>ROcÜZ\Y^OM^Ü>ROcÜZY_\Ü>ROcÜZK\^KUOÜ>ROcÜK\OÜ^ROÜWKXc KXNÜ^ROÜYXVcÜ8OaÜ,OVQS_WÜ,OO\Ü<KXQO\]ÜAOÜ]KV_^OÜ^ROS\ÜOPPY\^] SXÜ^ROÜPSOVNÜaS^RÜ^ROÜOb^\KRYZSXK\cÜ<KXQO\Ü3:+Ü>R\OOÜZY_XN]Ü ZO\ÜLK\\OVÜYPÜ=SWMYOÜ-RSXYYUÜKXNÜ-K]MKNOÜRYZ]ÜWKUOÜ^RS] ! 3,? L\Oa K ^RSXQ YP XK^_\KV LOK_^c =OOU Y_^ ^ROÜ ,OO\Ü<KXQO\ÜSXÜcY_\Ü^O\\S^Y\cÜK^ÜXOaLOVQS_WMYW 09498NBBRangerMag.indd 1 12/16/09 2:31:28 PM Now what? Okay, you’ve got your glass, you’re through the entrance and you’re staring at 300 beers. Now what? You hold in your hands an invaluable tool in your quest for the best beer expe- riences. Our job, believe it or not, is to provide you with the best educational WORLD BEER FESTIVAL STAFF experience and information, such that you can become a better beer consumer— exploring the world of beer, making better beer choices, teaching your friends all about beer. PRODUCER With a festival this ecumenical, you really can’t lose in your choice of a strate- Daniel Bradford gy. The only way you can lose is by sticking with the old stand-by, the favorite of all favorites, for the night. That’s like going to a packed party and just talking with ASSISTANT PRODUCER Steve Winegar your BFF. Safe, but missing the whole point. No, you need a strategy. First things first, Grasshopper. Get to the closest booth with the least amount EVENT MANAGER of lines. Hand over your glass and ask to taste whatever beer the person behind Ola Nilbrink the booth likes best, and then, ask them why. This is called breaking the ice. You’re finally at the fest and you have a great beer in your hands. BEER COORDINATOR Now, stand back and give the next few hours of your life some careful Angela Campbell thought. You’re in a room with a few hundred beers and, no, you can’t taste them all. Not an option. Physically impossible. Plus we’ll get upset with you ALL ABOUT BEER MAGAZINE EDITOR and probably throw you out. However, there are a number of simple and EDUCATION COORDINATOR strategies to employ that will maximize your enjoyment, and at least one Julie Johnson of them will be just right for you. Let’s assume you have a favorite beer or beer style. This is the easiest ACCOUNT MANAGER approach. Flip to the back of this Beer Guide and look up your favorite Amy Dalton beer or one that you know is like it, and see what style it is. Next, run ADVERTISING & SPONSORSHIP through the beer listings in the back and find the other beers that are OPPORTUNITIES in that style, check them off and start your hunt. Not too shabby— Rob Ulick and everyone will be impressed that you’re on a mission. Of course, the opposite is equally fun. Chase down bunches of ALL ABOUT BEER MAGAZINE beers in styles that you’re not very familiar with. Brown ales or porters MANAGING EDITOR new to you? Chase the different interpretations of those styles from the Greg Barbera wide range of breweries at the fest. Which reminds me, yet a third strategy would be to follow a flavor that ALL ABOUT BEER MAGAZINE you might like. Enjoy the fruitiness of lambics? Look in the style directory for CIRCULATION MANAGER other styles in that vein and check out the beer list for beers in those styles. Patrick Morrison Back and forth through the book and you’ll end up with some wonderful FESTIVAL PHOTOGRAPHER beers to get on your next trip to the store. Frankly, I’m a fan of big malt and Kinsley Dey look to those styles. I tend to hang around with hop heads, however, and Dey Photography they’re great at bird dogging the IPAs and Double IPAs. If this is all too structured for you, consider my favorite strategy for maximiz- ART DIRECTOR ing my festival pleasure, which is the path of least resistance and familiarity. As I’m Don Shannon sure you’ve guessed, I go to a lot of festivals. I’m not such a fan of crowds and am Image Navigators extremely curious. I tend to stay away from the crowded booths and visit booths with breweries I’ve not met or it’s been awhile. Once there I will go up their beer BREW CREW MANAGER ladder from lightest body to heaviest, talking to the server or—if I’m lucky—the Keith Klemp brewer. The point is to have a plan, any plan, to guide you through this wonderful VOLUNTEER MANAGER world of beer—something that will transform your beer experience when the Matt Pennachi World Beer Festival is just a fond memory. So, go forward and conquer. In your hands is your ALL ABOUT BEER MAGAZINE map and in front of you is the great unknown, beyond Chautauqua Inc. which lie monsters. We’re here to be your guide. 