Homebrew Rendevous 97
The American Homebrew Association held their annual
gathering in Cleveland. This includes their annual brewing contest, a trade show, and
classes on brewing taught by industry experts. I saw Michael Jackson, Charlie Papazian,
and others. I took classes on hops, grain, gadgets, off flavors, judging, and others. Of
course, since we're at a beer conference we tried out many local pubs.
The Great Lakes Brewing Co
Thanks to a friend with connections I had the pleasure of
sampling The Edmund Fitzgerald Porter bottled by the Great Lakes Brewing Co. in Cleveland,
OH. The E.F. Porter is a medium bodied porter with a nice roasted flavor. The malt is well
balanced with hops for a slight hops aroma. This is clearly the best porter I've tasted
and true to the classic style it is not as heavy as most porters. Their bottled beers are
not distributed widely, but are reportedly available in Dayton. I'm thinking road trip to
Cleveland!
The label features a photo of the Edmund
Fitzgerald in a severe thunderstorm. The beer takes its name from a ship that sank in a
storm on Lake Superior near Whitefish Bay, MI. You might recall the Gordon Lightfoot song
in honor of the ship and its crew who all went down with the ship.
Great Lakes was awarded a gold medal at the
Great American Beer Festival for their E.F. Porter in 1991 and 1993. The E.F. Porter was
also named the 1994 World Champion Porter by the Beverage Testing Institute. Additionally,
Great Lakes took home a silver medal for their Peerless Pilsner at the 1995 GABF.
Once I finally got to visit the pub, I had
the E.F. Porter on draft with a plate of bratwurst and perogies. An excellent match of
food and beer. The pub is in an old warehouse, which provides a great atmosphere. |
Firehouse
I understand the Firehouse has closed it's doors. They were
located in Cleveland Heights in a old fire station. This was a great location with some
outdoor seating. They specialized in German style beers and had a great Berliner Weisse.
The Berliner was served with woodruff syrup which gives you green beer!
I had thier Irish Red and Settlers Ale. Both were good. The
settlers is a hoppy amber. The Irish Red was smooth and malty with a creamy head.
Diamondback
This is a huge downtown brewpub that looks like a college
party bar. It's a huge multi-level place with a booming sound system. They have good beer,
I tried the brown and pale.
Wallaby's
I didn't make it to this pub, but I sampled their beer at
the show. They specialize in cask conditioned ales and they were truly wonderful.
Church Works
These guys are actually located in Pennsylvania, but were at
the show in Cleveland. They had a pale ale that was to die for. |
