Mohegan Sun’s 2018 Sun Wine & Food Fest: great for beer lovers, too
Over the weekend of January 26, Mohegan Sun hosted its 2018 Sun Wine and Food Fest. While there was an abundance of great wines and food options available at the Grand Tasting on Saturday afternoon, this writer once again went looking primarily for the beer and whiskeys at the festival and wasn’t disappointed.
The beer section, located in the conference rooms upstairs from the main ballroom at the Grand Tasting, has to be the festival’s best kept secret. It’s essentially a full-on beer festival with no big crowds or lines (not to mention that the legendary Frank Pepe Pizza sets up their booth up there).
There were plenty of great brews on offer this year. New Belgium (which also has a new tasting room at Mohegan) brought their popular Voodoo Ranger IPA, along with a new hazy/juicy version of Voodoo Ranger (falling in line with the New England IPA craze). New Belgium also poured their classic Fat Tire and 1554, an excellent black lager.
Sam Adams also got into the New England IPA spirit with a beer that hit all the right notes for the style, along with the new Sam ’76 which is a lager/ale hybrid beer - think of a blonde Boston Lager mixed with a moderately hopped session IPA.
Local favorites Grey Sail’s Captain’s Daughter Double IPA was a highlight, as was their Leaning Chimney Smoked Porter. Two Roads represented Connecticut beer strongly with their Espressway coffee stout flowing through a nitrogen tap, along with their Conntucky Lightnin (bourbon barrel aged strong ale) and their Brothers in Farms Grissette. Otter Creek had a great new IPA to showcase, Daily Dose; as well as Ella Hoppy Lager, named for the single hop variety used in the beer. Guinness poured their tasty new 200th Anniversary Export Stout, and Goose Island rounded out the selection with Matilda and Sophie wild ales.
The Grand Tasting also featured a selection from Michter’s Whiskey and Jameson. After the Tasting, Jameson also hosted a small tasting at the new New Belgium brew pub featuring their new Caskmates IPA Edition, which is aged in barrels that once held Voodoo Ranger. This series appears to have been a big success for Jameson, and it will be great to see what else they come up with!
Once again, the Sun Wine and Food Fest proved that they know how to do it right, and that they always have something for everyone. The Grand Tasting is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to events as this festival; you can find a full rundown of the weekend’s festivities here.
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