Last week, we published our thoughts on The Beavertown Extravaganza in the blog post that we will forever know as “the blog that really should have been a podcast”. Now it’s time for the outtakes.
Somewhere between discussing the overall vibe of the festival and #wineforwives, our conversation turned to the beers that we found most memorable on the day.
Garage Project – Two Tap Flat White
Rob: Before the festival I had a good look at the list and there was one beer that I wanted to make sure I tried and that was from Garage Project in New Zealand – the Two Tap Flat White. It was a mixture of two beers. One tap was pouring the imperial coffee stout and then with that you had a shot of nitro cream ale. I was really pleased that when I went to the Garage Project bar, Two Tap Flat White was pouring – it was pretty early on in the day; my second beer I think, so I was pleased. It really lived up to expectations. I think I said to you guys at the time, there’s no point in drinking coffee anymore, this needs to be the replacement.
Dave: We all tried that didn’t we.
Luke: It was built like a cup of coffee.
Dave: It was one of my standouts to be honest. It was an event beer – it felt like something special. As Rob said, I would happily take that as a replacement for coffee, because it was absolutely beautiful.
Rob: I don’t think any of us would ever get much work done, but we’d have a good time I guess.
Beavertown/3 Floyds Tempus Project – Heavy Lord (Keg and Cask)
Rob: One beer that really stood out for me was one that I wasn’t particularly looking for. At The Beavertown Tempus Project bar, they the collaboration with 3 Floyds, Heavy Lord, on keg and cask. I think that was the only cask pull of the festival? It’s 14.5% imperial stout, brewed with vanilla, cacao nibs and coffee. I had the keg version first and… that was amazing. It was pretty special. Not as boozy as you would expect, given the percentage. Then later on in the day I had the cask version. Now that was an experience. I think with the cask version, the vanilla really came through. The individual flavours were able to stand out more, but not to the extent where one flavour overpowered another. It blew my mind a bit.
Dave: It’s cool that it was available on keg and cask.
BrewDog – Single Barrel #1770 – Paradox Absinthe
Luke: I also tried BrewDog’s absinthe beer.
*Laughter*
Luke: So, it all goes back to… the point of this event was to try as much variety as possible. I’ve never going to buy a bottle, can or glass of absinthe beer (imperial stout? Check) but seeing as it was already paid for and it was a 100ml pouring, there was absolutely no harm in me trying it just to say that I’d tried it. I hated it. Point blank. It was vile, it tasted like absinthe, but I didn’t feel guilty, I felt more appreciative having tried it.
Rob: Did you secretly enjoy asking someone else to pour it away so you could dick on BrewDog a bit? It is the done thing at the moment.
Luke: Well, it’s not about dicking on BrewDog is it? Because their Punk.
*Laughter*
Dave: I was feeling mighty fine all day, but I had a sip of that beer and I don’t think I was ever closer to having to run to the toilet.
Rob: BrewDog make some great beers, but just like some of their marketing, this one was always going to divide opinion. I’m sure some people liked it.
Dave: I’m sure some people like absinthe.
Luke: I saw it and I thought, if I’m ever going to try this beer, now is the time. 100ml pour. Nothing to lose.
Heretic – Chocolate Hazelnut Porter
Dave: For me, apart from some of the beers we’ve already talked about, the standout for me was from Heretic. Their chocolate hazelnut porter. I thought it was absolutely beautiful. I think I had it whilst I was waiting in line for Trillium and I felt the chocolate and hazelnut flavours came through so strongly but didn’t cause it to lose its malty porter qualities. Overall, it was a solid beer and I wish I could have more of it.
With a beer list that formed the most exciting spreadsheet we’ve ever seen, there really was an insane amount of beer to experience and we tried our best to sample as much as possible.
A month on, we’re still talking about #BEAVEREX17. It blew our minds. Huge congratulation to everyone that was involved.
To sum up: Wow. More of the same next year please!
