Beer Run Blog

6 Beers that Stood out at Collaboration Beer Fest

It used to be that Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines was the one festival after which you took out your notes the next day to revive your memory of what you had because there was so much good stuff on the floor that you inadvertently got drunk. Well, certainly after this year - if not before - Collaboration Beer Fest has moved into that category.

From daring ingredients to hopped-up gems to a surprisingly deep and wide variety of smooth dark beers, there was beauty as far as the tongue could taste at the Colorado Brewers Guild/Two Parts festival once again this year. And if there was something different from past years it was this: The beers everyone seemed to be talking about days afterward weren't the ridiculous 13 percent pastry stouts so much as a perfectly made Baltic porter or expertly crafted double IPA or even a California common. Yes, a steam beer got people talking at a beer festival.

With a few days worth of hindsight, then, here are the creations that people likely will be begging for months down the road:

1) Dueces Wild/Brass Brewing Cerberus Brewing Imperial IPL
Everyone was thoroughly ready for the Cerebral/Weldwerks New England-style double IPA, which packed in the expected pineapple rush with appropriate bitterness. But this gem from three Colorado Springs breweries actually seemed more impressive - a bright, hazy, juicy and highly Polynesian-style hop bomb that drank as easy as an India pale lager but with more mouth-filling flavor than ever has been associated with that style.

2) Station 26/Brink Brewing Imperial Milk Stout
The body was creamy and yet wonderfully dark, without any telltale sign of the high alcohol within it. But it was the cinnamon and chocolate adjuncts in here that absolutely lit up the mouth and made fantastic use of the already impressive base beer.

3) Ska Brewing/Call to Arms Baltic Porter
Yes, this is a style that appears to be on the rise again, and it's because of creations like this that imbue it with a deep roast atop an easy-drinking body. Nothing fancy here, just a lot of taste, done by two expert breweries.

4) Living the Dream/Angry James Brewing Imperial Coffee Brown
Silverthorne's Angry James deserves more attention as one of the finest coffee-beer makers in Colorado. This was a flat-out dark-roast, fill-your-mouth-and-make-you-want-to-swirl-it-more-for-fear-of-losing-the-flavor pleaser - simple yet absurdly tasty.

5) Comrade Brewing/Epic Brewing Dry-Hopped California Common
Maybe you should have figured that if anyone could have found a way to add hops to a very subtle style of beer and make it really, really interesting, it would have been the geniuses behind Superpower IPA and some of the best hazy beers made in Colorado. But truly, this flavor was complex and maybe even a little bit funky in the way the hops seemed to rest tantalizingly on top of the base beer, making for one of the most surprising finds of the day.


6) Jagged Mountain/105 West Rum-Barrel-Aged Imperial Ice Cream Old Ale
Of all the potentially gimmick beers in the show, this was the one that seemed to really capture a unique flavor that you would want to try again, even if maybe not by the six-pack. Enormous cherry from the chocolate-cherry Little Man Ice Cream that was thrown into the boil gave this a sweet but not cloying overtone, and the boozy old ale quality reminded you un-subtly that this was beer, not some kind of milkshake treat.

Labels: Angry James Brewing, Brink Brewing, Call to Arms Brewing, Cerberus Brewing, collaboration beers, Comrade Brewing, Dueces Wild Brewery, Epic Brewing, Living the Dream Brewing, Ska Brewing, Station 26 Brewing

8 Under-the-Radar Beers You Need to Try at Collaboration Fest


Collaboration Beer Fest, which has staked its claim as being one of the five best beer festivals in Colorado, goes from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday. Between the bomb cyclone and the college basketball conference tournaments, the event, which has more than 100 beers made together by anywhere from two to 10 breweries, seemed to sneak up this year.

"Sneak" is a term that rarely describes what's poured at this celebration of unity in the craft-beer industry, which often turns into a contest on who can make the strangest and yet most enjoyable experiment. This year, for example, Coal Mine Ave and Seedstock are making a margarita imperial gose, Jagged Mountain and 105 West have brewed a rum-barrel-aged imperial ice cream old ale, and eight RiNo-area brewers are presenting your run-of-the-mill mushroom schwarzbier.

But one of the secrets of the festival is that some breweries turn in another direction and go subtle - and they can often create some of the tastiest beers in the room. So, with that said, here are eight beers that are likely to fly under many attendees' radars but that should land solidly on yours if you are going (which you should).

