11th Annual San Juan Brew Fest

The 11th Annual San Juan Brew Fest took place this past Sunday on Main Ave. in front of Buckley Park in downtown Durango.

18 breweries were on hand and plenty of beer was on tap. I didn’t get the full winners list, but Boulder Beer Company’s Mojo IPA won the “Beer with Balls” category. Steamworks Brewing Company’s Steam Engine Lager got an honorable mention in the Medium Beer category. For the second year in a row Carver Brewing Company’s Raspberry Wheat won the People’s Choice award.

Those are all great beers, but I had my own list of favorites. I tried Ska Brewing Company’s Local Series #12 Merlo Stout (originally homebrewed by Cortez local Chris Vest) for the first time and loved it. Even though this is a 9%+ Imperial Stout and it was at least 80 degrees farenheit Sunday afternoon I enjoyed it. I’ll be picking up a few bottles to save until the weather gets cooler.

In a VERY close second was Carver Brewing Company’s Monkey Wrenched IPA. Only the second time they’ve brewed this beer, it’s back on tap until it runs out (and I’m told it won’t last long). Monkey Wrenched IPA was a beer more appropriate for the weather but I’m just a sucker for Imperial Stouts, as you can see below by my third favorite beer of the festival.

I’d never heard of Eske’s Brewpub, I assumed Taos, NM must have a brewery (most mountain towns do) but was glad I made it to their booth. They had about four beers on tap and I loved the 10,000 Ft. Imperial Stout. I was told by the brewer that it was originally brewed at a cabin at 10,000 feet. Eske’s also had a Green Chile beer, which had a great aroma and tasted like green chiles, it was a bit much on it’s own, but while served as a “half and half” with the 10,000 Ft. Stout they complimented each other nicely.

Click on over to Buzztown to read about a few of my other favorites from the festival. And visit the Buzztown Durango Beer Club to see some pictures and a video shot at the festival.

Tags: 000 ft stout, 10, boulder beer co, boulder beer company, buzztown, buzztown beer reviewer, chris vest, durango beer, eske's brew pub, eskes brewpub, green chili beer, merlo stout, mojo ipa, monkey wrenched i.p.a., monkeywrenched ipa, raspberry wheat, san juan brew fest, san juan brew fest awards, san juan brew fest winners, san juan brewfest, ska brewing local series, steam engine lager, taos beer, taos brewery, taos brewpub

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 1st, 2009 at 3:48 pm and is filed under Beer, Carver Brewing Co., Festivals, Ska Brewing Co., Steamworks Brewing Co.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.