As the festival nears, the brewers and entertainment have been finalized.

The organizers of the festival have indicated that 40 different beers will be available for tasting. The beer will be provided by the following brewers.

Anheuser-Busch Inc. (Cartersville Ga)
Widmer Brothers Brewing Company (Portland Or)
Redhook Ale Brewery (Woodinville Wa)
Abita Brewing Company (Abita Springs La)
Big River Grille & Brewing Works (Chattanooga Tn)
Blackstone Restaurant & Brewery (Nashville Tn)
Bosco's Nashville Brewing Company (Nashville Tn)
Boston Beer Company (Boston Ma)
Carolina Beer & Beverage Company (Mooresville Nc)
Dogwood Brewing Company (Atlanta Ga)
Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant (Atlanta Ga)
Moon River Brewing Company (Savannah Ga)
Ragtime Tavern, Seafood & Grill (Atlantic Beach Fl)
Red Oak Brewery (Greensboro Nc)
Rock Bottom Brewery Restaurant (Atlanta Ga)
Rocky River Brewing Company (Sevierville Tn)
Spoetzl Brewery (Shiner Tx)
Sweetwater Brewing Company (Atlanta Ga)
Terrapin Beer Company (Athens Ga)
Thomas Creek Brewery (Greenville Sc)

If memory servers me, I believe that Thomas Creek Brewery and Widmer Brothers Brewing Company are new this year. I am not sure about Ragtime Tavern which may have been present last year.

According to the festival site, The Rounders, The Lee Boys, The John Cowan Band, and BoDeans will performing at the festival.

The nice thing about this festival is that everything goes to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. There is nothing better supporting a cause by tasting some great beers.

Karen and I stopped Il Vicino for beer and dinner tonight.  The staff was great.  Karen had the amber and was given a free oatmeal stout for us helping clear the outside table because the raining coming down on their condiments.

Karen enjoyed both beers.  She thinks the stout was a well-balanced beer with coffee over tones that didn’t overwhelm the style of the beer.  I had the IPA, which was not as hopped as most IPAs in the Colorado Springs area, but hopped well for IPA.  (Colorado Springs breweries over hop most beers.)

By the way, the pizza was great, too.

Karen and I started our evening out at the The WareHouse. It is one of the best restaurants in Colorado Springs. It is a converted warehouse. The owner actually lives on the third floor, the restaurant and art gallery are on the first floor, and the brewery is in the basement.

Karen and I both had the General Palmer’s Amber Lager. It should be first noted that this is not an ale. They describe the beer as “a Bavarian-style bock beer, deep amber in color and slightly higher in alcohol. Lagered for quite some time.” It is truly a dark amber with a heavy malt taste. The staff can fool you by calling it an amber, which would lead you think it is an amber ale. The key word is “bock”. If we had known that it was a bock, I think that we would have enjoyed the beer for what it was.

Karen followed the General Palmer’s Amber Lager with the SP Belgian Ale. She truely enjoyed this beer. The server behind the bar had to have new. Normally, the SP Belgian Ale is served in smaller brandy style glass, but he provided a full pint. Karen didn’t mind.

For my second beer, I had the Trolley Car, which is Northern English Brown Ale in style. We both enjoyed this beer as we walked through the gallery. The flavor was well rounded and very satisfying.

By the way, we had the Battered English Pub Chips without the topping. They were very good. I would suggest that you ask for the chipotle mayonnaise as dipping sause. You will thank me.

To end our evening, Karen and I headed over to Phantom Canyon Brewing Co to try an ale or two.

First, Phantom Canyon Brewing Co is situated in the center of downtown across the street from the Antlers. The building is the historic Cheyenne Building which had housed the Chicago Rock Island and Pacific Railroad in 1901.

Karen had the Hefeweizen while I had their Ginger Ale Beer. Karen's beer was very little in body and taste. My beer had little hint of ginger compared to what I had expected. The Ginger Ale beer is seasonal so get while you can.

Karen and I have headed into Judge Baldwin's to try some more of their brews.

Karen had the Champion Wheat and Belgian Biere de Garde. Karen thinks the Champion Wheat was very good. She said it would be a good summer beer with dinner. It was not over powering. Karen enjoyed the Belgian, too. She indicated it is similar to many other types of red ale.

I had the Cascade Amber Lager and Flanders Oud Bruin. The Cascade had a very good hop finish. It would please most anyone. The Flanders Oud Bruin is wild with flavors. It starts off with a malty fruit flavor, but transitions into an oak flavor similar to a fine whiskey's oak barrel taste.

I am sitting in Judge Baldwin's drinking their Baby Buddha Dopplebock. I have already finished a Raspberry Wheat.

Judge Baldwin's serves every beer with a straw holding a pretzel. I enjoy this, but you may not.

The Raspberry Wheat has a nice fruity raspberry bouquet and a light taste of raspberry in the finish. The beer is served with a slice of lime which can be added or not. I like it both ways.

Side Bar: Judge Baldwin's presently has a great happy hour special which has all of their brews and appetizers at two bucks. You can't beat that can you!

On to the next beer:
The Baby Buddha Dopplebock is a little sweet with light mouth feel. The beer was licorice high lights. I don't think I have ever found a bad dopplebock.

Time to settle up and head over to Jack Quinn's to listen to John Wise's group Tribe.

Il Vicino has a new brew. The Mexicito is brewed new the style of a Mexician lager with agave juice.

The beer has fruity after tones with mellow malty flavors. It has light body and is servered with a slice of lime. I think a orange slice would have gone well with the fruitiness. It would go well with fish, but Il Vicino doesn’t serve fish. Bummer!

While at Il Vicino, I had the Brown ale which is hoppy for a brown ale. But, I will have to say that most Colorado Springs beer are over hopped for their style. I always enjoy this style of beer in Colorado Springs. Il Vicino’s Brown has more haze than most.