2013 Casktoberfest

So it is that time of the year for the Oktoberfests or Casktoberfest if you will.

Big Boss Casktoberfest was held earlier this month and takes place at the brewery both inside and outside. I missed this event last year, and even though I arrived early since I couldn’t stay very long, I was at least able to sample a few beers and finally see what this event was all about.

The site is still up so you can see what offerings were available and of course I would have loved to try them all, but that could not be. Two beers stood out to me and one was mainly because it’s collaboration efforts. This Casktoberfest marked the first time (that I’m aware of) that Big Boss and Heavy Seas of Baltimore came together to brew a special edition of  Heavy Seas Peg Leg. With Big Boss shipping up it’s hops and allowing Heavy Seas to brew up a special batch of it’s Imperial Stout just for this event. I think this is great news as I’m a huge Heavy Seas fan and I just love the idea of NC Breweries starting to work together with out of state breweries. That’s pretty damn cool…IMO.

As I mentioned earlier I was limited in time so I grabbed the Mole Stout to close out and actually got to speak with the brewer behind the scenes of this beer, Terry. We spoke for a few minutes and he talked to me about his Stout and thanked me for trying it. Honestly, once I got a chance to try it, I wish I had went back and thanked him as it was truly amazing. He really channeled the essence of the peppers that he used to brew this stout and managed to keep the heat while not letting it overshadow every other element of the beer. When using any kind of pepper in a beer it can be a boom or bust effort as it’s all about managing the flavor and making sure the heat just doesn’t destroy the taste, but Terry found that happy middle ground and man he owned it!

I do apologize for the lack of images and also for not being able to share more info about the other beers I had. I went unprepared as I originally didn’t think I would make it so I forgot my tasting note book. I did at least get a chance to sit down and share a couple of beers with the NC Beer Guys and, as always, they were as pleasant as ever.

Overall a fun experience and hopefully I stick around a bit longer next time.