To celebrate Matt and Jen's first visit back to SF with Lucas (messing with goats at the Anderson Valley Brewing Company to the right) in tow, we had a viking style grill out. Everyone chipped in with grass fed beef burgers topped with applewood smoked bacon, figs topped with goat cheese and honey, venison sausages, grilled jumbo prawns with the smoked porter bbq sauce, german potato salad. . .and it just kept going.
The attendees became our selection committee for the MVP. We'd love to say it was close, but there was a clear winner. First the selctions:
From left to right:
Eddie Gaven
Kyle Beckerman
Dax McCarty
As it turns out Eddie Gaven was a much hoppier beer than his competition. The adjustment to keep the palates from getting crushed was to taste in reverse order. Each selection had clear profile differences. Eddie Gaven was very close to an IPA. Kyle Beckerman showed that a little Special B malt goes a long way and Dax showed that a much lighter body due to the use of wheat. Each person's personal tastes were clearly reflected in the results. The judges ranged from self proclaimed beer geeks to Stella as a standard drinkers.
The MVP award went to Kyle Beckerman by a landslide. Can't say we're completely surprised as we've already given some samples to the local farmers market guys (they trade us for the applewood smoked bacon) and the wine shop behind the house. The feedback was excellent so there were hints that this one might be well received. Beer is like little league though, everyone wins with both other contestants also receiving first place votes. We would like to send Kyle a bottle, however he plays for Real Salt Lake. To say the least, there are more hospitable places for beer.
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