Max's Belgian Beer Fest 2014


Well the snow didn't keep the die-hards away. Snow or no snow, we had to have our Belgian beer.

Friday (which happened to be Valentines Day) began with the traditional Cross Street Irregulars breakfast at Jimmy's where a dozen of us filled our bellies with foodstuffs in order to slow the absorption of the beers to come. We then got in line at 9:30 a.m. -- an hour and a half before the festival began. There was a guy named Dave at the front of the line who had been there since 5 in the morning.

Dave

We were given beer lists so we could use the time to make our preliminary beer selections. Here is one half of the list.

Due to the snow, attendance was lighter for the 10th annual event than it had been in previous years, but that worked out just fine for us because we got served more quickly. We all pooled our resources by each purchasing many samples throughout the day and sharing them. Before reading my beer list, look at the photo below. There are more than 30 beers on the table, and see what all the guys are doing. The zombie apocalypse is upon us!

Okay, here are the beers I tried, in order.

  1. Struise Verdomme
  2. Struise / Three Floyds Shark Pants
  3. Bavik Pilaarbijter Triple Blonde
  4. Piraat Triple Hop
  5. Cantillon Iris
  6. De Ranke Saison de Dottignies
  7. Lupus Wolf 7
  8. Struise Rok Porter
  9. Tilquin Gueuze
  10. Het Anker Lucifer
  11. Freys Pussy Pilot Parade
  12. De Glazen Toren Ondineke
  13. Blaugies / Hill Farmstead La Vermontoise
  14. Alvinne Cuvee Freddy Zymatore
  15. Van Honsebrouck Gueuze Fond Tradition Kriek
  16. Het Nest Dead Man Hand
  17. Het Nest Alberetien
  18. Bockor Vanderghinste Oud Bruin
  19. Burley Oak / Max's / Dawson's 10
  20. Alvinne Wild West - a great gueuze
  21. Struise Black Damnation Black Berry Albert - a very good stout
  22. Struise Black Damnation Black Mes - a very good stout
  23. Blaugies Darbyste
  24. Burley Oak Wit it and Quit it
  25. Timmermans Blanche Lambicus
  26. Dupont Posca Rustica
  27. Lefebvre Barbar Bok
  28. Ter Dolen Kriek - very good
  29. A Vapeur Saison de Pipaix
  30. Burley Oak Bling
  31. Prearis Quadrupel
  32. Van Honsebrouck Gueuze Fond Tradition
  33. Bockor Oud Bruin
  34. Delirium Noel
  35. Struise Black Albert
  36. Geants Goliath
  37. Liefmans Goudenband
  38. Van Steenberge Gulden Draak (bourbon barrel)
  39. Timmermans Bourgogne de Flanders
  40. Duvel Single
  41. Lefebvre Barbar
  42. Alvinne Oak Bolleville (bottle)
  43. Bosteels Pauwel Kwak
  44. De Dolle Stille Nacht (gravity keg)
  45. Hof Ten Dormaal Blonde
  46. Hill Farmstead / Fantome Farmhouse Saison (bottle)
  47. Fantome 5 Sciences Beer (bottle)
  48. Oud Beersel Bzart (bottle)
  49. Van Eecke Hommel Bier (bottle)
  50. Drie Fonteinen Kriek
  51. Stillwater Artisanal Ales Of Love and Regret
  52. Dupont Redor Pils
  53. Lefebvre Mannekin Pils
  54. Milkhouse Petite Farmhouse - a nice beer
  55. Jandrain Jandrenouille
  56. St. Bernardus Abt 12
  57. Boon Kriek
  58. De Dolle Dulle Teve
  59. Gulden Draak 10.5 (bottle)

I'm not sure how accurate the list is because a few folks kept drowning me out. WARNING: The following audio bite is not fit for children or the workplace. Or anyone.

In addition to the main bar and the back bar, they had a mini bar set up under the staircase serving six beers that the other bars didn't have.

Afterward several of us went across the way for some great pizza at B.O.P. (Brick Oven Pizza). We then went home to give our livers a rest.


Saturday. For the 4th year in a row, my friend Brian Strumke, the gypsy brewer who makes Stillwater Artisanal Ales in breweries all over the planet, held a private tasting upstairs in the Mobtown Lounge. Featured was a 12-liter bottle of Decade, an ale he created to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the festival. Several of his other beers were available, including some of his collaboration ales. Many prominent members of the beer community were there, including the brewer of a new brewpub in DC called Right Proper, which makes sour ales. I stayed up there for about half the day, enjoying friends and the following beers.

  1. Stillwater Artisanal Ales Decade (bottle)
  2. Stillwater Artisanal Ales / Brewers Art Down Bar Door
  3. Stillwater Artisanal Ales / Oliver Ales Channel Crossing
  4. Stillwater Artisanal Ales / Hof Ten Dormaal Bronze Age
  5. Stillwater Artisanal Ales Hillman's Fable
  6. Stillwater Artisanal Ales As Follows
  7. Stillwater Artisanal Ales Why Can't IBU
  8. Stillwater Artisanal Ales Classique
  9. Stillwater Artisanal Ales Folklore
  10. Stillwater Artisanal Ales Bronze Age
  11. Propolis Erthe (bottle)
  12. Struise Smonk
  13. Right Proper Cedar Tip Saison
  14. Het Nest Kleveretien
  15. Struise Outback - a nice sour ale
  16. De Ranke XX Bitter
  17. Cigar City Hunahpu's Imperial Stout

Eventually I headed downstairs to try a number of bottled beers with some other friends.

  1. Rodenbach Caractere Rouge
  2. Timmermans Pumpkin
  3. Horal's Oude Geuze Megablend
  4. Lupus Wolf 9
  5. Oudenaarde Imperial Sour Ale
  6. Fantome Brise-BonBons
  7. Brouwers Verzet Oud Bruin
  8. Vanderghinst (formerly Bockor) Oud Bruin
  9. Beau Jardin Rougeberries
  10. St. Feuillien Belgian Coast IPA

As usual it was a great time and one to remember. I can't think of a better way to spend a day during the cold, gray weather. The festival ran for another two days, culminating on Monday with the 2nd annual Sour/Wild Ale Day.