Thursday, July 25, 2019
Beer at a Fair? That's More Than Fair.
County fairs are wonderful places. Kids can get in touch with animals, you can share carnival rides with them (the kids, not the animals) and there is more wonderful deep-fried food than the inventor of the deep fryer ever dreamt could be fattened up.
For too long, though, these light-hearted, lazy-day events that take place under the summer sun have been without the element that clearly they were made to hold hands with - good beer. Luckily, though, the organizers of several front-range fairs have seen fit to change that in recent years.
The Denver County Fair, which went down this last weekend, held a festival with 27 beers, from big names like Oskar Blues to quality little guys like Brewery Rickoli. And if you missed that, the Arapahoe County Fair will put on two of its own suds shows - a craft-brew festival at 5 p.m. Friday and a festival featuring the homebrews entered into the judging competition at noon Saturday.
Lindsay Bagby, Arapahoe County Fair Coordinator, admitted recently that she didn't know how the public would react the first time that drinking beer became a sanctioned part of the traditionally agricultural showcase a few years back. About 150 folks paid the first year to try beer from about 30 breweries, though, and the response was good.
This year, there will be just 16 craft breweries pouring, but 80 percent of them hail from within the county, according to fair assistant Lindsey Friend. Those range from Colorado mainstays like Dry Dock Brewing and Copper Kettle to relative newcomers like Pilothouse and Welcome Home Brewing. And some 450 people are expected to attend, testifying to the appropriateness of a beer festival at a Colorado fair.
And then there's Saturday's event - 12 homebrewers who worked closely with the Colorado State University Extension Office to make beers for a judging competition will pour their beer for a ticketed event that is the equivalent of the pie-judging contest - except that visitors get to enjoy the creations. This is a fantastic idea that allows folks to discover someone who, if they aren't ready to open their own place, will at least get the thrill of serving the beer like they would in a taproom, but without a six-figure investment.
No, this isn't the Great American Beer Festival in terms of variety or originality (though festival goers on Friday night will get to select a People's Choice winner of the event, which hasn't happened at the GABF since Ronald Reagan was president). But it is a great example of how beer drinking has become so imbued in the Colorado culture that it truly is something to be celebrated and enjoyed by a community rather than just at a bar.
"I think a lot of people are trying to get creative with what's upcoming, what's fresh, what's new. We're always looking for something new to add to fairs," Bagby said. "Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It all just depends on the crowd."
Count this guy as one who thinks this really does work. And it's time to raise a glass to the people willing to try such ideas.
County fairs are wonderful places. Kids can get in touch with animals, you can share carnival rides with them (the kids, not the animals) and there is more wonderful deep-fried food than the inventor of the deep fryer ever dreamt could be fattened up.
For too long, though, these light-hearted, lazy-day events that take place under the summer sun have been without the element that clearly they were made to hold hands with - good beer. Luckily, though, the organizers of several front-range fairs have seen fit to change that in recent years.
The Denver County Fair, which went down this last weekend, held a festival with 27 beers, from big names like Oskar Blues to quality little guys like Brewery Rickoli. And if you missed that, the Arapahoe County Fair will put on two of its own suds shows - a craft-brew festival at 5 p.m. Friday and a festival featuring the homebrews entered into the judging competition at noon Saturday.
Lindsay Bagby, Arapahoe County Fair Coordinator, admitted recently that she didn't know how the public would react the first time that drinking beer became a sanctioned part of the traditionally agricultural showcase a few years back. About 150 folks paid the first year to try beer from about 30 breweries, though, and the response was good.This year, there will be just 16 craft breweries pouring, but 80 percent of them hail from within the county, according to fair assistant Lindsey Friend. Those range from Colorado mainstays like Dry Dock Brewing and Copper Kettle to relative newcomers like Pilothouse and Welcome Home Brewing. And some 450 people are expected to attend, testifying to the appropriateness of a beer festival at a Colorado fair.
And then there's Saturday's event - 12 homebrewers who worked closely with the Colorado State University Extension Office to make beers for a judging competition will pour their beer for a ticketed event that is the equivalent of the pie-judging contest - except that visitors get to enjoy the creations. This is a fantastic idea that allows folks to discover someone who, if they aren't ready to open their own place, will at least get the thrill of serving the beer like they would in a taproom, but without a six-figure investment.
