Last weekend was the inaugural Summer's Here! Brewfest in Coeur d’Alene. CW had told me about it and we had planned on going together, but she bailed at the last minute. No worries though, Dos Equis Dan to the rescue! Ta da da!
Dan is always up for an adventure… especially when tasty brews are involved. So after dropping of a month’s worth of trash at the dump (the thing’s we do for friends), we left the Evergreen State for the Panhandle of the Spuds.
Getting to CDA isn’t very hard but we made a few wrong turns after we got off the highway. Dan said he knew the way, but I didn’t believe him. Thank goodness for smartphones. We finally pulled up to the Kootenai County Fairgrounds. Both Dan and I were confused, because we saw lots of little kids and signs for a Shriner’s Circus. Fortunately once we were through the gates a man with a fez said, “Brewfest? That way”, and pointed us in the right direction.
Once we arrived at our destination, I was completely blown away. There was a live band with guitars, trumpets, and even a trombone. Beach balls being knocked around over the crowd, and along the edges were many volunteers dispensing wonderful liquids of all styles. There was even a wine table…. but this is a beer blog, dang it!
Among the breweries represented were Budweiser, Shock Top, Sam Adams, and a few others. I immediately gravitated towards the Wallace Brewing Company’s table. This table was manned by two members of the distributing company used by WBC. All the other tables were covered by volunteers for the event.
Unfortunately, I didn’t bring a camera (it was in CW’s purse at home) or even a pen. I would try the beer and have to run up to the front and ask the nice ladies running the cash box for a pen. I think they got sick of me asking, but c’mon… if I come up once and go back for more beer, might I come back again to write some more notes? Anyway, they were great sports and I really appreciated the pen!
So obviously, I felt like a schmo because I was completely unprepared. I’m a beer blogger, man! I should be prepared at the drop of a hat. I saw another person there with a pad, pen, and a pretty sweet camera. When I asked him if he was doing a beer blog he told me, “No. I’m with the Coeur d’Alene Press.” We spoke for a minute and he asked me a few questions about what I thought of the event, and about what I thought of the beers. It was up the next morning. I was so excited, but I realized that he didn’t use my handle “NW Bearded Brewer” but rather just referred to me by name. Ah well, any press is good press right?
Enough gushing about my minute and a half of fame…. let’s get to the beer.
Again, my apologies for the severe lack of pictures…
Wallace Brewing Company (Wallace, ID)
Vindicator IPA - Big bitter and good floral hops
The Dirty Blonde - Light mouth feel, some hop notes but not over the top.
Odell Brewing Company (Ft. Collins, CO)
90 Schillings – 5.3% : Dark brown, malty, sweet, great mouth feel and flavor. My favorite for this trip.
IPA – 7% : One finger of foam, great hop nose and flavor, and a great balance bitterness.
Overall, a wonderful event in a great town. The thing I can think of to improve it is to have more brewers or representatives from the breweries there to talk about their beer. Sure, reading a pamphlette about the beer is fine, but you don't get the passion and love that went into that beer from a piece of paper. The brewers pride and committment to the craft always comes out in the brew, but when they're there decribing it too you... it just tastes better (as if that's even possible).
Slainte!
NWBB
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