Craft Beer Boston

For those who may be unaware, one of the best beer festivals in the world is coming to City Hall Plaza in Downtown Boston in 2 weeks!

The line up of brewers, both domestic and foreign, is arguably the best I have seen in the area since the heyday of the Shelton Brothers Festivals and for some strange reason, there are still tickets available to all sessions! (You can get yours now by visiting http://copenhagenbeerfest.com/)

We at CBB HQ were lucky enough to get a sneak peek at the beers being poured so if you have not grabbed yours yet, let me try to convince you why you need to attend by sharing a list of my most anticipated brews of the festival.

Note that the list we were provided is subject to change and we do not know if these are bottle or draft pours.

• Amager/Cigar City: Game of Arms – Both of these breweries definitely know their dark beers and I am very curious to know what an imperial licorice porter tastes like.

• Angry Chair: German Chocolate Cupcake Stout – Hey look, it’s another Florida brewery getting a lot of hype for their adjunct stouts! Jokes aside, these guys deserve the attention and this is a rare chance to try one of their most sought after products without having to trade for it or get on a plane.

• B. Nektar: Tuco-style Freakout – Some people who claim to not like mead are going to have their minds changed at this event. B. Nektar puts out some very innovative stuff and I think it is going to be hard to go wrong with a sour, orange blossom mead with agave, lime juice & zest.

• Beavertown/Prairie: Bourbon Barrel Aged Spresso Coffee Imp  Stout – I had the pleasure of trying several Beavertown brews last time I was in the UK. Considering the combo with Prairie, who know their way around a coffee stout, this should be a winner.

• Boneyard: Gueuze Cruise – Psyched to try any American take on a gueuze-style, blended wild ale

• Brouwerij Kees: Caramel Fudge Stout – Hailing from the Netherlands, the name of this beer alone has me drooling a bit.

• Cellarmaker: Batch 400 – Speaking of drooling, this is an imperial stout aged on cacao nibs, vanilla beans & dried figs, then blended with 1/3 of the total volume bourbon barrel aged stout.

• Cigar City/The Answer: Good Nightmare Mekong – If you are sensing a trend of listing a lot of adjunct stouts, you are correct! This one is brewed with Vietnamese coffee and vanilla.

• Cycle: Fixie – For a brewery known for their dark beers, I am curious to see how they handle an IPA.

• Frederiksdal:  Sur Lie, Reserve and Rancio Vintage 2015 – I have never had the chance to try Danish Cherry wine, but do know how good their cherries are when used in lambics and wild ales.

• Hill Farmstead: Arthur – Always a favorite, but let’s hope for some surprise rarities, as well!

• Mikkeller: Spontan Quadruple Raspberry – I am a huge fan of the Spontan series’ take on fruited, spontaneous fermentation beers but they can be hard to pull the trigger on in stores due to the high cost.  A great chance to try some of the rarer versions!

• Omnipollo: Bianca Raspberry Lassi Gose – These guys are so underrated.  Find out why with one of their delicious, fruited sours!
  

• Oud Beersel: Bersalis Sourblend  – One of the OG lambic producers bringing some rarities from across the pond.

• Siren: Bourbon Barrel Caribbean Choc Cake – Another boundry-pushing English brewery that has not gotten a lot of distro in the States. Very much worth checking out.

• Superstition Meadery: – War Honey – Dry Hopped Lemon Mead from arguably the best meadery in the US ? Yes, please!

• Three Floyds: Dark Lord – Incredibly rare to get a chance to try this former whale on the East Coast.  Here’s hoping they sneak in some of the variants!

• Warpigs (Mikkeller & Three Floyds): Youreallyf*ckedmeup & Imreallyf*ckingfurious – Great name for an Imperial coffee & Vanilla stout, even better pedigree should make this one a must try.

If you aren’t sold by anything on my list of highlights, keep in mind that it barely scratches the surface of all the great beer available at this fest and is by no means totally inclusive.  There will definitely be some surprises poured, too!  As someone who is lucky enough to attend the vast majority of fests in the area, take some advice from me: if you go to one fest this year, you can’t go wrong with Copenhagen.  Fantastic beer and mead that you cannot get easily, if at all, in the Boston area and all right in our own backyard.  Add  music from well-known bands like Los Lobos and tons of great food options, as well as being outdoors and easily accessible to public transportation and you know this is not one to miss!

Grab your tickets to any of the 3 sessions on September 23 & 24th now before they sell out at http://copenhagenbeerfest.com and we will see you there!