Live Beer Blogging – BBC14

Now for something completely different: I’m at the Beer Bloggers Conference in San Diego this weekend and about to begin their infamous Live Beer Blogging session. The gist of it is a bit like speed dating, every five minutes a different brewery will come to the table and present one of their beers. In those five minutes the brewery will describe the beer, answer questions, and then us bloggers will write a short post/tweet/video about it. Apologies for the loose format, things are coming hot and heavy!

Rough Draft – Weekday IPA

Smooth easy drinker with a great nose. Notes of pine and a bit tropical character, very little malt

Lagunitas – Sonoma Farmhouse

A great funky nose, lightly tart, but well-balanced. Fruity and a bit acidic.

Stone – Xocoveza

Chris Banker’s collaboration brew (pre-release!). Rich chocolate and spice in the nose. A strange brew for sure, but exquisite. Pepper and chocolate and spice mix together in a beautiful marriage.

Rogue – Marrionberry Braggot

Dark malt with a light honey note. If I didn’t know better id think this is a barley wine. Don’t get much berry character but it’s not malty int the way you’d expect.

Goose Island – Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout (2013)

Served warm and cold to examine the differences. One of those beers that everyone goes nuts over. Rich coffee in the nose with a bit of caramel and toast. Rich mocha flavor and much smoother than I’d expect. They assure me there is no lactose, but it has that rich character of a milk stout.

Green Flash – Citra Session

Yep, that’s Citra alright. Wow, that’s a hop explosion, it reminds me of the crazy hop volcano thing Lagunitas demoed last night. Light and crisp, though it’s a bit vegetal in the back end.

Boardwalk Food Company – Beer Bread

Not beer! It’s, uh, bread. Bready!

Boston Beer Company – Kosmic Mother Funk

Typically blended into their other sours, KMF is finally available on its own. Tart, but not bracing. Back sweetened with candi to IMO too much residual sweetness. It’s a nice sour, plum and a bit of funk.

Warsteiner – Pils

Dat Pils. Haters gonna hate, but I’m a sucker for a classic pils. Crisp, floral, and a little bready. I could drink this all day.

Firestone Walker – Pivo Pils

One of my favorite pils of all time, served by the head honcho himself. Crisp, floral, with a smooth hop wallop. So choice, outside of unfiltered cask Pilsner Urquell one of the best pils out there.

Lost Abbey – Deliverance

Strong licorice nose with some caramel. Chocolate on the back end.