Wednesday, March 04, 2020
Barquentine brings its own style to Edgewater
Say what you will about Barquentine Brewing Co., which opened Saturday in Edgewater Public Market, but don't say that head brewer Kyle Knudson doesn't already have his recipes dialed in coming out of the gate. And that's a refreshing thing.
Knudson spent eight years filming movies and commercials in New York and hanging with a very serious homebrew club that has produced eight commercial breweries. When he and his wife decided it was time to move home and go pro with his fermentation skills, he spent several years brewing at Edgewater's first brewery - Joyride Brewing - before seizing the opportunity to open up just about nine blocks away in the food hall that debuted in late 2019.
Barquentine is not an everything-for-everyone type of brewery. Instead, it's Knudson's exploration of yeast and how various yeasts can flavor a beer. And the initial six beers he tapped (pictured with him below) give an entry-level course on how that one crucial element can spawn so many different tastes.
Sometimes the influence is subtle, like in Sloans Lake Yacht Club, a 5.2% ABV table beer that uses Roquefort yeast to add the slightest citrus touch on the back of a dry and drinkable body and make it what Knudson calls a "gateway to Belgian beers."
Sometimes it's heavier, like in the Leapling, a Kveik pale ale with New Zealand hops and wild Norwegian yeast that serves as the requisite "hoppy" beer at Barquentine but where the bitterness is tempered by an herbal overtone that extols all of the ingredients. Hopheads may not see it as their dream beer, but it's an absolutely unique addition to the Denver beer portfolio.
Nowhere does Knudson show off his delicacy with yeast quite as much as in Sea Bear, a classic saison with a deep nose of orange and Belgian candi sugar that is wetter and fuller than the style has come to be defined by American brewers. It too announces its originality and dares you to try to not drink another.
Barquentine, which will allow people to bring in food from the market as well as take their beer with them in plastic cups while they wander among the dozen-and-a-half restaurant stalls, has 15 taps it can offer, though co-founder Ed Knudson - Kyle's father - believes 10 beers is a good goal. The brewery will move quickly to produce a line of dubbels, tripels and quads. It also will start barrel-aging soon and selling beers to go in both 16-ounce four-packs and corked-and-caged 750 ml bottles.
The debut lineup had only one miss - Mined, Bottled and Sold, an 8.6% Belgian golden ale whose high alcohol and prevalent citrus flavor couldn't fully cover up a burnt-plastic taste that was evident on the back of the tongue. But as patrons filled up the space quickly, it wasn't the flaws that were leading the conversation.
Instead, Barquentine should be celebrated both for having a singular vision in a crowded brew scene and for pulling it off.
Nothing in its debut lineup is likely to be the type of beer that make a brewery's reputation go viral and draw in crowds on its own. But the variety and uniqueness of the offerings show that this is a beer maker both with room to grow and with already-realized talent manning a brewery that we'll likely still be talking about (and drinking at) when less thoughtful craft breweries have come and gone from the scene.
Say what you will about Barquentine Brewing Co., which opened Saturday in Edgewater Public Market, but don't say that head brewer Kyle Knudson doesn't already have his recipes dialed in coming out of the gate. And that's a refreshing thing.
Knudson spent eight years filming movies and commercials in New York and hanging with a very serious homebrew club that has produced eight commercial breweries. When he and his wife decided it was time to move home and go pro with his fermentation skills, he spent several years brewing at Edgewater's first brewery - Joyride Brewing - before seizing the opportunity to open up just about nine blocks away in the food hall that debuted in late 2019.
Barquentine is not an everything-for-everyone type of brewery. Instead, it's Knudson's exploration of yeast and how various yeasts can flavor a beer. And the initial six beers he tapped (pictured with him below) give an entry-level course on how that one crucial element can spawn so many different tastes.
Sometimes the influence is subtle, like in Sloans Lake Yacht Club, a 5.2% ABV table beer that uses Roquefort yeast to add the slightest citrus touch on the back of a dry and drinkable body and make it what Knudson calls a "gateway to Belgian beers."