1) Casey Brewing and Blending/Outer Range Brewing IPA
It's just a simple IPA, in a sea of double hazies, wood-added IPAs and blueberry protein milkshake IPAs (yes, that's an actual offering). But it's a simple IPA made by two of the finest brewers in Colorado who are not on the Front Range. And that sounds simply wonderful.

2) Ratio Beerworks/Revolution Brewing Southern Hemisphere Pilsner
The boom in recent years in Australian and New Zealand hops, particularly the wonderful and slightly woody Nelson Sauvin variety, typically have gone to create new tastes in IPAs. Having one of RiNo's best auteurs combine with one of Chicago's star breweries to spruce up a lighter-bodied pilsner with them should put the hops even more front and center for all to notice.


3) Cannonball Creek Brewing/Beer Media Pre-Prohibition Pilsner
Sure, I'm biased, since I was one of about a dozen beer writers who showed up at Golden's finest brewery on Feb. 1 to let Brian Hutchinson do the real work and then take turns between us stirring the mash (that's me above and Brian below). But Cannonball Creek has proven to have the magic touch with subtle beers, enough so that a bunch of hacks like us couldn't screw this up.

4) Living the Dream Brewing/Angry James Brewing Imperial Coffee Brown
You may not have made it up to Silverthorne yet to try Angry James' Two Tone Footer Stout, which is dry-hopped with coffee beans and takes on one of the least bitter, roasty mocha feels of any coffee brew in Colorado. But if you have, you know not to walk past another one of its coffee experiments, particularly when it's made with this underrated Littleton beer maker.

5) Tivoli Brewing/MSU Denver Belgian Tripel Brut
In a show full of daring professional brewers, you may not want to try the beer made partially by a bunch of college kids. But remember that Metro State has a program specifically for students to learn how to brew and to operate a brewery. And know too that this is a tripel spiced with orange zest, hibiscus flowers and Indian Coriander, so there's nothing dull about it.

6) Station 26 Brewing/Brink Brewing Imperial Milk Stout
Don't know Brink Brewing? The Cincinnati beer-maker just won Very Small Brewing Company of the Year at the 2018 Great American Beer Festival. And since Station 26 pretty much can't miss, this should be a fun, if semi-traditional, style.

7) Comrade Brewing/Epic Brewing Dry-Hopped California Common
Those who remember the Comrade/Uberbrew Triple IPA from Collaboration Fest 2017 were reinforced in their beliefs that this south Denver beer maker could do anything with hops. Dry-hopping a steam beer will put that statement to the test, but it and Epic have worked their own magic separately before.

8) Pikes Peak/Red Leg/Cerberus/FH Beer Works/Black Forest/Goat Patch/Dueces Wild/JAKs wine-beer hybrid with syrah grape must fermented with saison yeast
OK, there's nothing subtle about the beer here. But people may be tempted to overlook it because the eight breweries behind it are Colorado Springs-area crafters with limited to no distribution in Denver. In truth, the Springs scene has been improving significantly in recent years, and the breweries here (particularly Cerberus, Goat Patch and Pikes Peak) are among its stars.

Labels: Angry James Brewing, Cannonball Creek Brewing, Cerberus Brewing, collaboration beers, Comrade Brewing, Goat Patch Brewing, Pikes Peak Brewing, Ratio Beerworks, Station 26 Brewing, Tivoli Brewing

10 Beers to Seek Out at Collaboration Fest


Collaboration Beer Fest is an event in which the wild ideas that make you shake your head when you first read about them actually turn out.  Yet, creations like the 2015 Basil Kriek Blonde — the Copper Kettle/Strange Craft Beer blend of Basil Blonde and Cherry Kriek — end up not only working but being some of the best beers you will drink all year.

With that said, here are 10 of the most fascinating experiments that will be on tap Saturday afternoon at the Hyatt Regency Denver at the Colorado Convention Center when the Colorado Brewers Guild and Two Parts bring us the fifth annual collaboration blowout event.

*  Comrade/Breakside Double-Dry-Hopped Beer Pressure 1.5 IPA
Last year, Comrade teamed up with Montana's Uberbrew to make a triple IPA that arguably was the best beer of the festival. This year they are teaming with another known hop auteur to produce a hazy IPA that can't be missed.

