THE BEER NUT: Notes from the Belgian Beer Fest

Walking into the Cyclorama at the Boston Center of the Arts during a beer festival is almost dizzying.

You're surrounded by hundreds of beers from some of the best breweries in the world, all available to be sampled. Add to that some of the biggest names in the brewing industry and 1,000 other people all there to drink good ales and lagers, and you have a recipe for a beer lover's dream day.

Beeradvocate's Return of the Belgian Beer Fest on Saturday was a wonderful day of enjoying great beer surrounded by other beer lovers.

Beeradvocate, founded by brothers Jason and Todd Alstrom, sponsors several beer festivals throughout the year and produces the beeradvocate.com Web site and Beer Advocate magazine. They also run the most organized beer festivals I've been to anywhere in New England.

Other festivals include the Extreme Beer Fest and the American Craft Beer Fest.

There is no better way to learn about beer than tasting them, and there is no better way to try several different styles of beer at one time than a beer festival.

Saturday's beer fest had a great selection from both the United States and Belgium.

Not only were there traditional Belgian-styles such as tripels, saisons and witbiers, there were several Americanized interpretations, such as Maine's Allagash Brewing Company's Fluxus (a saison brewed with sweet potatoes and black peppers) and California's Stone Brewing Company's Vertical Epic 09.09.09 (a porter brewed with Belgian yeast, vanilla, tangerine and aged with French oak chips).

The Belgian beer fest, in particular, is a great way to discover different styles, most of them with complex flavor profiles.

They are also expensive.

Many of the best Belgian-style ales, either brewed here in the U.S. or abroad, are some of the most expensive beers on the shelves. Some cost more than $20 for a single bottle.

The size of the samples, only 2 ounces each, is a perfect way to try multiple beers. The only problem with beer festivals is there is no way to try all the beers, but the size of the samples allows you to try as many as you can in the time you have to spend at the festival.

The best way to find out what beers to try is by talking to people. When I bump into someone in line, the first question I ask is "What's your favorite so far?" or "What's the highlight?"

That can lead to some interesting finds. If I didn't ask that question I would never have known about Rock Bottom's Peach & Raspberry Lambic (wonderfully tart) and the Bruery's Rugbrod, a rye ale that I missed when I stopped at their table early on.

Another reason to talk is that it slows down the pace. Even with small sample sizes, all that alcohol can add up if you're not paying attention.

It's always good to take some time to savor the beers. I bring a notebook with me and keep track of all the beers I've tried and keep little notes of the ones I want to try again. I have 10 pages of notes from Saturday's festival, including which beers I want to buy (Brewery Ommegang's Adoration Ale and High & Mighty's Home for the Holidays are just two of them).

One of the best aspects of the Beeradvocate beer festival is the number of brewers who were pouring their own beers, rather than volunteers. The brewers have the knowledge to answer any questions you might have about their beers.

One key I can't stress enough is hydration. Beer dehydrates you and a room full of 1,000 people will make you sweat, causing more dehydration. Drink a lot of water. Even if you don't feel any ill effects that day, the following day you will feel run down if you don't hydrate enough.

No matter how much you plan, you will always have some regrets when you leave a beer festival. You forgot to try a beer you really wanted to taste or another one ran out.

My one regret from the festival this weekend was that I didn't get a chance to meet M. Francois de Harenne, brewmaster of Brasserie d'Orval, one of the most well-respected Belgian breweries.

But, that's the great thing about festivals. I'll be back at the Extreme Beer Fest in February with a whole other group of brewers I want to meet and beers I want to try.

Norman Miller is a Daily News staff writer. For questions, comments, suggestions or recommendations, e-mail nmiller@cnc.com or call 508-626-3823. Check out The Beer Nut blog at http://blogs.townonline.com/beernut/.