Friday February 14. Drove to Jason and Lisa's house where I met Jason, Chuck (author of the Belgian Beer Specialist website), and Brian (master brewer of Stillwater Artisanal Ales). Lisa was working and would meet us downtown later. We Ubered to Fells Point and checked out the line at Max's. At 8:10 there were only 2 people, and they hadn't arrived until around 8:00 (there have been years when people have gotten in line as early as 6:00). We then went next door to Jimmy's for breakfast.

Me, Jason, Chuck, and Brian.

Several members of the Cross Street Irregulars (CSI) homebrew club eventually joined us (they do an annual pre-festival breakfast). The four of us went to Max's before the other folks because Brian was to give a presentation at 9:00 and they let the other three us go in with him. Brian went upstairs to do his thing while Chuck, Jason, and I hung out downstairs for two hours. We had no access to beer until the festival began at 11:00, but at least we didn't have to wait outside in the cold, plus we were able to save a large table in the front room for the roughly 10 other folks who would be joining us. Here are the photos I took while the place was still mostly empty.

Another advantage of getting in early was that we got our first beer orders in right when the festival started, before the horde came in. Eventually we were joined by the rest of our group, many of who had attended an RaR Brewing event at 10:00. There were also several CSI folks in the middle room. And so the drinking commenced. We all ordered and shared beers for several hours. Here are the beers I sampled, with my usual disclaimer of not guaranteeing accuracy:

1. Cantillon Fou Foune (great gueuze; the first keg to kick)
2. Oud Beersel Bersalis Triple Oak Aged
3. De Brabandere Petrus Aged Pale Single Foeder (great sour ale)
4. De la Senne Saison de Meyboom
5. De la Senne Taras Boulba
6. Dupont Moinette Blond
7. Kazmatten Saison Baksteenwinkel
8. De Dolle Oerbier
9. Dupont Saison
10. Tilquin Oude Geuze
11. Cantillon Lambic de D'Aunis (bottle; nice)
12. De Dolle Still Nacht 2015 (nice)
13. Piraat Ale (bottle)
14. St. Bernardus Barrel Aged Abbey Sour
15. RaR Out of Order: Grape Cotton Candy (sour with lactose, red grapes, and cotton candy; quite good)
16. Val Dieu Cuvee 800
17. RaR Uncle Monk's Road Trip (peanut butter / chocolate stout)
18. RaR Puck Face: Blue Raspberry Sour (green-colored sour beer)
19. Silly Scotch de Silly Pinot Noir Barrel Aged
20. RaR Lumber Sexual (nice hazy IPA)
21. Huyghe Delirium Black (aged in Buffalo Trace barrels)
22. De Proef / Surly Zwart Black Star
23. RaR Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake
24. De la Senne Zenne Pils
25. Cantillon Magic Ghost (nice fruit gueuze; from bottle at bar under the stairs)
26. Tilquin Oude Mure Rullquin
27. De Brabandere Petrus Cherry Chocolate
28. Girardin Gueuze
29. Huyghe Mongozo Banana (nice and banana-y)
30. 3 Fonteinen Hommage (great gueuze with sour cherries and raspberries; bottle)
31. Cantillon 50°N - 4°E (bottle)
32. De la Senne Imperial Donkey (bottle)
33. Oud Beersel Oude Vieux Faro (bag-in-a-box still lambic)
34. Achouffe Cherry Chouffe (very good cherry beer)
35. De Glazen Toren Jan De Lichte
36. Westmalle Dubbel
37. Caracole Saxo
38. Geuze Boon Vat 91 (bottle; nice)
39. Geuze Boon Vat 92 (bottle; nice)
40. Geuze Boon Vat 110 (bottle; nice)
41. Brussels Beer Project Babylone
42. Duvel Single
43. Dubuisson Scaldis Triple
44. Val Dieu Triple (bottle; see me drinking it in photo below)
45. Cantillon Mamouche (bottle)

Chuck, Jason, and I walked to Ale Mary's sometime between 4 and 5 PM. They drank a couple of Orvals. I was too beered out to drink more.

Then we walked to Ministry of Brewing, which had just opened a few weeks earlier. It's located in the former St. Michaels Church. Lisa was there when we arrived. Again, I was too beered out to drink so I can't tell you how good the beer was. I did get some photos though.

Lisa drove us to Hudson Street Stackhouse, where we all got food and the three of them got beer.

Then we all returned to Jason and Lisa's house, where I hadn't planned on drinking but they opened several great beers so I was compelled to join them. There could have been more than the ones listed but I don't remember.

1. Lindemans Cuvée Lambikstoemper 2019
2. Sierra Nevada Barrel Aged Torpedo
3. 3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze Golden Blend (excellent; my favorite beer of the day)
4. Westvleteren 12

We partied until after 1:00 AM. What a great day.

Saturday February 15. I slept for only two hours, which is not uncommon for me. I lay on the couch trying unsuccessfully to get back to sleep. Finally I left shortly before 5:30. At home I worked on this web page and emptied my system of the large amounts of food I'd consumed the previous day.

