Trappist Kerstbier Festival 2009

This past Saturday was a busy day in downtown Oakland. Not only was their one geeked-out beer event to attend, but there were two. While I’ve written about the afternoon event elsewhere, I wanted to save the night life for the Hop Press. So join me as I relive my experience at The Trappist’s Kerstbier Festival 2009.

With a glance at the menu you might understand my biggest dilemma of the evening. With only 5 samples, where do I begin? Where do I end? And what to drink in between? I began strategizing, laying out a plan of attack, but realized quickly that was of no use. It was time to just dive in and see where the evening took me.

I started with the Nøgne Ø Winter Ale thanks to the suggestion of Brother Aaron and Brother Chuck. This brew had a bit of an evergreen-like character with some sweetness and spice that fades with warmth. As the spice fades, cocoa notes emerge. Very complex and interesting, a perfect place to start the evening.

Next on the menu for me was a beer that created quite a bit of controversy last year in the Bay Area as Bill Brand questioned a title give n to De Struise Brouwers as the best brewers in the world. While the bickering has died down, the beer remains. As The Trappist was the first place that I’d met my late mentor, I felt it was only appropriate to have a beer in his honor. It was with this in mind that I ordered up Tsjeeses. Rich, sweet and full of fruit flavors, Tsjeeses is definitely a beer worthy of the debate and one that won’t allow for a quick resolution.

It was at this point that one of the best aspects of the cozy atmosphere at The Trappist came to light. While I was off in a corner being a beer geek and writing my notes, someone felt the need to bring me to their table. I grabbed my newly filled glass of Mikkeller To Via From and joined a conversation about food and beer. In addition to my tasty imperial porter, glasses of Avery’s Beast, Slaapmutske Kerstmutske and N’Ice Chouffe were passed around so that everybody got a taste. During the conversation we were joined by Daniel Del Grande of Bison Brewing who had plenty of information to add to our discussion on food and beer.

Next in line was the Mikkeller Santa’s Little Helper. This was a walking brew for me as I worked my way back to the front of the house. Somewhere between a Belgian dark and an imperial stout, there’s a lot of fruit and chocolate in this beer with some roast and a nice red hue when held to the light. This beer definitely threw me off my game for a minute as I couldn’t help but get lost in the enjoyment of the beer.

I ended the night sharing beers with Rodger Davis of Triple Rock Brewery and Fraggle, of the soon to be opened Beer Revolution in Oakland. Decisions were becoming more difficult at this point, as enough tastes had gone around that you knew there wasn’t a bad choice to be made. How ever the decision was made, we ended up with Dupont Avec les Bons Voeux as our night cap. Rich and full of flavor, this is another example of Dupont’s ability to brew some of the best saisons in the world.

At the end of the evening, there weren’t many beers I left behind without having a chance to try. It was a good evening and a great representation of why the Bay Area beer scene is such a great place. Brewers, writers, beer industry folks were all on hand for the event and the room was full of great conversation. They even had something for those of you still looking for a gift for your favorite Hop Press writer, so do your best to try and slip it in my stocking this year.