Festival of Dark Arts

This past Saturday, Fort George in Astoria hosted its yearly Festival of Dark Arts. I'd never been to Astoria before, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. But the promise of dozens of dark beers from many different breweries was strongly alluring.

What I didn't realize, upon arriving at Fort George, is that they've got a brewing complex that pretty much covers an entire city block. The festival was divided up into 7 distinct bars, each featuring different stouts and porters, interspersed with various forms of entertainment - ice carving, belly dancing, fire dancing, and a wide variety of music.

Of course, FDA is primarily a beer festival, so the crucial question is, as usual, 'How is the beer?'. I'm pleased to report that the beer selection lived up to my expectations. Here are just a few highlights:

Buoy Raspberry Chocolate Stout. This was, to me, the beer of the fest. It was neither too sweet or too chocolatey, and tasted like a stout first and foremost. I can't emphasize enough what an achievement this is - so many other raspberry-infused stouts taste artificial, but this felt naturally crafted. The best part? I'd never had a beer from Buoy before - and they're located less than a mile from Fort George. My friend and I availed ourselves of this opportunity later on that evening.

Lagunitas High West-ified Coffee Imperial Stout. A bold, powerful sipper, clocking in at 13% ABV, this is a master class in how to make an excellent boundary-pushing imperial stout. I'm a big fan of Lagunitas's standard imperial stout, so I'm not terribly surprised at how smooth and rich this tasted. It's nice to know that its success isn't a fluke.

Fort George Shot in the Dark. Another delicious coffee-based stout, this one conforms pretty much exactly to my favored beer coffee flavor, as I detailed in my report on the Coffee Stout Fest - mild, light, sweet, and working with the already-present roasted malt, rather than against it.

Fort George Tuesday's Lunch. Definitely the strangest beer on offer at the festival, this one aimed to recreate the flavors of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Made with roasted peanuts and blackberries, it succeeds at this task, but at the cost of tasting almost nothing like beer. Tuesday's Lunch hereby joins the vaunted ranks of Wynkoop's Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout and Rogue's Voodoo Bacon Maple (though I'm quick to note that of these, only the Wynkoop is actually a drinkable beer).

I was pretty impressed with the organization and logistics of the festival. It never felt too crowded, and having the beers spread among different bars (with most of the bars featuring at least a few rare/interesting beers) made sure the lines moved quickly. I also enjoyed the fact that the tasting tokens were made of wood, rather than the easy-to-lose paper tickets favored by other festivals.

That said, it wasn't perfect. There simply weren't enough bathrooms to handle all of the attendees, and the food on offer at the pub was expensive and mediocre.

Still, on the whole, Festival of Dark Arts was a worthy experience, and I'd be happy to attend it again.