No, this isn't the Great American Beer Festival in terms of variety or originality (though festival goers on Friday night will get to select a People's Choice winner of the event, which hasn't happened at the GABF since Ronald Reagan was president). But it is a great example of how beer drinking has become so imbued in the Colorado culture that it truly is something to be celebrated and enjoyed by a community rather than just at a bar.
"I think a lot of people are trying to get creative with what's upcoming, what's fresh, what's new. We're always looking for something new to add to fairs," Bagby said. "Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It all just depends on the crowd."
Count this guy as one who thinks this really does work. And it's time to raise a glass to the people willing to try such ideas.
Labels: Arapahoe County breweries, Brewery Rickoli, Copper Kettle Brewing, Dry Dock Brewing, Fairs, homebrewers, Oskar Blues, Pilothouse Brewing, Welcome Home Brewing
Sunday, February 03, 2019
6 Moments that Could Only Have Happened at Big Beers
Most festivals are defined by the beers poured at them, and this year's Big Beers Belgians & Barleywines Festival could talk about nothing but its offerings and still rank with any festival in America. But after several weeks of reflection following this year's event, it's become clear that it's not just the outstanding pours that defined what may be Colorado's best beer event.
Instead, it was those moments that you keep coming back to that simply don't happen at other gatherings of brewers and beer connoisseurs. And it is worth noting them to explain why the 2019 version of the festival - the third since its move from Vail to Breckenridge - both jumped over the high bar it set for itself and sent the message that it is absolutely as required a place to be as the Great American Beer Festival that takes over Denver each fall.
1) Great Divide's Marriage Beer
The best festivals inspire brewers to make a new beer for them, or to break out of their cellar something they had saved for a special crowd. But when I asked Great Divide owner Brian Dunn - yes, he pours the beer at Big Beers - where his Maple Pecan Yeti that he was serving had been hiding, his answer floored me. It was something the brewery made for an employee's wedding reception, and he thought this would be a good chance to serve the rest of it.
So, it's not just one-offs that are poured at Big Beers, but one-offs made for a very limited crowd that the brewers then think are worth serving again at a festival because of the intimacy and knowledge of that crowd. And the Maple Pecan Yeti, by the way, was one of the highlights of the day - a celebration of blending a sweet flavor into a giant imperial stout that made the beer far more craveable and drinkable than one could have imagined it being.
2) Five minutes with James Howat
If there was a beer better than Maple Pecan Yeti, it was Black Project's Stargate Peach Rye: Nectarine Bourbon, a spontaneously fermented sour ale aged on peaches and nectarines in a fresh whiskey barrel. The beer is both pucker-worthy and succulent in its deep flavors, and one might be left wondering just how something so superior would be made.
But at Big Beers, I wasn't left wondering. In fact, I stood there for five minutes talking with brewery founder James Howat about just how the beer came together, when it would be available at the brewery and how he feels about the growth of beer makers around him in the South Broadway. There was no rush to finish the conversation, and there was no feeling that he wanted to move onto the next beer drinker. When the brewers pour at Big Beers, they interact like they're having conversations with old friends. That may be the best part of the festival.
3) Augie Carton and Nile Zacherle
If you're not from New Jersey, you probably don't know much about Carton Brewing; likewise with your familiarity with Zacherle's Mad Fritz Brewing if you don't live in the Napa Valley. But at Big Beers, two maniacal geniuses who don't sell beer outside their home states are at your beckon call to discuss the leading edge of experimentation in the country.
Carton (far left, above) took time in panel discussions to explain how he makes a beer, Decoy, that approximates the flavor of five-spice roast duck (a fascinating and delicious adventure) and then poured at the general tasting his Gilded Lily Tripel that was made with fresh white truffles. Zacherle (seated next to him, sniffing a beer) wowed the morning kick-off seminar with two pale lagers made with water from different springs that had unique tastes, and he popped out a geranium-thyme kolsch that made you want to forage for your own ingredients to add to traditional beers.
4) The "Lines"
At one point early in the commercial tasting, a friend directed me to Casey Brewing and Blending for its Jammy Sour Ale, a blackberry-added, oak-barrel-aged collaboration with Side Project that had a full and bright body. It was the biggest line I waited in all day - a full 10 people long.
Later, I stood in a nearly similarly sized line for the brilliant grape-infused beer at Liberati Osteria & Oenobeers when I decided that I was thirsty enough to step out and go directly to the front of the non-existent queue for Side Project's tart and intriguing Punchdown Pinot Noir Wild Ale. And so it went at a festival where your choices ran the gamut from brilliant brewers to very good ones, all of whom had something to offer that was great.
