Not the real Empire Brewfest which is in Syracuse. The whole thing was weird. It wasn't a traditional brewfest. Instead, it was a distributor hosting rather than the breweries themselves. So everything was served by volunteers, mostly from bottles, and no brewery swag. I had been pretty excited since the list had Stone, Dogfish Head, Abita along with a few other respectable out-of-staters, but it was a bit of a let down. The tasting glass was also plastic. And it came with a magnet that said "Syracuse Beer Week". "2009". What.
Things of note:
- Roosterfish IPA - Was glad I got to try this at Empire since I had been eying the bottle for a while. Way too malty.
- Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat - A great fruit beer which is pretty rare. Strong nose, mild taste, nice finish and aftertaste.
- Weyerbacher Simcoe Double IPA - Don't know if this is singly-hopped. Weyerbacher's schtick of extreme beers doesn't always work.
- Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye - I'm really liking Bear Republic a lot these days. Solid west coast hop-style and rye to boot.
- Arcadia Rye - Also a pretty decent rye.
- Erie Brewing Smoked Porter - After my encounter with the Rogue Smoke Ale, I've been leery of smoked anything. This was actually pretty good. A robust porter with a legitimately smoky taste that didn't taste like bacon. I like.
- Great Divide Denver Pale Pale (DPA) - Worst beer of the night. Actually threw it out.
- Lagunitas Lucky 13 - Really disappointing and not that great-tasting.
- Middle Ages Swallow Wit- Meh. Standard spiced wit. Felta little heavier and not as spiced as Hoegaarden.
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