* Weldwerks/Casey Brewing and Blending Transmountain Diversion
If these two breweries made an Old Milwaukee clone, I'd still stand in line for it. The fact that they made a double IPA may make me push people out of my way for it.

 * New Belgium/Rare Barrel On the Shoulder of Giants 2017
This is a golden sour aged in oak barrels with peaches and jasmine pearl tea from two breweries that have earned their national reputations. Enough said.

* Guild Collaboration Cherry Coast to Coast
The Colorado Brewers Guild teamed up with the Brewers Association and nine other states' craft-brewing guilds to churn out a sour ale. And they made it with Crooked Stave. This really might be the absolute definition of craft brewing.

* Mockery/Baere Mocking Baered Episode 4: Intercontinental
The running collaboration from the pair of 4-year-old Denver breweries that fly too far under the radar may be the single best story among the back stories of beers at the festival. But even without it, this giant pastry stout would be hard to ignore.

* Lone Tree/Cannonball Creek Dry-Hopped Malt Liquor
Just let that sink in. And then realize that Cannonball Creek nearly stole the show with a pale ale last year. This should be the most spot-on and yet wildest malt liquor of all time.


* Funkwerks/New Image Arnie
Kettle sour is a very popular style this year. But when you see two brewers who have consistently surprised and taken styles to new levels working on this genre, the result will be worth trying.

 * Cerberus/Fossil/Goat Patch Deception IPA
Last month I took a weekend trip to Colorado Springs and discovered that the brewing scene is as evolved and complex as it's ever been. Denverites probably don't know these three very good breweries. This sour Belgian IPA should tell you all you need to know about the Springs.

 * Fate Brewing/Ladyface Ale Horchata de Garde
Boulder's most underrated brewery teams with one of America's most interesting brewpubs to make a biere de garde with an accent of Mexico? My 2-ounce cup runneth over.

* Caution/Moonlight Pizza & Brewpub What the Duck Five-Spice GoséIf there's a beer that seems to have an ingredient that doesn't belong in beer, but it happens to be made by Caution, run to it. This collab also may introduce the world to an underrated Salida brewery.

Labels: Baere Brewing, Cannonball Creek Brewing, Caution Brewing, Cerberus Brewing, collaboration beers, Colorado Brewers Guild, Comrade Brewing, Fate Brewing, Funkwerks, New Belgium Brewing, Weldwerks Brewing

10 Best Colorado Beers of 2017

Truth be told, the more breweries that open in Colorado each year, the less beer you get to taste from any of them in particular. As such, these year-end lists become less about the beers that you drank over and over throughout the year and more about the one-offs and unique finds that left impressions long after you first enjoyed them.

Still, the variety of offerings in the Centennial State has never been greater, and the experimentation levels with classical styles have never been more rampant, giving breweries an opportunity to create something so stand-out that they can say it truly was one of a kind. And while imperial stout or IPA may be the base beer to many of these 2017 selections, it is the way those styles were interpreted that made them the ones that emblazoned 2017 with its personality.

As always, these aren't just beers that were produced for the first time this year but brews that jumped up in one way or another in the past 12 months and made their greatest marks.

10) River North/Funkwerks Saison Conspiracy Noir
A dark saison combining elements of Belgian tradition and a delicious malt-forward body, this really jumped to life because of its Syrah grape must and its Cabernet-barrel aging that teased at a slightly tart body but still let the base beer speak for itself.

9) Rockyard Plum Creek Sour
Quite a few people reacted with surprise when this unassuming Castle Rock brewery nabbed the Great American Beer Festival gold medal for wood- and barrel-aged sour beer. But this plum-forward beer (pictured at left) was both sweet and sour and truly was the best tart beer made in Colorado this year.

8) Jagged Mountain This Beer Really Ties The Room Together
Maybe the most improved Colorado brewery of 2017, Jagged Mountain hit its absolute stride with this blonde milk stout that featured the additions of lactose, coffee beans and cacao nibs. It created a full-bodied beer that tasted like it was dry-hopped with coffee rather than overwhelmed by the additive, offering a plethora of flavors that worked perfectly together.

7) Great Divide Barrel-Aged Hibernation Ale
The increasing efforts of Denver's largest brewery toward its barrel-aging program pay off again and again, this year letting a whiskey barrel soak into an already sweet and malt-forward old ale for a year and producing a delightfully unsubtle beer that hits you with a variety of flavors, each one seeming to become part of a bigger tasty picture.