5) The Advice
A friend whom I attended the show with informed me that Bell's Barrel-Aged Third Coast Old Ale Barleywine was as perfect a beer as he'd tasted; a sentiment I largely agreed with after I tried it. And it was a co-owner of Grimm Brothers Brewhouse who insisted I try his Feisty Fearless, a Fearless Youth dunkel aged in Feisty Spirits barrels that transformed into a batch of orange-peel-sotted, slightly acidic goodness.
But throughout the day, I would set my beer down at a table to take notes, and whoever happened to be there segued naturally into conversation about what I was drinking, what they were drinking and what some of the hidden gems of the festival were. That's just the feeling in the Big Beers crowd. And through these pieces of advice, I found some of the other best beers of the festival, such as Dry Dock Coconut Belgian Dark, /Founders KBS 2018 and Kane Driftwood, an imperial brown brewed with molasses and maple syrup and aged in brandy barrels.
6) The Community
One of the underrated events of the three-day festival - two days of dinners and gatherings preceding the commercial tasting - is the beer and cigar pairing that is held on Friday night at Beaver Run Resort. You don't have to be a smoker to enjoy it, because those who want to pair their tobacco and alcohol are doing so outside on a patio, while everyone else is inside sampling a jaw-dropping supply of beers dropped off for the event by many of the breweries that are in town, and it turns into sampling and conversation that is like a pre-game event to the big tasting.
This year, the conversation was both serious and mournful at times among the attendees, as Big Beers co-founder Bill Lodge had lost his daughter, Megan, in a car accident just weeks before. And the word spread quickly through the crowd that what we all wanted to do was to help in this terrible moment in the only way we knew how - by contributing to a fundraiser for Eagle Valley High School's speech and debate team, which was a passion of Megan's, in honor of both her and Bill and Laura Lodge.
That's what a beer festival can be at its best - not just a random gathering of drinkers but a community of people who are there for the sharing, for the experimentation and for the human emotions that go beyond enjoying a great beer. And that's why Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines proved again that it's an experience much more than it is just the sum of its amazing tasting offerings.
Most festivals are defined by the beers poured at them, and this year's Big Beers Belgians & Barleywines Festival could talk about nothing but its offerings and still rank with any festival in America. But after several weeks of reflection following this year's event, it's become clear that it's not just the outstanding pours that defined what may be Colorado's best beer event.
Instead, it was those moments that you keep coming back to that simply don't happen at other gatherings of brewers and beer connoisseurs. And it is worth noting them to explain why the 2019 version of the festival - the third since its move from Vail to Breckenridge - both jumped over the high bar it set for itself and sent the message that it is absolutely as required a place to be as the Great American Beer Festival that takes over Denver each fall.
1) Great Divide's Marriage Beer
The best festivals inspire brewers to make a new beer for them, or to break out of their cellar something they had saved for a special crowd. But when I asked Great Divide owner Brian Dunn - yes, he pours the beer at Big Beers - where his Maple Pecan Yeti that he was serving had been hiding, his answer floored me. It was something the brewery made for an employee's wedding reception, and he thought this would be a good chance to serve the rest of it.
So, it's not just one-offs that are poured at Big Beers, but one-offs made for a very limited crowd that the brewers then think are worth serving again at a festival because of the intimacy and knowledge of that crowd. And the Maple Pecan Yeti, by the way, was one of the highlights of the day - a celebration of blending a sweet flavor into a giant imperial stout that made the beer far more craveable and drinkable than one could have imagined it being.
2) Five minutes with James Howat
If there was a beer better than Maple Pecan Yeti, it was Black Project's Stargate Peach Rye: Nectarine Bourbon, a spontaneously fermented sour ale aged on peaches and nectarines in a fresh whiskey barrel. The beer is both pucker-worthy and succulent in its deep flavors, and one might be left wondering just how something so superior would be made.
But at Big Beers, I wasn't left wondering. In fact, I stood there for five minutes talking with brewery founder James Howat about just how the beer came together, when it would be available at the brewery and how he feels about the growth of beer makers around him in the South Broadway. There was no rush to finish the conversation, and there was no feeling that he wanted to move onto the next beer drinker. When the brewers pour at Big Beers, they interact like they're having conversations with old friends. That may be the best part of the festival.
3) Augie Carton and Nile Zacherle
If you're not from New Jersey, you probably don't know much about Carton Brewing; likewise with your familiarity with Zacherle's Mad Fritz Brewing if you don't live in the Napa Valley. But at Big Beers, two maniacal geniuses who don't sell beer outside their home states are at your beckon call to discuss the leading edge of experimentation in the country.
