Were you part of the thousands of beer nuts who swarmed Atlantic City, March 20th and 21st? If you were you may have run into The Beer Sessions crew. And if you weren’t there, we got your back. Hey, what are we here for?
Eugene charging from the west, myself from the north, we had our hopes high and we were not disappointed! We got to the festival just a little early to take a quick look around and meet the crowd. The atmosphere and energy in the Atlantic City Convention Center was enormous. This event was set up beautifully and the turnout was unbelievable.
Sometimes people go to these events and they are disappointed because their favorite brewers that were promised to be there didn’t show up. Not at the Celebration of the Suds. Not the 5th annual Atlantic City Beer Festival!!
The crowd was so excited to get inside and try their favorite beers. We talked to one couple who was there for Smithwick’s and Magic Hat and another beer enthusiast came to taste Sly Fox and Stone (whose got this month’s beer of the month). There was such a wide array of beer lovers in attendance and every one of them was ready to wet their whistles!!!
The band tuned up, the horns and drums sounded and the gates opened. The rush was on! Thousands of beer drinkers surged the stands to get a taste of their favorites! A truly beautiful thing! Let the Celebration begin!
After the mob spread out, Eugene and I decided to take a lap around to see what we wanted to check out and get a taste of. First spot we hit was the Flying Fish crew from Cherry Hill, NJ (gotta stay local, Jersey baby) they were sampling their Exit Beer Series which are amazing brews. The Exit 1, 4, and 16, are some of my favorites. The Exit 16 is a Wild Rice Double IPA which is a nod to the to the wild rice that is indigenous to the Hackensack Meadowlands of North Jersey. Now you don’t have to think of factories and landfills when you think of the meadowlands. And their Exit 1, the Imperial Stout beer also has an interesting ingredient, oysters! The Exit 1 Bayshore Oyster Stout is a magnificent brew with notes of fruit, chocolate, and the oyster shells add an earthy gravel flavor, go figure!!!
Next, we stopped by another outstanding brewery named Terrapin. Eugene was already familiar with this company, but it was my first time tasting. Terrapin hails from Athens, Georgia. They were very friendly brewers who love their beer and after tasting it, so did I! I had the Monk’s Revenge which is a mix of a Belgian Style Tripel and an American Style Double IPA with SIX different malts and hops in it! Great mix and a difficult one to make well, but they did! That’s what’s so cool about the Atlantic City Beer Festival, if you keep an open mind, you have an opportunity to taste so many new and interesting beers.
We walked around some more, tasting various brews and met some more cool and interesting people, then a brewery caught our eyes! Ballast Point Brewing Company out of San Diego. The Ballast Point Sculpin IPA which is now available in bottles in NJ, PA, and NY was amazing!!! Gotta pick this one up. If your local beer shop doesn’t have it, tell ‘em to get it. Special order it you have to. It is a tremendous beer! Also you have to try the Black Marlin Porter which is a rich creamy, chocolate roasty porter with a backbone of hop flavor.
In the clip above Eugene got to talk to James Murry one of the brew masters at Ballast. Very chill guy, who was super enthusiastic and it’s easy tell he loves his beer. The beer he mentioned in the clip was the Victory at Sea Coffee Vanilla Imperial Porter, which is a mind bending collaboration of flavors, a must try. Tasting their brews, it is easy to see he and the rest of the brewers at Ballast Point care about the product they are making. Everything was simply delicious! When Eugene asked him what other beers he was excited about tasting at the beer fest, he said among some others, our friends at Victory!
The clip above has myself interviewing Sean McCain from Victory Brewing Co. You don’t have to watch too closely to sense this guy’s passion for beer! Totally awesome dude with awesome beers! I made sure to get a taste of the classic Prima Pils from Victory which was the beer that got me into the microbrew scene. One bottle of the Prima and that was it; I went crazy for craft beers and all their tasty goodness. So for me, seeing these guys doing their thing in-person was an incredible experience. Be sure to try some of Sean’s suggestion and pair your beer with food. He mentioned the Helios Saison for lighter food and maybe the Hop Devil or Hop Wallop for the more spicy of cuisine.
Victory Brewing hails from Downingtown, PA and are active with the bars and restaurants throughout NJ, NY, and PA. They’re all about good people drinking good beer, just like me. Check out events here Victory Events Page. See if Victory is coming to you!
Eugene and I found a lot of impressive beers. Aside from the ones that were listed above, some of our favorites were the Tokyo and Hardcore from Brew Dog Brewery in Scotland. The Tokyo is an awesome Oak Aged Imperial Stout inspired by a Japanese video game from the 80′s. We also enjoyed breweries such as Unibroue Brewery from Quebec, and Rodenbach from Belgium. Also representing the States, there was a huge turnout. Some of our favorites were:
Troegs, PA
Stone, CA
Allagash, ME
Smuttynose, NH
Stoudts, PA
Sly Fox, PA
Sierra Nevada, CA
Weyerbacher, PA
Oscar Blues, CO
Great Lakes, OH
Left Hand, CO
He’brew, CA/NY
Coney Island, NY
Lagunitas, CA
Dogfish, DE
Southampton, NY
All top notch good ol’ American breweries!
The Atlantic City Beer Festival was a smash hit and was insanely fun. If you didn’t make it this year, be sure to get tickets for the next year. I want to thank the brewers that came to beer show from around the country and the world, especially those from Ballast Point, Oskar Blues, and Victory. A big tip of the cap to the event holders of the beer fest. They put together an unbelievable convention, and they treated us Beer Session guys and the rest of the fans great. The times were good and the beer was great!!! Thanks and we’ll see you next year!
***The promoters of the AC beer fest are also holding a BBQ fest this summer, so be sure to get tickets. And if any Beer Sessions fans know of places or other events to check out while we’re in town let us know!
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Great video man, i wish I was out there that weekend. I totally agree, I think osker blues and victory are the best brewing companys. It looks like you guys really enjoyed yourself..good shit!
yo thanks a lot protege. It was a great time. Hopefully i’ll see u at the bbq fest this summer, good beer good food. If you like oskar blues and victory check out their events pages. I know their doing tons of stuff around here this month. Lemme know if ur going to any.
Great video!
Hey Tom , Talked to you Saturday at the store (DeadGuy Ale shirt ) Good talking with ya ! I was in a hurry , was with my mother in law picking wine for dinner. You may be hearing from a Rogue rep. soon . I passed on your info. and Suggested you might be able to put some 22 oz. Rogues on the shelf ? Tommy Lee- Rogue Ambassador
Hey Tommy, thanks for checking out the site! We would love to hear from you guys at Rogue. Just contact me through email and we can work some things out.