EAT before you go, avoid the temptation of diving in and drinking on an empty stomach. This will almost certainly ensure your early departure from the event and besides you don’t want to be remembered as “that guy who blew chow” Most festivals have food but the prices can be high (you already paid a bunch to get in the door) and the quality can be suspect. Besides you’re there for the beer. So eat a big before you go. Avoid spicy foods so you don’t destroy your palate before you have had a chance to taste that new eleventeen hopped, hop-rocket, quadruple IPA.

DRINK lots of water. I like to drink an ounce or two between each taster. Not only will this help cleanse your palate but it will help you stay hydrated and forces you to pace yourself. Be sure to bring your own water bottle just incase there isn’t a readily available water source.

Below you will find comments that I copied from my old blog format here.  They may be a year old but sound advice never ages!

13E.  American Stout

Examples:  Rogue Shakespeare Stout, Deschutes Obsidian Stout, Sierra Nevada Stout
Serving Temp: 45°- 50°
Glassware: Pint Glass, Mug

Aroma: Will be full of roasted malt, which gives it a coffee-like aroma.  There may also be hints of chocolate or cocoa as well as American grown hops.
Appearance: The beer will pour jet black and opaque with garnet highlights around the edges with a thick and a long lasting tan head.
Flavor: You can expect a lot of roasted malt flavors of burnt coffee or bittersweet chocolate.  The burnt flavors shouldn’t be unpleasant and are often quickly replaced by a much smoother and sweeter chocolate flavor.  Citrus or resiny hop flavors can be present.
Mouthfeel: You can expect a well-carbonated, medium to full bodied beer with a dry and slightly astringent finish due to the roasted barley that was used in the brewing.
Food Pairings: Cuisine: Barbecue. Cheese: buttery, earthy.  Dessert: chocolate. Meat: beef, shellfish, smoked, grilled, game.

HopHeadSaid: Beers in this beer style can span a wide range of body and flavors but this almost ensures you will find that perfect American stout to suit your tastes or food pairing.  I suggest pairing your favorite stout with a chocolate dessert.  The sweetness in the deserts will help balance the roasty flavors in the stout and the stout will keep the dessert from becoming to cloying.  The coffee-like roastieness is often a pleasant layer with sweets, as well. If desserts aren’t your thang, then try breakfast foods! Consider replacing your morning coffee with a stout, it has a similar flavor profile as the coffee and its carbonation will help to scrub those savory or sweet flavors off the palate.  I won’t even get into the slight warming sensation you get with the stout.

The key to this project is use what you already have because it will help keep expenses in check.  For my beer cave I started by reappropriating a section of garage shelving. As you can see, the beer cave frame and two of four beer cave walls have already been built for me. 

First step is to get everything out of the way.  From here we squared up the unit and used a couple of screws to hold it in place so it wouldn't shift on us.  Then we  located the studs in the back wall and drove 4" screws into them to secure the shelving unit to the wall.  There are 3 screws in each shelf bottom for a total of nine. 

After the shelving unit was secured we started insulating the back and the side walls with an additional two inches styrofoam insulation.  We cut it on the long side of the measurements and stuffed it into back spaces against the garage wall. If you cut the styrofoam just the right size you may have to use glue to keep the styrofoam in place. The very top shelf bottom was also insulated.  The left hand wall was just shy of 2" from the wall so the styrofoam fit in there nice and snug.  All in all we got really lucky that we didn't have to fuss around with any glue or fasteners.

The stars really did align for this project.  We found a custom sliding door that had been returned to Home Depot that was the exact height we needed AND we got it for cheap! However, we did have to build a door jam to center and anchor the sliding door into position. This was the most difficult part of the project and something I couldn't have done on my own. I thought a head, though, and waited until my talented carpenter dad was visiting so he could build the door jam for me.


The total out-of-pocket for this project was just over $200. The key to keeping it that cheap is use what you have already and enlist your carpenter family or friends to help you.
At some point I will build (and by I, I mean my Dad) some extra shelving to divide up the top two shelves and provide extra storage space.  I am also thinking of putting under-shelf baskets in the space above the kegs.  This will be a great place for me to keep my beer books and bar rags.

Style 8: English Pale Ale8C.  Extra Special/Strong Bitter 

Examples: Redhook ESB, Fuller’s ESB, Youngs Ram Rod, Bass Pale Ale, Morland Old Speckled Hen, Anderson Valley Boont ESB

Serving Temp: 45°- 50°
Glassware: Pint Glass, mug

Aroma: Hop aroma can range from low to high but will likely have a sawdust-like or earthy floral spice of traditional UK hops. Moderate caramel malt aroma and/or noticeable fruity esters will likely be present.
Appearance: The beer will pour clear, deep gold to copper with an off-white head.  Head size and density will vary depending on carbonation level – cask, nitro, force carbonated, etc.
Flavor: A pronounced bitterness will be balanced by a caramelly malt sweetness.  As the beer moves across the palate nutty or biscuity flavors may surface and mix with fruity esters.
Mouthfeel: These beers are generally medium bodied with low to medium carbonation.

Food Pairings: Cuisine: English, fried, roasted. Cheese: buttery (Gouda, Havarti, Swiss) Earthy (Blue, Brie, Winnemere) nutty (Asiago, Fontina, Parmesan). Meat: Pork, Game.

