1. Oreo Pinstripe... I was shocked at how much this beer actually tasted like Oreos. I think it was Doug's idea to do Oreo this year and I originally cringed at the idea. Originally, we were just going to randle Pinstripe with Oreos, but instead we added cocoa nibs, vanilla, and lactose to a keg and I thought it was great. I would really like to bottle this variation in bombers or in 4-packs... Double Stuffed Stout?
2. A good line up of beers... In addition to the Oreo Pinstripe, I personally felt that this year's beers were the most drinkable variations we have done. Typically, we come up with some pretty crazy ideas for our variations and we go into it knowing that a few of them have potential to be a little too out there and we try to balance those riskier ones with some safer variations that we can count on to be good. In the past, some of our really crazy ideas didn't work out quite as we hoped (Sriracha comes to mind). I really expected the Bloody Mary version to be this year's bust, but I actually had a lot of people come up to me and tell me they loved it. I really liked the salted caramel, dry hopped, bourbon nitro, white chocolate, and hazelnut.
3. Debut of spirits... I was really anxious to debut our limoncello and our creme liqueur. The feedback we got was all really positive. A few adventurous people wound up making car bombs with their favorite Pinstripe variation and the creme liqueur. I'd be lying if I said I didn't try one with our Chocolate Oatmeal Porter earlier in the night. It was awesome!
4. Great entertainment... Seriously, Solid Blue Bluegrass Band was awesome! Unlike a lot of bands, they came and played at a perfect volume, sounded really well rehearsed, and the played some really great tunes. Also, when we started planning Pinstripe Fest months ago, who would have guessed that Ole Miss vs. Auburn would be such a great game?
5. The food... Stan and Tina always do a great job with the pizzas, but they really out did themselves last night. Their pasta cup appetizers were really good as well. I can't wait to have their brunch later this morning!
6. Allison kicked ass... This isn't really anything new, she's been kicking ass for a long time now, but she really did a great job with the planning and lay out. Everything ran really smoothly from what I saw last night and Allison deserves the praise for making that happen.
I won't lie and say that I can't wait to start making pinstripe variations again (This event really does take a lot out of us), but last night did get me excited to start coming up with new ideas for next year. It is always a challenge to come up with variations that don't repeat themselves.
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