Tour de Fat Durham

This past weekend, Hop Man, made an Appearance at New Belgium's Tour de Fat. For those of you who don't know, Tour de Fat is essentially a Beer Carnival showcasing New Belgium, sustainability, and their lifestyle and culture when it comes to fun and bikes.

A celebration of bikes, beer and community in 12 U.S. cities spreading the good word about the radness of the mighty bicycle and a simple, honest way of living.

If you need a recap of why I would be interested in something like this... You have not been paying attention, but here you go. As soon as I got there I started scoping out the park trying to figure out my game plan for the day... Not that I really needed one. It was to only be about excitement and going with the flow and then I ran into this sign.



I guess this set the stage for what I was drinking anyway. I may or may not have been able to score my way into the VIP tent, Thank You Again! So it was cool just being around everyone that was there. I even left with some swag that will be going on many of rides with me.



Tour de Fat kicked off with a fashion show, (actually, it kicked off with a Bicycle Parade that lead to the opening but still...), showcasing the best of the best at the park. I shot a clip of the catwalk as it was shutting down. Take a look here.



Fashion Show.mp4 from L Allen Huerta on Vimeo.

Of course I came dressed for the occasion, not that it should come as a surprise to you. But after the show, IT WAS TIME TO GET BEER!!!

Over the course of the day I tried everything that was available at the Lips of Faith tent. I didn't bother heading over to the other but they had Summer Helles over there. I highly recommend finding that on and trying it. Especially those of you who say you don't like lagers. This is one of the best beers I have had in a while and it even falls into the Light Lager category for those of you who always trash it. Just saying.



There are a few shows, and bands, I wish I would have caught but there were a lot of good people to talk and hangout with. Of course enjoy your company, but if you have the chance to show up to an event make sure you check out as much as possible. They put on a great show. I should have taken photos of the puppeteer. He did some pretty... interesting things that I did not even know were possible. Including a stripping puppet and Homer Simpson on the drums! Pretty epic.

There are a few more stops this year, so if you have the chance to get out to them, I suggest you do!

Washington, District of Columbia Yards Park 5/31/2014
Durham, North Carolina Diamond View Park 6/21/2014
Chicago, Illinois Palmer Square 7/12/2014
Twin Cities, Minnesota Loring Park 7/26/2014
Boise, Idaho Ann Morrison Park 8/16/2014
Fort Collins, Colorado Civic Center Park 8/30/2014
Denver, Colorado City Park 9/6/2014
San Francisco, California Golden Gate Park 9/13/2014
San Diego, California Golden Hill Park 9/27/2014
Tempe, Arizona Tempe Town Lake 10/4/2014

Now, I could not let you go without showing you what I wore, so you better show me up at the event that you go to!



Cheers!

BJCP Tasting Exam

After such a long wait, the time has finally come and passed. It has been about a month and a half now and I still have a lot to cover when it comes to learning the history of the styles, etc. but the BJCP Tasting Exam is finally OVER!!! I was stressing a lot about it the first few days to a week or so after the exam but now I am just over it and want my results. Before I wanted an 80 or better, now I just hope I got a 60 so I don't have to test with the updated guidelines... JK!!! I still hope I did great but this waiting period is killing me and seriously all I want is a pass at this point.

The main advice I have for anyone taking this is exam is to make sure you learn the styles. I know that may sound kind of obvious, but maybe I should phrase it this way. Make sure you know the differences between the styles. You are there to judge each beer presented to you based on what you sense. Not what the guideline says. Write down everything you notice and then afterward, consider what you tasted. The proctor told you this was a Sweet Stout. Was it really? or was it an under-carbonated Oatmeal Stout? There are differences but if you can't pull out what they are, you are stuck taking their word for gold.

Overall I think I feel pretty good about it but we will see when the results come back. One more thing when it comes to taking the test. Or even when it comes to life: NEVER SECOND GUESS YOURSELF!



I showed up on test day not knowing what to expect. I signed in, sat down, filled out preliminary paperwork and just waited... I don't know why I showed up so early. About an hour but I stayed in my car. I got in the testing room about 30 minutes before the start of the exam... Just waiting... I guess it is better than being late.

I was relieved when the first beer showed up. I feel it set the pace for the whole exam. The category was 1A: Lite American Lager. A pretty good one, too. At least I thought it was. Drinking it was honestly just like reading the guidelines. The only thing I knocked that one for was the fact that it was hazy. This is not a style I ever really drink but I would drink several of them no questions asked. People just get so stuck on the BMC is bad kick, that they cannot relate to a good beer in those styles. Just about every beer has its time and place. Lite American Lager included.

I thought I got pretty lucky with the choice of beers. The remaining styles went as follows; 5B: Traditional Bock, 10A: American Pale Ale, 13B: Sweet Stout, 19A: Old Ale, and 18C: Tripel. Each of those beers had their own strengths and weaknesses and there was only one I found nearly undrinkable. I felt everything was good until the very end of the exam where I finished up Beer Number 6 and had about 10 minutes remaining... That second guessing yourself thing comes into play here.





The Tripel that I thought was pretty awesome, started to taste funky... like really odd. Like odd enough for me to lower my score from a 34 to a 29! I should have left it because it seems I was right in line with everyone that I talked to after the exam before I went back. I guess one beer won't really hurt me when it comes to grading but I was hoping to have all 6 be good. Just to hopefully score fairly well. And who knows what else I may have slipped up on. I thought the Old Ale might have been infected and then I go back to taste it after the exam and it was not as "bad" as I thought it was.

I did not adjust that score because I had given it a 19. It was a bad example of an Old Ale, regardless. Other examinees I talked to scored it right in line with me or in the low 20's, so I am not too worried about that... unless it was not infected and I get knocked for that. But it is still only 2 beers out of 6... I feel I nailed the other exam beers and I was not too far off here, even with my changes or perceptions.

I will send out an update as I get my results back, but don't expect to see that for another two or three months... or so I hear. Twitter or Google Plus will probably have the first look at that, but that is like breaking news. Until then,

Cheers!