Bill Becker wrote:
More details to follow but....
some of the brews that really impressed me:

Walking Man Homo Erectus IPA(thanks sinistersteve for the heads up)
Saint Arnold Elissa IPA(great to have met you Frank!)
Sprecher Black Bavarian(wow what a dark!)
Alesmith Speedway Stout(This just might be the best brew of any style I've
tasted. Nah. Not fair to make a sweeping generalization like that ;^)
Yards IPA(This is the one I ended up getting the 6oz pour of)

For me, the Cuvee de Tomme from Pizza Port Solana Beach was a
standout, as were the meads (except for the juniper) from the
Redstone Meadery. I'm sure I can come up with a few more with
some memory-jogging.
Very many good beers, in general. A few dogs. And Bud Stout.
Plus I met Mitch Mather (one-tiome rfdb participant) in the flesh
for the first time.
All in all an interesting experience for my first GABF.
--
Joel Plutchak "Eat everything. Have fun." - Julia Child.
plutchak at [...]

Bill Becker wrote:
More details to follow but....
some of the brews that really impressed me:

Walking Man Homo Erectus IPA(thanks sinistersteve for the heads up)
Saint Arnold Elissa IPA(great to have met you Frank!)
Sprecher Black Bavarian(wow what a dark!)
Alesmith Speedway Stout(This just might be the best brew of any style I've
tasted. Nah. Not fair to make a sweeping generalization like that ;^)
Yards IPA(This is the one I ended up getting the 6oz pour of)

For me, the Cuvee de Tomme from Pizza Port Solana Beach was a
standout, as were the meads (except for the juniper) from the
Redstone Meadery. I'm sure I can come up with a few more with
some memory-jogging.
Very many good beers, in general. A few dogs. And Bud Stout.
Plus I met Mitch Mather (one-tiome rfdb participant) in the flesh
for the first time.
All in all an interesting experience for my first GABF.
--
Joel Plutchak "Eat everything. Have fun." - Julia Child.
plutchak at [...]

Joel wrote:
Bill Becker wrote:
For me, the Cuvee de Tomme from Pizza Port Solana Beach was a
standout, ...
I didn't see it last time I was there at one of my favorite brewpubs in the
San Diego area. It's a great stop to make while riding the Coaster since
it's right across the street from the train depot. Here's a page about the
cuvée:

http://www.pizzaport.com/CuveedeTomme.htm

Joel wrote:
Bill Becker wrote:
For me, the Cuvee de Tomme from Pizza Port Solana Beach was a
standout, ...
I didn't see it last time I was there at one of my favorite brewpubs in the
San Diego area. It's a great stop to make while riding the Coaster since
it's right across the street from the train depot. Here's a page about the
cuvée:

http://www.pizzaport.com/CuveedeTomme.htm

"Joel" wrote in message
...
Bill Becker wrote:
More details to follow but....
some of the brews that really impressed me:

Walking Man Homo Erectus IPA(thanks sinistersteve for the heads up)
Saint Arnold Elissa IPA(great to have met you Frank!)
Sprecher Black Bavarian(wow what a dark!)
Alesmith Speedway Stout(This just might be the best brew of any style I've
tasted. Nah. Not fair to make a sweeping generalization like that ;^)
Yards IPA(This is the one I ended up getting the 6oz pour of)

For me, the Cuvee de Tomme from Pizza Port Solana Beach was a
standout, as were the meads (except for the juniper) from the
Redstone Meadery. I'm sure I can come up with a few more with
some memory-jogging.
Very many good beers, in general. A few dogs. And Bud Stout.
Plus I met Mitch Mather (one-tiome rfdb participant) in the flesh
for the first time.
All in all an interesting experience for my first GABF.
--
Joel Plutchak "Eat everything. Have fun." - Julia Child.
plutchak at [...]

Yeah, I completely forgot about Pizza Port's offerings though they were on
my agenda because of the good ratings I've seen of their beers. I was mainly
concentrating on IPAs but...a few others got to meet my palate. Like the
Allagash Four(Very nice stuff!), Avery's The Beast(an 18%er that hid the
alcohol pretty darned well for me) and I even went retro and had a
Ballantine Ale in the can(the beer was in the can, not me) sample. Better
than the bottled samples that I've sought out.

To put it in a nutshell, I really didn't know what to expect and the event
entirely overwhelmed me. Good. Now I can take the knowledge I've gained and
make next year's event even more fun albeit more organized. Another
thing....us alt dot beer guys attending the event got to meet up there and
turn it into an even bigger blast. ;^)

Best regards,
Bill

On Mon, 4 Oct 2004, Bill Becker wrote:

my agenda because of the good ratings I've seen of their beers. I was mainly
concentrating on IPAs but...a few others got to meet my palate. Like the
Allagash Four(Very nice stuff!), Avery's The Beast(an 18%er that hid the
alcohol pretty darned well for me) and I even went retro and had a
Ballantine Ale in the can(the beer was in the can, not me) sample. Better
than the bottled samples that I've sought out.


Thats funny. I had never had Ballantine Ale and so when I went to GABF 2
years ago it was one of the beers I was sure to sample.