At 9:00 my friend Amanda picked me up and we went to Max's for the 10^th annual Stillwater tasting in the upstairs bar. Brian was celebrating the 10^th anniversary of releasing unique craft brews. His first beer, Stateside Saison, was released in February 2010. We sat with friends and sampled:

1. Stillwater/Aslin Recess (nice dry-hopped sour with raspberries)
2. Stillwater Insetto (dry-hopped sour with Italian plums)
3. Stillwater Searching For (12% ABV oak aged imperial stout with Sangiovese grapes)
4. Oxbow Vernacular (mixed fermentation barrel aged farmhouse ale)
5. Oxbow Space Cowboy
6. Oxbow Liquid Swords
7. Stillwater Extra Dry
8. Stillwater/Oliver Double Mocha Affogato (nitro)
9. Oxbow Wild 2015/2016 (bottle; nice)
10. Oxbow Plum Synth (not good)

Then we all went downstairs, where we joined some CRABS folks. It wasn't crowded at all initially, but got crowded as the day went on. We sampled the following (you will note that several were repeats from Friday):

1. Kazematten Grotten Sante
2. Stillwater Gose Gone Wild
3. RaR Chillin' in My Mommy Jams
4. RaR Puck Face
5. Val Dieu Triple
6. Aslin Locker 18
7. Achouffe Cherry Chouffe (very good cherry beer)
8. De Halve Maan Brugse Zot
9. De Ranke Franc Belge
10. 3 Fonteinen Intense Red (bottle)
11. Oud Beersel Schaarbeekse Oude Kriek
12. Cantillon Magic Ghost (nice fruit gueuze; from bottle at bar under the stairs)
13. Van Steenberge Wit
14. Stillwater Extra Dry
15. Huyghe Campus
16. Bosteels Tripel Karmeliet
17. Dubuisson Scaldis Triple
18. Huyghe Mongozo Banana (nice and banana-y)
19. Maredsous Brune
20. Huyghe Floris Framboise
21. Girardin Gueuze Lambic
22. Caracole Saxo
23. De Ranke Hop Harvest
24. De Dolle Oerbier
25. Westmalle Dubbel
26. Val Dieu Grand Cru
27. Hanssens Experimental Raspberry (cask)
28. Hanssens Schaarbeekse Kriekenlambic (cask)
29. Hanssens Oude Lambic (cask)
30. De Dolle Still Nacht
31. Achouffe McChouffe
32. Kerkom Bink Blond (bottle)
33. Oxbow Liquid Swords
34. Oxbow Grisette
35. Stillwater Kung Pao
36. De Brabandere Kwaremont Blonde
37. De Brabandere Petrus Quad (nitro)
38. De Dolle Bos Keun
39. Het Anker Lucifer
40. Huyghe Artevelde Grand Cru
41. Huyghe Villers Triple
42. Oxbow Sticazzi
43. Rodenbach Grand Cru
44. Oxbow Lobretta
45. De Glazen Toren Jan De Lichte
46. Key Chaos Dimension
47. Fantôme Pissenlit (bottle)
48. De Halve Maan Straffe Hendrik Brugs Triple
49. De Proef / Surly Zwart Black Star
50. Dupont Avec Les Bons Voeux
51. Huyghe Artevelde Grand Cru
52. Huyghe Delirium Black
53. Huyghe Floris Passionfruit (nice)
54. Oud Beersel Bersalis Triple Oak Aged
55. RaR Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake
56. RaR Out of Order: Grape Cotton Candy (sour with lactose, red grapes, and cotton candy; quite good)
57. RaR Puck Face
58. RaR We All Float
59. St Bernardus Abt 12 Barrel Aged Sour
60. Silly Scotch de Silly Pinot Noir Barrel Aged
61. Oxbow Plum Synth
62. Achel (bottle)
63. Geuze Boon Black Label (bottle)

Amanda and I left around 5:30. On the way to the car we stopped at Bertha's just to look around.

I don't remember much after that. Obviously Amanda took good care of me, which is how I survived to write this.

Monday February 17. After taking Sunday off I was ready to go back for Sour Monday. I drove to my friend Dominic's and he drove us up there. It was quite crowded when we arrived around noon. We ran into several friends. Most of the sours on tap were made in the U.S. There were also plenty of Belgian bottles. We hung out in the back room (also called the side bar) and shared samples with other folks.

1. Ordinem Ecentrici Coctores Oud Tempus #1 2017 (sour blend aged in Sangiovese and red wine barrels)
2. Wicked Weed / Boxing Dragon Sour Dragon 2018 (barrel aged sour with dragonfruit and salted plums)
3. Bruery / Garage Project Foreign Bodies (barrel aged sour with nectarines and loganberries)
4. 3 Stars Beyond Thunderdoom (sour lager aged on cherries)
5. Oxbow Uvalore (barrel aged farmhouse ale with Leon Millot grapes)
6. Huyghe Mongozo Coconut
7. 3 Fonteinen Zwet.Be (Belgian porter with wild yeast; bottle)
8. Dewey Secret Machine Raspberry Peach Marshmallow
9. Dewey Secret Machine Blackberry Raspberry Blueberry
10. Dewey Secret Machine Strawberry Lime
11. Dewey Secret Machine Cherry Blackberry Pie
12. Dewey Secret Machine Cherry Vanilla
13. Ordinem Ecentrici Coctores Artista: Zynergia Orenji #2 (with yuzu oranges)
14. 3 Stars Maximum Overdrive (aged in white wine barrels)
15. Ordinem Ecentrici Coctores Clavis Purpura #3
16. Ommegang Super Kriek
17. Duvel (bottle)
18. Allagash/Commonwealth Toji (bottle)
19. De Leite Fils á Papa 5 (bottle)
20. Free Will My Cherry Amore
21. Sapwood Cellars Passion Fruit Popper (sour pale ale with passionfruit, Lactobacillus, and Conan yeast)
22. American Solera Foederville (can)
23. Duvel Single (can)

By 3:00 we'd sampled enough. And so ended yet another great Max's Belgian Beer Fest.