Feast of Saint Arnold: Wet but Enjoyable
Last weekend, we attended the Feast of Saint Arnold and as usual it was the enjoyable time it normally is. Also, as has been the norm for the past few weeks here in Colorado Springs, the heavens opened up and sent a deluge of water onto attendees, which helped us all get a bit closer to friends (old and new) under tents, umbrellas and whatever else we could find for shelter.
With the Feast of Saint Arnold every year, brewers were encouraged to enter their take on WWSAB (What Would Saint Arnold Brew) with a historical representation that fit the fest’s theme. This year, JAKs Brewing came out on top, with brewer Ben Campbell’s rendition of a Biere de Garde. Rounding out the top three were Pikes Peak’s new Barrel-aged Wild Ale, Walking into Sunshine, and Peaks N Pines’ Czech Amber Lager aptly titled Czech Yes or No. Full results from the judging can be found here.
Fest-wise, some standouts for us were Two Swedes’ glögg(Emily’s personal favorite), Batch Slapped’s Norwegian-style Kornøl, Dead Tree Scrolls from Paradox and Woods Boss (nice to see the ‘Dox at a beer festival after a self-imposed drought), and Antelope Ridge Meadery’s summer slate of mead amongst many other great beers and whiskeys.
The Kornøl from Batch was especially interesting because as a style, the beer is not boiled at all, which is somewhat contrary to modern brewing techniques. Instead, the mash includes Juniper branches and the runoff is sent directly into the fermenter. After pitching kveik yeast, which loves high temperature environments, the beer would be done in about 2 or so days and then enjoyed. Check out this nice explanation of the history and process by Beer and Brewing Magazine.
That’s what makes Feast of Saint Arnold such a unique beer festival. If, as a consumer, you wanted to just get drunk on flagships in the sun, you could pick from a number of different festivalss happening this summer. Instead, Feast of Saint Arnold embraces the odd, providing drinkers with a much different experience.
In addition to the professional competition, the team behind Feast of Saint Arnold also allows homebrewers to channel their inner Saint Arnold. The winner of the WWSAB category was Hipolito Perez with their Lambic-style Peach beer. Along with the historical beers, homebrewers could also enter in standard beers from a select number of categories. Ryan and Nick Wankel of the Lakewood Fermentation Club took home top honors for standard beers with their Imperial Porter Aged on toasted coconut. Full Homebrewer results are here.
Here’s some photos from our time at the fest:
See you all next year!
