The Heavy Seas Beer & Bacon Festival

This coming Saturday is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and to celebrate, Clipper City Brewery is holding an event, much like last year. This time around, they have billed it as The Heavy Seas Beer and Bacon Festival. Behold the glorious details from a recent email:

The Heavy Seas Beer & Bacon Festival
September 19th
Noon - 4pm
...at the Brewery

15+ Bacons, 10+ Beers, 10+ Restaurants, Live Music From Dirty Secret and More! Baltimore's Best Brewery and Over 10 of its Finest Restaurants have convened to salute nature's greatest food: Bacon!

Tickets are only $40 and include ALL-YOU-CARE-TO-TASTE beer and fabulous bacon.

Just a sampling of what you can expect…
Bottomless samples of Heavy Seas favorites and some special new brews made up for the occasion.
Special "Treasure" For Anyone Who Dresses as a Pirate - since it is National Talk Like A Pirate Day.
15+ Different Bacons From All Over The World.

RESTAURANTS AND FOOD STATIONS CONFIRMED WITH MANY MORE TO BE ADDED:

Abercrombie Restaurant and Lounge - Bacon Donuts
Alonzo’s – Bacon Explosion / Cocoa Crisps
Bacon Salt
Bad Decisions
Captain Thom’s – Cannon Fire Cornbread & Butt Blaster Baked Beans
Crazy Lil’s – Bacon Mac & Cheese
Ciao Bella
Vande Farms Meats
Squealin’ Sauce – Piggy Candy
Sweet Cascade’s – Bacon and Chocolate

...more coming soon!

Despite being trip booked with work and social activities this weekend, I will be making time to attend. Tickets are limited, and more information about the event and ticket availability can be found here. It's the best beer in Baltimore and tasty swineflesh... for all that is good and pirate-y, you must go.

Dogfish Head Theobroma

To say that I have been anticipating this beer for quite awhile now is understatement most pure. After giving up actively looking for it, due to scarcity of supply, I finally stumbled on a few bottles at the King's Contrivance Liquors and Smoke Shop last weekend. The hype of this brew's ingredients and origin were nigh-legendary - but did it live up to my expectations?

Vitals:

• Name: Dogfish Head Theobroma
  

• Brewery: Dogfish Head
  

• Style: Spice/herb/vegetable beer (Category 21A, BJCP 2008 Style Guidelines)

• Alcohol: 9.0%

• Serving: 25.4-ounce bottle, chilled, served in a freezer-stored Samuel Adams Boston Lager Pint Glass

Scoring (in solidarity with Charlie the Beer Guy):

• Appearance: 6 - Pours a peach-amber color, that resides clear in the glass, and is a deep gold towards the bottom. The head is foamy and white, fading slowly to a moderate lace.

• Nose: 5 - Subtle, with notes of citrus, honey, cocoa, and a spicy background.
  

• Taste: 7 - A solid mix of equal parts fruity base and honey, with a hint of cocoa in the background. The chili flavor builds up strong in the middle and through the end, where it leaves a pleasant burn in the aftertaste, mixed with a residual sweetness.
  

• Mouthfeel: 8 - The body and carbonation are medium and well-balanced, and consistant throughout each drink. Beyond the chili spice, there's little aftertaste to speak of.
  

• Holistic: 6 - The varying tastes and ingredients are so well balanced that beyond the chili flavor, none of them stand out. The cocoa in particular seems to be barely present, and lost in the shuffle.
  

Overall: 32 - A good beer, but not at all what I was expecting. From the initial descriptions of ingredients, I was looking for a cocoa/chocolate punch that never came, but was pleasantly surprised by the chili intensity. All in all, far more balanced than I anticipated, and quite quaffable. It strikes me as been good for an occasional glass, but not quite unique enough to seek out on a regular basis.

Fordham Doppelbock

Much to my pleasure, I discovered a solitary remaining bottle of this in my fridge from a purchase several months ago. I've had this on draft at the Ram's Head Tavern at Savage Mill, and is my favorite of their seasonal selections.

Vitals:

• Name: Fordham Doppelbock

• Brewery: Fordham Brewing Company

• Style: Doppelbock (Category 5C, BJCP 2008 Style Guidelines)

• Alcohol: 8.0%

• Serving: 12-ounce bottle, chilled, served in a freezer-stored Harpoon IPA pint glass

Scoring (in solidarity with Charlie the Beer Guy):

• Appearance: 8 - Pours a rich brown color, that resides as a deep brown-ruby in the glass. The head is a thick sudsy brown, that fades to no lace.

• Nose: 6 - More subtle in intensity than expected. A bready and sweet maltiness predominates, with fig notes in the backround.

• Taste: 7 - A sweet, dark fruitiness is strong up front, akin to fig or plum. The middle sees some smokey and spicy flavors come out, but they don't overwhelm the other flavors. There is an alcohol burn in the finish, along with a gentle bitterness.

• Mouthfeel: 6 - The body starts out full, but fades quickly to a surprising thinness, and no aftertaste.

• Holistic: 7 - This works well for me overall, although several aspects, such as the mouthfeel, don't fully jive with the strength of the style.

Overall: 34 - Despite having a lesser opinion of the lager style as a whole, doppelbocks are something I find quite appealing. This offering is a local seasonal favorite of mine, despite being somewhat uneven in terms of representing doppelbocks as a whole. It complements a hearty meal well, and it even lends itself to sessioning for those of stronger constitutions.