All Sweet At Boston’s Beer And Sweet Fest 2016

EVENT: Boston Beer & Sweet Fest

HOSTED BY: Drink Craft Beer

PLACE: Space 57, 200 Stuart Street, Boston, MA 02116

DATE: 4th-5th November 2016

TIME:  Session 1 – Friday, November 4th: 6-9:30pm
Session 2 – Saturday, November 5th: 1-4:30pm
Session 3 – Saturday, November 5th: 6-9:30pm (the one we                     went to)

When I started  writing this post I was slightly hungover – and its all the fault of my sister and brother-in-law!

When I left London in October to join Mr. D. in Massachusetts after finally being approved for my Green Card (go me!) My sister and her husband decided to treat me and the fella to tickets to this year’s Beer & Sweets Fest that was being held in Boston. I love alcohol; I love sugar; I love alcohol and sugar; I love sugar and alcohol – proof that my sister and brother-in-law really do know me too well!

SO WHAT’S THIS FESTIVAL ALL ABOUT?

The Beer & Sweets Fest is an event thrown by Drink Craft Beer, who in the past have hosted events celebrating all that is good about, well, craft beer! As everyone knows that it’s not much fun drinking without having something to munch on, so these beer events are usually teamed up with a food item of some kind. So there’s been the Beer & Cheese Fest, the Beer & BBQ Fest (Mr. D. would have loved that!) Beer & Chocolate, Beer & Ice-Cream (whatever will they think of next???)… Well now it’s the turn of sweets.

WHAT’S THIS FESTIVAL LIKE?

An indoor festival, there were a series of stalls where vendors from different companies were offering unlimited, free samples of either beer or sweets. Each company generally offered three different items for people to try.

And naturally most sweet treats were paired with a beer or cider from a neighbouring vendor – as suggested in the festival guide – which complemented it.

ON ARRIVAL

After having our IDs checked and receiving the obligatory wrist band, we then had to pick up a biodegradable tasting cup for all our drink samples (great way to cut down on waste) a festival guide and a pencil so that we could mark off all the goodies we’d sampled.

And then the fun began!

ONCE INSIDE

As each stall had about three items for everyone to try. Mr. D. and I worked out a strategy that we were going to go round the venue trying one thing from each stall before working our way around another two times so that by the end of the night we’d have tried everything.

Well at least that was the plan. Unfortunately it didn’t quite work out that way because as much as I think I can consume sweet stuff and alcohol all day long, my tiny little body had other ideas and decided that it just couldn’t handle the buzzing, sugar rush it was getting.

Oh well we tried! And we didn’t do too badly either.

WHO WAS THERE?

Celebrating all that was great about New England beer, were a total of twenty breweries and cideries from the region as well as eight companies providing delicious sweet treats such as ice -cream, cookies, doughnuts, and various types of confectionery.

Here’s a list of the breweries, cider makers and confectioners who were in attendance, as well as the samples on offer.

BEER AND CIDER

Allagash Brewing Co. (ME)

Black – Belgian-style stout

Fluxus – Belgian-style saison w/ ginger

James Bean – Belgian-style strong ale w/ coffee

White – Belgian-style wit beer

Bantam Cider (MA)

Hibiscus Mint

Rojo-Chocolato – Bantam Rojo cherry & black pepper cider aged with chocolate roasted cacao nibs

Wunderkind – Cider with flower-blossom honey

Castle Island Brewing Co. (MA)

Hoodsie TBD – American stout with cocoa nibs & vanilla bean

Oaverzealous – Double IPA with oats & New Zealand hops

Palmside – Coconut porter

Citizen Cider (VT)

Americran – Cider with cranberries

Dirty Mayor – Cider with ginger

Stan Up – Vintaged cider made from heirloom apples

Clown Shoes Beer (MA)

The Barista – Brown ale with coffee & milk sugars

Chocolate Sombrero – Stout with cinnamon, vanilla, & ancho chili peppers

Space Cake – Double IPA

Downeast Cider House (MA)

Cranberry Blend – Cider with fresh cranberry juice

Original Blend

Pumpkin Blend – Cider with fresh pumpkin & chai spices

Exhibit A Brewing Co. (MA)