6) Intrepid Sojourner Beer Project Turkish Coffee Stout
Denver's best new brewery adds unusual ingredients to its portfolio of beers like they were offered up in a "Chopped" basket. But nothing was both so unique and so style-redefining as this shockingly smooth dark ale that offered a lot of coffee grit and also a lingering sweetness that just made it taste, well, foreign.

5) New Image East Coast Transplant
A hazy double IPA that presents both a guava/mango nose and just enough hint of bittering hops on the backtaste that it both exemplifies the best qualities of the New England IPA style and defies easy definition with hints of both coasts in its complex profile.

4) Mountain Sun Bourbon-Barrel-Aged Chocolate Thunder Imperial Chocolate Milk Stout
The Boulder/Denver operators of the Mountain Sun concept go all out for their February stout month, both in terms of the number and variety of offerings they produce. Nothing, however, has ever been as magical as this, pulling together a huge body with the combined sweetness of chocolate, lactose and hints of bourbon to make a beer that is giant - but is far more flavorful than it is big, somehow.

3) Comrade/Uberbrew Triple IPA
The star of March's Collaboration Fest might just come to be the most-sought-after beer in Comrade's extensive hop portfolio if it were to offer it regularly. Highly floral and refreshingly grassy, the beer is made remarkable by its lack of alcohol burn. It's a master study in how to go big without scorching any taste buds.

2) City Star Wood Belly
Arguably, no single beer from 2017 did more to redefine the perception of a brewery than this barrel-aged imperial IPA double-dry-hopped with Amarillo, Mosaic and Citra hops. It manages to be so many things at once - wonderfully boozy (at 10.6% ABV), tropical in its hopping and imbued with such a deep oak taste that it's the rare hop bomb that becomes more flavorful as it warms. This Berthoud brewery has made solid beers for years; this, however, is a new level of successful experimentation that should garner a lot more attention for City Star.

1) Station 26 German Chocolate Bourbon-Barrel-Aged Dark Star Imperial Stout
This infinitely complex and drinkable beer debuted before 2017, but if there was a coming-out party for it, it was at January's Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywines Festival, where the increasingly confident Denver brewery held its own against every brewer in that room. The beer is, first and foremost, exactly what it promises - a slice of rich, dark, sweet cake in alcoholic liquid form. But the barrel aging gives it just enough of a pervading influence that it kicks the flavor to the next level, and the high alcohol content here is used to accent the richness rather than overshadow it. In a year when transcending the long-held definition of dark beers became almost a competitive sport for Colorado craft breweries, none of them jumped so far over the bar as Station 26 did with this masterpiece.

Labels: City Star Brewing, Comrade Brewing, Funkwerks, Intrepid Sojourner, Jagged Mountain Brewery, Mountain Sun, New Image Brewing, River North Brewery, Rockyard Brewery, Station 26 Brewing, Top Beers of Year

6 Things I Learned at Collab Fest 2017


It turns out that Collab Fest didn't need the beautiful setting of the luxury deck at Mile High to stand out as a festival. Moved this year to the National Western Complex, the celebration of breweries making beers together - roughly 180 auteurs combining on some 100 beers - was just as unique and relevant without the glitz factor of being able to look down upon the Broncos' field.

What's more, the types of beers that leaped off the page this year were different than in past years, moving beyond the sour and imperial barrel-aged combinations to a surprising number of very tasty concoctions that used unexpected ingredients. Attending the event left you excited about the creative flavors that remain largely untapped still in the sector.

Here, then, are a few things that stood out:

1) Comrade killed it.
In a festival marked by immense creativity, the best beer of the day - and best by a long stretch, for that matter - was Comrade Brewing's collaboration with Montana-based Uberbrew on Uberpower Triple IPA (pictured at right). Flowery and grassy, huge without a big alcohol taste, this dangerously smooth and flavorful beer was one of the greatest hop assaults that even a tried-and-true hophead has ever had in their mouth.

2) Simple pale ales stood out as well.
In some sense it's hard for a classic, lower-alcohol taste to find a niche among so much blustery boldness. But the Dog vs. Quail Pale Ale from Cannonball Creek Brewing and  Hogshead Brewery (pictured at top) was fresh and bright with a lingering piny hop that accented its British, German and American ingredients. And the decision by the Colorado Brewers Guild board to offer a light, grassy pale ale with the moniker of Board's in Session was a surprisingly good and memorable one for the 11 collaborating breweries.

