2023 Beerfest

March 18, 2023

Having moved this 6th annual event from February to March due to mostly winter laziness resulted in a bit of sunshine and a fifty-degree day. Although the date changed what did change is the crowd came out with their amazing beer selections, no wood pallet, leftover kerosene, or stored real Christmas tree would be safe during the Crooked Antler Beerfest(CAB).

Our favorite pit master Mike “Canel Rat” Cabral was back with his always-appreciated culinary delights. Including smoked brisket, stuffed quahogs and mushrooms, and grilled shrimp. Mike works very hard to give us the best food including going out harvesting the quahogs himself. Thanks, Mike you are the best.

The star of the show of course is the beer at Crooked Antler Beerfest. We had 31 entries this year including what will be the category going forward called Home Hooch. Previous Beerfest had home-brewed beer entries only but in the spirit of everyone gets to play and participate culture we are making changes and love it. If you can make it at home and bring it to CAB, do it. We have the folks that will enjoy the chance to enjoy your creation.

Our drone pilot had issues with equipment and his attention spend so we went for the best aerial view possible.

Good times crew was here for sure and signs of the day were the smile on people’s faces and the sometimes taking a moment to just enjoy the view of nature and its glory. Nice job Cam.

As with our event every year we give everyone a few hours to get around the table and taste everything they want. Some who are braver than most and planned an Uber ride later got a full lap in on our table. It’s time to count the votes and find our 2023 winners.

Our results this year tell the tail that big brews have a place in this format of competition and today they were on top.

The IPA(NEIPA, DIPA, TIPA, QIPA) style has been king for years here at CAB. This year did include a podium result in the beer competition with a third place for Spyglass Brewing Co’s DIPA – Recursion. Spyglass historically has done very well at CAB with a great showing this year and last. @spyglassbrewing

The reign of big brews this year included our second-place result brought by Paul L. from a ridiculous collaboration with Second Wind brewing and Kings Brewing Companies. Their Imperial Stout pushing almost 12%, and very easy drinking Cafe Coco Nana. This was one of the very few brews that had multiple cans get kicked due to the return tasters. @secondwindbrewing @kingsbrewingco

Rounding out our beer competition with first place and another very big Imperial Stought with 12% ABV brought by Josh that was canned at River Styx brewing was Thanatos God of Death. This as well as a very easy-drinking brew that demands some time and patience if you plan to have a few of these. This can as got kicked a few times as it saw return tastings and voting tickets too. @riverstyxbrewing

With the beer comp out of the way, we moved on to what will be called our Home Hooch category from now on. Matt brought a massive Mead that required return tasting, many questions about the process of mead production, and piles of voting tickets.

With all the business out of the way, we switch gears to post-competition activities. Cory our host always brings his A game to the party and this year was without exception.

Bring out your holiday trees and stand back.

As the afterparty started and personalities came out in their glory we thank all the OGs and the new faces that keep coming back and making this event so much fun to be part of. We do this for the love of good people and sharing in the love of good beer and homemade hooch.

See you all at the 2024 Crooked Antler Beerfest.