501 Washington St., Suite H Enjoy the wide world of beer culture. Durham, NC 27701 tel: 919.530.8150 fax: 919.530.8160 Daniel Bradford www.allaboutbeer.com Producer, World Beer Festival Publisher, All About Beer Magazine World Beer Festival Raleigh 1 BEER EDUCATION The Renaissance in Beer he world of beer has changed dramatically. Bruce’s chain of Twenty-five years ago, virtually every beer sold in London brewpubs T the world fit within the light lager category: vague- reintroduced ly colored, with hints of flavor: very cold, very carbonated, drinkers there to and very clean. Beers were differentiated by their packaging. pub brewing. Then the renaissance began. Prince Luipold of After nearly a century of consolidation, only 15 percent of Bavaria restarted the 2,300 American breweries of the 19th century were still his family’s castle operating. The statistics were no different in Europe. Local brewery and and regional breweries were being swallowed by giants. The opened a brewpub decline in beer diversity and character accelerated. in Munich, site of Then, as happened with wine, cheese, bread, coffee and the Octoberfest numerous other foods, the qualities of beer began to capture celebration that the public’s imagination. In country after country, grass honored his ances- roots organizations moved to protect their favorite brew- tor’s wedding 400 years before. Russell Sharp, in a manage- eries and beers. The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) in ment buyout, took over the antique Caledonian Brewery, England is heralded as the single most successful consumer one of the last breweries left in Edinburgh, Scotland and beer movement, in that it stopped the extinction of real ale. returned it to its classic styles. The Japanese government PINT in Belgium worked for the preservation of lambics. removed minimum size requirements that protected large The American Homebrewing Association in United States breweries, and started an explosion of microbrewery open- promoted amateur beer making. Even an association to pro- ings. The few remaining bière de garde brewers in France tect traditional German beer gardens emerged. found people crowding their doors looking for farmhouse Then, beginning in the mid 1960s, antiquarian Fritz beers. Maytag took over the failing Anchor Brewery in San Fueling this excitement was a cadre of beer lovers and Francisco, reviving nineteenth century styles. Merchant homebrewers—people who, disenchanted with mass mar- Marine Jack McAullife, who missed the ales he had encoun- keted beers, had searched for records, techniques, and tered in Scotland, started the first new ale brewery in a cen- ingredients of classic beers. Beer lovers like Charles Finkel tury, also in California. Hop salesman Burt Grant, tired of unearthed exotic styles like Russian imperial stout and the timid hop flavors, opened the first brewpub, featuring returned them to the public. Authors such as the late the hoppiest beers brewed in the States. Two physicists in Michael Jackson directed the public’s attention to regional Boulder, CO began the Boulder Brewery to make the flavors found in corners of countries. Homebrewers, Randy British-style ales that they had enjoyed at conferences in Mosher to name one, unravelled the mysteries of making England. beers not tasted in almost a century. The audacious, like And that was just the beginning. By the 1980s, most Charlie Papazian, began adding unusual ingredients to his major U.S. cities could boast a diversity of imported beers homebrew, sparking brewhouse experimentation. unmatched anywhere else in the world. By the mid 1990s By the 1990s, American craft brewing had been seized over 400 new American breweries had opened, from an all upon by investors, with the result that the number of brands time low of 41 in 1981. State after state removed restrictions grew—as did consumer confusion. A famed “shake-out” on brewing beer and selling it on the same premises. removed brewing companies that couldn’t both brew good Homebrewers-turned-entrepreneurs took their favorite beer and run a smart business. recipes and went commercial, creating new legions of good As we moved into the new millennium, the American beer lovers. With a cry of “Drink local!” microbrewers and brewing community is diverse, professional, adventurous— pubbrewers produced nearly two million barrels of hand- and an accepted part of the landscape. Specialty beers are crafted beer, permanently changing the beer landscape. no longer an oddity: even beer drinkers who stick to the mainstream styles realize that he choices are much wider. Global Beer Revolution With convenience stores and gas stations including pale Similar dramas occurred around the world. Frank Boon ales and Belgian-style wit beers in their coolers, there’s no breathed life into ancient lambic blending in Belgium.