3) Some gimmick beers are worth drinking over and over again.
Lady Fingers, the tiramisu brown ale from Boulder Beer and New Holland Brewing was as sweet as you'd expect but also very approachable, and it seemed no odder on the palate than Boulder's best beer, its Shake Chocolate Porter. Meanwhile, the Corner Store imperial malt lager from Gravity Brewing and Kettlehouse Brewing was a high-quality hoppy beer, with big malts offering a proper base for the slightly boozy but more aggressively flowery hop bite.

4) Others were worth one taste.
The most passionate conversation I had on the floor was with Ryan Hannigan of Focus on the Beer, who insisted that the Mr. Kelly's Coconut Curry Hefeweizen - the Boulder/Ska collaboration that was exactly what it sounds like - was the most unique and best beer on the floor. While I conceded the first part of the statement to him, the bold combination came off a bit like a thick soup full of spices more than a beer, and I was quite happy to have about an ounce of it.

5)  Bread beer - the next great trend
Rye pretzels and German malts were the stand-out ingredients in Don't Kvass the Streams, a kvass-inspired German ale from Wit's End and Prost Brewing. And the sour rye taste was an astoundingly good complement to the beer base, rendering the creation both bready and slightly tart. In a market drenched with New England IPAs, I might run more quickly to efforts like this that produce new and exciting flavors.

6) Then again, sours aren't done yet.
TRVE cranked up the flavor profile with Slow Death, its whiskey-barrel-aged dark mixed-culture ale with cinnamon and lemon peel that it produced with Burial Beer Co. of Asheville. Complex and still drinkable, it reminded festival goers of how much room there remains in the sour sector that might seem saturated to some.

Labels: Boulder Beer, Cannonball Creek Brewing, collaboration beers, Colorado Brewers Guild, Comrade Brewing, Gravity Brewing, Hogshead Brewery, Prost Brewing, Ska Brewing, TRVE, Wit's End Brewery

10 Beers To Try at Collaboration Fest


Saturday marks the fourth Collaboration Fest, and the beers that will be served there only continue to get more nuanced and more adventurous. But since there are 180 breweries combining on roughly 100 beers at the event, it can be a bit overwhelming to decide even which direction you want to head when entering the National Western Complex for the show.

Consider this, then, a high-level sneak peak at the strangest, wildest, most wonderful combinations that will be poured at the Two Parts/Colorado Brewers Guild event. And if you haven't gotten your tickets for the mid-afternoon adventure of the palate yet, consider this your chance to decide if you want to buy them - or, frankly, if you can afford not to attend.

1) Ladyfingers - Boulder Beer and New Holland Brewing
Maybe you feel like you've tried a lot of desert-style beers in recent years, but there's a good chance you haven't drunk a tiramisu brown ale before, especially one made with New Holland's house vanilla extract. After Boulder's creation of Shake Chocolate Porter in 2013, one is wise not to turn away sweet beers that America's oldest craft brewery may offer.

2) Uberpower Triple IPA - Comrade Brewing and Uberbrew
The idea of drinking a triple IPA from Comrade Brewing is enticing enough on its own, given how the east Denver brewery is pushing the boundaries of hoppy beers. But combining its talents with the talents of the 2016 Small Brewery of the Year winner out of Montana bumps this up to irresistible.

3) Japance Off - Denver Beer and Altitude Chophouse and Brewery
Altitude's absence at the Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines festival this year was a sad one, but one of the most clever small breweries in the Rocky Mountain West found another reason to come back to Colorado - and partner with a Denver beer maker that continues to up its game. This is a hybrid Japanese and French saison made with sake yeast and floral French hops. No word yet on whether it's a traditional Japanese saison or a new-age version ....

4) Corner Store - Gravity Brewing and KettleHouse Brewing
The Louisville and Montana breweries are offering up a dry hopped imperial malt liquor. Just let that description sink in. And then try to imagine the reaction of an OE 800 fan trying one.

5) Spiciest Memelord - Odd 13 Brewing and Kane Brewing
One might worry that a kettle sour could be lost on the taste buds with all of the double IPAs and imperial stouts that breweries will be rolling out. Then you realize that this is made with habanero and raspberry. Oh, and that it's Odd 13 working with a respected New Jersey brewer.


