Billed as a “celebration of strong beers & smoked meats,” The Grandview High Gravity Hullabaloo was the coolest and most fun beer festival that I have ever attended.
Let’s start with the beer. Ten Columbus breweries and two Ohio breweries were in attendance. ‘High gravity’ is shorthand for ‘will get you drunk quickly.’ In fact, a few breweries asked about bringing beers in the 7% ABV range and the organizers told them to keep that weak sauce at home: nothing under 8% allowed. Many were in the double digits, with Seventh Son topping out Ohio’s currently legal limit (for now) with their 12% ABV Oubliette stout. This jet black ass-kicker was one of my favorite brews of the evening. Up front, it’s roasty, fruity, and a little sweet – like black coffee meets maraschino cherry. Thanks to the liberal use of candy sugar, the body is thinned slightly and it finishes as dry, bitter chocolate.
No beer received such a mixed reception as North High‘s “Super Secret Firkin with Bacon,” with opinions ranging from ‘awesome’ to ‘disgusting.’ They started with a smoked brown ale and added bacon in the firkin. The real kicker was North High’s owner, Gavin Meyers, smiling devilishly as he poured real bacon bits into each serving. The taste is about what you’d expect, but chewy beer is…different.
On a more conventional note, Barley’s Smokehouse brought a dry hopped firkin of their Robert Burns Scottish Export ale. At 8% ABV, this was one of the beers with more ‘drinkability.’ I really enjoyed balance between fresh hop aromas and sweet caramel malts.
Food was provided by Barley’s Smokehouse, Matt the Miller’s Tavern, Honeykiss Bakery, Wolf’s Ridge Brewing and ManBQue. Barley’s brought a whole hog that was fattened on their own spent grains, giving a great circle-of-life theme to the pairing. Wolf’s Ridge had some wonderful polenta cakes topped with barbecue pork and smoked sour cream. Interestingly, the best bite came from the amateurs at ManBQue, a boys-only barbecue club. They dished out fall off the bone-tender pork shanks, lightly coated with a ghost chili barbecue sauce that was flavorful up front and packed a punch on the back end.
Entertainment consisted of old school music and over a dozen classic games from Arcade Super Awesome, the personal collection of local Grandview entrepreneur John Geiger. While my Ms. Pac Man high score did not last to the end of the night, old-school video games were a welcome distraction in between liver-pounding beers.
The one area in need of improvement is the venue, which was a warehouse. While the organizers created a nice ambiance inside by killing the fluorescents and opting for white stringed lights, the building lacked on-site parking (though a shuttle was provided) and the venue confused my ride by the lack of outside branding.
The Hullabaloo did a huge number of things right. Unlike typical beer fests, the night had a strong, cohesive theme and the limited number of tickets (250) meant lines were limited to nonexistent. Ironically, this high gravity theme appeared to attract more serious beer geeks and I saw far fewer plastered patrons than I expected (and didn’t smell puke at all – win!). The discounted DD tickets, complete with T-shirts recounting their heroic efforts, were a nice touch. I really look forward to next year’s Hullabaloo and any other events organized by the Grandview Craft Beer Alliance. So come next year – but buy an extra DD ticket for a friend. You’re going to need it.
instagram photos from breakfastwithnick, cbusadventures, honeykissbakery
