posted by Jack
As the Central European member of this Brew club, I assigned myself the important and daunting responsibility of attending the 1st annual Főzdefeszt (Brewfest) in Budapest on Saturday. The festival was actually billed as a craft-beer festival, with a number of Hungarian "brewers" represented. In Budapest a craft-beer brewer is generally a partner in a restaurant, and the actual product is only available if you visit the restaurant. The advance information on the website (www.fozdefeszt.hu) stated that eighteen Hungarian breweries would be represented, as well as a few "outsiders" from Austria, Germany, and Czech Republic.
The festival was held downtown in a string of three city squares stretching along about five blocks. All of the breweries sold their wares from the typical shacks or cabins that are erected for weekend festivals. The atmosphere of these outdoor festivals is difficult to describe: lots of people in a good mood, the smells of roasting meat and other culinary delights in the air, hundreds of festival-goers strolling down the street, and the pervading feeling that we are here to enjoy something unique and good. With others who like beer.
I dutifully did my homework, using the website to choose beers that I would enjoy trying. Typically those that are not available from your supermarket beer section. Because we get a steady diet of pilsners here from the local big breweries, I created a list of ales and the stouts to try. When I left the apartment I had twenty-one beers on my list. I was hoping that the vendors were selling "tastes" as opposed to large portions, as I was not sure that I could scientifically sample twenty-one beers if they came in large portions. Fortunately I was in the company of four or five others, so we could buy different beers and taste each other's.
Justin and I arrived at 3:45 and scoped out the venue, walking from one end to the other. It was rather chilly, windy and 55˚. We were able to find where each of the breweries had set up. Then, for the next six hours we sampled, ate, hung out, and sampled some more, walking back and forth from one end to the other. I actually tasted sixteen brews with the help of my friends (and lots of greasy food in between!).
The highlights:
Korty, a beer fermented (and sweetened) with Tokaji wine, a very sweet dessert wine.
Bauer Dracula, an 11% stout
Bauer Caramel-Cherry Stout, 8%
Grabanc IPA, my festival favorite, 5.2%, hopped with Cascade and Chinook hops
Bitter Honey, 6.5 %
a double millet which was very good
Hofstettner Russian Stout, 8.1%, this was very good
B-27, by Kaltenecker, the most expensive at $4.50 for four ounces. This was a dark ale, 10.5%
Enjoy the pictures! I hope to get this responsibility again!
I enjoyed the guest post, Dad.
ReplyDelete