Wondering who on here has been lucky enough to be part of one, and if so, what beer did you come up with and why? I know its usually reserved for bars / restaurants / distributors, and they do the public one every year as well, but thought there has to be a few others on here that have done one. I was lucky enough to go through my distributor after the sales team met their goals for the year (im one of the purchasers for the company). Ours was Beer Camp #52 Allocation Ale. We wanted to do something not over the top, but more of a session-able beer since it was during the summer we would be getting the kegs in. The name is obviously an inside joke from trying to certain beers, but the brewery will always tell you they are on "allocation" and only give you a few of what you were asking for. One of the guys I was with that worked at our distributorship was doing his second beer camp. His first one was #9 22 Bines So, anyone else been able to do one?
Not myself personally, but a couple of guys that are part of a local restaurant franchise here in Atlanta, GA reportedly came up with the Beer Camp recipe that later became Hoptimum, if that counts.
I participated in #27 and we made a double black IPA called Brewer's Blackbird IPA. (the name is a long story). http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/140/61207 The beer was sort of the result of a long discussion amongst the participants both at the camp and prior to getting to the camp. I have extremely fond memories of the camp itself, the Sierra crew (especially Steve Grossman, Ken's brother) and the other campers.
Was part of beer camp #30 Saison. Pretty much walked in and said "hey bitches this is what were doing" for 6 days. And on the 7th day i rested. and it was good.
Beer Camp 13. Old Cantankerous a stock ale,. Won a gold at the NHC, and Ken Grossman invited the Gold winners that year, as he was the keynote speaker at the conference. One of the best experiences ever.
Whoa, they had that in bottles went I went to the brewery 2 years back! Good job man, that beer was effin delicious, wish I had a few more to age.
i was fortunate enough to go to the last one, Beer Camp 95, which was one of the open-to-the-public contest ones. i think they said it was only the 2nd one so far open to the public (but i could be wrong) it truly is a Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory fantasy, except with beer. i never wanted to leave. i think every camper who was there (mostly home brewers and severe Sierra fanatics) would say the same thing. it was a once in a lifetime experience.. also, i cannot say enough good things about how well Sierra treats everyone. i thought maybe it was going to be like a glorified brewery tour, but they really take you seriously as potential brewers, listen to what you want to brew, then collaborate with you on your recipe and add suggestions on how they think it might be better etc.. we spent hours coming up with our recipe. then they took us through the whole process, step by step. they basically give you the keys to the place for a few days to make your own beer (not to mention stuff you with free food and beer) we brewed a triple red, "Blood Shot" which will be around a few bars in the next coming months, and, if we're lucky, might go wider. i can't wait to try it. for Los Angeles people it will be at Mohawk Bend on Mar 2 (if anyone is interested my profanity-laden video entry is in my proflie)
I was part of Beer Camp #64 with a group of people from the AHA. We all won a contest on the AHA forum and were invited out to beer camp. It was one of the most memorable experiences in my life. We made ALTernate Ending. It was a German Altbier hopped up at the end with their 366 experimental hop. It was delicious when fresh but hops died out as it aged a bit.
My friend Aubrey was a part of that. Sounds like Blood Shot is going into bottles, so you get your distro wish.