Carton (far left, above) took time in panel discussions to explain how he makes a beer, Decoy, that approximates the flavor of five-spice roast duck (a fascinating and delicious adventure) and then poured at the general tasting his Gilded Lily Tripel that was made with fresh white truffles. Zacherle (seated next to him, sniffing a beer) wowed the morning kick-off seminar with two pale lagers made with water from different springs that had unique tastes, and he popped out a geranium-thyme kolsch that made you want to forage for your own ingredients to add to traditional beers.
4) The "Lines"
At one point early in the commercial tasting, a friend directed me to Casey Brewing and Blending for its Jammy Sour Ale, a blackberry-added, oak-barrel-aged collaboration with Side Project that had a full and bright body. It was the biggest line I waited in all day - a full 10 people long.
Later, I stood in a nearly similarly sized line for the brilliant grape-infused beer at Liberati Osteria & Oenobeers when I decided that I was thirsty enough to step out and go directly to the front of the non-existent queue for Side Project's tart and intriguing Punchdown Pinot Noir Wild Ale. And so it went at a festival where your choices ran the gamut from brilliant brewers to very good ones, all of whom had something to offer that was great.
5) The Advice
A friend whom I attended the show with informed me that Bell's Barrel-Aged Third Coast Old Ale Barleywine was as perfect a beer as he'd tasted; a sentiment I largely agreed with after I tried it. And it was a co-owner of Grimm Brothers Brewhouse who insisted I try his Feisty Fearless, a Fearless Youth dunkel aged in Feisty Spirits barrels that transformed into a batch of orange-peel-sotted, slightly acidic goodness.
But throughout the day, I would set my beer down at a table to take notes, and whoever happened to be there segued naturally into conversation about what I was drinking, what they were drinking and what some of the hidden gems of the festival were. That's just the feeling in the Big Beers crowd. And through these pieces of advice, I found some of the other best beers of the festival, such as Dry Dock Coconut Belgian Dark, /Founders KBS 2018 and Kane Driftwood, an imperial brown brewed with molasses and maple syrup and aged in brandy barrels.
6) The Community
This year, the conversation was both serious and mournful at times among the attendees, as Big Beers co-founder Bill Lodge had lost his daughter, Megan, in a car accident just weeks before. And the word spread quickly through the crowd that what we all wanted to do was to help in this terrible moment in the only way we knew how - by contributing to a fundraiser for Eagle Valley High School's speech and debate team, which was a passion of Megan's, in honor of both her and Bill and Laura Lodge.
That's what a beer festival can be at its best - not just a random gathering of drinkers but a community of people who are there for the sharing, for the experimentation and for the human emotions that go beyond enjoying a great beer. And that's why Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines proved again that it's an experience much more than it is just the sum of its amazing tasting offerings.
Labels: Bell's Brewing, Big Beers, Black Project, Carton Brewing, Casey Brewing, Dry Dock Brewing, Founders Brewing, Great Divide, Grimm Brothers Brewhouse, Laura Lodge, Mad Fritz Brewing, Side Project Brewing
Friday, January 15, 2016
Top 10 Colorado Beers of 2015
First, I have to apologize to all of you — and yes, I mean both of you — who have been asking what's happened to my blog as of late. Between the Jan. 3 due date for my book and Jan. 16 due date for my second child, I've had to pull my attention elsewhere. But, hey, nothing gets a writer like me going quite like a deadline.
That said, 2015 as a whole was another year of experimentation by Colorado breweries but also a year of taking simple styles and just making them ridiculously good. And with that, you will see that the following list contains a little of both, with a complete rainbow of flavors that show once again how the biggest experiments can have some of the biggest payoffs.
10) Odd 13 Humulus Kalecumber
Few breweries took as giant a leap forward this year as this Lafayette beer maker, which dialed in on its sours and increased distribution in the metro area. But nothing was as shockingly tasty as this Berliner Weisse brewed with kale, cucumber and mint - tart and yet undefinable.
9) CaseyBrewing & Blending Saison
Troy Casey is building a cult following with the tart and fruit-infused beers he is putting together in Glenwood Springs. But his greatest feat was offering a clean and crisp saison that jumped to the top of its style in Colorado — and one that appeals to both edgier and more traditional palates.
