The Humble Gourmand

I was nervous walking into the National Building Museum for the biggest DC-area craft beer event of the year.

I don’t know if it was the fact that I was about to be in the same building as Tomme Arthur, Adam Avery, Greg Koch, and Sam Calagione; the fact that I was wearing a bright blue press badge and had to represent myself as such; or the daunting reality that I had 4 hours — and 68 breweries’ worth — of beer to get through.

The sad truth was that my shaky hands were not up to the task of photographing the event:

I quickly relaxed, though, helped along by a private tasting of Avery’s and Koch’s (Stone Brewery) finest brews. They told of their conjoined history (California-based Stone is the number-one distributor of Colorado-based Avery’s beers … betcha didn’t expect that) and of their experiments. My favorite beer of the sampling was Avery’s Brabant, a barrel-aged wild ale that had all of the horse-iness one desires in a barrel-aged wild ale. It was malty, tangy, and surprisingly drinkable for its 9.3% ABV.

Above: Adam Avery (on right) and Greg Koch

I luckily was able to sneak into the tasting next door for a quick nip, and as if blessed by providence it was Tomme Arthur from Lost Abbey and Vinnie Cilurzo from Russian River. I had just one sip of Lost Abbey’s Cuvée de Tomme, a sour Belgian-style 12% ale, which was both enough and not enough. Enough because I just needed one taste to get sour cherries, whisky, vanilla oak, raisins, dates, and a punishingly thick mouthfeel. Not enough because I wanted more, more, more.

I considered myself primed for the main floor of the event at this point, and went exploring. Breweries from all across the country, many of which I’d never gotten to sample before, were laid out throughout the Building Museum like ripe blackberries, plump for sampling. I tried a handful of saisons, the new “in” beer (even Capitol City Brewery had one), a few English bitters, and enough overhopped IPAs to overwhelm even the hopheadiest of hopheads. I got to meet some fellow Vermonters – my beloved Rock Art Brewery was present, pouring a double IPA and a hefty barleywine.

The food pairings were various and plenty, though perhaps of not the highest quality. Crabcake slider buns were dry though their insides were flavorful; skewered beef was well cooked but not too interesting. The cheese selection was wonderful and well-paired. The high point of the food was the raw oyster bar – an ingenious addition to the night. Two-inch long oysters with sherry vinegar and shallots? Perfect – no stout needed.

The night would have been worth it for the oysters, or the samples of Russian River’s Consecration Ale, or seeing the throngs of people surrounding the gregarious Calagione. One highlight, though, stood out – speaking with Ken Grossman, the founder of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and the undisputed superhero of craft brewing. Mr. Grossman was homebrewing back in mid-1960s, 10 years before Jimmy Carter signed a law legalizing it. He told me about the early years of homebrewing, before you could go down to your local homebrew store and pick out your yeast, malt, and hops. Back then he would drive from California up to Washington state, where hops grew, and brought them back for himself and the small group of early homebrewers in the area to use. I was humbled and charged by his early dedication to the art of beer, and I am happy to continue in the tradition of homebrewing 50 years later.

All in all, the event was wonderful – enough food, beer, and company to round out a successful DC Craft Beer Week. Next year I won’t be so nervous. I can go in expecting more of the same: fascinating conversation, raw oysters, and enough new beers to send me home inebriated and inspired.

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