At wine events, women make up the majority of attendees but the crowd at the Craft Beer Expo on Saturday at Mahaffey Theater teemed with proud, beer t-shirt wearing men. It felt like a brew lover's pilgrimage and I had snuck in the back door. But I got over that as I munched on chipotle BBQ washed down with Highland Brewing Gaelic Ale; slurped on a messy vanilla ice cream float spiked with Lindemans Framboise Lambic; and sipped fresh-hopped Dogfish Head 90-Minute IPA. It wasn't a sucky place to be on a sticky, hot afternoon.
Being a wino at heart, I can't call myself as beer-educated as many of the 500+ attendees. But I held my own with 100+ lagers, ales, stouts and porters. Favorites included Bell's Oberon Wheat, Bell's Amber Ale, Bold City Brewery Brown Ale (Jacksonville), Rogue Morimoto Soba Ale, Saint Somewhere Saison (local), Rocky Mountain Z Smoked Lager (most unique of the event), Rocky Mountain Major Tom Pomegranate Wheat, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Stout, Highland Brewing St. Therese's Pale Ale, Cigar City Guava Grove (local – and really all their beers are frickin' amazing) and Boulder Hazed & Infused.
This article appears in Jul 15-21, 2009.