The Cat’s Meow – American IPA

Demo Tape Five – American brown Porter

Demo Tape Six – Dry-hopped kettle sour

Goody Two Shoes – Kolsch-style ale

Far From the Tree Cider (MA)

karr-UH-mel – Vanilla Sea Salt Caramel Cider

 Cord – Oaked maple cider

Ember – Toasted chai cider with smoked vanilla & burnt sugar

Foolproof Brewing Co. (RI)

Emperor of the Yahd – Bourbon barrel aged Double IPA

La Ferme Urbaine – Belgian-style saison

Peanut Butter Raincloud – Peanut butter porter  with chocolate

Henniker Brewing Co. (NH)

Hometown Double Brown –brown ale

King Misanthrope – Russian Imperial Stout

Ora – Belgian-style golden ale

Jack’s Abby Brewing Co. (MA)

Brewery Maker – Lager wine aged in bourbon barrels

Framinghammer – Baltic Porter

Red Tape – Amber lager

Lefty’s Brewing Co. (MA)

Big Brekkie Stout – Breakfast stout with organic chocolate, coffee, oatmeal, maple syrup, & bacon

Graham Cracker Porter

Vanilla/Chocolate Wedding Daze – Imperial Stout aged on organic vanilla beans & organic cocoa nibs

Long Trail Brewing Co. (VT)

Citrus Limbo – IPA infused with grapefruit & tangerine

Cranberry Gose – German-style gose brewed with cranberries

Barrel Aged Unearthed – Bourbon barrel aged stout

Lost Nation Brewing Co. (VT)

Gose – Slightly sour German wheat beer w/ coriander & sea salt

Cask Pitch Black –  black ale dry-hopped withGalaxy hops

Cask Vermont Pilsner – pilsner dry-hopped with Mandarina Bavaria hops

Newburyport Brewing Co. (MA)

Das Kolsch – Kolsch-style ale

Joppa Grande – Foreign Export Stout

Plum Island – Belgian-style Wit

Night Shift Brewing Co. (MA)

Awake – Coffee porter

Furth –Hefeweizen

Trifecta – Belgian-style pale ale aged w/ vanilla beans

Peak Organic Brewing Co. (ME)

Nut Brown – Brown ale

Fresh Cut – Dry hopped hoppy pilsner

Happy Hour – Pilsner

Samuel Adams (MA)

Slice of Citrus IPA – Citrus IPA

Black Harbor Stout – Imperial stout with vanilla, black pepper, coffee, & cocoa nibs

Neighborino Flanders Red – Belgian-style sour red ale

Slumbrew (MA)

UNION by Somerville Brewing – Barleywine

Yankee Swap 2016 – Rotating big beer

TBD Sour Brown Ale

Wormtown Brewing Co. (MA)

Blizzard of ’78 – English-style brown ale with cold brew coffee

Blonde Cougar – American blonde ale with honey

Norm – Oatmeal stout with cocoa nibs & toasted coconut

Spices Like Us – Imperial Russian Stout

SWEETS

Blackbird Donuts (Boston, MA)

Grapefruit and Cracked Pepper Glaze Donut

Cinnamon Spice Donut

Vanilla Sugar Donut

Chocolate Therapy (Framingham, MA)

The Cure – Dark chocolate truffle with cinnamon, bay leaf, cayenne, and Aleppo pepper

Fix – Smooth dark chocolate truffle topped with crunchy cocoa nibs

Honey Hops – Dark and milk chocolate truffle with Citra hops and honey

Honeycomb Creamery (Somerville, MA)

Apple Cider Donut with Caramel Swirl ice cream

Brown Butter Apple ice cream

Spiced Pumpkin ice cream

Kitchen Millie (Somerville, MA)

The Peanut Patriot – Peanut butter cookie

The Sugar Blizzard – Sugar cookies with sea salt and cinnamon

The Unrivaled Classic – Chocolate chip cookies

Miam Miam Macaronerie (South Boston, MA)

Chocolate Stout macaron

Salted Caramel macaron

Vanilla Bean macaron

Spindler Confections (Somerville, MA)

Salted Vanilla Caramels

Apricot Pate de Fruits

Peanut Brittle

Sweet Lydia’s (Lowell, MA)

Coconut Marshmallows

Turtle Bark – Caramel, pecans, and dark chocolate

Mexican Chocolate Stout S’More – S’more with vanilla marshmallow, ganache made with Clown Shoes Chocolate Sombrero stout, and graham cracker crumbs

