Craft Beer 101 – Firkfest Wrap-up

Whether you’re trying to impress your friends at the bar or you’re an avid beer drinker, Greg Nagel ofOCbeerblog.comand our weekly Brewday Monday: Craft Beer 101 Q&A will give you something to talk about. Check out the wrap-up of Firkfest fromChase Dipple who writesChasecraftbeer.com

“Good people drink good beer.”Are the true words uttered by Hunter S. Thompson. It’s simple; pair good beer with good people and organize an event with proceeds going to charity and you can’t go wrong. Well that’s how Firkfest, a Festival of Firkins, went down.

FirkFestis a craft beer festival revolving around the central theme of cask conditioned beer and benefited theInspire Artistic Mindsproject. It could not have been a more perfect and beautiful day to drink beer. The location of Farmers Park in Anaheim was serene. With clouds displaying a soft gray and giving way to a gentle royal blue sky and the temperature was comfortable and ideal for the consumption of the beer outdoors. A twist on the normal service of beer at a beer festival, the cask conditioned ales were a unique taste that exploded with more flavor and gusto than ordinarily served beer. Aroma’s were easy to pick up and detect and the general mouthfeel of the beer was very light and pleasant.

The lineup of breweries present and their offerings proved that cask beer is alive and well in Southern California. With over 30 breweries andthe event maxing out at 500 people, FirkFest was not crowded and only a few of the casks kicked, ensuring an abundance of choices and allowing attendees to branch out with unlimited tastes. I was able to enjoy and witness some of the great flavors I love come out in a different way and meld with the additional new fusions.Breweries such as Monkish, Bottle Logic, Bootleggers and more poured celebrated beers. One of my favorites of the day tasted like a spring day at the spa: Monkish Brewing’s Spa-Ish (Belgian Single with cucumber, lemon, mint and ginger) felt like my mouth was having a spa day. The official collaboration beer of the event was OCBeerBlog/Los Angeles Ale Works’ Karma Kolsch with chrysanthemum, kumquat, and masala chai tea; a beer that was spiced, light and refreshing.

Entertainment was provided by DJ Lexakhan and was one hell of an entertaining guy. Keeping the music pumping and fans moving as he finagled through the crowd and sometimes asked people what beers they were enjoying and pointing out select breweries to the crowd. He even took requests! Four food vendors were there from the much awaited Anaheim Packing District: Adya – Fresh Indian Flavors, Wheat and Sons, The Iron Press and The Kroft.

The event was an overall success with over $10,000 donated to Inspire Artistic Minds. I got to meet with old friends and made some new friends and thoroughly enjoyed myself with great firkin beers. I look forward to another event organized by Greg ofOCBeerBlogand wish him all the success in his future ventures.