Sunday, March 08, 2015
Colorado's Best Breweries of 2014 Have Risen to the Top
Good beer leads to good conversation. And so it was recently at New Belgium's excellent Lost in the Woods sour celebration, when talk arose as to what Colorado's best new brewery of 2014 was.
There was no shortage of standout entrants. Casey Brewing and Blending brought new precision to the centuries-old saison style. Comrade Brewing brought a freshness and excellence to the IPA genre. And Chain Reaction Brewing arguably made the single best beer produced by a rookie brewery with its Pink Peppercorn Saison.
But with two months of the new year fully gone - the same amount of time Oscar voters get to look back before having to decide a top movie of the previous year, I'd like to point out - two of last year's new breweries have, in this beer geek's opinion, risen above the rest. And not only have Former Future Brewing and Mockery Brewing elevated themselves to the top of the class, but they've done it in different ways.
Former Future, which opened less than a month into 2014, earns its stripes with some really bold experimentation that has produced increasingly better results over the past year. The standout of the offerings is the Black Project spontaneously fermented series, especially the Jumpseat dry-hopped sour ale that came out a few months ago and offered a unique level of pucker combined with an earthy backbone.
But that same creativity can be found in Former Future's everyday beers as well, from its SweeTart-scented Synthia wild sour ale to its cotton-candy-tasting Bel Esprit Bretta saison, a beer that makes as good a case for the current session-ale movement as anything out there. And when they mix up regular offerings with experimentation - as they did last month in producing a 12.7 percent ABV coffee-infused bourbon-barrel Russian imperial stout that was dangerously sweet and drinkable - it reminds you how much more can come from these artists on South Broadway.
Mockery, meanwhile, opened only in November, meaning that it's still working its way into the vocabularies of Denver beer lovers. And it's doing it not by coming up with its own new styles of ales but by perfecting types of beer that have been around for a while - and then often adding a twist.
Its Oaked Southern Hemisphere Black Pale Ale arrived after the black IPA trend seemingly had come and gone, but the oak chips and Aussie and Kiwi hops gave it a vibrancy that made it much more than a pale ale. Similarly, many other breweries have tried their hand at making a smoked lager, but there may not have been one in Colorado that produced anything as tasty as Mockery's Lapsang Souchong, made with a smoked Chinese tea that brings a sweetness to the burn and gives this a giant taste.
Mockery offers a variety of treats (as noted in the photo below), from a Peach Blonde Ale fortified with a creamy body to a Double IPA whose flavor is amplified by zests of lemon and orange peel. Then there is arguably its best beer, a Vanilla Bourbon Barrel Export Coffee Stout that the Beer Geekette described as "like vanilla and a stick of butter had a baby and dunked it in coffee."
Truth be told, 2014 is the first year since I started designating a best new brewery that it seemed irresponsible to choose just one. But if more breweries like Former Future and Mockery grace Colorado's landscape in the coming years, the concept of "best" may disappear itself, replaced by "everything in this state is great."
Good beer leads to good conversation. And so it was recently at New Belgium's excellent Lost in the Woods sour celebration, when talk arose as to what Colorado's best new brewery of 2014 was.
There was no shortage of standout entrants. Casey Brewing and Blending brought new precision to the centuries-old saison style. Comrade Brewing brought a freshness and excellence to the IPA genre. And Chain Reaction Brewing arguably made the single best beer produced by a rookie brewery with its Pink Peppercorn Saison.
But with two months of the new year fully gone - the same amount of time Oscar voters get to look back before having to decide a top movie of the previous year, I'd like to point out - two of last year's new breweries have, in this beer geek's opinion, risen above the rest. And not only have Former Future Brewing and Mockery Brewing elevated themselves to the top of the class, but they've done it in different ways.
Former Future, which opened less than a month into 2014, earns its stripes with some really bold experimentation that has produced increasingly better results over the past year. The standout of the offerings is the Black Project spontaneously fermented series, especially the Jumpseat dry-hopped sour ale that came out a few months ago and offered a unique level of pucker combined with an earthy backbone.But that same creativity can be found in Former Future's everyday beers as well, from its SweeTart-scented Synthia wild sour ale to its cotton-candy-tasting Bel Esprit Bretta saison, a beer that makes as good a case for the current session-ale movement as anything out there. And when they mix up regular offerings with experimentation - as they did last month in producing a 12.7 percent ABV coffee-infused bourbon-barrel Russian imperial stout that was dangerously sweet and drinkable - it reminds you how much more can come from these artists on South Broadway.
Mockery, meanwhile, opened only in November, meaning that it's still working its way into the vocabularies of Denver beer lovers. And it's doing it not by coming up with its own new styles of ales but by perfecting types of beer that have been around for a while - and then often adding a twist.
Its Oaked Southern Hemisphere Black Pale Ale arrived after the black IPA trend seemingly had come and gone, but the oak chips and Aussie and Kiwi hops gave it a vibrancy that made it much more than a pale ale. Similarly, many other breweries have tried their hand at making a smoked lager, but there may not have been one in Colorado that produced anything as tasty as Mockery's Lapsang Souchong, made with a smoked Chinese tea that brings a sweetness to the burn and gives this a giant taste.
Mockery offers a variety of treats (as noted in the photo below), from a Peach Blonde Ale fortified with a creamy body to a Double IPA whose flavor is amplified by zests of lemon and orange peel. Then there is arguably its best beer, a Vanilla Bourbon Barrel Export Coffee Stout that the Beer Geekette described as "like vanilla and a stick of butter had a baby and dunked it in coffee."