8) Mockery Brewing Lapsang Souchong
This brewery tucked around the corner from Great Divide's Barrel Bar made its name in 2015 with beers that were made perfectly and had just a little twist. None was more satisfying that this smoked tea lager that was light-bodied but permeated the palate completely.
7) Ska Estival Cream Stout
Ska took your expectations and tossed them out the window twice with this masterpiece. First, it made its primary summer seasonal a stout — and one that was easy to drink even in the warmest weather. And then it added cream and orange zest and made a dark beer smooth and slightly fruity.
6) Avery Antonius' Carmen
The opening of Avery's destination brewery in Boulder County gave it more taps to dole out its growing barrel-aged collection. The biggest and best surprise of the year there was this dark sour ale aged in Madeira barrels, beautifully chewy and bright.
5) River North Third Anniversary Ale
A 17 percent saison designed to celebrate an anniversary of these Denver auteurs sounded at first like a gimmick that would backfire. On the contrary this was bold and sweet and shockingly smooth, and the alcohol was muted enough to make it both delicious and dangerous.
4) Horse & Dragon Sad Panda Coffee Stout
The best thing to come out of the craft-beer mecca that is Fort Collins this year not only was introduced originally in 2014 but was made by one of the smallest and newest breweries in the city. Yet, this coffee stout with a hint of sweetness drank like one of the most perfect blends of big and accessible in Colorado, and the hope is that it gets more widespread distribution this year.
3) Ratio New Wave
Arguably the best new Colorado brewery of 2015 opened in Denver's RiNo neighborhood with a saison and a scotch ale that tasted like the works of seasoned veterans. But what announced Ratio's presence with authority was this summer-released strawberry Berliner Weisse that sizzled with tartness and big, juicy fruit. It was a combo that worked with a touch of genius.
2) Dry Dock Whiskey Barrel-Aged Double Hazlenut Brown Ale
Dry Dock's introduction of a series of barrel-aged big beers at the start of 2015 was the herald of what already one of the state's best breweries turning a corner toward a whole new level. In this effort especially, the barrel didn't assault your taste buds; it blended remarkably with the muted alcohol and stunning malty sweetness of the beer to take a complex experience and make it more pleasing.
1) Strange Craft Beer/Copper Kettle Brewing Basil Kriek Blonde
Collaboration Fest ranked as one of the best beer festivals of 2015, largely because of the wide variety of experiments that worked so well. But the one that soared above the rest - and continued to strike wonder as Strange and Copper Kettle served it throughout the year was this combination of Strange's Cherry Kriek and Copper Kettle's Basil Blonde. Two beers that are laud-worthy in their own right took seemingly clashing strong flavor profiles and turned them into a blended burst of fruit and spice with a soft blonde base beer that fortified it without overpowering it. It was a truly memorable effort from a truly memorable event that proved its mettle as more than a 2-ounce one-off creation.
First, I have to apologize to all of you — and yes, I mean both of you — who have been asking what's happened to my blog as of late. Between the Jan. 3 due date for my book and Jan. 16 due date for my second child, I've had to pull my attention elsewhere. But, hey, nothing gets a writer like me going quite like a deadline.
That said, 2015 as a whole was another year of experimentation by Colorado breweries but also a year of taking simple styles and just making them ridiculously good. And with that, you will see that the following list contains a little of both, with a complete rainbow of flavors that show once again how the biggest experiments can have some of the biggest payoffs.
10) Odd 13 Humulus Kalecumber
Few breweries took as giant a leap forward this year as this Lafayette beer maker, which dialed in on its sours and increased distribution in the metro area. But nothing was as shockingly tasty as this Berliner Weisse brewed with kale, cucumber and mint - tart and yet undefinable.
9) CaseyBrewing & Blending Saison
Troy Casey is building a cult following with the tart and fruit-infused beers he is putting together in Glenwood Springs. But his greatest feat was offering a clean and crisp saison that jumped to the top of its style in Colorado — and one that appeals to both edgier and more traditional palates.
8) Mockery Brewing Lapsang Souchong
This brewery tucked around the corner from Great Divide's Barrel Bar made its name in 2015 with beers that were made perfectly and had just a little twist. None was more satisfying that this smoked tea lager that was light-bodied but permeated the palate completely.
7) Ska Estival Cream Stout
Ska took your expectations and tossed them out the window twice with this masterpiece. First, it made its primary summer seasonal a stout — and one that was easy to drink even in the warmest weather. And then it added cream and orange zest and made a dark beer smooth and slightly fruity.
