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Please welcome Andy MacWilliams back to the site! The beer list for the 2024 Snallygaster festival is set! Well, mostly. As was reported here on DC Beer,

Brew NewsDC Beer ShowAbout DC BeerBeer TrailsShopEvents Instagram Twitter Mastodon TikTok Facebook Spotify Patreon Search The NewsDC Beer ShowAboutBeer TrailsShopEvents Search The NewsDC Beer ShowAboutBeer TrailsShopEvents Snallygaster 2024: Snally Sleepers with Andy! DCBeer October 9, 2024 Please welcome Andy MacWilliams back to the site! The beer list for the 2024 Snallygaster festival is set! Well, mostly. As was reported here on DC Beer, supply chain issues have been a bear for the Neighborhood Restaurant Group team to tackle. Nevertheless, the roster of beers impresses. Much will be made on Untappd and elsewhere about what beers are absolute must-haves and that list is certainly long. A deeper look at the list of available brews reveals a number of sleeper beers that are likely to impress without the hype (or the lines). Pic via Heater Allen Knoblach was set to be a new brewer for the festival, but also new to the DC market and it’s a shame those gravity kegs won’t be available. Thankfully, Notch will be honoring tradition with German Afternoons. Be sure to thank the zappe pouring from the stichfass. Speaking of tradition… the terms “single decoction” and “Saaz hops” are music to an enlightened beer nerd’s ears. Sedlec 12° from Human Robot could very well be a go to thirst quencher on a hot and sunny day. Human Robot is a bit overlooked in the mid-Atlantic, but their portfolio is deep with well executed continental styles. And while were talking about lagers, when was the last time Heater Allen beer made it this far east? My first experience with Heater Allen was a farmer’s market in McMinnville, Oregon in 2010 and even then, they were nailing styles. They were one of the first to restart the modern lager movement long before “crispi” entered the lexicon. The two marquee Belgian lambic producers are back again this year and suggesting you get in line for Cantillon or 3 Fontenein is like advocating you draft Christian McCaffrey first overall in your fantasy league. It’s a no-brainer [ed: and how did that work out?]. Quietly though, a different lambic producer wowed drinkers last year. Tilquin brought a pair of unique blends in 2023 and they’re back at it this year. Both Cuvees at the Tilquin booth this year feature heavy percentages of 3 year lambic, which is oftentimes where you get a lot of the leathery, horsey character funk fans enjoy so much. While we’re at it, I may need to do a stone fruit lambic horizontal: 3F Prium Mirabelle (plum), De Cam Nectarine, Tilquin Peach Jaune, and Cantillon Fou Foune (apricot). Maybe I’ll throw in a De Garde gin barrel-aged The Stone (peach & nectarine) just for kicks. I wrote last year about having my eye on the apricot brandy aged Resurgam coming to the Allagash booth and it did not disappoint. Allagash never gets enough love from the public despite decades of innovation and success. At no point during the festival did they ever have a line. This year, they are bringing another new beer in The Cellars #9, a blend of barrel aged saisons with paw paw fruit added. Their blending program is as good as it gets in the US. Don’t skip this. Don’t overlook some of the OG producers, even from outside the US. Ridgeway arrives at the festival this year, despite the documented decline of imports in the DC market. Their Foreign Export Stout is a great example of the style, but their other offering has my eye. Lock Keeper’s Ale, a best bitter, is a brand new beer for a portfolio that has not changed much over the years. The Bligdegarian from Brasserie de Blaugies is another nice get by the NRG crew. Don’t confuse this with the standard version of the beer, this 2023 vintage being poured is the only one they’ve brewed with coffee. De Ranke also has a new bottling for this side of the Atlantic with their Grapevine Trebbiano d’Abbruzzo. This has been spotted at a few European festivals but I don’t believe it’s made it to US soil yet. Belgium goes Italian? Don’t be too surprised, Italian beer and ingredients are having a moment right now. It has also been many years since I had anything from Norway’s Nøgne Ø (pronounced “nug nuh.” Known back in the day for extreme and high ABV stouts, they are bringing cider to Snally instead. But not just any cider. This version is made from Normand apples, spontaneously fermented and created in honor of Jerome Dupont, a giant in the cider world who passed away too soon. Pic via Stein When our friends at Lost Generation opened their doors nearly two years back, DC didn’t realize how much they loved dark lager. Grave Shift changed all that. And so, with dark lager on the brain, there are a number of offerings on this year’s Snallygaster list that I’ll be seeking out. My boys at Schilling do all things lager well and I have it on good authority that Viktov 9°, a collaboration with Cohesion from Denver, slaps. This is an intentionally toned down Tmave, just 3.5% ABV and hopped exclusively with Czech Saaz. Soul Mega is also coming with their black lager...

Snallygaster 2024: Snally Sleepers with Andy! | DC Beer