Truth be told, 2014 is the first year since I started designating a best new brewery that it seemed irresponsible to choose just one. But if more breweries like Former Future and Mockery grace Colorado's landscape in the coming years, the concept of "best" may disappear itself, replaced by "everything in this state is great."
Labels: Casey Brewing, Chain Reaction Brewing, Comrade Brewing, Former Future Brewing, Mockery Brewing, New Belgium Brewing, New Colorado breweries
Friday, August 08, 2014
Chain Reaction Puts a Spark into Denver Brewing Scene
One of the common refrains in conversations between area beer writers goes like this: There are some good breweries opening along the Front Range this year, but not that one great brewery that has stood out as in years past.
Chain Reaction Brewing isn't that towering standout yet. But the month-and-a-half-old brewery in southwest Denver is showing some signs that it has the potential to be the next big thing.
The first thing you notice about the effort from homebrewing cousins Zack and Chad Christofferson is the pure number of beers on tap for a start-up. There are six flagship beers, four seasonals on at all times and six more open taps for whatever experiments the guys want to unleash on the public.
The next thing that catches your eye is the overwhelming presence of beetle-killed wood throughout the brewery at 902 S. Lipan St. It's in the boxes holding your flights, it's in the bar, it's even in a giant Colorado flag on one wall that is made completely out of the wood. It's cool.
Zack and Chad do what they are supposed to do with the high number of taps — they reserve some for the more standard beers and leave others for slight or sometimes wild experimentation; these, after all, are brewers who already have served styles such as a Cilantro Serrano Lime Wheat and a Watermelon Ginger Hefeweizen. And the impressive thing is that both the normal and cutting-edge efforts work very well.
On the more standard side, the Pale Ale is a standout. Made with belma hops, which bring a character of honeydew and melon, it presents a slight bit more bitterly than is typical for the style but then settles in with a sweetness that will leave you remembering it.
The IPA is bitter, but in a way that spreads the bite throughout your mouth and leaves it taste-laden without being overwhelming. The Porter has a good chocolate punch without being cloying. And the Orange Cream is simply a nice beer - not overwhelming in the orange attributes but perfectly pleasant as a summer sipper.
On the more experimental side, the big winner is the Pink Peppercorn Saison, a beer that supplies the perfect amount of sweetness with just a hint of pepper to balance it. The Belgian Rye Stout cuts a very fine malty, sharp blend on the back of the tongue and will be a wonderful winter warmer. And the Lemon IPA, while decidedly bitter from its single-hopping with sorachi ace hops, does not lack for ambition.
Chain Reaction is still going through some growing pains, mind you. On a recent weeknight, three separate tasters — the seasonal/experimental Blonde, Pale Wheat and Chai Wit beers — all had a plastic residue taste, one that Zack apologetically attributed to the lines. And the Red Ale, a flagship beer, felt like an unchallenging version of the style ripped from the late 1990s.
But between the variety of offerings, the experimental touch and the clever hopping, Chain Reaction stands out as a place that is going to take chances and, clearly, is going to succeed a lot. And that makes it an exciting brewery to watch as it grows.
One of the common refrains in conversations between area beer writers goes like this: There are some good breweries opening along the Front Range this year, but not that one great brewery that has stood out as in years past.
Chain Reaction Brewing isn't that towering standout yet. But the month-and-a-half-old brewery in southwest Denver is showing some signs that it has the potential to be the next big thing.
The first thing you notice about the effort from homebrewing cousins Zack and Chad Christofferson is the pure number of beers on tap for a start-up. There are six flagship beers, four seasonals on at all times and six more open taps for whatever experiments the guys want to unleash on the public.
The next thing that catches your eye is the overwhelming presence of beetle-killed wood throughout the brewery at 902 S. Lipan St. It's in the boxes holding your flights, it's in the bar, it's even in a giant Colorado flag on one wall that is made completely out of the wood. It's cool.
Zack and Chad do what they are supposed to do with the high number of taps — they reserve some for the more standard beers and leave others for slight or sometimes wild experimentation; these, after all, are brewers who already have served styles such as a Cilantro Serrano Lime Wheat and a Watermelon Ginger Hefeweizen. And the impressive thing is that both the normal and cutting-edge efforts work very well.
On the more standard side, the Pale Ale is a standout. Made with belma hops, which bring a character of honeydew and melon, it presents a slight bit more bitterly than is typical for the style but then settles in with a sweetness that will leave you remembering it.
The IPA is bitter, but in a way that spreads the bite throughout your mouth and leaves it taste-laden without being overwhelming. The Porter has a good chocolate punch without being cloying. And the Orange Cream is simply a nice beer - not overwhelming in the orange attributes but perfectly pleasant as a summer sipper.
On the more experimental side, the big winner is the Pink Peppercorn Saison, a beer that supplies the perfect amount of sweetness with just a hint of pepper to balance it. The Belgian Rye Stout cuts a very fine malty, sharp blend on the back of the tongue and will be a wonderful winter warmer. And the Lemon IPA, while decidedly bitter from its single-hopping with sorachi ace hops, does not lack for ambition.
Chain Reaction is still going through some growing pains, mind you. On a recent weeknight, three separate tasters — the seasonal/experimental Blonde, Pale Wheat and Chai Wit beers — all had a plastic residue taste, one that Zack apologetically attributed to the lines. And the Red Ale, a flagship beer, felt like an unchallenging version of the style ripped from the late 1990s.
But between the variety of offerings, the experimental touch and the clever hopping, Chain Reaction stands out as a place that is going to take chances and, clearly, is going to succeed a lot. And that makes it an exciting brewery to watch as it grows.
Labels: Chain Reaction Brewing, New Colorado breweries