Taza Chocolate (Somerville, MA)

Toffee Almond Sea Salt

Maple Pecan

Cranberry Pumpkin Spice

WHAT WE THOUGHT

To say that Mr. D. and I had a fab time is an understatement. There was such  a good vibe from the time we entered the venue and the purple-shirted staff members were so polite, helpful and accommodating. The vendors were an absolute delight (I’ve been to similar events back in London and this has not always been the case) and we managed to sample some fabulous, top quality food and drink. I don’t know who comes up with these innovative, highly original flavour combos but we had great fun tasting them.

Admittedly I’m not much of a beer drinker – that’s more Mr. D.’s thing – so I was thrilled to see that there were quite a few cider makers there that night because I am most definitely a cider girl!

Although we did enjoy almost everything, if I’m honest, I was disappointed that a very delicious and unusual sounding cider  – which shall remain nameless- had to be tipped into a waste bucket because neither Mr.D nor I could finish even that little two ounce sample which had an extremely strong taste which we did not find appealing. That’s not to say that it was rank – just not to our taste but that was the only thing we ditched that night.

WOULD WE GO AGAIN?

Oh you bet! We had such an amazing time there that if there was ever to be another one next year, we would definitely go. It wasn’t just the food and drink that was on offer that made it worth it, but the vibrant atmosphere, helpful event staff, friendly vendors and fab festival goers that made this event such a pleasant experience.

And let’s not forget that it’s events like these which give local breweries, cideries and confectioners the chance to put themselves and their products in the spotlight,  and make themselves known to a wider audience.

SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO…

Although we thought everyone was amazing, there are some people who really stood out.

CITIZEN CIDER

Mr. D. and I sampled some great tasting cider but it was the vendor who really stood out as much as those cups of appley goodness! He had no in engaging the festival goers in conversation and seemed oo have time for everyone. The fact that he complimented me ookn my accent means that he gets a zillion house points!

SPINDLER CONFECTIONS

The vendor was very welcoming and took time to explain what the samples were and invited is to try them. And they were gooooood!

SWEET LYDIA’S

I found that this company were very generous with their samples. I’ve seen restaurants who serve up mingier dessert portions! They were all incredibly tasty and even though I’m not normally a huge coconut fan, I really loved the taste and texture of their coconut marshmallows.

FAR FROM THE CIDER TREE

Mr. D and I were very impressed with what we tried, and I loved the flavour of the vanilla sea salt caramel cider. The vendor was also a very cheery, laid back dude!

BLACKBIRD DOUGHNUTS

Okay, I was disappointed that there were no vanilla sugar doughnuts, and I really wish that their grapefruit and pepper doughnuts – which were created especially for the festival – had a greater hit of grapefruit. But I can overlook all of the above because Mr. D. fell head over heels for their cinnamon spice doughnuts, and I can’t say I blame him because they were pretty yum!

HONEYCOMB CREAMERY

Mr. D. couldn’t get enough of their apple cider ice – cream – especially when he teamed it up with the cinnamon spice doughnut from Blackbird Doughnuts. And I loved the bits of roasted apple in the butter brown apple ice-cream.

THE CHUBBY CHICKPEA

They weren’t giving away  any beer or sweet samples but instead were selling reasonably-priced actual food – for which Mr. D. and I were extremely grateful because as fabulous as sweets are you need food to mop up all that alcohol!

I ordered the falafel which was cooked to perfection – light on the inside and beautifully crisp on the outside. And Mr. D. loved his chicken schnitzel sandwich. Both were served with hummus – Mr. D’s fave – and a type of salsa.

My only complaint? Guys, ditch the bread roll/bap thing and go for a flat bread instead!

These guys have a food truck located in parts of Boston so catch them if you can.

EVENT STAFF MEMBER

Mr. D. and I need to give a massive shout out to a bespectacled, shaven-headed male event staff member on the Saturday night we attended – for having a heart of gold. Thank you.

MY SISTER AND BROTHER-IN-LAW

Thanks guys for this amazing gift. If it hadn’t been for you two, we wouldn’t have had such a great night out. Next time, leave the kids at home and come with us!

Well done to Drink Craft Beer – you excelled yourself.  Here’s to next year!