6) Chocolate Orange Belgian Tripel - Ratio Beerworks and WeldWerks Brewing
If these two breweries made an American-style light lager, it would be worth trying. But this collaboration is as ambitious as it sounds. And it's hard to imagine it being anything short of startling.

7) Oaked Rye Dunkelweizen - Upslope Brewing and Resolute Brewing
Dunkelweizen is one of the most underutilized styles in America, and the appealing combination of this style aged on medium toast French oak cubes with some Colorado rye in there means a lot of good experimentation.

8) Brettxit - Bonfire Brewing and Casey Brewing
Casey can do sours. But an ESB fermented in wine barrels with four different Brett strains, made with an under-the-radar Eagle brewery? This is the kind of beer that defines a festival if it works out well.

9) Enemy of the People IPA - Great Divide Brewing and beer bloggers
Last year's Fourth Estate Belgian Chocolate Stout, made by bloggers and Lost Highway, was one of the real hits of the event. As an added bonus this year, I had to miss the group brew with Great Divide at the last minute even though my name is still on the beer - and that can only help its flavor profile.

10) Calvin and Hops - Something Brewery and New Boswell Brewing
I'm a guy who believes really well named beers deserve a taste. And this kumquat double IPA that is a product of a relatively new Brighton Brewery (Something) and an Indiana brewery you've probably never tried before boasts the coolest name of the festival.

Labels: Boulder Beer, Casey Brewing, collaboration beers, Comrade Brewing, Denver Beer Co, Gravity Brewing, Great Divide, Odd 13 Brewing, Ratio Beerworks, Upslope Brewing, Weldwerks Brewing

Top 10 Colorado Beers of 2016



At a time when it seemed everyone was focused on something other than beer, Colorado breweries flew seemingly under the radar with their greatness during the year that just ended. The best and most memorable offerings came not from adding exotic new ingredients (with one exception) or from trying to ratchet alcohol or tartness to new levels, but from simplifying, aging a bit and just doing everything well.

So, before we bid goodbye to 2016 altogether, let's stop and admire once again the 10 beers that made the year one worth remembering.

10) 4 Noses Pump Action Imperial Pumpkin Ale
When your beer takes gold in the pumpkin categories for both the World Beer Cup and Great American Beer Festival in the same year, you know you have something special on your hands. What makes Pump Action stand out so much is its offering of a significant body (nearly 8 percent ABV) without overbearing alcohol or spice content. It's just smooth and silky.

9) Trinity Saison Delivery
One of Colorado's true saison specialists broke new ground even by its lofty standards with this gem, first made for the 2016 Craft Brewers Conference. Colorado apple, grains of paradise and dark candy sugar made this decidedly fruit-forward, while the Chardonnay-barrel aging gave it a slight pucker. Wrap it up, and it became a pretty eye-opening combination.

8) Great Divide The Smoothness
Black lager can be a forgettable style - right up until you decide to age it in Jameson barrels and imbue the lighter-bodied beer with a whiskey flavor that was perfectly balanced and managed to breathe new life into the simple malts in the beer. I'll come back to Great Divide at more length later, but this beer was shocking in its simplicity and tastiness.

7) Beryl's Beer Trent's Plums
If plum was a favorite new additive in 2016, no one made it sing more than this too-often-overlooked Denver brewery that brought out the fruit's tart properties by letting it age for two years in red-wine barrels with a sour brown ale. It took your taste buds right up to the edge but walked that delicate line of being significantly sour without being too acerbic.


6) AC Golden Kriek Noir
Speaking of pushing sour taste to the edge, Coors' experimental brewery - which also did some excellent work on the lighter end of the spectrum this year - made its own statement with this wine-barrel-aged Belgian ale with sour cherries added (pictured above). Almost sweet on the nose, this was aggressive and cutting in its flavor profile, rewarding drinkers with a constantly evolving complexity that was simultaneously edgy and refreshing.

5) Comrade Yellow Fever
Colorado's new poster child for hop-drenched beers showed off its versatility by ramping up the flavor profile of this Citra blonde ale infused with jalapenos and nabbing a World Beer Cup medal for it. With a mild look and less-than-fiery nose, this beer surprised twice. First, it announced its rising heat only as you swirled Yellow Fever in your mouth. Second, it let that heat cool just when you thought it might be too much, creating an exhilarating experience.