Sometimes it's heavier, like in the Leapling, a Kveik pale ale with New Zealand hops and wild Norwegian yeast that serves as the requisite "hoppy" beer at Barquentine but where the bitterness is tempered by an herbal overtone that extols all of the ingredients. Hopheads may not see it as their dream beer, but it's an absolutely unique addition to the Denver beer portfolio.
Nowhere does Knudson show off his delicacy with yeast quite as much as in Sea Bear, a classic saison with a deep nose of orange and Belgian candi sugar that is wetter and fuller than the style has come to be defined by American brewers. It too announces its originality and dares you to try to not drink another.
Barquentine, which will allow people to bring in food from the market as well as take their beer with them in plastic cups while they wander among the dozen-and-a-half restaurant stalls, has 15 taps it can offer, though co-founder Ed Knudson - Kyle's father - believes 10 beers is a good goal. The brewery will move quickly to produce a line of dubbels, tripels and quads. It also will start barrel-aging soon and selling beers to go in both 16-ounce four-packs and corked-and-caged 750 ml bottles.
The debut lineup had only one miss - Mined, Bottled and Sold, an 8.6% Belgian golden ale whose high alcohol and prevalent citrus flavor couldn't fully cover up a burnt-plastic taste that was evident on the back of the tongue. But as patrons filled up the space quickly, it wasn't the flaws that were leading the conversation.
Instead, Barquentine should be celebrated both for having a singular vision in a crowded brew scene and for pulling it off.
Nothing in its debut lineup is likely to be the type of beer that make a brewery's reputation go viral and draw in crowds on its own. But the variety and uniqueness of the offerings show that this is a beer maker both with room to grow and with already-realized talent manning a brewery that we'll likely still be talking about (and drinking at) when less thoughtful craft breweries have come and gone from the scene.
Labels: Barquentine Brewing, Belgian-style beers, Joyride Brewing, Kveik, Saisons, West Side breweries, yeast
Friday, February 21, 2020
Beer and Donuts Is the New Beer and Pizza
Leave it to the couple that decided mixing IPA and mac 'n cheese was a good idea - and shocking everyone all by proving themselves right - to have the first beer bar/restaurant in Denver to open up a donut shop inside as well.
Come Wednesday, Hops & Pie will also be home to Berkeley Donuts, a shop that will open at 7:30 a.m. and be located right beside the bar that serves one of the best tap lists of local and national craft beer in Denver. Folks can come in and get the donuts - sourdough, vegan or made New England-style with potatoes for extra fluff - until around lunchtime and, if they wish, they can enjoy one or more with a beer such as a coffee stout or a barrel-aged stout, which are co-owner Drew Watson's recommended pairings.
Beer and donuts aren't a new thing in Denver. Denver Beer Co. has been offering irregular pairings of the two important food groups for years, an idea that other breweries since have picked up as well. And Oskar Blues Brewery ran one of the best donut shops in town, Hotbox Roasters, beside its CHUBurger beer bar before shutting both concepts down late last year to concentrate on its full-service restaurants and its brewing capacity.
But what Drew and Leah Watson are doing represents, in many ways, the first chance to dive head-first into trying a great donut - trust me when I say to try the almond coconut chocolate donut or the sourdough frosted with lemon poppyseed icing (both pictured above) - beside a great beer. And Drew, who has been perfecting this concept for two years in the kitchen of his Arvada house, has a few thoughts on how a perfect pairing would work.
He's partial to dark cake with dark malts, he said Friday, and has concocted a menu that includes donut flavors like S'mores, salted caramel and toffee with pretzel. But he also appreciates that a sweeter frosting could pair with a sour or maybe a wheat.
And he acknowledged that, just maybe, he's looking for a way to work hops into donuts, possibly through a combination of grapefruit or other citrus frosting flavors and Southern Hemisphere hops.
"I think any style of beer goes with any style of donut," he mused. "But I think clearly the heavy stouts and Belgians and porters go particularly well."
Donuts aren't likely to replace pizza or even pretzels as the ultimate beer-pairing food yet, but they allow for an impressive level of creativity in terms of how their richness can add to a fullness of flavor in a brew. And the idea that at least one high-level beer hangout in Denver is willing to bet big on the combination shows a continuing maturation of a city that's willing to try new things.
