I knocked off another entry on the All About Beer Growler List — The World Beer Fest … this one in Raleigh, NC.  During this trip we hit a couple of other great locations … in a later post.

The World Beer Fest is sponsored by All About Beer Magazine … I’m sure no conflict of interest in terms of the Growler List <smile>.  However, in fairness, this was a great event!  Reading through the World Beer Fest 2011 Guide you can see there were about 110 breweries and over 300 beers!  My friend Brian and I went through a dynamic selection process deciding which beers to try and which to skip.  We basically went for 1) local beers we couldn’t find elsewhere and 2) specialty beers from breweries with which we were already familiar.   We both put a pretty big dent in our lists — I sampled 60, Brian made it to 63.  Keep in mind that the tasting glass was a 2 oz glass … and (I know, gasp) we both poured out the ones we didn’t really care for … and there were several of those.

A brewery we did care for and was our favorite was FullSteam Brewing.

Every one of their beers we tried (it was 5 I think) were excellent!  They had one made from sweet potatoes.  There was one called Hogwash Hickory-smoked Porter.  These guys smoke their own barley.  Nice … If you are in the area, give their pub/beer a visit!  Here’s a photo we took at their “booth.”  Check out one of the owners photo-bombing in the background! LOL!

Because we were in a park under some tents the weather “can” interrupt the festivities.  It started pouring halfway through the evening and flooded one of the tents (see pics).  It didn’t stop the crowd (see other pics).

Great beer in a great venue … all for $40 … worth it!  Oh, and if you wanted another reason to go (guys) — think major universities in the area (UNC, Duke), short shorts and boots!

Enjoy!

Beer Mentor