(SpoCOOL) A Spokane Blog

Stop reading this right now and head over to our official SpoBREW wrap-up page! Who won? Who lost? Who brokes a glass? Go read it all, view photos and video right here, right now!

Well, what do you know? It happened and actually went off without a hitch.

At the most we saw more than 70 people inside the Porch at the same time, and we have no idea how many people actually stopped by during the 2.5 hour event. The contest, expertly judged by Ely from World Class Beverages and Joe from Big Sky Brewing, was a close race, but in the end we could declare two winners:

Tidbits about the teams

Dreyerbrau: A no-show! The beer was apparently so bad that Chris concentrated all his efforts on the art contest (more about that tomorrow). This worked out well for the rest of us as we had an automatic entry for last place.

Berenstain Beers: The first team to sign up won judges' choice, even after Brad nearly couldn't make it due to the birth of his child.

The Power of Yeast Genetics: Ted's promise of hitting middle of the pack came true -- his team placed eight out of sixteen.

Team DOMA: Keaton deservedly won the trash-talking award, but alas, the beer placed seven in both categories.

Wubrew: Had the largest fanclub with some pretty sporting t-shirts to go with it.

RCBC and The Official Tin Can Committee: Places two and three respectively in each category. Some might consider them the big winners of the day.

Quandary Brewing and Berenstain Beers: Flipped places, six and one, from the judges' listing to the brewers'.

The Glorious Team SpoCOOL: Our beer was just too complex for people to understand. (Looking at our scores, we apparently didn't understand it either.)

What you missed if you weren't there

Other than Erick breaking a glass (captured on video by Veraci-Seth here) you missed out on a lot of average to surprisingly-good beer. I mean, really. None of the beers were that awful -- though there were one or two exceptions -- and we ended up having plenty for all to taste.

Of course, grabbing some free Big Sky beer, generously donated by Joe, and some Veraci pizza might have been a better option, so huge thanks to both for supporting the event, as well as to The Porch, which turned out to be the perfect venue for it.

You also missed out on Chris Dreyer's gripping poetry reading, one that was almost as good as "Ode to the Salmon in the River". Almost.

Again, thanks to the brewers, the judges -- Ely and Joe -- the Porch, Big Sky, DOMA for prizes, Veraci, and everybody who showed up to the event.

The wrap up · The teams · The art

Customer service, Bottles-style:

Us, on the phone: "You wouldn't happen to have any bottles of Black Butte XXIII?"

Employee: "Yes, we have a case and a bottle left."

Us: "Could you set the bottle aside for us?"

Employee: "No problem, it will be behind the counter when you get here."

A few points:

This is how proper customer service works. Not this, but this.

It's the little things: Knowledge of your stock. Common courtesy. A tad of business acumen. Things any reasonable Better Taster should expect.

Of course, it is kind of funny that Bottles is owned by Rocket, but hey -- we never called for any boycotts. 

And the service at Bottles is top notch. It's the type of spot where, when we brought up a couple of bottles of the XXIII, the guy behind the counter got excited and started lamenting that the XXII was never bottled. That's my kind of clerk, and a good reminder to go back to Bottles again.

Our review of Bottles still stands, and this a place that stands among the truly professional spots in town.

You smell that? That's the smell of fear. Fear that the beer didn't carbonate; fear that the flavors didn't come through; fear that they will be laughed out of the room.

This might be like any other day if your name is Erick Doxey, but Luca Brasi has been uncharacteristically candid about how awful their beer is. Is that all strategy? Or is the beer destined for the last place that rightfully belongs to Team Border War?

We have also heard rumors of panic forming in the Dreyerbräu camp, and Hops R Us has turned its nose up on its own brew, labeling it "merely sufficient". Team DOMA, meanwhile, has kept their cockiness up on Twitter, trying to tell us it's gold. As seems to be the claim from both SAC & SAL and Quandary Brewing.

Other than that there has been a lot of quiet. Blips here and there of "oh, maybe I shouldn't have been so tough up front" indicate homebrewing might not be as easy as some had hoped.

Here at Team SpoCOOL we are not worried. Our ale is perfection. As they say: Perfection is always flawed.

SpoBREW will go down this Saturday, 7pm at the Porch.  Veraci Pizza will be there, so bring cash, and Big Sky will provide libations. How awesome is that? Damn awesome, that's how awesome that is. For more check the event's Facebook page.