DEDRICK: Hybrids of beer, wine among festival's treats

Published November 7, 2007 at midnight

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Notes from last month's 26th annual Great American Beer Festival, which enjoyed a record year: All four tasting sessions sold out in advance. Don't be surprised if tickets are gone by the time the doors open next year, too. Mark your calendar for Oct. 9-11, 2008.

• With all the great beers from across the country, the one I got the biggest kick out of came from Golden: Blue Moon's experimental Chardonnay Blonde. It returned after debuting last year, though there are no plans to market it.

"Chardonnay Blonde is not a malternative, but rather a true wine/beer hybrid," says Keith Villa, Blue Moon's brew master. He starts with a wheat beer base, then adds juices from chardonnay and sauvignon blanc grapes; it's then given time to ferment. "At the end of the process the product looks kind of like beer, but smells and tastes like a white wine spritzer.

"The inspiration came from the fact that I have been a home wine maker since 1987 and always wanted a refreshing wine/beer type of mix so that I could have the bouquet and flavor of a white wine, but with the refreshing aspects of a fine lager."

• Another interesting collision of beer and wine: the Red and White from Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Delaware. The wit style ale is fermented with pinot noir grapes and aged in pinot noir barrels.

• Among a field of 473 breweries entering 2,793 beers, Colorado brewers nabbed 29 medals. Three breweries from the state wound up with three medals each: Odell Brewing in Fort Collins, Steamworks in Durango and Tommyknocker in Idaho Springs.

Among the state's gold-medal winners you shouldn't have too much trouble finding in stores: Steamworks' Steam Engine Lager (in the American-Style Amber Lager category; see box), Odell's IPA (American-Style India Pale Ale) and Blue Moon's Honey Moon Summer Ale (Specialty Honey Lager or Ale). Yup, that last one's a seasonal, but I found it in stores as recently as last week.

• This was the second year for the festival's Pro-Am Competition, which invites members of the American Homebrewers Association to team with professional craft brewers to create winning beers. Using a home-brew recipe, the pros scale it up, then brew it at a craft brewery. Medals went to entrants from Pennsylvania, Kentucky and California, but I'll be an unashamed homer: My favorite was the American-style stout that Bob Kauffman brewed with the help of folks at the Rock Bottom Brewery's Englewood location.

• Craft brewers increasingly are developing lighter styles of beer. He'Brew's Coney Island Lager was a standout at the festival; look for it when you're back East, because it's not widely distributed here. A lager that is, though, is Prima Pilsner from Victory Brewing in Pennsylvania. Drinkable with just enough hop bite, it won the silver medal for German-Style Pilsener. Look for it in six-packs of 12-ounce bottles at larger liquor stores.

• The popularity of Belgian- style ales is booming, with sales more than doubling last year. They're often rich, fruity - sometimes downright sour. From Maine, Allagash showed off its Curieux, a complex ale aged in oak barrels.

• Drawing consistently long lines throughout the festival, the booth from Russian River Brewing Co. proved to be a mecca for festival-goers who can't make it to the company's home in Santa Rosa, Calif. Its Supplication is another barrel-aged, Belgian-style ale, this one brewed with cherries. Pucker up - it's one tart brew. It took the silver medal in the Belgian-style sour ale category. Pliny the Elder, meanwhile, is a double IPA - hoppy yet smooth.

• The Boulder-based Brewers Association is promoting the idea of pairing beer with your Thanksgiving feast. For me, it's the first good excuse to seek out a winter seasonal (watch for a roundup of this year's offerings next month in this space), but the trade group suggests these specifics:

• With roast turkey: amber ale, Oktoberfest-style lager, brown ale or strong golden ale

• Smoked turkey: hoppy brown ale, Scotch ale or porter

• Ham: Weizen, weizenbock, dubbel or dark lager

• Pumpkin pie: spiced ale, winter warmer or old ale

And don't overlook the obvious: pumpkin beer. The style has grown to the point where it earned its own subcategory in the fruit/vegetable beer competition at this year's GABF. Blue Moon's Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale and Jack's Pumpkin Spice Ale by Anheuser-Busch are decent introductions to the style, and generally easy to find. Or grab a growler of Drunken Pumpkin from the Wynkoop Brewery. It's one of four new beers by brewer Thomas Larsen in honor of the brew pub's 19th anniversary.

BEER OF THE MONTH

• The story: Competing against 43 other breweries in the crowded American- Style Amber Lager category at this year's Great American Beer Festival, it took the gold medal. That's the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad on the label.

• The taste: Some amber lagers tend to overdo the malty sweetness. Not this one. Its balance of hops and malt is perfect, the amber color warm and inviting.

• Food pairings: Grilled or smoked meats, burgers, pizza, Mexican

• On sale: On tap and at stores in six-packs of bottles and six- and 12-packs of cans.

• Alcohol by volume: 5.2 percent

What's On Tap appears the first Wednesday of the month. dedrickj@RockyMountainNews.com

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