Killihump Does the Big E!

What's better than fair season? Nothing! We love fairs, and we've been trying to hit as many as we can in our free time. So on Wednesday, we traveled up to Springfield, MA for the annual Big E fair.

It had been many years since either of us had been and boy has it changed! Tons of killer local New England craft brew! It was also "CT Day" so we figured we should represent!  We had a blast!

It was a fast moving day! We didn't even have much time to post on social media because we were in a constant fight against the crowds - trying to duck out of the way or out of the sun...and standing in line most of the day - for either food, drink or the bathroom. We overheard someone say the 'CT Day' is one of the busiest days, and I believe it after seeing the crowds pour in yesterday! Thankfully the crowds thinned out a little after 5pm and we were able to enjoy walking around more.

For the most part we stuck to the state houses - which all had really cool vendors/booths in them. Maine and Connecticut were by far our favorite houses - both had great selections of brew! 

CT state house - happy CT day!

CT house had the CT Craft Beer Works booth, where all sorts of CT beer companies were represented such as Two Roads Brewing, Back East, CT Valley Brewing, 5 Churches & Thomas Hooker - what a selection! As the kegs kicked, more were tapped - so there was an ever changing lineup as the day went on. We kept checking in from time to time to see if anything new had been tapped since the last time we were there! We were very excited to see Back East Ice Cream Man IPA was on - one of Chris's favorite brews! He was dancing around when he saw this one was on the menu!

CT Craft Beer Works Booth!

Maine also had a great selection of brew - Definitive, Maine Beer & Allagash. We were excited to try Definitive, which we've never had before. The Fall Streak IPA was very juicy and hoppy - right up Chris's alley. In fact that was his favorite brew of the day! We kept checking back for the Definitive Ale to be tapped - took awhile, but we did get to try it, and it was equally good!

I think my (Meg) favorite brew of the day was Woodstock Inn's Autumn Ale from the NH house! I don't know that I needed the cinnamon sugar rim - the brew is already pretty cinnamon forward. It was crisp and had a very malty backbone, and the sweetness was not over done - just a perfect treat for a day at the fair. I saw many folks walking around with this brew so it was safe to say this one was a hit!!

Woodstock Inn (NH) Autumn
Ale 4.6% - so yummy!

Outside the MA state house was another cool craft beer booth - featuring beers from Exhibit 'A, Trillium, Lefty's, Jack's Abbey & Wormtown. We had a great time chatting with Matthew Steinberg, the head brewer/founder of Exhibit 'A' - who was also a former brewer at Mayflower! We tried the Exhibit 'A' Cat's Meow IPA 6.5% and really loved it! We also tried the Briefcase Porter - which was really roasty and delicious! We definitely want to make the trip up to Framingham, MA to check out the brewery!

There were a couple of beer tents we liked but I think our favorite tent was the Opa-Opa craft beer saloon tent - which featured beers from Opa-Opa Brewing (MA) and Two Roads Brewing (CT). What a great set up! Totally great vibe - awesome lighting and fall decor - and well thought out seating areas. They even had a couple TV's with the Red Sox/Yankees game on - which of course caught our attention for a little bit! Perfect place to duck out and relax from a crazy day of walking the fair!

Chillin' at the Opa-Opa tent - Oktoberfest brew!

Oh... and also we found the food too. Our favorites? The "Skippy's Dare" slice from Randy's Wooster Street Pizza from Manchester, CT. It's a white pie with provolone cheese, peanut butter, and bacon. Dude, so good. Isn't everything better with peanut butter? Don't knock it til you try it! The sandwich that saved the day when we needed something not so greasy on our stomachs was "The Pilgrim" sub - made with turkey, gravy, stuffing and cranberry sauce from Main Street Deli in Agawam, MA. So killer!!! Then for dessert we opted for a Wicked Whoopie classic. Can't go wrong.

List of beers we had/tried:

Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest 6.2%
Woodstock Inn (NH) Autumn Ale 4.6%

Back East (CT) Ice Cream Man IPA 6.9%

Definitive (ME) Fall Streak IPA7.4%

Definitive (ME) Definitive Ale IPA 6.7%
Wormtown (MA) Be Hoppy IPA .5%

Trillium (MA) Tiny Chicken Pale 5.6%

Exhibit 'A' (MA) The Cat's Meow IPA 6.5%
Exhibit 'A' (MA) Briefcase Porter 5.4%

Opa Opa (MA) Pumpkin Ale 5%
Opa Opa (MA) Oktoberfest 7%

Maine Beer (ME) Lunch IPA 7%