Larry Koestler

A portion of the evening’s menu

Last December my pal Michael and I co-hosted our first-ever “Beerfest,” the mandate of which was for all invitees to bring at least one craft beer they’d never previously had. The event was such a rousing success that we knew we needed to do it again in the summer. As Michael and his wife Shannon have an apartment with a wonderful terrace, we began planning the Summer 2012 iteration of Beerfest in the spring, and this time it would also feature as much grilling as humanly possible.

I’m fairly certain we outdid ourselves this time. Michael, his buddy Jeff and I did a pre-party beer run at New Beer Distributors, and as usual, we were not disappointed. Our initial haul is below:

New Beer the best

Things were kicked off with Two Brothers’ Hop Juice Imperial IPA, which was a big crowd-pleaser.

Tasty shrimp were served.

Good buddy Juan brought a half-growler of Ballast Point’s Tongue Buckler, an Imperial Red Ale, from Williamsburg’s Beer Street.

Lightning Brewery’s Elemental Pilsner may have been the most flavorful pilsner I’ve ever had.

Mikkeler’s Invasion IPA definitely lived up to the hype.

And, most excitingly for me, I checked in to my 600th unique on Untappd near the end of the evening.

And here I am celebrating #600 with Brux, the Sierra Nevada and Russian River collaborative wild ale.

Here’s the full roster of beers from Beerfest Summer 2012:

Oskar Blues Brewery’s Ten FIDY
Two Brothers’ Hop Juice
Green Flash’s Grand Cru
Kiuchi Brewery’s Hitachino Nest Espresso Stout
Maine Beer Company’s Zoe
Widmer Brothers’ Barrel Aged Brrrbon
Elysian’s Prometheus IPA
Fort Collins Brewery’s The Incredible Hop – Imperial India Red Ale
Rogue’s Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale
Stone’s Imperial Russian Stout (2012)
Vanberg & DeWulf’s Lambrucha
Full Sail’s Elevation
Stone’s Bottleworks 13th Anniversary Ale
Jolly Pumpkin’s E.S. Bam
McNeill’s Brewery’s Warlord Imperial IPA
Lightning Brewery’s Elemental Pilsner
Southern Tier’s Choklat
Ballast Point’s Tongue Buckler
Mikkeller’s Invasion IPA
Sierra/Russian River’s Brux Domesticated Wild Ale
Bear Republic Big Bear Black Stout
Midnight Sun’s Meltdown Double IPA
Brooklyn Brewery’s Local 1