Monday, March 23, 2015
A Quickie Guide to Colorado Craft Beer Week
Do you really need an excuse to celebrate locally made beer? The guess is that if you're enough of a beer geek to read this blog, you probably get twitchy if it's been over a week since you've been to a brewery or beer bar, and you use that as reason enough to go back out.
But if you need that extra push — like, purely hypothetically, if you have a 7-month-old at home and feel a little guilty calling home and telling your wife that you have to go support the craft-beer industry before you can feed him and put him to bed — this week gives that to you. It's Colorado Craft Beer Week, and a whole bunch of breweries and bars are offering one-of-a-kind or only-once-in-a-while activities that hold great interest.
This is not a comprehensive guide to what's out there; you can find that on the Colorado Brewers Guild's official event page. But for those who want the CliffsNotes version, here's a couple of the most interesting offerings over the next six days.
1) New Kids on the Block
Imbibe once again is bringing together many of the breweries that opened in the past two years, to show off what is new and what is experimental in the Colorado scene. Scheduled for 7:30 to 10 p.m. Thursday at The Lobby, the $45 event serves as a great opportunity (last year's is pictured above) to catch up with some of the non-Denver innovators especially that you might not find in every bar or liquor store yet.
2) 2nd Choice Collab Fest
Those who missed Saturday's Collaboration Fest missed one of the most audacious collections of beers in one room in a long time, from fascinating new takes on the IPA style to Basil blonde/cherry kriek combos. The Terminal Bar at Union Station will be serving a number of the offerings all week — and it might be the last chance you'll have to try them.
3) Fuss Off
Speaking of collaborations, the most intriguing event of the week will be a Wednesday-night gathering of a number of breweries that decided to make a pumpkin-peach ale of some sort after Budweiser's Super Bowl ad mocked the style. Only people who buy a ticket will be informed of the location of the get-together. That's planning something the hard way.
4) New Beer Tappings
Countless ales will make their debut this week. A few of the more intriguing ones are:
• Denver Beer Co. releases its Cocoa Creme Graham Cracker Porter at 4 p.m. Thursday;
• Also at 4 p.m. Thursday, Odell will tap a smoked juniper and pepper version of its classic 90 Shilling at Stapleton Tap House; and,
• At 5 p.m. Friday, Trinity Brewing taps a 45th Parallel Oregon-style IPA.
5) Book Festival
From 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, Dry Dock is hosting a Book Showcase at its North Dock facility. Signing and selling their wares will be beer authors Emily Hutto, Dan Rabin and ... well, me. So, seriously, stop by and say hello, even if you already have your copy of "Mountain Brew."
Do you really need an excuse to celebrate locally made beer? The guess is that if you're enough of a beer geek to read this blog, you probably get twitchy if it's been over a week since you've been to a brewery or beer bar, and you use that as reason enough to go back out.
But if you need that extra push — like, purely hypothetically, if you have a 7-month-old at home and feel a little guilty calling home and telling your wife that you have to go support the craft-beer industry before you can feed him and put him to bed — this week gives that to you. It's Colorado Craft Beer Week, and a whole bunch of breweries and bars are offering one-of-a-kind or only-once-in-a-while activities that hold great interest.
This is not a comprehensive guide to what's out there; you can find that on the Colorado Brewers Guild's official event page. But for those who want the CliffsNotes version, here's a couple of the most interesting offerings over the next six days.
1) New Kids on the Block
Imbibe once again is bringing together many of the breweries that opened in the past two years, to show off what is new and what is experimental in the Colorado scene. Scheduled for 7:30 to 10 p.m. Thursday at The Lobby, the $45 event serves as a great opportunity (last year's is pictured above) to catch up with some of the non-Denver innovators especially that you might not find in every bar or liquor store yet.
2) 2nd Choice Collab Fest
Those who missed Saturday's Collaboration Fest missed one of the most audacious collections of beers in one room in a long time, from fascinating new takes on the IPA style to Basil blonde/cherry kriek combos. The Terminal Bar at Union Station will be serving a number of the offerings all week — and it might be the last chance you'll have to try them.
3) Fuss Off
Speaking of collaborations, the most intriguing event of the week will be a Wednesday-night gathering of a number of breweries that decided to make a pumpkin-peach ale of some sort after Budweiser's Super Bowl ad mocked the style. Only people who buy a ticket will be informed of the location of the get-together. That's planning something the hard way.
4) New Beer Tappings
Countless ales will make their debut this week. A few of the more intriguing ones are:
• Denver Beer Co. releases its Cocoa Creme Graham Cracker Porter at 4 p.m. Thursday;
• Also at 4 p.m. Thursday, Odell will tap a smoked juniper and pepper version of its classic 90 Shilling at Stapleton Tap House; and,
• At 5 p.m. Friday, Trinity Brewing taps a 45th Parallel Oregon-style IPA.
5) Book Festival
From 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, Dry Dock is hosting a Book Showcase at its North Dock facility. Signing and selling their wares will be beer authors Emily Hutto, Dan Rabin and ... well, me. So, seriously, stop by and say hello, even if you already have your copy of "Mountain Brew."
Labels: collaboration beers, Colorado Craft Beer Week, Denver Beer Co, Mountain Brew book, New Colorado breweries, Odell Brewing, Stapleton Tap House, Trinity Brewing
Friday, March 21, 2014
Love to the Lovibond Series
Heard about Collaboration Fest yet? Or the Lovibond series in general? If not, it's worth getting up to speed on one of the cooler new innovations to the Colorado beer festival scene this year.
