Nobody will claim that the 2nd Annual Winter Beer Fest at the Blockley Pourhouse was the biggest beer blast they've ever attended. However, what the Saturday afternoon event may have lacked in volume and variety, it compensated for in both value and charm. Organized by UpcomingEvents.com and Rolling Barrel, the festival featured winter seasonal beers with dessert pairings, live music, and a buffet for the $30-$40 price of admission.

A modest queue formed at 3:00 outside of University City's Blockley (formerly the venerated live music venue, the Chestnut Cabaret), showing that most of the event attendees paid the extra $10 for the VIP upgrade - general admission didn't start until 5:00. The first hint that this event would be a bit different than other beer festivals was the glass we were handed upon entering the door. Instead of the standard 4 or 5 oz taster glasses, attendees were given 12 oz pilsner-style glasses. The pours were correspondingly deep - it took some self-control to make it through the fifteen featured beers and remain coherent. The strategically placed swill buckets and rinse water made this task possible, and was a nice touch that I'd like to see a little more prevalent at other beer festivals.

So, on to the beer. The eleven breweries represented were an assortment of local and national labels. Highlights included Victory's newly renamed dark IPA, Yakima Glory, Brooklyn Brewery's seasonal Black Chocolate Stout, and Long Trail's Imperial Porter. The real featured players were the winter and holiday themed selections. Rogue won for the best beer name with their hoppy winter IPA, Yellow Snow. Anchor's Our Special Ale, a perennial holiday favorite, and Red Hook's Winter Hook satisfied our spiced-ale fix. Troegs had what may have been the biggest beer of the festival in their Mad Elf. Yard's General Washington Tavern Porter added a bit of historical gravity to the occasion, one of their interesting Ales of the Revolution.

In addition to the main tap selection, VIP ticket holders were also treated to a few beer and dessert pairings. All of the pairings seemed to work, even if the fruit cake (paired with Weyerbacher's Winter Ale) seemed to be a bit of an unpopular selection.

The event ultimately came off less as a beer festival, and more as an all-inclusive cover charge that happened to feature a great beer selection. But that seemed to be just fine with most of the attendees. One couple already made a tradition out of it, driving all the way from Wilkes-Barre to attend for the second year in a row. Next year's event is already scheduled for December 3, 2011, and DrinkPhilly.com will be sure to let you know when tickets go on sale.

12.13.10

About Beer Geek Steve:

Steve spends as much time as his wife will let him tracking down rare beers and trying to analyze the intersection between quality beer, hype, and viral marketing. When he's not reviewing beer for Drink Philly, he writes about his adventures in chasing bottles and taps at his blog, Beer Geek Steve. You can also follow him on Twitter, where he tweets about happenings in the craft beer industry and often locates some of the best barrels in southeast PA.