Lowell Ribs and Brew 2007 - Recap

Weekend Festivities....

Wow.. What a crazy busy weekend... Here's what we did...



On Friday night Ian had a blast at the Ribs and Brew festival. He ended up working in the Long Trail booth. (Ian - add your comments here)

On Saturday, I tried to arrive at 3:00, but didn't get there until 4:00 (because of the Homebrew competition) and found that no one was around the beer tent. I was a little confused and it was sooooo hot out. After speaking with a rep from JR Reardon (Bud), we found the key to the ice truck. For about an hour, I carried ~30 bags of ice and started icing down the bottles/kegs. I wasn't sure what I was suppose to do, but I knew the beer needed ice.

Around 6:00, when the event was to start, the sky opened up. It was a pretty crazy storm, we were lucky that the rain didn't come into the tent too much. Very quickly, there was a long line of people inside the tent that needed to be checked in, so Ryan and I jumped in and helped put on wristbands. Eventually, I was checking IDs and putting on wrist-banding while Ryan worked in the Long Trail booth. After checking ID's, I floated around helping get things done (delivering ice, getting band aids and drinking tasty beers). It was a great time. I can see the 2Beerguys getting more involved with this event and possibly running our own beer evenings in the next few years.

Here were the participants
(Note: I didn't visit all of the booths, so I not sure what every brewery brought... and I can only account for Saturday night. Each brewery was allowed to bring up to 4 beers.)

Mercury - Ipswich IPA and Stout?
Berkshire Brewing Company (With representatives)
Harpoon - UFO, UFO Rasp., IPA,
Shipyard -
Newport Storm
Cape Ann Brewing Company - Fisherman's Ale, I also heard that they had a pumpkin Stout (With representatives)
Diagio Imports (Guiness) - Redsripe and some fru-fru drinks
Wachusett - Blueberry, Oktoberfest (With representatives)
A/B - Demon IPA, Pumpkin Spice (With representatives)
Magic Hat - Jinx, Number 9, Circus Boy (With representatives)
Sierra Nevada - Stout, Anniversary IPA
Gritty's
Smuttynose - Smutty Pumpkin - IPA
Concord Brewing - Honey Brown Ale (With representatives)
Long Trial - Blackberry Wheat, Hit the trail ale
Old Burnside Brewing Co. - Ten Penny, Dirty Penny (With representatives)

(MIA??? * The Tap Brewery * Buzzards Bay Brewery * Stella Artois Brewery)


My personal favorite of the evening was the "Dirty Penny" from Olde Burnside Brewing
http://www.oldeburnsidebrewing.com/ It's a black color beer that's rich and creamy with a nice sweet taste. Very drinkable.. It reminded me of the Black Gold from Nerax. I really wish they could bottle some and send it to me. Currently, it's only available at the brewery.

Commercial description - Our popular “Dirty Penny Ale” (5.7% ABV) is a hearty, but never heavy “black’n’tan” style* which is mixture of 60% Ten Penny/40% our own signature stout. )

I had positive discussions with Concord Brewery (Lowell Brewery), Dillon and TJ from Cape Ann Brewing (aka Fisherman's Brand), and Wayne from Waschusett Brewing Company.

Goals for next year....

More breweries? Bigger Tent? Breweries to make special beers for the event??

The opportunities are endless. Ian and I are thinking.... Stone, Dogfish head, Flying Dog, Clipper City... and many more... It makes my head spin..

If you went to the event, please add your thoughts...

Thanks

Sean

P.s. Ignace's presence was missing from this event. In honor of Ignace, I broke out a brief Ignace Dance..... "Shake your pants and do the Ignace Dance" (I can hear the song in my head... DANGEROUS!!!)