Cellaring Grad School: Delilah’s 14th annual Vintage Beer Fest

Delilahs 14th Annual Vintage Beer Festival

velvet lamp shade..and Elvis

Some would argue that beer never goes bad, it just changes. Delilah’s owner Mike Miller for 14 years now, every winter gives us a chance to experience beer like no other place does. Over 100 beers, 50 breweries this party highlights brews that would take you forever to collect on your own.  This years event was different than previous editions, 12 months ago we found all the imports upstairs, all the domestic beers on the 1st floor. This year beers letters A-C along with all the verticals were on the upper level, all other bottles could be found downstairs ( along with a cool collection of Elvis paintings) Mike sees this event as a way to share beers from his collection, also it gives beer lovers a chance to enjoy what vintage ales from all over the world taste like over time. For me the Gouden Carolus Grand Cru Of The Emperor 2003 (Mechelen, Belgium) and De Dolle Oerbier Special Reserva 2002( Esen, Belgium) alone were worth the price of admission . It wasn’t just about aged beers, strong ales were represented as well in their most recent vintage. 2012 Three Floyds Dreadnaught Imperial IPA was there whenever I needed to take a break from the endless samples of stouts and barleywines on display.

Its easy to take the approach of trying all your favorite beers, those which you are familiar with on a day like this. We made the attempt this time around to find out what others were drinking, and pursue those samples as well. I learned about capital Brewery up in Middleton, Wisconsin and kept hearing about the awesomeness of their Bockfest ( a party I’m totally hitting up this year) I took a ride on their 2001 Blonde Doppelbock and was surprised at how well it holds up over a decade later.

ladies in attendance sporting their Chicago Beer Geeks bracelets on the 1st floor

The most enchanting beer of the day for me was the Juliet ’10 from Goose Island. Aged in cabernet barrels w blackberries, this beer would easily convert those types that claim “they don’t drink beer” It was tart and fruity like you would expect from a sour ale. The dark fruit component fades nicely into what becomes this complex, balanced, rose colored treat that reminds you of a Pinot Noir. Overall this is probably the best 20$ you will spend at an event all year. You could geek out on an entire vertical Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine ’03- ’12 and JW Lees Harvest Ale ’06 – ’09, ’10 were popular all day long.  (The JW Lees is and English Barleywine @ 11%ABV despite its Harvest Ale title) The concept of placing styles drastically different styles next to each other really help me explore new ground. I love this event,beers from, England, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, California, Warrenville, IL and all points in between…all side by side under one roof! Good times, Delilah’s is a legendary whiskey bar owned by a rock & roll enthusiast with an insane collection vintage beers…not a bad way to spend a winter afternoon in Chicago.

–Nkosi

Heres a rundown of some of the beers sampled at Vintage Beer fest

Harvey A Le Coq Imperial Extra Double Stout -2003

J.W. Lees Harvest Ale– 2006, Middleton ,England

New Belgium Lips Of Faith  Sour Ale-2011, Denver, CO

New Glarus Unplugged Imperial Stout-2005, Wisconsin

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine -2004,  Chico, CA

Troubador Obscura Stout-2010, Belgium

2 Brothers Bare Tree Weiss Wine-2000, Warrenville, IL

Avery The Reverend Quadrupel Ale- 2001, Boulder, CO

Brasserie D’Achouffe N’ice Chouffe 2007, Belgium

Gouden Carolus Grand Cru Of The Emperor-2003, Mechelen, Belgium

Capital Brewing   Doppelbock -2001, Middleton, Wisconsin

Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Barleywine-2012, Wisconsin

De Dolle Oerbier Special Reserva-2002, Esen Belgium

Goose Island Juliet-2010, Chicago

Goose Island Pere Jacques-2005, Chicago

George Gale’s Prize Old Ale-1998, England