Flagstaff BrewHaHa 2014

Another year, another BrewHaHa! I cannot believe this is our 4th year going. As it turns out, this is pretty much the only event we can consistently attend year after year. This year we were joined by friends which made for a different dynamic.

Despite being surrounded by friends and having a great time overall, there was just something off about it. Maybe it was the sheer amount of people that were there. Maybe it was the fact that I didn't think there was anything particularly extraordinary about what the brewers were offering. Maybe it was me just coming off of being sick. It could have been the some of the reps were just horrible in this atmosphere. Whatever it was, the event just didn't feel as special as previous years.

As with years in the past, the People's Choice Winners were nowhere in line with what the so called professionals picked for the Snowman's Choice. The winners were as follows:
Snowman's Choice Award:
1st place- Funkwerks Tropic King Imperial Saison,
2nd place- Ska Brewing Decadent Imperial IPA,
3rd place- Odell Brewing Co Mountain Standard Double Black IPA

People's Choice Award:
1st place- Wanderlust Brewing Company Shake Down Anniversary Baltic Porter,
2nd place- Historic Brewing Company Piehole Porter,
3rd place- College Street Brewhouse & Pub Big Blue Van

As far as the judges were concerned this was another big year for the Pale Ales and IPAs. Everyone had their own version of one, the other, or both. It was somewhat irritating. I didn't find any of them particularly worthwhile. That is just one girl's opinion.

While I wasn't completely blown away by all of the new offerings or the Snowman Winners, College Street was back with their Big Blue Van, which won 3rd place last year as well and is a personal favorite. The other two People's Choice winners are Flagstaff locals. Wanderlust was the new kid last year and Historic being the new guy this year. Both brews were unique but just not for me. I am more of a wheat beer girl as opposed to their heavy dark porters. The Piehole Porter was probably the most interesting as it was cherry vanilla flavored.

That's it for this year's BrewHaHa. I wish I had more to comment on but as I said before there was something just lacking about this year's event. Overall, it was great to go as a group instead of the two of us alone and the social aspect definitely made up for the lacking originality in the offerings. All that being said, Berkeley and I are looking forward to next year's event.