Mohegan Sun BrewFest 2012

Nooooooooooooooo!!!!   - Just kidding, of course!

 

My husband and I celebrated our anniversary this weekend at Mohegan Sun’s 1st ever BrewFest which benefited Snowball Express which gives hope and new memories for the children of our military heroes who have died while on active duty since 9/11.  It was such a fun way to celebrate.  There was live music, good food, football, foosball and –you guessed it- beer! So much beer!

 

Last winter we started brewing our own beer at home and I consequently got really into trying out new beers.  It can be kind of daunting though, when you are staring into the beer cooler at the package store, reading labels and trying to figure out what you want to try. It’s like your decision is so final! So, the Sun BrewFest was perfect.  Educated people, slinging sample size beers. Man, I love learning and trying new things!

 

My husband was quick to find the booth for his ‘go-to’ beer – Guinness.  They poured him a black and tan (half guinness, half harp) and I tried out their Kilkenny.  I can’t believe I had never tried it before. Kilkenny is an Irish cream ale and it is the same consistency as Guinness but without the bitterness. Yum.

 

Soon after we left my husband’s ‘go-to’ beer booth, I found a new ‘go-to’ for myself.  Beaver Beer’s Blonde! A crisp, lean-bodied American-style Pale Ale. It was just so drinkable. Plus, they are a local brewery! Beaver Beer is one of Connecticut’s newest craft beer companies – they are celebrating their first anniversary in November. I would really recommend you visit their website and ‘Locate a Beaver’ – you won’t regret it!

 

There were a couple of other beers that really stood out to me that I also wanted to mention. The Vintage Blonde Ale from Blue Moon which is brewed with chardonnay grapes.  I love Blue Moon, I love blonde ales and… while I do love wine, chardonnay is not on the top of my list.  But, in this combo it is near perfection.  I just wish I had found this at the start of the summer and not at the end.  It would have been perfect for warm summer nights…next year, next year.

And then there was Sofie.  Sofie is a Belgian Style Ale from Goose Island and she is (yes, I’m referring to the beer as a girl) aged in wine barrels with orange peel. She is just so beautiful. Kind of like a champagne/beer hybrid.  You may be able to tell by now that I was a wine girl before I was a beer girl?

Okay, I promise this last one has nothing to do with wine. Wolaver’s Organic Oatmeal Stout is not like any kind of beer that I would ever normally like, but it was divine.  “This full flavored stout imparts hints of coffee, chocolate, and roasted flavors. It is brewed with an ample supply of locally grown organic rolled oats.” It was rich and delicious, so flavorful and hearty.  I’ve never really wanted a beer on a cold winter night, but I think this would be perfect.

Since we were there during the afternoon session, we decided to grab a bite to eat for lunch from one of the food vendors.  A Bison Bite, more specifically! They were being served up by Wood-n-Tap and they were Uuuhh-mazing! Mini buffalo burgers topped with an avocado aioli, American cheese, a touch of Chipolte, and onion strings. It was the perfect thing to hold us over until our anniversary dinner at Todd English’s Tuscany!

After dinner we headed back to the evening session to say ‘hi’ to some friends and it was PACKED! We didn’t stay for very long but we did find our friends and I ran into some fellow bloggers, Caitlin from Cait plus Ate and Wendy from Connecticut Bloggers!

We had a blast celebrating at Mohegan Sun and I can’t wait to do it again next year!