Victory at the Greenville Growler Station

No battles, just Victory Brewing night to offer up some samples of their excellent line up of beers at the Greenville Growler Station.
Bierfest (Oktoberfest) Hop Devil IPA, Golden Monkee and Dirt Wolf DIPA available for tasting.
Andy Bibliowicz, Victory Southern Area Sales Manager, did the pouring and shared his knowledge of the varieties of hops involved. Fun and educational time.

Septembrew Fest - A Swampfull of Fun in Traveler's Rest, SC

Ben Pierson awaiting visitors. (Ignore Will's photobomb)

Ben Pierson, owner/brewmaster of Swamp Rabbit Brewery and Taproom, wanted an opportunity to recognize the growth and success of the 6 Upstate craft breweries, so he created the first-ever Septembrew Fest at his place in Traveler's Rest.
He put out the word, got some food trucks and BBQ caterers involved, hired a band and the rest, as someone once said, is now history.
Thomas Creek, Blue Ridge, Quest, RJ Rocker and Brewery 85 joined Swamp Rabbit in offering samples of their brews, some poured for this occasion only, and a good time was guaranteed for all.
I can personally attest that the previous statement is true. And I have the photos to prove it:

Park the bikes, get a wrist band!

Brimstone Highway's beer-friendly music set the correct tone.

At 1pm, the beer started pouring:

Swamp Rabbit's tent stayed busy.

Katie and Dana, Blue Ridge with a new Pale Ale that I really enjoyed.

Bryant and Travis, l-r, ready to serve.

Son of a Peach was still available, as was Bellringer DIPA.

Mitchell and Andrew showing pride in their product!

Hilarity and fun ensued:

The band played on...

Ok, we've got beer, music, fun and games, now we just need some..... Food!!

Half full or half empty?

Brat in hand, it was time for me to try that Award-winning Red Whitey, a White ale with attractive aromas of fresh, crushed raspberries. Yum! And refreshing on this hot day.









This photo of representatives from 3 of the 6 breweries involved clearly demonstrates the camaraderie and good will that exists here among the Upstate brewers. Cheers to all!

Brewery 85, Thomas Creek and Quest smile for my camera.  Blue Ridge, RJ Rocker and Swamp Rabbit folks too busy to join in?

The good times sped by and suddenly it was time for me to move on to other engagements (involving growlers, among other things) so a final word from Ben:

Cheers and thanks for coming!!

This Septembrew Fest is in the history books, time to start planning next year's!!

Cheers.

Oktoberfest Beer Tastes Good - New For Me

Prepping for the season, had my first Oktoberfest beer yesterday, in a growler from #GreenvilleGrowlerStation, and I and my dinner companions really liked it. I usually don't pay too much attention to this style... that may have to change!



http://thirstydog.com/news/images/Barktobefest-Sell-Sheet.jpg

Saturday, A Day For Research

Research indeed!

From Mississippi, with love.

Cheers!

Pabst Blue Ribbon - No Longer American?

 What's Russian for Cheers?

The American icon, PBR, is now going to be a Russian property. Read the story here:



http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/09/18/pabst-is-said-to-near-a-sale

Hi-5 All Around

About the enjoy a lot of hops, wet or otherwise, in a Terrapin Beer Co. Hi-5 IPA. Five hops in the bill, hopped multiple times in the boil, dry hopped in the fermenters and probably hopped on the way to the packaging/bright tanks. I'll check the bottom of the can, might be some down there too!

Did I mention that I love this stuff?

Hops used:
 
Zythos, Centennial, Amarillo, Simcoe, Citra

Cheers!

2014 Carolina BrewHaHa Update

Time to collect my notes and photos and describe the fun-filled and educational day I spent at the Carolina BrewHaHa yesterday. This one, the Second Annual, had more breweries so it took me a bit longer to cover them, mingling with the happy sippers and trying to get the best photo angle. Where else can you work in such pleasant conditions (heat not withstanding) with a beer in your hand?! Well, outside of a brewery anyway.

My apologies to any I missed, see ya next year?

Music, fun and games and beer.

Winning combination for a festival

VIP section's Wall of Beer had rare beers including Oskar Blues ten FIDY, Bell's Hopsulation, Andersonvalley's Holy Gose.

 My first beer taste of the day was this amazing Sierra Nevada Equinox, a single hopped (Equinox) IPA. Only two bombers were available so only early birds paying attention got to try it. I'm not familiar with the Equinox hop so will be doing some research. Apparently a SN proprietary hop.







Title Sponsor Thomas Creek had their excellent Trifecta IPA available which Josh McGee was happy to pour.

Todd from Anderson Valley Brewing had a not-yet-released brew to try: AVBC Blood Orange Gose. I could easily have drunk it for the rest of the afternoon, but people kept getting in line for it.







Let's let Todd describe it himself:

More sights:

Did I mention that there was food?

Back from last year:

Happy burger customer.

Coleslaw had Centennial hops mixed in. Delicious, added to burger.

Gortex lets us in on the recipe:

Jake and Stella announcing some winners for special beer prizes, one of which was Pliney the Elder!

Even Skjervold from SouthYeast Labs likes other people's beer too!

Where's the cheese?

Love the name... and the Irish Red was very malt tasty.

Gortex traded his Anderson Valley Gose sorbet for some Stone 18th Anniversary?

Padenrich Station got the music off to a great start.

Homebrewers from the Anderson area were there to offer unique samples.












And the fun cont'd:

Clemson Brew Crew brewed away! Even had a sample left from last year.

Hi-5 from Terrapin was one of the top three beers for me, for the day.

Palmetto Moon Shine had delicate samples of some intensely flavored shine.

Bean bag toss with beer requires a deft touch. Here's how it's done.

New take on a "beer" mustache.

Great looking folks and equally great Espresso Porter.

Met a fun group who remineded me that I had take their pic last year and wanted to get their pic again. Happy to accommodate and I even found last year's pic, for a "before and after" meme:

This year.

Last year.

A schedule conflict forced me to leave early (and miss the rain!), but as I left, the band Peartree Music was entertaining the crowd with some vintage Grateful Dead, always a good choice for beer drinking.

 Whew! Tired all over again just looking at the pics. Only 364 days and we can do it again.

Cheers.