"Denver's a lot in my mind like Portland, Oregon, or Portland, Maine, and those cities have that donut presence," Drew said. "And I've always wondered why Denver doesn't."
Leave it to the couple that decided mixing IPA and mac 'n cheese was a good idea - and shocking everyone all by proving themselves right - to have the first beer bar/restaurant in Denver to open up a donut shop inside as well.
Come Wednesday, Hops & Pie will also be home to Berkeley Donuts, a shop that will open at 7:30 a.m. and be located right beside the bar that serves one of the best tap lists of local and national craft beer in Denver. Folks can come in and get the donuts - sourdough, vegan or made New England-style with potatoes for extra fluff - until around lunchtime and, if they wish, they can enjoy one or more with a beer such as a coffee stout or a barrel-aged stout, which are co-owner Drew Watson's recommended pairings.
Beer and donuts aren't a new thing in Denver. Denver Beer Co. has been offering irregular pairings of the two important food groups for years, an idea that other breweries since have picked up as well. And Oskar Blues Brewery ran one of the best donut shops in town, Hotbox Roasters, beside its CHUBurger beer bar before shutting both concepts down late last year to concentrate on its full-service restaurants and its brewing capacity.
But what Drew and Leah Watson are doing represents, in many ways, the first chance to dive head-first into trying a great donut - trust me when I say to try the almond coconut chocolate donut or the sourdough frosted with lemon poppyseed icing (both pictured above) - beside a great beer. And Drew, who has been perfecting this concept for two years in the kitchen of his Arvada house, has a few thoughts on how a perfect pairing would work.
He's partial to dark cake with dark malts, he said Friday, and has concocted a menu that includes donut flavors like S'mores, salted caramel and toffee with pretzel. But he also appreciates that a sweeter frosting could pair with a sour or maybe a wheat.
And he acknowledged that, just maybe, he's looking for a way to work hops into donuts, possibly through a combination of grapefruit or other citrus frosting flavors and Southern Hemisphere hops.
"I think any style of beer goes with any style of donut," he mused. "But I think clearly the heavy stouts and Belgians and porters go particularly well."
Donuts aren't likely to replace pizza or even pretzels as the ultimate beer-pairing food yet, but they allow for an impressive level of creativity in terms of how their richness can add to a fullness of flavor in a brew. And the idea that at least one high-level beer hangout in Denver is willing to bet big on the combination shows a continuing maturation of a city that's willing to try new things.
"Denver's a lot in my mind like Portland, Oregon, or Portland, Maine, and those cities have that donut presence," Drew said. "And I've always wondered why Denver doesn't."
Labels: Belgian-style beers, Denver Beer Co, donuts, Food pairing, hops, Hops and Pie, Oskar Blues, Porters, stouts
Saturday, March 24, 2018
Thirsty Monk Is Not What You're Expecting
A part of me didn't want to like Thirsty Monk. It is, after all, an out-of-state brewery that took over an (albeit closing) local beer maker and brought its North Carolina wares to a town whose brewing scene is beginning to feel oversaturated.
But my outlook - and the likely attitude of any other hard-care Colorado craft-beer folk - changed not long after seeing the welcome mat that Denver's newest brewery threw down this week for others in the industry at its Uptown space that used to belong to Deep Draft Brewing. Like most of us who call the area home, Thirsty Monk may not have been Colorado-born, but it's trying to become a part of the community as quickly as possible.
That starts with the approach of owner Barry Bialik (pictured at right), who operated as a craft-beer bar when Thirsty Monk opened its first location in Asheville 11 years ago and tried to bring in beers not just from around his state but from throughout the country. He keeps a list of everything he's ever tapped there, and a quick look at the 30 offerings he's put up from Great Divide Brewing alone shows that Barry has likely tried and promoted some rarities that even most Denver beer aficionados haven't sipped.
When he moved into making beer, he decided that he wanted to concentrate on selling across the bar, even though he has limited distribution. So, despite opening Thirsty Monk in Denver officially on Monday and in Portland very soon, he will make enough beer at the three locations just to be sold at the three locations - literally shipping N.C-made beers to Denver and vice versa so that drinkers in other places will be able to try the tastes of different regions.