4) Weldwerks Double Dry Hopped Juicy Bits
You may love or hate the "New England IPA" trend, but you can not walk away from this beer (pictured above) - a hopped-up version of the Greeley brewery's hazy IPA - without feeling like you have somehow found a new frontier of a style of beer (IPA) that leaves few surprises anymore. It pelts you with fruity and grassy overtones without any lingering bitterness, allowing you to enjoy the hops for all the flavor they can impart. It's the kind of IPA that can make hop haters rethink their sentiments.

3) Crooked Stave Raspberry Petite Sour
While Crooked Stave is known rightly for its astringent, taste-bud-pushing creations, it may have found its greatest success yet by stepping just slightly off the pedal and letting the fruit and wild yeast mingle in a pleasing, almost soft way here. Eye-poppingly pink in its pour, this is both sweet and tart, both bullish on its wild side and more concerned with its fruit than its acid. It simply is delicious.

2) Spangalang Anniversary Ale
To celebrate its first birthday, this rising Denver star blended several of its hop-forward beers, combining barrel-aged and fresh IPAs in one big, never-again-reproducible batch. In doing so, it produced the most interesting one-off beer made in this state in years, a taste-bud-wowing experiment that was simultaneously hoppy and woody, earthy and pleasingly bitter. Before it turns two, Spangalang already is making some of the best beer in Colorado; this was evidence of just how much better it can be.

1) Great Divide Barrel-Aged Hercules
Ever since my book "Mountain Brew" came out in 2011, I've been asked what is my favorite brewery in Colorado. I usually duck the question but, when cornered, have tended to identify Great Divide as the single best in this state. By the end of 2015, though, I was starting to question that long-held assumption, wondering if the long-time experimental brewery was starting to lose ground to others that were innovating more. Then, everything changed this year.

Great Divide's barrel-aging program, which has been in place for years but got a major boost with the 2015 opening of its Barrel Bar on Brighton Boulevard, elevates this brewery into a class of its own for several reasons. First, it allows it to rediscover and reinvent already top-tier offerings and bring out new flavors in them, from its Old Ruffian barleywine to the aforementioned black lager. But second, it does so without simply dropping beers into wild-yeast-ridden barrels and turning everything sour. Its usage of oak and whiskey barrels that deepen the flavor and body of the beers gives it a real personality in an atmosphere when even great breweries begin to seem a little bit like each other in their experiments.

Putting its Hercules Double IPA into whiskey barrels for two years before unleashing this beast at its 22nd anniversary party this summer was the best beer idea of the year. The hops retained an amazingly out-front presence despite their age, and the whiskey took on just a supporting role, as wood and vanilla notes blended seamlessly with Cascade and Simcoe hops. Like much of the best of 2016, this didn't break new ground in flavor profiles. It just brought a classic recipe to bear in a new and better way that will set the mark for this brewery and all others going forward.

Labels: 4 Noses Brewing, AC Golden, Beryl's Beer, Comrade Brewing, Crooked Stave, Great Divide, Spangalang Brewery, Top Beers of Year, Trinity Brewing, Weldwerks Brewing

The New Beer Bar You Need to Try During GABF


Visitors to Denver this week will stream into the growing number of beer bars that are awash with special events, each adding something unique to the local scene. But those who want to hoist a pint in a location with a special tie to the recent history of craft beer in Colorado must be sure to stop in at Walter's 303 Pizzeria and Publik House - and to honor the couple that's taken yet another chance in launching it.

Though the pizzeria at 19th and Pearl in the Uptown neighborhood has been going since 2010, the restaurant took on a whole new feel in mid-August when John and Stacy Turk  collaborated with owner Mike Kienast to put in a 24-tap bar in the adjacent space, a former ceramics shop. Since then, the now-connected bar and restaurant has been rotating beers nearly as quickly as one is tapped, offering a Colorado-heavy selection that mixes in some national and international favorites from John's career in local brews.

Turk is best known for being a co-founder of the now-retired Colorado Craft Beer Show, the first beer-focused radio program in the state. He continues to work as a sales rep for Epic Brewing, but opening a space where people can enjoy and discuss great beer has always been a dream, he said.

Selections for the taps at the Publik House are evenly divided between John, his wife Stacy and their general manager, but they collectively are meant to represent as many styles as possible. Far from clogging the lines with Epic beer - there are all of two offerings from the brewery on currently - the Turks try to reach out especially to up-and-coming self-distributed beer makers to give patrons a better glimpse at the statewide scene.

