Delaware Craft Beer and Wine Lovers (#DCBaWL) West Coast vs East Coast BBQ

The Delaware Craft Beer and Wine Lovers group met for our first BBQ picnic get together.  The theme was “West Coast vs East Coast” and we had an excellent turn out of beer and indeed, beer lovers.   Patrick, Kristen, Dana, Ann, Brian, Rob, the other Rob, Randy, Ida, and of course Tracey and I; met at Patrick and Kristen’s house ready to sample what the two coasts had to offer.

Dana’s growler of Victory Ranch. We were staring at this like NASCAR drivers at a green flag. Its opening marked the beginning of the event. Thanks Dana!

Outside of the WvsE theme, no restrictions were given to the type of beer we could bring, so the day turned into a “20 man over the top battle royal” type event, each beer fighting to be the last one standing amongst the collection of libations brought.

I arrived with a pseudo cooler of surprises, 8 beers, 4 each from the respective coasts.  The event turned into a great day of food, fun and spirited talk about beer and the craft industry in general.  We also touched on past beer events we had attended, both inside and outside the DCBaWL as well as what lay ahead on the beer/wine calendar.

A list of (what I can remember) beers that participated were:

EAST COAST:  Victory Brewing’s Ranch IPA, Allagash’s Hugh Malone, Sixpoint’s Sweet Action, Smuttynose’s Really Old Brown Dog, DFH’s Festina Peche and Palo Santo, DuClaw’s Mysterium, Southern Tier’s Unearthly, RJ Rocker’s Fish Paralyzer and Son of a Peach, Lagunitas’ Hop Stoopid, Shmaltz Coney Island Sword Swallower

WEST COAST:  Oskar Blues’ G’Night, Moylan’s Hopsickle, Rogue’s Voodoo Doughnut, Stone’s Oaked Arrogant Bastard, Napa Smith’s Organic IPA, Anchor’s Liberty Ale, 21^st Amendment’s Old Chub (?)

(L-R) Rob, Patrick and Tracey enjoying the day, and the beer.

And a slew of others I’ve forgotten and didn’t check-in to my Untappd account (you need to keep up with that, Ed!), so if anyone can remember any more we had, leave them in the comment section and I’ll add them to the list!

Brian throw in what we thought was a ringer with Goose Island’s 312 Wheat until it was pointed out that it is now brewed by Baldwinsville, N.Y after being bought by Anheuser-Busch. Sneaky.

Brian contemplating his next beer.

So who won?  Well, in truth, the people who showed up were the real winners.  We had great food and great beer which made for a wonderful afternoon/evening.  Beyond that I will say that Rogue’s Voodoo Doughnut seemed to garner the most interest, delivering both the maple and bacon as advertised.  There also seemed to be a general agreement that Sixpoint’s Sweet Action was lacking.  Nod to the West?

I’d like to thank all the members and friends who showed up to participate and for all the great beers everyone brought.  I’d also like to thank everyone for the food, which was simply delicious all the way around.  And big shout out to Kristen and Patrick Huff for hosting the event.  Sadly, it was agreed that this would probably be our only “picnic” type get together this summer as our schedule is getting pretty full with other events (not that that’s a bad thing!) and members have pretty tight summer calendars.

If you couldn’t make this event, check out our Facebook page here for an up coming event and sign up!  If you’re reading this and you’re not a member of the DCBaWL and you love good beer and wine, than click on the link and join.  It’s a great group of like mind people.

Thanks again to everyone for making this event rock!

Looks like we’re having a good time.

Cheers, everyone! Until next time.