Oh, and he'll ship other kegs from Denver back to North Carolina as well - namely those of the breweries that don't now distribute out of state. In doing so, he'll give his Asheville patrons a chance to sample Denver in a way that most of the country can't - and give local breweries with small budgets the chance to expose national drinkers to their products.
And the beer? Well, Thirsty Monk's Belgian-style and Belgian-inspired offerings are spot on.
The Farmhouse IPA, which uses its yeast to give it just a hint of bubble gum on the front of the palate and its hops to give it a dry but not bitter finish on the back, is a fascinating combination of the old world and the new world. Brother Noah (pictured at left), a Belgian stout named after Barry's son and made with the chocolate made by the family of his son's best friend, is sooty and full of cocoa without being overly sweet. And the Saint Asheville 10th Anniversary Honey Citrus Tripel — which manages to be brimming with honey but not so much that it covers up an herby, complex body, shows what the brewery can do when it really reaches for something more.
Thirsty Monk quickly will become part of the Denver brewing community, and it will be a welcome addition, given how few brewers within the city have a Belgian concentration. And with its 16 original taps, two guest taps and "snack" program pairing its beers with meats and cheeses from local shops, it understands the spirit of the city pretty well for being a transplant.
"I love the camaraderie here. I love this," Bialik said, noting the dozens of breweries who came to an industry reception and slapped stickers from their breweries on the back of his bar to welcome Thirsty Monk to the community. "I love that we threw a party with all the brewers, invited them on short notice and this many came."
A part of me didn't want to like Thirsty Monk. It is, after all, an out-of-state brewery that took over an (albeit closing) local beer maker and brought its North Carolina wares to a town whose brewing scene is beginning to feel oversaturated.
But my outlook - and the likely attitude of any other hard-care Colorado craft-beer folk - changed not long after seeing the welcome mat that Denver's newest brewery threw down this week for others in the industry at its Uptown space that used to belong to Deep Draft Brewing. Like most of us who call the area home, Thirsty Monk may not have been Colorado-born, but it's trying to become a part of the community as quickly as possible.
That starts with the approach of owner Barry Bialik (pictured at right), who operated as a craft-beer bar when Thirsty Monk opened its first location in Asheville 11 years ago and tried to bring in beers not just from around his state but from throughout the country. He keeps a list of everything he's ever tapped there, and a quick look at the 30 offerings he's put up from Great Divide Brewing alone shows that Barry has likely tried and promoted some rarities that even most Denver beer aficionados haven't sipped.
When he moved into making beer, he decided that he wanted to concentrate on selling across the bar, even though he has limited distribution. So, despite opening Thirsty Monk in Denver officially on Monday and in Portland very soon, he will make enough beer at the three locations just to be sold at the three locations - literally shipping N.C-made beers to Denver and vice versa so that drinkers in other places will be able to try the tastes of different regions.
Oh, and he'll ship other kegs from Denver back to North Carolina as well - namely those of the breweries that don't now distribute out of state. In doing so, he'll give his Asheville patrons a chance to sample Denver in a way that most of the country can't - and give local breweries with small budgets the chance to expose national drinkers to their products.
And the beer? Well, Thirsty Monk's Belgian-style and Belgian-inspired offerings are spot on.
Thirsty Monk quickly will become part of the Denver brewing community, and it will be a welcome addition, given how few brewers within the city have a Belgian concentration. And with its 16 original taps, two guest taps and "snack" program pairing its beers with meats and cheeses from local shops, it understands the spirit of the city pretty well for being a transplant.
"I love the camaraderie here. I love this," Bialik said, noting the dozens of breweries who came to an industry reception and slapped stickers from their breweries on the back of his bar to welcome Thirsty Monk to the community. "I love that we threw a party with all the brewers, invited them on short notice and this many came."
Labels: Belgian-style beers, Deep Draft Brewing, Great Divide, IPA, New Colorado breweries, North Carolina breweries, Thirsty Monk
