Putoja Parada: Matt goes to Lithuania
I recently learned that even people from half way around the world, in Eastern Europe, love barrel aged beer! This summer, Alesong received an invite to the country of Lithuania to participate in a two day beer fest called Putoja Parada. While they call that a Craft Beer Exhibit, I learned that the direct Lithuanian interpretation of those words is Foaming Parade! Boy, was the foam on display at this world wide beer fest. I got to attend for Alesong and here are some of the details from the trip (I'd love to share more with you at the tasting room sometime):
-The festival was held in Vilnius, Lithuania, the capital of the country.
-Vilnius is a UNESCO world heritage site and the 'Old Town' area dated back to 1300. Quite different from even our 'old' east coast buildings. And the churches were elaborate. In Old Town area alone, there are 28, which is one per every 700 residents.
-Lithuania is one of three Baltic countries including Latvia and Estonia. They sit on the Baltic Sea south of Norway and Sweeden.
-The festival, in its 3rd year, hosted 40 breweries and 160 beers from around the world. The U.S., Japan, Korea, Sweden, Germany, Spain, the UK, Greece, and of course Lithuania were just some of the countries participating.
-The US only had 6 representatives: Alesong, Forager(MN), Humble Forager(MN), Superstition Meadery(AZ), Garden Path Fermentation(WA), and Sour Cellars(CA).
-We poured Kriek and Rakko the first night and Touch of Brett and Whiskers on Kittens the second. We also did special bottle pours of From Scratch and Vin to the Abyss. The Alesong beers were enjoyed by many, but especially the 5 bottles of the Deschutes Collab. They almost knocked me down to get a taste. What I really noticed, though, is that the rest of the world is really inspired by American craft breweries. IPAs, Hazy IPAs, NE IPAs, and light fruit beers were scattered throughout the hall in fairly large numbers. It's an interesting point because the origins of American craft beer were really influenced by Europe, and here we are providing that influence.
-The hosts were immensely gracious, putting us up in a beautiful hotel, hosting pre and post parties and the highlight was chilling out before Saturday nights session at a colleagues farmhouse where we partook in a traditional Lithuanian lunch and had some time to hit the sauna and woodfired hot tub.
-We sent some extra beer with our festival beer that they will sell in their tasting room and a couple of other craft beer bars. So, we can add Lithuania to the many places dotted around the world that Alesong is sold. Feel free to try it out next time you head over there.
All in all, it was a fantastic experience, and that was even before the 20-hour layover in Copenhagen, where I took in a little craft beer and Danish culture. I'll have to tell you about that another time.
For now, you can take my recommendation to take a little trip to that area if you get a chance. You might be surprised at the beer you find and amazing history you can uncover. Feel free to stop me in the tasting room if you see me. I've got more photos!
Cheers!