"I've been to hundreds of taprooms across the country, so what I've tried to do is pick little things that I love from them," John said. "I do believe I can make this a destination taproom."

That means going beyond the beer selection and filling the bar with beer books and old copies of Zymurgy and Beer Advocate to get people thinking about and delving deeper into the styles that they are trying. Though the Uptown neighborhood is blowing up with different restaurants and bars, there is nothing with this intense a craft-beer focus in the area anymore.

And the tap list the Publik House is featuring before the Great American Beer Festival shows off that approach. Nationally sought breweries such as Russian River, Wicked Weed and 21st Amendment are pouring. So are the Colorado beers visitors might expect, from the likes of Odell and Weldwerks. But those visitors also have a chance to discover a few of the secret-gem libations we Centennial State beer geeks are swooning about, from Comrade's Superpower IPA to TRVE's intriguing Scorn pale wheat ale to the latest surprise from Ratio, which currently happens to be its India black lager.

Yes, there are other tap houses in town with longer draft lists and rarer servings this week. But John Turk has always tried to promote beers in new ways in this state. And to sit inside the casual trappings of the Publik House or at one of its community tables is to salute someone who's trying not just to sling good beer at you but to educate you about it.

"It's the same idea I had when I did the craft beer show - I want to turn people onto craft beer," Turk said. "For me it's not about making a profit. It's about sharing beers with good people."

Labels: beer bars, Comrade Brewing, Epic Brewing, Great American Beer Festival, Odell Brewing, Ratio Beerworks, TRVE, Walter's 303 Pizzeria and Publik House, Weldwerks Brewing

The Edge

The secret to every truly great complex beer is in how far it can push your taste buds without breaking them via an overdose of alcohol, tartness or heat. Finding the best of the best can mean pushing right to the edge and then pulling back.

Over the past few months, several breweries, both local and national, have come out with offerings that take you just to that edge before stopping and letting you enjoy a melange of flavors both challenging and satisfying. And as Great American Beer Festival approaches, it is worth recalling them, both to celebrate their daring and to hope that their makers bust a leftover keg or two out in the coming week.

Great Divide showed just how far it could push things this year with its whiskey-barrel-aged Hercules Double IPA, a 12 percent ABV hop bomb that debuted originally at its 22nd anniversary party as Ye Olde World IPA then had a much longer run than could have been imagined before it ran out in the taproom. It wasn't just the flourishing bitterness that remained strong after years in the barrels that made this beer stand out. Rather, it was the fact that you felt the boozy bite even over the strong vanilla and wood tastes, leaving so much going on that it really was head-turning.

Sam Adams also pushed the envelope with its Rebel Raw Double IPA, a limited-edition floral bomb made with seven pounds of hops per barrel that had just a 35-day shelf life in both of its first two batches. The 100 IBUs scorched the tongue in some ways but also gave it an incredibly full flavor, teeming with grassy hops balanced by significant malts. The alcohol in this 10 percent ABV concoction most certainly was present, but it took a surprising back seat in the bevy of tastes.

Comrade Brewing also pushed to the edge, but the hop-forward brewery did it in a different way with its Yellow Fever, a blonde ale infused with jalapenos. The World Beer Cup gold medalist presents itself as unassuming, but the heat rises as the beer swirls in your mouth, landing squarely on the back of your tongue. Unlike poorer renditions of the style, however, it stops at a level that leaves adrenaline pumping in you without any scars on your taste buds, making you want to go back and try it repeatedly.

AC Golden produced arguably the most edge-pushing sour beer of this year so far with its Kriek Noir (pictured at top), a wine-barrel aged Belgian ale with sour cherries added. This spring offering presented itself with a sugary cherry nose, followed quickly by a sharp tartness that cut into your taste buds and took over your mouth. It too managed to stop short of making you wince, however, instead ramping up every pressure point in a way that caused you to use multiple taste sectors, leaving you awash in flavors from its yeast profile and its additives.

Beers that take you to the edge truly should be celebrated - and produced over and over again.

Labels: AC Golden, Barrel aging, Comrade Brewing, Great American Beer Festival, Great Divide, Sam Adams, sour Belgian

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."

Labels: Casey Brewing, Chain Reaction Brewing, Comrade Brewing, Former Future Brewing, Mockery Brewing, New Belgium Brewing, New Colorado breweries