Each year, WYES, our local public television station, sponsors the International Beer Tasting, a substantial fundraiser for the station and usually a good time to be had by all.  

Although much of the sponsoring is done by local distributors, it was great to see some local brew clubs out to show off their finest creations (who says whole grains aren't tasty!)!    Thanks to the LA Lagers HomeBrew Club, the Crescent City HomeBrewers, and my personal fave in the creative name category, the Mystic Krewe of Brew!  With signs of the times names like Sweet Unemployement Stout and Recession Rye Pale Ale, who doesn't need to raise a few glasses of our favorite creation?

Although we were glad to see the fest sport a new venue the Lakefront Arena.   The Arena is great for small concerts, the Harlem Globetrotters, the WWE, and the like, it is NOT so great for tasting beer.    The tasting booths were set up around the perimeter of the arena walking area, and with the great attendance, well, lets just say it was tough to elbow your way through.   We also like to SEE our beer, and with the dimmer lighting, it was tough, save for some enthusiastic servers who helped guide our taste journey.    One of our amusements of the evening came when looking at the program and noticing the frequent notation of vomitoriums on the arena map.    Now, we thought that was a pretty obvious necessity at a beer tasting, but they did seem like wide open spaces.    Wikepedia helped us find our way through to the facts though when we did some post-hangover research.   Who knew???

and now... the Beer Commissioner's favorites. ...(drum roll please!)  Commissioner's disclaimer....You know and I know that not all beers are created equal.  Like the commissioners of the various particular sports leagues, I'm not going to state what my favorite beer is.  However, you might hear the baseball commissioner say, the Phillies have a great line-up, but no pitching.  You might also note, you never see the commissioner sitting on the sidelines when two last place teams are meeting up.  That being said, your Beer Commissioner isn't going to be dissing on anyone.  These are just a few of my favorites from the event.

Yea Yea, its an old standby, but I just couldn't stop tasting... 

I enjoyed all of the HofBrau beers.  The Hofbrau Haus in Munich is one of my all-time favorite places, and  the one in Vegas isn't too shabby either! 

The Samuel Adams Summer Alewas also refreshing - by now, the place is packed and its a fight to get a good beer!
I downed a Dixie Beer, which you never go wrong there.  So glad to see one of our local breweries up and back at it after the atmospheric event.

I also had a glass of Pabst Blue Ribbon as well.  The lines for everything were pretty long, and they didn't have a line, and they poured me a full glass.  You just can't ever complain about that!


My better half also has her favorites -- while not a fan of the standard hops and malts, she loves Cider and the fruit flavored beers - try them out on guests who aren't traditional beer drinkers!  The Belgian Lambics are always a crowd pleaser, but only for about one glass- Lindeman Framboise is like drinking Nehi raspberry-soda-beer!
Caution:   keep out of reach of children...!

Wild Blue was her hands down winner of the evening though, but judging from the reviews at BeerAdvocate.com, it gets some very polarized reviews from the beer drinking community.    It sports an 8% alcohol content, a mild beer taste with a good dose of blueberries for a summer taste.

After reviewing makers, I was a little disenchanted to learn that the big AB owns not one or two, but nearly all of our favorite labels.   Great news for any of you who are visiting thier St. Louis Brewery or Grants Farm (also in STL) this year - free tasting at the end of every tour!

Last but not least, the Commissioner is disturbed to report the trend towards energy-beers:   Bud Extra (w/Gingseng & Caffeine) for example  - what the hell ever happened to getting a buzz, getting your freak on, and passing out?    Who needs Zen and staying up til three the next afternoon???

All in all, it was a great time - Special Kudos to Southern Eagle Distributing for their sponsorship of the free taxi ride home - a nice touch.