Bell's Brewery Event

Though there was really no food involved, I consider a beer tasting event (of sorts) qualifies for my “Food and Travel Monday” since it was held at a place that does serve food.  I suppose that I could also justify it as travel post since we had to drive a whole fifteen minutes to get there.  Either way this is what you are getting from me today!

Around midday Saturday as I was attempting to completely cover myself in paint while working around the house, The Wife was reminded via Twitter of a “meet the brewer” type event going on that evening.  The Brew Crew was hosting a meet and greet with Larry Bell (Bell’s Brewery) at the Eola Wine Company in Winter Park.  With the promise of some special beers on tap and that we would be seeing our friends Emily and Ian, I was glad to clean myself up in time to get there.

The tap handles that would provide the flight. (Thank you Emily!)

Though I was familiar with a few beers from Bell’s, there are far more that I have never tried so it was an easy decision to go for the flight of six that was on draft for the evening. I did actually take a few notes as I was tasting, really only to decide how I would rank the beers in the end and for what I may want to try again sometime.  With that quickly out of the way, I was able to enjoy the flight and the company.

The parties shall remain nameless.

Since I have somehow misplaced my notes, it is fortunate that I can remember how I put them in order after sampling all six.  The order that I drank the samples was . . . Double Cream Stout, Amber Ale, Barleywine, Hopslam, Sparkling Ale, Two Hearted Ale.

A shot of my long lost notes.

The top two to me were clearly the Double Cream Stout and the Hopslam.  They were both very nice and since they are completely different I settled on a decision of a tie for the top spot.  After that the next rung on the ladder was definitely the Barleywine.  Beyond that the other three were clearly a tier below and I could make the argument of a tie between them.  The Amber Ale was OK, but that is just a style that never does much for me.  The Sparkling Ale and the Two Hearted Ale suffered a bit from lack of carbonation for whatever reason.  With that, I will just call it a tie for first, a clear second, and a three way tie for third.  See how I make up the rules as I go along?

The Wife got an action shot.

It was no surprise that Larry Bell was extremely nice (based on our short conversation) and it was an excellent outing for a few hours on a Saturday evening.  I certainly encourage anyone to take advantage of an opportunity to try some good beers and meet some good beer people when given the chance.