The 8th annual festival wouldn't start until 11:00 AM on Friday February 17, and there were already a dozen people in line at 8:45. Reports came in that the guy in front had been there since 6:50.

We ate a hearty breakfast around the corner at Jimmy's Restaurant, then got in line at 9:45 behind about 50 people. Giddy with anticipation, we perused copies of the beer list and wrote our selections on cards that we would later hand to servers in order to get our beer samples, and before we knew it we were admitted. The first several dozen of us were treated to free samples from a 9-liter bottle of Stillwater Artisanal Ales "As Follows", a nice saison that brewer Brian Strumke aged for a grand total of 12 days beside his heater.

Within minutes the drinking began as members of several Baltimore-area homebrew clubs, including CRABS, Cross Street Irregulars, Wootown Brewers, and BaltiBrew, proceeded to partake of most of the 100+ tap and many of the 200+ bottle selections. BaltiBrew got the private Lancaster Room upstairs while the other clubs congregated in the newly renovated downstairs.

Upstairs.	Downstairs.

Here is a mostly accurate list of what I sampled. There were certainly a few errors due to both patrons and servers losing track of what was what in all the commotion.

1. New Belgium La Folie
2. Tilquin Gueuze, a relative newcomer, was nicely lactic and very popular
3. De Dolle Dulle Teve
4. Chimay Cinq Cents
5. De Glazen Toren Saison d'Erpe-Mere
6. a malty beer whose identity escaped us
7. Struise Pannepot Reserva 2005
8. Struise Pannepot Reserva 2008
9. Struise Pannepot Grande Reserva
10. Dupont Monk Stout
11. Dupont Posca Rustica
12. De Glazen Toren Canaster Wooden Barrel
13. Dupont La Biere de Beloeil
14. Mort Subite Kriek
15. Kerkom Bink Blossom
16. Van Steenberge Gulden Draak 9000 Quad
17. Alvinne Kerasus
18. Jandrain Jandrenouille IV Saison
19. Saint Helene Misinguett
20. Rodenbach Grand Cru
21. Liefmans Goudenband (bottle)
22. Van Steenberge de Garre Tripel
23. Scheldebrouwerij de Zeezupier
24. Alvinne Morpheus Wild Undressed was quite good
25. Strubbe Labbic X (bottle) was a nice gueuze
26. Cantillon Mamouche (bottle)
27. Cantillon Kriek (bottle)
28. Cazeau Saison (bottle)
29. Dupont Avec Les Bons Voeux
30. Oud Beersel Framboise
31. Cantillon Fou Foune 2011 was a nice peche
32. Malheur 12 Bourbon Barrel
33. Alvinne Morpheus Wild Undressed Monbazillac
34. Hofbrouwerijke Hofblues
35. Allagash Mattina Rossa (bottle) was very musty. "Mattina Rossa" means "red morning", not the other thing some pervs told us it meant.
36. Dilewyns Vicaris Triple (bottle)
37. Dubuisson Scaldis Peche Noel
38. Troubadour Obscura
39. Smisje Calva Reserva
40. Cantillon Iris 2007 (bottle) was a very nice gueuze
41. De la Senne Taras Boulba
42. Abbaye des Rocs Grand Cru
43. Fantome Hiver (bottle)
44. Achilles Serafijn Grand Cru
45. Duvel Tripel Hop (bottle)
46. Brouwerij Riva Lucifer (bottle)
47. Van Steenberge Monk's Café Flemish Red
48. Orval (bottle)
49. Trappiste Rochefort 6 (bottle)
50. Cantillon Lou Pepe 2008 (bottle)
51. Cantillon Saint Lamvinus (bottle)
52. Westmalle Triple (bottle)
53. Stillwater Bronze Age (bottle)
54. Stillwater Of Love and Regret (bottle)
55. Alvinne Morpheus Wild with Blue Boskoop Grapes was nice
56. De Ranke Saison Dottignies
57. Hanssens Oude Kriek (bottle)
58. Alvinne Gaspar (bottle)
59. Alvinne Melchior (bottle)
60. Drie Fonteinen Doesjel (bottle) was excellent
61. De Troch Lambrucha (bottle)
62. Ecaussines Ultra Brune
63. Brouwkot Manten (bottle)
64. De Proef Jessenhofke Triple
65. A Vapeur Saison de Pipaix (bottle)
66. Van Steenberge Ertvelde Wit
67. Silenrieux Noel de Silenrieux
68. Jandrain Jandrenouille VI Wheat
69. Jandrain Jandrenouille V Cense
70. Timmermans Oude Gueuze (bottle) was very nice
71. Duvel
72. De Dolle Oerbier Special Reserva 2010 was nice
73. De Proef Flemish Primitive
74. T'Gaverhopke Singing Blonde was nice

I beat out the previous year's Friday sampling by two beers. Woohoo! It's great to achieve goals!

I can't remember what time I left. I could have been 4:00. It could have been 7:30. Definitely somewhere in that timeframe. I think. A friend of Brent's drove us out of the city.

Saturday February 18. For the second year in a row, Brian Strumke, maker of Stillwater Artisanal Ales, held a private tasting upstairs an hour before the festival began. Beer enthusists, both professional and amateur, enjoyed casks of Brian's "As Follows". One was dry-hopped and the other was aged in French oak.

I was very fortunate to try a number of great homebrews brought in by Jason, and commercial brews not available in Maryland brought in by Mark (who drove in from Ohio). Selections included:

1. Goose Island Lolita (aged in a barrel with Brettanomyces and raspberries)
2. Jason's Cabernet lambic, which was wonderful
3. Jason's saison
4. Bell's Hop Slam
5. Columbus IPA
6. Jason's Merlot lambic 2008
7. Founders Double Trouble
8. Jolly Pumpkin La Parcela No. 1 Pumpkin Ale

	Mark mugging with a random hot chick.

I also got to try two not-for-sale beers brought by a distributor from Scottish brewery Williams Brothers Brewing Company:

1. Alba (made with spruce and pine and aged in a whisky cask)
2. another beer, aged in cherry/scotch barrels

1. Stillwater Artisanal Ales Rule of Thirds
2. Stillwater Artisanal Ales Kopstootje paired with Bols Gevever (Dutch gin)
3. De Dochter Van de Korenaar Belle Fleur
4. Slaapmutske Hop Collection Kent Golding
5. Saison Dupont
6. De Dolle Dulle Teve
7. Rodenbach Grand Cru (bottle)

I also tried some Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey that a random hot chick (pictured above) ordered.

Memorable quotes of the weekend:

"It smells like good vomit."
"This tastes like a dead fish."
"It's good. I don't know what the hell it is."