say that the GABF is a craft beer lovers paradise is an understatement.  Tickets for the three day event sold out in a record time of 20 minutes online.    The GABF website reported there was 3,100+ beers in the festival hall, 49,000 attendees (includes ticketed attendees, brewers, judges, volunteers and journalists) and 624 U.S. breweries serving in the festival hall (46 more breweries than 2012).     Given the number of breweries and all the beer being served, I felt like someone that had taken a  6 week foreign language class and was then dropped off in the country to fend for themselves.    I understood some of the language that was being spoken, but not enough to take part in the discussions when Kevin would speak to other brewers/beer lovers..     After an hour  into the first day of the festival, and having tried a few beers and not really liking any of them,  I began to think of excuse to plot my escape when suddenly I had a beer epiphany.

My epiphany came from the words of a beer sign describing  a brewery’s Raspberry Lambic Style Pale.  The words on the sign seemed illuminate and be written just for me “...sure to please even the most picky of palate.”  That’s me, I am a picky palate!!!  That first 1 oz sample was an unexpected surprise.   It was a fruity, sweet, slightly sour, and utterly wonderful.   Could it be true?  Could I have actually found a beer that I liked?  I of course had to try it for a second and third time just to be sure.   I then began to wonder and question my entire craft brew reality.  Was it possible that just maybe there was more beer styles other than fruity  ones out there I would like?   Have I been beer discriminating based on their names or looks?   I then went on a personal mission of craft beer enlightenment.  

The strange foreign land I had found myself in transformed into an exciting wonderland of beer style exploration.   I discovered that   I don’t like milk stouts and any beer that contained the word smoked in its description.   You would have thought that when the brewer of an especially “smoky” brew made the comment “you’re a brave girl” as he handed me the sample I requested, would have been a clue that it was a very ummmm…unusual brew to put it nicely.    That was my second and last “smoky” brew I would try.   It tasted something like a bad smoked BLT sandwich.    I also ventured into the world of sour beers.  The sour style of beer was either a hit or miss with my fledgling palate.   The majority of the sours I tried seemed to be a little too sour for me, but a beer ideal for those adults who loved sour candy as a kid.  The beers I  liked the most and often going back to seemed to be the wheat beers.  My  ideal brew was one called Agave Wheat.   It had the sweetness of fruity beer, but the smoothness I liked in wheat beers. 

 By the end of the GABF I found myself speaking a little of the natives’ craft brew language and even smelling the beers before I sipped.   I am not sure if what I was sniffing for is what true craft brew folks smell for or not, but I was able to determine with a sniff if I was gonna like the beer or not and that was good enough for me.  

I have a new appreciation for Kevin and his ability to create great brews; it’s both a science and art.  There just maybe hope that one day that this craft brewer’s wife will be able to speak and understand the beer language.   For now I am just excited that I can venture into a store and pick out a craft beer without having to result in calling Kevin and asking which one I should get.   I now have my own craft beer styles I like.

A Little Sav. Craft Brew History

I first must apologize about the length between blog posts.  The problem is there is only one of me and with a full time job, three kids, dog, and a husband that works a full time and is also trying to keep up with the growth of Coastal Empire Beer (CEB) I have very limited me time (aka blog time).  My duties as brewers wife has seemed to double thanks to Kevin’s “free” time going to equipment and building layout designs, brewing demands, and tis the season for beer festivals.  Did I forget to mention we finally have a real brewery home in Savannah now?    Anyway.  If  I am not dealing with kids and dirty laundry I am helping out with t-shirt sales and orders.   Even though I have a mountain of laundry and totally exhausted from wrestling the kids into bed, since Kevin was out at a beer event, I took some time to read up on articles about the Savannah craft beer scene.   I thought I would report a little bit of  the history of craft brew in Savannah, at least in this century, and clear up some misconceptions that CEB is new area start up Brewery .

Moon River Brewing Company opened in 1999 and took over the former Oglethorpe Brewing Company .   Moon River (and former Oglethorpe Brewing Co.)   brewpubs were/are not considered to be “true production” breweries  in the articles.   The reason is due to Georgia law that only allows them to distribute their beer in kegs, and only recently did the limit of off premise sales get raised to 5,000 BBL.   Owner John Pinkerton, as president of the Georgia Craft Brewers Guild, has been working to get the laws changed in Georgia to be more in line with the states that surround us.   Pinkerton has also won a gold medal at the GABF for his beer, the GABF is the considered by most to be the second most prestigious US Beer Competition behind the bi-annual World Beer Cup.

The first craft production brewery (in this century)  was Old Savannah Brewing Company.   They operated from around 2004 to 2006.   The true first production brewery took four years to finally open due to all the red tape, permits, and ordinances they had to navigate as a first timer.  They also had to learn to try and sell beer in a town that hadn’t fully embraced craft beer at the time. The brewery produced award winning beers and had great reviews initially. but The brewery shut down in 2006.  They won a World Beer Cup Bronze medal in the English Extra Special Bitter category.  It is rumored that they shutdown due to partner fighting.

Then in 2011 along comes  Coastal Empire Beer Company.  We are a contract brewery.   The difference between us and the recently opened South Bound Brewery comes down to business models.   When Kevin decided to open the brewery with his brother Chris the biggest concern they both had, given the economy, was taking on such a huge financial  risks.  It came down to how to best keep their families financially safe.  Chris and Kevin interviewed and met with several breweries that had extra capacity to brew the beer.   

The misconception that many have is that Kevin just simply handed them a beer recipe to brew brew or even worse that he didn't even come up with the recipe on his own and just said hey I want you to brew a beer for us so we can sell it.   That is so far from what happens.  Kevin being the brewmaster is very involved and travels over to the contract brewery on brew days.   That attention to detail has won Kevin 2012 and 2013 medals from the US Open Beer Championship and CEBC has held title of People’s Choice for Best Beer at Savannah Craft Beer Festival three years running. 

Thanks to Kevin’s and Chris’s smart financial plan of starting out as a contract brewer, they now have a solid base as they move the production of the beer to their new Savannah location.

Savannah  welcomed South Bound Brewery that opened up earlier this year on E. Lathrope Ave.  Savannah will also be the future home to Service Brewing brewery.   Service Brewing is a veteran run business and I have to admit with a retired uncle and brother from the Air Force and a niece in the Army, I think it’s pretty cool. 

Now you know a little of the most recent (at least discoverable in my time restricted research)  and the history of  craft brew in Savannah .   Even if this is just on my blog that not many people read I wanted people to know about the true area visionaries and production brewery that paved the way.

Old Savannah  Brewing Co. even though your gone you are not forgotten.  

.    

Thank you  to John Pinkerton  for working to help get law reform in Georgia when it comes to craft brew!

On a side note Kevin and I will be going to the GREAT AMERICAN BEER FESTIVAL in Colorado this weekend.   I can’t remember the last time Kevin and I had a weekend alone with no kids. I will try to keep you posted, but I may not be any condition to blog..but find me on twitter.   I may not be the biggest fan of beer and for the life of me I can’t remember the difference between all the different types,  but I am a huge fan of the ciders.    I know I am the worst brewer’s wife ever.