Days That End in Y

Ah, 6th Annual Winter Jubilee, I already miss you. As last time, the event was somewhat badly coordinated with no floor map available or list of beers, a line that went in front of the food (I made sure to eat beforehand), and lights that very annoyingly kept on flickering the whole time. It was also a bit too crowded, though the crowd thinned out a bit after a couple hours. Plus, most breweries brought a very limited selection of beers. Dogfish Head didn’t bring Randall like usual, Clipper City only had two despite having their whole Heavy Seas banner, and there were only two casks in the entire area.

However, I’m willing to discount most of these problems in exchange for fifty-five breweries all in one place pouring unlimited quantities of beer. I was also surprised at the speed at which I was able to get beer despite the large crowds. There were a number of great beers available, and most were good. There were a few really nasty ones that I ended up pouring out, though, in particular those from a small brewery on the North Shore. Here’s a tip for quickly assessing which beer to try: the hotter the chick pouring for you, the worse the beer. Ideally, you should be drinking beer poured by a fat old guy. I, of course, made the mistake of going to the two hottest women in the place and trying their beers. Not a good idea.

There were actually a few new beers that I hadn’t seen before, too, all of them imports. Unfortunately, I’m having trouble remembering what the heck they were because there was no beer list!!!

This time, we went to the second session, and I’m a bit torn as to whether going to the first or second is better. When in doubt, the answer is, of course, to go to both, but there are time, liver, and financial constraints. Anyway, I think the event was much improved from last year: they got rid of tickets and there’s now a cool mini mug. However, there’s still room for improvement. We’ll see how it goes next year.

In the meantime, the next two major events are the Wine Expo on Feb. 8-10 and the Extreme Beer Fest on Feb. 15-16. Unfortunately, the former is ridiculously expensive, and the latter is sold out. I will be at both.

Photo Credit: Michael Guo

The 6th Annual Winter Jubilee is coming soon on January 26 to Boston! There are still tickets available, but don’t count on them being available for much longer! I’m excited, especially since I missed three separate beer festivals in Boston this past fall due to traveling.

Just check out this brewer list! I mean, holy crap, how can you miss this?

Abita Brewing Co. Allagash Brewing Co. Babycham Cider Baltika Brands Belekus Marketing Belhaven Breweries Berkshire Brewing Co. Blackthorn Cider Boulder Beer Co. Boston Beer Co. Boston Beerworks Brasserie Dubuisson Brasserie Dupont Brasserie Lefebvre Brasserie Unibroue Brouwerij Affligem Brouwerij Liefmans Brouwerij Malheur Brooklyn Brewery Cape Ann Brewing Co. Clipper City Brewing Co. Cody Brewing Co. Cottrell Brewing Co. Cricket Hill Brewing Co. D.L. Geary Brewing Co. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Eurobrews Flying Dog Brewery Gardner Ale House Brewery and Restaurant Green Mountain Beverage Harpoon Brewery Haverhill Brewing Company/The Tap High & Mighty Brewing Co. Jasper Murdoch_s Ale House/Norwich Inn John Harvard_s Brewhouse Lagunitas Brewing Co. Landmark Brewing Co. La Resistance La Trappe - Brouwerij de Koningshoeven Left Hand Brewing Co. Long Trail Brewing Co. Matt Brewing Company _ Saranac Beers Mercury Brewing Co. Moretti Brewery New England Brewing Co. Newport Storm North Coast Brewing Co. Offshore Ale Company Opa Opa Steakhouse and Brewery Oskar Blues Grill & Brewery Owen O_Leary_s Paper City Brewery Paulaner Brauerei Pennichuck Brewing Co Rapscallion Brewery Rock Art Brewery Shipyard Brewing Co. Smuttynose Brewing Co. Southern Tier Brewing Co. Spaten USA Star Brand Imports Stone Coast Brewery Stoudt_s Brewing Co. Thomas Hooker Ales & Lagers Tigris Beverage Co. Trinity Brewing Co. Tuckerman Brewing Co. Watch City Brewing Co. Woodstock Inn Station & Brewery

For a little more information about the Beer Summit, check out my write up of the 5th Annual Winter Jubilee. While I wasn’t exactly impressed with some of the details of the Summit and didn’t quite feel too good afterwards, I’m still looking forward to this one and have already bought my ticket to the second session.