Brrr Fest 2014

Saturday, January 25, 2014 was the 5th Annual Coralville Brrr Fest with a beer festival at the Marriot Hotel at the Iowa River Landing in Coralville, Iowa.  This was my second time attending this fest and it was again held in the spacious conference center at the hotel. It was well run again, with plenty of volunteers keeping the line moving into the event, premium tasting glasses for the VIP hour, easily available rinse stations (that they did a great job keeping filled with water!), and bottles of water available for free to keep hydrated.  

The event again ran from 1-4 p.m., with an extra hour starting at noon with the premium ticket.  The premium was well worth it, as the crowd surged considerably at 1 and long lines started forming. The event sold out in advance this year. I understand there were 400-500 tickets sold for the VIP hour and over 2,000 attendees in all. There were about forty-four breweries from the Midwest represented, with the majority from Iowa. 

I was fighting off an oncoming cold and not 100% on my game this year, so I failed to take any pictures, but here are some of the highlights for me. The best new brewer running away with it was Big Grove Brewery from nearby Solon, Iowa. I sampled four of their beers, and all were very nice, tasty, solid. They had Alliteration DIPA, a collaboration with Bell's Brewery featuring local honey, that is probably actually better than Hopslam. Alas, I missed the special release of their Stout aged in Short's whiskey barrels.  Too bad, because I tried the Short's Whiskey, and it was very good.

Natural segue, the Short's whiskey was from Cedar Ridge Distillery, who were also present and pouring several of their whiskies. I tried three, the Short's whiskey was very good (proprietary for Short's Burger and Shine, an Iowa City joint with great burgers and an amazing Iowa beer selection), as was the Griff's Cowboy Whiskey. The Cedar Ridge Iowa Bourbon Whiskey is amazingly tasty and smooth. Later in the day, former Hawkeye and NFL kicker and Iowa boy Nate Kaeding was pouring samples (the second most accurate kicker in NFL history).

Other highlight beers for me were the wonderful Double Cherry Saison from Court Avenue Brewing (a Belgian-style saison conditioned with tart cherry puree and then aged in a red wine barrel with whole cherries for seven months), the Belgian IPA from Potosi Brewing, and the No Coast IPA from Peace Tree Brewing. A special shout out to Peace Tree, they always have a fun and energetic time, bring great tasting beers, and lots of special releases. They always have a long line, but it is worth it.

I want to give another special shout out to Backpocket Brewing.They are next door to the hotel where this fest is held. Not only do they have a great lineup of solid and tasty beers, but they did a great job this year of tying in exciting events to the fest. The morning of the fest they released bottles of their First Anniversary Stout aged in Cedar Ridge bourbon whiskey barrels. I can't wait to try this. After the fest, they had special Swabian Hall pork sandwiches for sale, having roasted a whole hog of this rare (and very tasty) breed. Also, after the fest, they released their new barleywine. In addition, they brewed a special winter warmer for the fest, the Brrr Fest Winter Session Ale. Kudos to you Backpocket.

Highlights outside of the fest were a visit to the John's Grocery beer area, drinking Toppling Goliath beers at various local establishments, and trying the Imperial Cherry Bourbon Stout from Van Houzen.