9th Annual Noah Webster Real Ale Harvest Festival
It has been almost a year since we had to abandon our “trusty” Saab for a week in sunny Waterbury CT.
Although it survived its extended visit to Pep Boys, and we survived our unexpected roundtrip rail journey home and back, its days were numbered.
After a series of smaller inconveniences and a general concern that we would not be able to get the necessary parts to keep it running, we put it out to pasture and replaced it with an equally “trusty” Hyundai which we ferried up from Florida.
So, it was with some trepidation last Saturday, that we set off to retrace our journey through Waterbury and out to West Hartford, to attend the 9th annual Noah Webster Real Ale Harvest Festival.
Our “new” silver beast paid back our confidence in it, by emitting some disturbing squeals when exiting a gas station barely an hour into our outbound trip, and judging by the way that my wife had to wrestle it around a low-speed turn, we may have to hand out some serious cash to get the power steering repaired … oy!
But it did get us there and it did get us home again.
And we were both happy that it did; we both had a great time with the Websters.
I was there for the casks of course, but this time the museum was also open to attendees and their designated drivers, and my wife made the most of the exhibits and the shelter that the historic house provided.
But you don’t want to know anything about that, you are here for the beer.
The beer did not disappoint, unless you are one of those purists that frowns on additives in the cask, and if that is the case, why did you come in the first place.
At Noah Webster, it is all about the additions.
It is the price of entry, although I think that a couple of the breweries may have stretched the rules a little.
Unlike last year, I had a much simpler plan of attack this time.
After determining that there were no 10% killer ales out there, I decided to keep up an almost infinite loop, picking up my next beer at random from either end of the event space, checking out the middle tables as my glass became empty again.
I did take a few breaks, to spend some quality time with my darling wife and to check out the museum, but spent much of my time on my feet, even when the rain started, which thankfully was brief.
It worked out well, and by the time that the allotted three hours came to an end, I had managed to sample (2-3 oz each) all 27 casks on the list, plus two that were not listed, including a delicious Marzen gravity keg from New Park Brewing and another Marzen in cask form from WeHa.
Some beer style observations:
- There were some weird and wonderful concoctions, notably from Alvarium again, but others had followed their lead this year.
- Unlike other events that I have attended this year, there was only one British style ale in attendance; the Eynsham dark mild from Nod Hill.
- There were quite a few lagers, in all shades and styles.
- The hazy pale ale made a comeback, with several IPAs and doubles available.
- There were a few sours, including an awesome barrel-aged Lumia from OEC.
- There was nothing excessively boozy; no Imperial Stouts and no Barleywines; I think the strongest cask stood at around 8%. With the majority in the 5-6% range.
As in prior years, you were given a scoresheet to vote for your favorites, and this year it was quite difficult to get it down to a top three; I could have easily made a top-7 list.
But here we go …
- Eynsham English Dark Mild (with EKGs) from Nod Hill – I had to, it was 3.5% and right up my street.
- Dusseldorf Altbier (Cacao nibs, roasted dandelion root, clover honey) from Dead Language Beer Project – perfect amber lager and the additions were quite subtle and complementary.
- Workhorse Pilsner (Lemon and pink peppercorn) from Counter Weight Brewing – just a perfect combination of flavors and probably the most refreshing beer at the event.
Honorable mentions go out to …
- Alvarium “I Forgotto” a coffee stout cocktail; I started with this one, and if they had swapped out the Twix for Heath, I would have put it in my top-3.
- Unlike their “Honey Mustard Shot” which was more of a challenge.
- Both of the offerings from OEC were excellent, particularly the Lumia barrel-aged sour; glad to hear that it won the official cup.
- I just love Fuzzy Baby Ducks from New England Brewing, and was happy to see that their Stegosaurus had essentially the same profile, but with more oomph.
- I am always happy when New Park Brewing bring along a gravity keg of their Marzen.
- Saison Eloise by Brewery Legitimus won the cup last year I believe, and this year’s version was equally delicious; I like the concept of saisons on cask, it increases the refreshment factor, which is kind of the whole point with saisons.
- Back East Brewery Test Depth lager came in two versions, one of which featured ancho chilies and a dozen other herb and spice ingredients, but it still worked very well; I went for the added pepper flakes on top, because …
- Twelve Percent Beer Project brought along Gorbage Porter, the porter that thought it was a root beer; burdock, ginger and licorice are some of my favorite flavors.
As mentioned above, OEC Lumia took away the official cup, and this year Willimantic won the punters choice award with their Mixed Berry Hibiscus Sour; two sours but at opposite ends of the sour spectrum.
Once again, there were no duds, and if somebody offered me another pour of the Alvarium honey mustard beer, I wouldn’t turn my nose up at it.
As we left, we introduced ourselves to organizer Ian Halpern, who directed us to Harvest Wine & Spirits (we picked up some New England Cider for home consumption), long-time sponsors of the festival; he also kindly directed us to the local Costco so that we could gas up for the trip back home …
… the uneventful trip, thankfully.
Scorecard w/e 09/10/24
In the past week, The Cask Whisperer has enjoyed the following casks:
- Old Glenham Bobbin Red Ale @ Jones Wood Foundry
- Old Glenham Session Bitter @ Jones Wood Foundry
And sampled all of the following at the 9th Annual Harvest Real Ale Festival at the Noah Webster House:
Plus a couple of unlisted beers:
- Marzen from New Park Brewing in a gravity keg.
- Marzen from WeHa Brewing in a pin.
Upcoming Cask Events (Festivals and Otherwise)
10/11/24-10/13/24: 18th Annual Cask Days at Bar Volo, Toronto ON
Yep, I know it is a long way away, but it can be reached by public transportation (well, Amtrak). I was just about to put it into my calendar but a whole bunch of conflicting events came up, so for me, next year.
10/26/24: 9th Annual NYC Cask Fest at Woodland Farm Brewery, Utica NY
Dang, it looks like I am going to miss it this year, I will be down in Virginia for a family event the night before, and it will be a long haul and big ask to go back to NYC via Utica!
11/2/2024: 20th Annual Blue Point Cask Ale Festival, Patchogue NY
11/8/2024: Two Roads Cask Fest at Area 2, Stratford CT
Upcoming Random NYC Casks
- Rumor (Instagram) has it that there will be a ceremonial cask from OEC at Greenpoint Beer & Ale’s Oktoberfest, which begins on Saturday September 14th, presumably at noon.
NYC Cask Venues
Known Operational/Active Beer Engines
- Jones Wood Foundry (x2)
- Fifth Hammer
- Wild East
- The Shakespeare (x3)
- Cask Bar & Kitchen
- Drop-off Service
Occasional Pins (worth a follow on Instagram)
- Strong Rope
- KCBC
- Tørst
- Blind Tiger Ale House
- Threes Brewing
- Brouwerij Lane
