Monday, April 27, 2009

Between the Bluffs

The missus and I had a chance to attend the Between the Bluffs Beer, Wine and Cheese Festival in La Crosse with the McGs and some other friends. I gotta be honest, I can't say anything about the wine and little about the cheese as I didn't take the time to enjoy either. Beer was at center stage for us at this event and for most of the attendees, I think. Here are some observations from the weekend:

Highlights
  • This event featured a booth serving homebrew from the local home brewing club, LAGERS (La Crosse Area Grain Enthusiasts & Related Specialites). I only had a chance to try two of the homebrews, but these two beers were two of the standouts from the beer fest and not just because they were homebrews. What a great idea and great way to promote the industry.
  • It was great seeing most of the Lift Bridge guys there and hanging out with them afterwards. Also, we had a chance to say "hi" to Chris from Furthermore. There weren't as many familiar faces as we are used to, but it was great seeing a few. Too bad we didn't have a chance for more chatter.
  • Bodega is a must-see beer bar in La Crosse worth checking out. They have a good beer selection and a cool lazy-susan-type cooler for beers. Plus its a comfy place to hang out.
  • Sconie liquor stores open on Sunday! Between the McGs and us, we spent almost $240 on beer at a liquor store on Sunday. Did you hear that, Minnesota, $240! I didn't think we'd have enough room in my sub-compact, but once we chopped Scott's legs off and tossed our luggage on the side of the road, the beer fit.
Lowlights
  • My god was it crowded! That's why I didn't try any wine or very little cheese. There were far too many people in the confined area of the fest.
  • There weren't many hard-to-find beers nor special offerings from most of the breweries (at least that I saw). Luckily, Lift Bridge had their oak-aged Harvestor, which gave us beer dorks a go-to treat.
  • We didn't get a chance to get to Pearl Street, which was disappointing. Shame on us for poor planning.

3 comments:

  1. I agree, there were way too many people there. I think they must have oversold the event. I went with some friends who have gone for a few years and they said it has never been nearly as crowded as this year. I also agree that the beers weren't as great as at the MN beer fests.

    And oh man, you didn't try Pearl St? I really loved their Hefeweisen, and their Dankenstein was also very tasty. I put all my chips in their bucket because of that Hefeweisen though.

    Did you get a chance to try the Nordic Creamery cheese? They were in the middle sorta under that overhang area. They use goat milk and it was super delicious.

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  2. Luckily we picked up a bunch of Pearl Street on Sunday, so we didn't totally miss out. I don't think I had any Nordic Creamer (I'm not a goat cheese guy), but I did have one with cinnamon and pecans (that might have been Nordic). I picked up a couple of pounds of it, but my friends are holding it for me.

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  3. I found the crowds to be a real downer. Had it been less crowded, I would have been able to try more cheese and some wine.

    I really liked the cheese from Nordic Creamery. I think that is the cheese you got, Mag.

    I wrote up my impressions here.

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