Dayton Ale Fest 2012

Can't believe how quickly this year has gone.  It feels like only the blink of an eye, yet it's time for Dayton's Alefest once again.  

'Nother year, 'nother glass

Last year we knew not the wisdom of those who had come before us, and were without pretzel-garb.  Not this year, no sir.  

Pretzel necklaces are an essential part of maintaining stamina

It's not a bad setup at the Dayton Alefest.  It's bottle-pours as opposed to tapped kegs, which is no big deal to me. I'd rather not have double or triple the wait outside.  

However, it was mid-nineties and broiling hot under the cloudless sky.  More tents would have been nice.  One of our friends is sporting a lobstery-red glow for the next few days thanks to minimal relief from the sun.  

Even so, the lines were nowhere near as long as they were at the Cincy Winter Beerfest.  Many lines seemed longer than they were because after a moment you would discover that the people before you weren't in line, they were merely hiding from the sun.  

But everyone was so darn nice, jovial, which is as it should be.  We're all just here to have fun, right?

O-Town's Menu :

Spaten Dunkel : Win

Konig Ludwig Weiss Hefeweizen : Win  

Hinterland Bock : Win (a bit too sweet to drink overmuch)

Wychwood Hobgoblin : Win (I knew this, and should have tried the Wychcraft.  Alas, I lacked good decision-making skills whilst inebriated)

Bell's Oberon : Win (I knew this too.  Continued bad decision-making)

Rockmill Tripel : Win

Something from the Brooklyn Brewery, maybe the Sorachi Ace... I can't remember : Good

New Holland Beerhive Tripel : Really special win 

Troeg's Troegenator Double Bock : Really special win

 

 Southern Tier Pumking : god-awful.  Smelled like a cheap seasonal autumn candle, which is sort of nice.  Sadly, it tasted like it too, which is less than nice.

Just like last year, a good time was had by all at the Dayton Ale Fest.  For a lightweight like myself though its a great opportunity to get a sippy-cup-sized taste test of many brews at one location.  Price of admission was somewhat high, seventy for the two of us.  That's nothing to sneeze at, and for my husband, it may prove to be prohibitive.  

This year's list is shorter because we got there an hour late this year (Had to help out at the old job Saturday morning) plus it was an hour shorter than last year.  I wonder why...