I attended the St. John’s BrewFest 2016 on Friday night. My general observations: too crowded (I was hoping the whole point was to allow semi-serious tastings, but that went by the wayside fairly quickly) and samples were too small (50ml makes it tough to evaluate properly – 100ml would have been better). On the other hand, I got to try 23 out of a total possible 34 that I hadn’t had before, so I’m not unhappy with it.
In case anybody cares, here are my checkins, with ratings broken down as follows: Appearance – Aroma – Taste – Palate – Overall / Rating out of 10 (at 0.5 increments)
BIG SPRUCE BREWING
Cereal Killer Oatmeal Stout – 3 – 5 – 5 – 3 – 10 / 5
Tim’s Dirty American IPA – 4 – 8 – 7 – 4 – 15 / 7.5
BRAKSPEAR BEERS
Brakspear Oxford Gold – 3 – 6 – 6 – 3 – 12 / 6
BRASSERIE DUPONT
Monk’s Stout – 3 – 7 – 6 – 3 – 13 / 6.5
BROUWERIJ HUYGHE
Averbode Abbaye – 4 – 8 – 7 – 4 – 14 / 7.5
St. Idesbald Tripel – 4 – 6 – 7 – 3 – 12 / 6.5
GARRISON BREWING
Hoppy Buoy IPA – 4 – 8 – 7 – 4 – 14 / 7.5
HUISBROUWERIJ DE HALVE MAAN
Straffe Hendrik Quadrupel 4 – 8 – 8 – 3 – 13 / 7
Straffe Hendrik Tripel – 4 – 7 – 7 – 4 – 15 / 7.5
JENNINGS BREWERY
Sneck Lifter – 4 – 8 – 8 – 4 – 16 / 8
LAKE OF BAYS BREWING
Summer Sunset Session Ale 3 – 6 – 6 – 3 – 12 / 6
MARSTON’S BREWERY
Owd Rodger Country Ale – 3 – 6 – 6 – 3 – 12 / 6
MICROBRASSERIE CHARLEVOIX
Charlevoix Double IPA – 3 – 5 – 5 – 3 – 11 / 5.5
Dominus Vobiscum Double – 4 – 7 – 6 – 3 – 12 / 6.5
Flacatoune – 4 – 8 – 8 – 4 – 16 – 8
MORT SUBITE
Oude Kriek Mort Subite – 3 – 7 – 7 – 3 – 13 / 6.5
MUSKOKA BREWERY
Cool as a Cuke – 3 – 8 – 8 – 3 – 14 / 7
PUMP HOUSE BREWERY
Pump House IPA – 3 – 5 – 5 – 3 – 10 / 5
RINGWOOD BREWERY
Old Thumper – 3 – 7 – 6 – 3 – 12 / 6
Ringwood Circadian – 3 – 6 – 5 – 3 – 12 / 6
THWAITES BREWERY
Crafty Dan 13 Guns – 3 – 7 – 6 – 3 – 13 / 6.5
WYCHWOOD BREWERY
Arrowaine – 4 – 5 – 5 – 3 – 12 / 6
YELLOWBELLY BREWERY
Seasonal (“Cream Ale”) – 3 – 7 – 8 – 4 – 14 / 7
Two were from the 1001 Beers You Must Taste/Try Before You Die lists: Thwaites Crafty Dan 13 Guns, my 218th from the 2013 edition and 240th combining both editions; and Jennings Sneck Lifter, my 229th from the 2010 Edition (219th from the 2013 edition), and 241st combining both editions.