Great American Beer Festival Winners - Congratulations!

The Great American Beer Festival was held September 24 - 26 in Denver, CO. While I didn't go this year, you can bet I'll be there next year.

Pennsylvania did us proud by coming in 5th in number of overall medals (or 4th, depending, apparently, on where the Iron Hill brews were credited to - either PA or DE) with 12 (although, with the Iron Hill beers we took 14, which is what puts us in 4th). PA was the only non-west coast winner in the top 5. I call that an amazing feat! A big congratulations to all!

You can see the full list of PA winners here. If you're interested in the Delaware Valley winners, you can find them here. And finally, if you want to see all the winners, look no further than here.

I'd also like to send a big congratulations to Flying Dog Brewery in Frederick, MD and Robert Malone (the brewer) for winning the 2009 Mid-Size Brewing Company and Mid-Size Brewing Company Brewer of the Year! They were the only non-west coast brewery to win in the brewing company or brewpub category. I've had their beers (and have written about them) and know that they are deserving of this recognition! Great job, guys!

Flying Dog Dogtoberfest

My first tasting of the great seasonal Dogtoberfest was at a fun event - Independents Hall's 2 year anniversary, which coincided with the 100th episode of Two Guys on Beer, both of which were celebrated at National Mechanics. Talk about a good night! Add to it that I was drinking such a good beer, and well, it was a perfect Tuesday evening.

Fall is my favorite time of year. There's something to be said about the hot, muggy days of the Philadelphia summer (although to be fair, this summer wasn't bad at all) turning to the cool, crisp days and nights of fall. Sweater weather! Is there anything better?

The other great thing about fall is what it signifies. Football, Oktoberfest, Halloween, Thanksgiving. So many fun things going on, it's hard not to love it.

All of this leads me to the beer, believe it or not. Fall is a great time for beer (well, all seasons are a great time for beer. But there's something about a good, hearty ale when it's a bit colder out that makes it even more appealing to me). Especially Oktoberfest beers.

The Dogtoberfest is a Marzen/Oktoberfest beer from Flying Dog Brewery in Frederick, MD. If you live anywhere near the area, you should know that the second annual GonzoFest is being held at the brewery on Saturday, September 12. I'm going to be there. You should be too, if you can make it.

The brewers use 100% imported German ingredients to give this beer an authentic German taste. It pours a nice deep brown. Although not the tongue-scraping hoppy I usually like (I have to admit I got that from a Twitter friend, who described the beers he liked as such), I genuinely enjoyed this very drinkable beer. It comes in at 5.3% ABV. The taste is sweet - malty and caramely. Given its low ABV you can, and should, easily enjoy more than one of these. And the calorie-conscious will be happy to know this comes in at about 148 calories for a 12 ounces. Prost!