Epcot Food & Wine Festival - 2013 Beer Preview

Each year we look forward to the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, and we were excited to see the new menu released just recently.  Immediately I looked through the menu to see which beers will be featured, and then I compared it with the list from the previous year.

Last year there were 29 Featured Destinations, with a total count of 37 beers.  For the complete list from 2012, please see it here.  This year, the Destination list has grown to 30, and the beer count totals 41.  As for the destination, Scotland is new this year, featuring Innis & Gunn Original (that is one additional beer, but I'm getting ahead of myself).

Not all beers are of the same caliber, and admittedly, the beer at some of these Destinations won't do much excite the Craft Beer lover.  Yet there are reasons to celebrate.

We are breaking it out for you here.  The way I see it, the beers from the list can be divided into three categories.

1. The Obligatory Country of Origin Beer.  Examples... America = Budweiser (not actually on the list).  China = Tsing Tao.  Mexico = Dos Equis.

2. The Classic International Style Beer.  Examples here will be found with the German styles, Belgian style beers, and even Guinness.

3. Craft Beer.  Ah, yes... after all this is the reason Beer Geeks like us go to this event.  Well, it's not the only reason, but it is the primary reason to get really excited about it.

We'll talk about all three categories separately and run through the list of all 41 beers.  Let's start.

Obligatory County of Origin Beers

Brazil - Xingu Black
Mexico - Dos Equis
China - Tsing Tao
Poland - Okocim O.K.
Itali - Moretti
Japan - Sapporo
Morocco - Casa
Canada - Moosehead Lager

Does this list excite you?  This covers only 8 of the 41 beers. I've omitted Germany, Belgium, Ireland, and Scotland from this list.  The beers featured in these Destinations are categorized in the Classic International Style, by my classification standards, because these countries (or Destinations) are regions with historic significance to beer and brewing.

Of course, we can't give away all the information in one day.  Check back daily, and in soon we'll post Part 2, where we will cover the Classic International Styles.  33 more beers to cover from the list.

And for those who can't wait (or want to check out the food or wine selection), the complete menu can be found here.

Cheers!