Microfestivus ’13: Add This To Your ‘Have To Taste’ List.. Oh, And Welcome Boulevard Brewing To Roanoke Too!

Beer hunting trips for me and my fiancée to stores located in either Northern Virginia or North Carolina can mean bringing back to Roanoke a variety of beers from all sorts of breweries. Typically, we are tracking down limited or rare releases that can often only be found in bigger cities, or more likely, we are itching to taste out beers being produced locally in those areas. But there are also a few more commonly found – in those cities at least – beers from larger, nationally known breweries which always seem make their way onto our sales receipts which somehow, somehow, grow to be as long as my arm. These annual or even year round brews simply aren’t distributed in Roanoke. Can you imagine our surprise, and delight, that one of those breweries announced at the end of May they will begin distributing to the rest of Virginia, including Roanoke. Perhaps those receipts won’t be quite as long next time (but I seriously doubt it). It also seems that this year’s Microfestivus is serving as an unofficial launch party for Boulevard Brewing.

Boulevard, based in Kansas City, finds itself listed somewhere in the top five of the largest craft breweries in the Unites States, production wise, year after year. Sandwiched in between the more limited and rarer releases and a handful of slightly more common year round releases is their “Smokestack Series” of beers, a “bigger, bolder” series, available also on a more limited availability or in year round format. Among others, these brews include their very approachable Tank 7 Saison and solid Long Strange Tripel, but what will apparently be available at Microfestivus will be their delicious Double Wide Double IPA. Where so many bigger ipas can eventually swing a little too sweet, or are perhaps a bit too bitter for some, whenever I taste Double Wide, I can’t help but think how – forgive the overused term here – balanced it is. Don’t get me wrong, of course there’s a fair amount of bitterness, but it’s an undercurrent beneath the more citrusy flavors and aromas taking center stage, wrapped in a thin outer covering of malt sweetness. A fuller medium body carries grapefruit or even apricot like flavors, along with a little pine or as the brewery points out, a bit of mint. Like the saison, I also always think that it’s as approachable as most any double ipa might be, without sacrificing any aroma and/or flavor.

Also available will be one of Boulevard’s more year round non Smokestack Series beers, their 80 Acre Hoppy Wheat beer. It’s a very good, easy to drink warm weather quencher, with a nice layer of hop citrus and bitterness as well.

Either way, these are two beers to seek out at Microfest, and then in stores soon (if they haven’t hit already)! Microfestivus, a coming out party for one of the nation’s most well known, widely distributed, and respected craft breweries, Boulevard Brewing! Cheers!