The Colorado Brewers Guild is working together with event creator Imbibe! to produce four new beer gatherings, each focusing on a different aspect of the brewing scene than one typically finds celebrated. And the first one, Collaboration Fest, goes off Saturday at The Curtis Hotel to kick off Colorado Craft Beer Week.
This initial party is a celebration of the cohesiveness and willingness to work together within the craft beer community. Beer makers from both within and outside of Colorado have combined to make 41 beers that have never been released to the public before. And if you don't catch them at Collaboration Fest, you may have a hard time finding them elsewhere.
The idea for Collaboration Fest actually rose out of last year's Colorado Craft Beer week (a springtime celebration that is different than Denver Beer Fest, which occurs in the week surrounding the Great American Beer Festival, for those of you following along at home). A number of out-of-state breweries wanted to be involved, but organizers didn't want to water down the all-Colorado feel of the tappings and tastings, said Steve Kurowski, CBG marketing director.
So, letting them work in conjunction with Centennial State beer makers to do something truly unique not only brings more of a focus to Colorado, but it also shows off the ties between brewers that still bind the industry.
"We consider Colorado to be an epicenter of the craft beer revolution that's going on throughout the country," Kurowski said. "We think this event will have a national feel that people will want to come to the state to explore it."
And what kind of collaborations will be served from 3 to 7 p.m.? To understand their breadth and depth, just look at all that Breckenridge Brewery is doing.
Along with the four other Summit County breweries, it's collaborated on a black saison. And in conjunction with the other "Beermuda Triangle" brewers - those on the south end of downtown Denver - it's made a black IPA aged with rum (not rum barrels, just plain old rum). But it's also got one of its brewers participating in a collaboration brew made by all of the former beer makers from Mountain Sun who have staked out on their own. And, finally, it worked with Sweetwater Brewing of Atlanta to create a red wheat wine ale.
"I just love the whole camaraderie of the whole thing. It speaks to the spirit of craft beer," said Todd Thibault, the eponymous marketing director for the brewery. "I think more people in the industry are excited about this festival than possibly consumers."
But it doesn't stop there for the Lovibond series. There also will be a Brewery 5K this summer in Fort Collins, a Sesh Fest highlighting session beers during the summer in Denver and a fresh hop festival in September.
"These will be unique events in unique places. They will not be the typical beer festival in a square room with breweries around the room," Kurowski said. "We want to create something much different for the Colorado beer drinker."
Sign me up.
Heard about Collaboration Fest yet? Or the Lovibond series in general? If not, it's worth getting up to speed on one of the cooler new innovations to the Colorado beer festival scene this year.
The Colorado Brewers Guild is working together with event creator Imbibe! to produce four new beer gatherings, each focusing on a different aspect of the brewing scene than one typically finds celebrated. And the first one, Collaboration Fest, goes off Saturday at The Curtis Hotel to kick off Colorado Craft Beer Week.
This initial party is a celebration of the cohesiveness and willingness to work together within the craft beer community. Beer makers from both within and outside of Colorado have combined to make 41 beers that have never been released to the public before. And if you don't catch them at Collaboration Fest, you may have a hard time finding them elsewhere.
The idea for Collaboration Fest actually rose out of last year's Colorado Craft Beer week (a springtime celebration that is different than Denver Beer Fest, which occurs in the week surrounding the Great American Beer Festival, for those of you following along at home). A number of out-of-state breweries wanted to be involved, but organizers didn't want to water down the all-Colorado feel of the tappings and tastings, said Steve Kurowski, CBG marketing director.
So, letting them work in conjunction with Centennial State beer makers to do something truly unique not only brings more of a focus to Colorado, but it also shows off the ties between brewers that still bind the industry.
"We consider Colorado to be an epicenter of the craft beer revolution that's going on throughout the country," Kurowski said. "We think this event will have a national feel that people will want to come to the state to explore it."
And what kind of collaborations will be served from 3 to 7 p.m.? To understand their breadth and depth, just look at all that Breckenridge Brewery is doing.
Along with the four other Summit County breweries, it's collaborated on a black saison. And in conjunction with the other "Beermuda Triangle" brewers - those on the south end of downtown Denver - it's made a black IPA aged with rum (not rum barrels, just plain old rum). But it's also got one of its brewers participating in a collaboration brew made by all of the former beer makers from Mountain Sun who have staked out on their own. And, finally, it worked with Sweetwater Brewing of Atlanta to create a red wheat wine ale.
"I just love the whole camaraderie of the whole thing. It speaks to the spirit of craft beer," said Todd Thibault, the eponymous marketing director for the brewery. "I think more people in the industry are excited about this festival than possibly consumers."
But it doesn't stop there for the Lovibond series. There also will be a Brewery 5K this summer in Fort Collins, a Sesh Fest highlighting session beers during the summer in Denver and a fresh hop festival in September.
"These will be unique events in unique places. They will not be the typical beer festival in a square room with breweries around the room," Kurowski said. "We want to create something much different for the Colorado beer drinker."
Sign me up.
Labels: Breckenridge Brewery, Colorado Brewers Guild, Colorado Craft Beer Week, Festivals, Imbibe
