Upcoming 2011 Big Beers Festival in Vail, CO

I wanted to let you all know that Focus on the Beer will likely be travelling to Vail, CO in early January to visit the Big Beers Festival. If I secure lodging I will be reporting from the Festival, filling you in on what's going on, reporting about beers to look out for, and relaying educational information from the seminars.

Big Beers are generally beers that are above the 7% alcohol level and as the festival promotional video points out, these are beers that "go so well with cold weather and skiing." The first paragraph on the Big Beers Fest website reads "Imagine a World Class Winter Wonderland of fun activities in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Colorado…and then top off your trip with a World Class International Beer Festival, complete with Brewmasters’ Dinners and Seminars by some of the world’s most innovative Brewers." It looks like almost all the beers available at this festival are over 7% and besides the beer tasting the days will be full of seminars and workshops involving beer judging, tasting, hops, experimental (wild) brewing, and more.

I'm posting a schedule of events and information on tickets below, even though most everything has sold out. But first check out the list of participating breweries (this is exciting): Alaskan, Allagash, Altitude, Anchor Brewing, Aspen, Avery, Ayinger, Ballast Point, Baltika, Bell's, Belzebuth, Bosteels, Boston Beer Co., Boulder, Boulevard, Breckenridge, Bristol, Bruery, Carver, Chimay, Chouffe, Coronado, Corsendonk, Crazy Mountain, DeDolle, Delirium, Des Rocs, Deschutes, Dillon Dam, Dogfish Head, Dry Dock, Dubuisson, Dupont, Durango, Flying Dog, Full Sail, Fuller's, Glenwood Canyon, Gore Range, Gouden Carolous, Grand Lake, Grand Teton, Great Divide, Green Flash, Hair of the Dog, He’brew/Schmaltz, Hoegaarden, Jolly Pumpkin, LaTrappe / Koningshoeven, Left Hand, Library, Lindemans, Lion, Maredsous, Mendocino, Michelob, New Belgium, Odell, Ommegang, Orval, Oskar Blues, Pagosa Brewing, Papago, Pinkus, Pumphouse, Redstone Meadery, Rochefort, Samichlaus, Samuel Smith, Sierra Nevada, Ska, St. Bernardus, St. Feuillien, Stone, Thomas Hardy, Tommyknocker, Uinta, Upslope, Urthel, Val-Dieu, Victory, Westmalle, Wynkoop

Here's the Schedule of Events, please see the Big Beers Website for ticket information:

Thursday evening (7:30) opens the Eleventh Anniversary Big Beers Festival Weekend in traditional Big Beers style! Join Adam Avery, Brewmaster/ Founder of Avery Brewing, and Sam Calagione, Founder/President of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, as they start the weekend off right with some incredible beers at our Calibration Dinner. See the Brewmasters’ Dinner page for further information.

Friday late morning (8:30 – noon) The Cicerone Program is back and Ray Daniels, creator of the program, will be here to lead this morning workshop himself! And thanks to All About Beer Magazine, our signature sponsor for this event, the $99 fee per person will be waived. Take advantage of this unprecedented opportunity in Vail! For more information, see the Brewing Seminars page.

Friday afternoon (12:00) is our Welcome Reception, with more details to be determined. In addition to tasting, the Welcome Reception also offers the opportunity to hobnob with some of the most innovative brewers in the world. Guests attending multiple weekend events, Volunteers, Judges, Brewers and Brewery Representatives are welcome to drop in.

Friday afternoon (1:30 pm) is the American Homebrewers Association-sanctioned Belgians, Barleywines and Strong Ales Homebrew Competition. This event is a tasting by a select judging panel for entries registered in advance. For more information about the competition, see the Homebrew Competition page. Spectators and interested parties are welcome to attend, although participation is by prior arrangement only.

Friday afternoon (2:30 pm) is your opportunity to become a Certified Cicerone! Ray Daniels will be administering the Certified Cicerone Exam to interested parties who have passed the online Certified Beer Server exam. For more information, see the Brewing Seminars page.

Friday evening (6:00 pm) Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery will be speaking about "Regional Brewing Traditions Around the World" based on his adventures with Discovery Channel. 
Friday evening (8:00 pm) is the Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywines Brewmasters’ Dinner. We are quite pleased to announce that that Steven Pauwels, Brewmaster for Boulevard Brewing will be our American Featured Brewmaster, and Chris Bauweraerts, Co-Founder of Brasserie D'Achouffe, Belgium, will be our International Featured Brewmaster.

Saturday morning (10:00 am - noon) is one of the many highlights of our Big Beers Festival Weekend: our Experimental Brewing Seminar, titled “Brewing Outside of the Box: Brewers Gone Wild!”. This year’s “Brewers Gone Wild” theme and speakers are yet to be announced. See the Brewing Seminars page for further information…it’s definitely worth getting out of bed!

Saturday early afternoon (12:30 – 1:30pm) our International Featured Brewmaster, Chris Bauweraerts, Co-Founder of Brasserie D'Achouffe, Belgium, will be speaking on a topic of his choice for an educational seminar.

Saturday afternoon (1:30 pm) Daniel Bradford of All About Beer Magazine will be hosting a sensory workshop focusing on hops: Hops, Hops & More Hops! Seating is limited for this event.

Saturday afternoon (1:30 – 2:30 pm) our American Featured Brewmaster, Steven Pauwels of Boulevard Brewing Co., will be speaking on a topic of his choice for an educational seminar.

Saturday afternoon (2:30 - 7:00 pm), the Commercial Tasting portion of the Big Beers Festival begins at 2:30 pm and continues through until 7:00pm. This international tasting is open to the public and showcases over 200 different commercially produced specialty beers from around the world. Saturday’s event includes the 2011 Homebrew Competition Awards Presentation as well as the wildly popular International Beer & Food Pairing Challenge sponsored by CraftBeer.com. Julia Herz of the Brewers Association will be moderating her innovative seminar beginning at 3:30 pm. This CraftBeer.com Beer & Food Pairing Smackdown will feature a panel of Importers and American Craft Brewers and their brews.