No list yet. Ain't in the mood to get it together.

I thought I'd post up my favorites as they're easy to remember.

Top beer of the weekend came from the Falling Rock TapHouse. It's from Elysian Brewing in Seattle and it's their Avatar Jasmine IPA. http://www.elysianbrewing.com/BeerPages/Avatar.html

Yeah sounds gay, but man it's smooth. I just had a Hercules Double IPA, so it may have seemed weaker than it really is, but it was the best I tasted all weekend. I had a pint of it. Couldn't really smell any floral hoppiness, but it's dry as fork in Colorado. Not overhopped, and I'm not sure what jasmine is (other than that stripper chick up at PT's that one time), so I don't know what that added. It's just a damn good beer if you can get a hold of some.

Best beer I had at the fest was Red Chair IPA from Deschutes Brewing. http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/blog/200...-street-series/

Talked to the brewer that was pouring samples. I had asked about their Hop Trip brew. It's dry hopped with green Pacific NW hops. Since the festival was earlier this year, I figured it was too early for that brew. He said he just brought a keg of it down, but it was too late to enter it in the fest. They were going to tap the keg Sat night at the Falling Rock, so he recommended the Red Chair. Said they had a "secret" way of infusing the hops. Said they were creating a new style for this beer called "Northwest IPA". It's hard to describe, but it has a hoppy flavor up front and then just drops off the table. It's not bitter, has no lingering hop aftertaste. Just a smooth, amazing beer.

Strangest beer of the fest was from Short's Brewing up in Michigan. They had a beer called Strawberry Short's Cake. I didn't get a good read on it. Might have been the pretzel aftertaste, but my buddy said it was the best he had and gave it a 10. This brewery had a beer a couple years ago called Black Licorice Lager. That SOB was awesome. They make some different beers up there.

Wildest beer was Bourbon Barrel Stout from O'Dells. We didn't get to try any Utopias from Sam Adams, but this one was pretty close. It was like a shot of whisky and in my opinion a little green still. I don't know how long it had been aged, but it still needs another year or two to mellow out.

Classic moment was at Falling Rocks. Table next to us had six or seven folks sitting at it. I noticed in the carnage a couple chicks in tank tops loaded for bear up top. Garrett Oliver from Brooklyn Brewing rolls in and these two chicks get up to take pics with him. One of the gals walks over to our table. On the front of her tank top it reads, "WE GOT CANS! - Maui Brewing" I'm guessing she's packing at least 40 DD's in there and I'm thinking to myself, "No sh*t you got cans. Looks like a couple forkin Folgers cans in there..."
She asks if we've had their beer since it's in Colorado and tells us about the benefits of having aluminum at the beach, creeks, blah, blah. My buddy tells her we'll try it as soon as it gets to Missouri and I tell her I like her advertising. She stands up, rolls her shoulders back and sticks the "cans" out and says, "It works."

Good times for sure...