Saturday, October 8th I attended the inaugural Brew Fest at the “infamous” Dover Downs Hotel & Casino. While, I do not claim to be a connoisseur of sorts on beer, I believe I do hold an upper hand on some local Beer brew taste. This weekend’s “Beer Fest” hosted a good many of the region’s best brews. Keep in mind this was no “October Fest” as the theme was the Wild West! It was nice, but they could have nixed it. I suppose you have to have a theme and I guess a western theme was as good as any. Yes, entertainment provided was Todd Sullivan a “Tim McGraw” tribute artist. Not to bust on the country folks out there, it just didn’t do much for moi. However a good time appeared to be had by all. In between downing brews, guests were treated to a good ole fashion down home barbeque. A good pair to serve with brew!
Back to the topic on tap and a rundown of those in attendance, from San Francisco to Dover
- Anchor Brewing Company, San Francisco
- Blue Point Brewing Company, Long Island, N.Y.
- Brooklyn Brewery, Brooklyn, N.Y.
- Evolution Craft Brewing Company, Delmar
- Fordham Brewing Company and Old Dominion Brewing Company, Dover
- River Horse Brewing Company, Lambertville, N.J.
- Williamsburg AleWerks, Williamsburg, Va.
- Yards Brewing Company, Philadelphia
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| cute little 5 0z glasses |
When I first arrived, it was a bit overwhelming our tickets included a tasting glass which I have provided a picture (cute I may add,) although one could say it was a bit larger than a shot glass, and 10 tickets. I think I have all my tickets. Shhhhh. Needless to say, I do not think I made all the rounds of all the brews. (I did need a nap when I got home) before my second half of the night started. So who or what beers did I try. Wow... yes I do remember. :0)
Blue Point Brewing Company, Long Island N.Y. – though they had quite a few to choose from I tried the BLUE MOON HARVEST PUMPKIN ALE **** (4 STARS) I like Blue Moon in general – the pumpkin ale was very smooth in taste, light colored, taste of cloves and nutmeg seemed to linger- not bad, a good beer to have with a roast. Not very strong.
Yards Brewing Company, Philadelphia, PA- a first for me here. Since I am not a huge fan of Stout’s and dark beer – I tend to lean on some Pale Ales. Here I tried- YARDS INDIA IPA *** (3 stars) not a terrible beer, but just okay for me, a bit carbonated, but it did have a nice caramel after taste. (5.9 abv)
Evolution Craft Brewing Company, Delmar, DE- A local brewery- today I tried, PRIMAL PALE ALE***** (5stars) extremely refreshing, balanced, combination of Pine and citrus ( no not like pine-sol) lightly malted- clean smooth finish like a pale ale should have. (5.0 abv)
RISE UP STOUT- *** 3 Stars – for me. Again this is a stout beer, not one of my favorites, reminds me of a full leaded coffee.. – as this Stout has a dark brown head, full flavored, rich body sonomous of coffee and flavor ( 6.7abv) great for any coffee lover.
The Flying Fish, NJ- I really liked these guys- they had two beers. EXTRA PALE ALE- *****5Stars, Straw in color, reminiscent of a real German like beer used Munich malt very balanced very smooth.
Extremely refreshing! (4.8 abv) OCTOBERFISH ***** 5 Stars Red in color, nice hoppy taste, and a festivitus all round drinking beer... this one could get you into trouble! Smooth little to no carbonation. (5.5abv)
Extremely refreshing! (4.8 abv) OCTOBERFISH ***** 5 Stars Red in color, nice hoppy taste, and a festivitus all round drinking beer... this one could get you into trouble! Smooth little to no carbonation. (5.5abv)
And I save the best for last FORDHAM BREWERY, DOVER *****5 Stars while I have my favorites WYSTERIA WHEAT ***** 5Stars medium body, smooth velvety carbonation with a clean finish. A good summer beer. HELLS LAGER- if you like a Bavarian style lager, this one is great for socializing and pairing with some good European cheese **** 5 Stars (5.4 abv) Last Monday night Fordham tapped a SPICED HARVEST ALE **** (4Star) Again, not a fan of a dark beer. SPICED HARVEST- is a great fall beer, (kind of like a pumpkin pie) although no pumpkin is used; this beer has a smooth finish, with a spicy aftertaste. You can taste the cinnamon, and cloves. This beer gets better with every drink. Kind of a dessert beer if you wish.
Lastly, at the Brew Fest, Jim (my new Fordham friend) tapped the new DOMINON BALTIC PORTER *****5Stars… again another rather dark beer (I guess with beer it is an acquired taste), very smooth, assertively hopped, nice carmalization and very aromatic... I really do love the smell of this beer.
FORDHAM Brewery you outshined them all!!!
Whew, now you know why I needed a nap… Like wine, I find the need to take notes at times. There are way too many beers out these days. Now many of my friends are not beer par-takers and tend to lean towards wines, yes I do like my wines too. Like wines, beer brewers are definitely stepping up the social ladders of social drinking . I had a great time and look forward to my next S.I. N night at Fordham Brewery (11/7)
