108 Beer Bloggers descend on Boulder, CO…
What a great weekend of lectures, tastings, tours, and discussions based on the original nectar of the gods (brewing is older than wine!) The crowd was as diverse as the brews… hailing from every corner of the United States (with one hearty soul from the UK!) – and all coming together to celebrate the love of craft beer.
Not just any beer mind you – but craft beer of all shapes, sizes, styles, flavors, colors, origins, recipes, and secrets! It was amazing to listen to so many words about beer, yet the “B” word (Budweiser) was nary a mention. One attendee, who worked for Coors for many years, hastened to mention the term “Coors” at least 10 times during the various lectures, but it seemed to be more to let everyone know that he had worked for a big brewer than to mention any particular mega-bland brewery. (Or perhaps there was a contest where Coors was the secret word of the day?)
Taste… did we!
There were many highlights of the weekend for me! These included the “Night of Many Beers” (attendees brought craft brew samples from near and far to share on Friday night) and the “Beer Blogging” (ala the 5 minute speed dating with brewers showing off their talents instead of guys/gals! Now if we added shoes to the mix – I know this is a sexist comment but whatever… – it would be my ideal way to spend a date!) There were so many styles and flavors that I will need to spend many evenings doing research to get up to speed of the experts at the conference. How to do so and also keep up my girlish figure is going to be a challenge. (Sidenote: The idea of drinkers with a running problem like the “hash house harriers” is sounding more attractive all the time.)
Hmmm… that leads me to the thought – could there be some future success with a beer diet? Perhaps not as a formally published method, but as long as I cut my overall calories consumed (that’s the key to losing weight) it should work! And maybe it would even change the metabolic mix if a higher percentage comes from healthy fruit and wheat/barley/hops food groups. (Note to self: do research to see if I can lose weight on the “beer diet”!)
With fellow attendee Rick at #BBC10
An early morning network news program last week cited 1600 craft breweries in the USA alone, with many micro and craft brewers emerging in Canada and throughout the world (Japan is an emerging craft brew market making significant strides!)
And with such an explosive growth comes a plethora of experimentation and explosion of distinctive flavors. I was amazed at some of the remarkable and non-traditional ingredients that today’s brewers are testing in their brews. Just a couple of days ago, I read an article about the Sam Adams Brewery partnering with a leading chef to add beef hearts as a final ingredient to a new brew. Not my style or preference (I can imagine it will be a dark Oktoberfest type of beer) – but interesting at least. And as any smart marketer knows, publicity is publicity especially when it comes from negative comments by the SPCA!
The Beer Bloggers Conference (BBC) in 2011 will be in Portland Oregon somewhere around June-August 2011. In the meantime, I can’t wait to get more posts up and more experience with Florida and beyond craft brews. Watch for updates on the local, U.S., and international scene as I drink my way around the world (and I don’t mean at Epcot!)
To your good health, cheers!
Until the next pint,
The unOfficial beer goddess.
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MicroBrews USA 
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