HopHeadSaid: These beers are great to pair with foods because their nutty/biscuity flavors resonate with many types of food but especially cheeses.  The earthy hop flavors also pair well with many cheeses and add a counterpoint to any residual sweetness or another layer interest that wasn’t there before.  Their medium intensity (flavor, body, alcohol) means their flavors won’t overpower many entrée’s and they can hold their own against all but the most intense foods or desserts.  In short – I guess I shoulda said this earlier- you can pair these beers with just about anything and not go wrong. 

Style 12: Porter
12B.  Robust Porter

Examples:  Anchor Porter, Sierra Nevada Porter, Great Divide Saint Bridget’s Porter, Deschutes Black Butte Porter
Serving Temp: 50°- 55°
Glassware: Pint Glass, Mug

Aroma: Roasty aroma should be noticeable may be pronounced with coffee and/or chocolate undertones.
Appearance: Pours a dark brown with garnet highlights with a fluffy tan head.
Flavor: Noticeable roasty malt flavors of strong coffee, dark chocolate or slightly burnt toast.  
Mouthfeel: Medium-full body that may finish drier because of roasty characters. Warming alcohol feeling may be present.

Food Pairings: Cuisine: barbecue, Mexican.  Cheese: earthy. Dessert: chocolate. Meat: beef, smoked meat, grilled meat.

HopHeadSaid: Robust porters are really easy to pair with food.  Their roasty notes resonate with grilled foods and their flavor intensities ensure they will hold their own in most pairings. Robust porters also pair well with many desserts.  Their roasty flavors help balance sweeter desserts while their dark chocolate/coffee flavors resonate well with chocolate desserts.

Style 10: American Ale
10C.  American Brown Ale

Examples: Indian Brown Ale, Bender, Moose Drool Brown Ale
Serving Temp: 40°- 45°
Glassware: Pint Glass, Mug

Aroma: Hints of sweet chocolate, caramel with toasted nuts are typical of this style.  Some American browns have pronounced hop aromas especially if they are dry hopped.
Appearance: Pours clear brown to dark brown with a light tan head.
Flavor:  Pronounced sweet malty flavors reminiscent of caramel and chocolate are balanced by elevated hop flavors and bitterness.
Mouthfeel:  Medium-full body that finish fairly dry due to the hops and elevated carbonation levels.

Food Pairings: Cuisine: Barbecue. Cheese: Earthy, Nutty. Meat: beef. Dessert: Chocolate.

HopHeadSaid:  I prefer American brown ales over English brown ales because of the elevated hop profiles. The hop profiles help balance the toasted caramely/chocolate sweetness keeping the beer refreshing without limiting the beer’s pairing ability. The assertive hop intensity means the malt flavors have to be increased making it a great pairing beer for grilled foods, assertive cheeses and chocolate desserts.

Style 6: Light Hybrid Beer
6B.  Blonde Ale

Examples: Shipyard Export Ale, Twilight ale,
Serving Temp: 40°- 45°
Glassware: Pint Glass, Mug

Aroma: Light hop and sweet aromas, fruity esters common. 
Appearance:  Pours a clear yellow to gold with a white head that has some staying power. 
Flavor: Light sweet bread flavors balanced beer. Hop bitterness is pronounced but the malt is the dominant flavor.
Mouthfeel:  A smooth, refreshing, medium bodied beer that finishes fairly dry.

Food Pairings: Italian cuisine, Middle Eastern cuisine, soft young cheeses with spicy hot peppers such as Monterey Jack.  Meat: poultry or fish.

HopHeadSaid: These are great hot summer day beers.  They are more flavorful than American lagers but comparable ABV’s so you can enjoy a few without much worry of overdoing it.  Blonde ales also pair well with food because their sweet malt flavors help to cut the spicy foods and their light flavor intensity ensures they won’t overpower any entrée. 

Style 6: Light Hybrid Beer
6A.  Cream Ale

Examples: Genesee Cram Ale, New Glarus Spotted Cow, Little Kings Cream Ale
Serving Temp: 40°- 45°
Glassware: Pint Glass, Mug
Aroma: Faint corn-like aroma, sweet with little or no hop aroma.
Appearance:  Pours a pale yellow to gold with brilliant clarity and a white head that recedes quickly.
Flavor: Neither hops nor malt stand out but it is balanced towards sweet instead of bitter. There will likely be a noticeable corn flavor present because corn (an adjunct used to lighten the body) was used in the brewing process.
Mouthfeel:  Generally a light and crisp, medium bodied beer with high carbonation but a smooth mouthfeel.

Food Pairings: Cheese: soft (Burratta, Havarti, Monterey Jack)  Meat: poultry or fish 

HopHeadSaid: Sensory speaking, I am corn sensitive.  I have a low tolerance for corn flavors and/or DMS (a chemical compound reminiscent of cooked corn, usually an off-flavor) and when they are present in my beer that is generally all I can focus on making it hard to enjoy any other flavors in these beers. So because these beers use corn as an ingredient it is hard for me to enjoy any of these beers.  That said … Spotted Cow by New Glarus is definitely my favorite of the cream ales.  It has been several years since I have enjoyed one but I don’t recall any corn flavors at all and as a matter of fact there was so little corn flavor I thought it was a wheat beer until I cross referenced it in the BJCP style guidelines. However, if you look you might be able to find flavored or spiced cream ales.  I found one that was Chai spiced and the corn sweetness paired well with the spice.  The spice also covered up any corny flavors and so I enjoyed the beer very much.