Schweitzer Summer Fest

Some pictures from the Schweitzer summer festival.  Late August.  It was very, very hot up there.  They didn't have nearly enough stuff on tap and most of the servers had no idea what they were serving.  Sadly, the Lagunitas Red and another beer or two ran out before I even got to try it.

The first beer I had at Schweitzer was the Brew Free or Die IPA by 21st Amendment brewery; it was an incredibly thick drink, I didn't know anything could trump a stout.  I've heard the term syrupy thrown around and I think this might be it, it wasn't really a bad thing though.  To describe the drink, it was hoppy (ie, you can taste the hops) upfront with a nice warm carmel malt flavor lingering in between followed up by a floral and hoppy aftertaste.  The drink actually brags about using 6 hops, if there's one thing that Californian beers don't like doing, it's being modest.  I would drink this again.

The second beer was the Deschutes Hop in the Dark; a 'Cascadian Dark Ale.'  It's an IPA brewed with Cascadian hops and roasted grains.  A Dark or Black IPA, this is a really recent style of brew that became really popular in 2010 and 2011, not sure when the first one was made.  Hop in the Dark is a strong beer at 6.9%, which is pretty typical IPA territory.  It's also not that bitter; Deschutes lists it as 60 IBU.
I can't say I've made up my mind with these.  It has all the bitterness of an IPA, but it's harder to find the floral or herbiness you usually get with an IPA.  Certainly not citrus.  An incredibly complex and high quality beer, but I just don't think it's for me (at least for now).  Will definitely be trying dark IPAs from time to time, they really have that best of both worlds mentality.

Brew Free or Die info

Hop in the Dark info