Forum of the Gods

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending The Forum of the Gods at the Philadelphia Bar & Restaurant. This was a Q&A chaired by Joe Sixpack and Tony Fordor who grilled Carol Stoudt of Stoudt's Brewing, Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head, Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing, Brian Grossman of Sierra Nevada (son of the founder), and Larry Sidor of Deschutes Brewery (brewmaster). The moderators had about an hour worth of questions, then the panel took a half dozen questions from the crowd.

Overall it was interesting, but not particularly technical. Lots of "what beer do you like" and "where do you think the industry is headed". I enjoyed it, but for some reason its not what I expected. All the breweries had stuff on tap, and 4x 8oz pours were included in the $20 cover. I got a chance to Deschutes Obsidian Stout and Russian River Blind Pig IPA. Both were good, but I was paying far more attention to the Q&A and really don't remember the beers to much. Unfortunately, the beers also effected me a bit and I don't remember a everything from the Q&A, which is also why I only used 2 of my 4 beer tickets. That, and its finals week.

Highlights from the session included the panelists mocking the PLCB on multiple occasions, discussions on expanding their breweries (no joy on Russian River. Although we are their biggest bottle-and-corked sour beer market, which Vinnie is very appreciative of), recollections of Sam crawling on the floor last night after shots of Jameson, oh, and the time Sam rowed the first six pack of his beer across the Delaware into New Jersey as a publicity stunt...and forgot to put out a press release....

So, yea, I enjoyed myself. Not sure if others would have, though, as this was pretty much entertainment.