6) Avery Antonius' Carmen
The opening of Avery's destination brewery in Boulder County gave it more taps to dole out its growing barrel-aged collection. The biggest and best surprise of the year there was this dark sour ale aged in Madeira barrels, beautifully chewy and bright.
5) River North Third Anniversary Ale
A 17 percent saison designed to celebrate an anniversary of these Denver auteurs sounded at first like a gimmick that would backfire. On the contrary this was bold and sweet and shockingly smooth, and the alcohol was muted enough to make it both delicious and dangerous.4) Horse & Dragon Sad Panda Coffee Stout
The best thing to come out of the craft-beer mecca that is Fort Collins this year not only was introduced originally in 2014 but was made by one of the smallest and newest breweries in the city. Yet, this coffee stout with a hint of sweetness drank like one of the most perfect blends of big and accessible in Colorado, and the hope is that it gets more widespread distribution this year.
3) Ratio New Wave
Arguably the best new Colorado brewery of 2015 opened in Denver's RiNo neighborhood with a saison and a scotch ale that tasted like the works of seasoned veterans. But what announced Ratio's presence with authority was this summer-released strawberry Berliner Weisse that sizzled with tartness and big, juicy fruit. It was a combo that worked with a touch of genius.
2) Dry Dock Whiskey Barrel-Aged Double Hazlenut Brown Ale
Dry Dock's introduction of a series of barrel-aged big beers at the start of 2015 was the herald of what already one of the state's best breweries turning a corner toward a whole new level. In this effort especially, the barrel didn't assault your taste buds; it blended remarkably with the muted alcohol and stunning malty sweetness of the beer to take a complex experience and make it more pleasing.
1) Strange Craft Beer/Copper Kettle Brewing Basil Kriek Blonde
Collaboration Fest ranked as one of the best beer festivals of 2015, largely because of the wide variety of experiments that worked so well. But the one that soared above the rest - and continued to strike wonder as Strange and Copper Kettle served it throughout the year was this combination of Strange's Cherry Kriek and Copper Kettle's Basil Blonde. Two beers that are laud-worthy in their own right took seemingly clashing strong flavor profiles and turned them into a blended burst of fruit and spice with a soft blonde base beer that fortified it without overpowering it. It was a truly memorable effort from a truly memorable event that proved its mettle as more than a 2-ounce one-off creation.
Labels: Avery Brewing, Casey Brewing, Copper Kettle Brewing, Dry Dock Brewing, Horse and Dragon Brewing, Mockery Brewing, Odd 13 Brewing, Ratio Beerworks, River North Brewery, Ska Brewing, Strange Craft Beer
Friday, September 25, 2015
GABF 2015 Day One Recap
The "bigger and beerier" Great American Beer Festival, with its 90,000 more square feet of space and 11,000 more attendees, kicked off in fine style Thursday. Here's a few things that stood out.
* Goose Island. Wow.
Bourbon County Stout has always been one of those beers you seek out at this event. But the Chicago brewery brought it to a whole new level - and may have grabbed the mantle as "Best in Show" - with its Vanilla Rye Bourbon County Brand Stout. Sweet with a backtaste of bitter and mouth-filling without seeming the 13% ABV bomb that it is, it warms you as it goes down.
* The sour scene is diversifying.
Once it was that everyone lined up at Russian River to see what this crazy "sour" thing was. Now you can't stumble across a booth without being offered something tart. Places like Former Future Brewing's Black Project are getting justifiably long lines. And the styles are getting wider. One could easily find several sour apricots, including a great version from Dry Dock, And the Transilience - a tart imperial Berliner weisse from two-year-old Southbound Brewing of Savannah - ranked among the best beers of the evening.
* The new "beer geek" section has some advantages.
It wasn't as if brewers were swimming around the area pouring their beer into your mouth. But the Meet the Brewer area did attract some impressive beer makers who clearly thought about what they wanted to offer, from the aforementioned Dry Dock and Southbound to places like Weyerbacher and Short's, with its magnificent array of offerings. There is more concentrated quality here than anywhere else in the Colorado Convention Center.
* Best hoppy beer so far: Strange Dry-Hopped 1000 Barrels Imperial IPA.
It's always a good idea to try some of the gems cooked up by the locals for the fest. This combines a big mouthful of grass with a huge malty backtaste expertly.
* Legislators have picked up their game.
The Colorado Brewers Guild booth features a "Hop the Vote" showdown between state House and state Senate members who brewed beers with Cannonball Creek and Big Choice, respectively, and want you to vote on which is better. While last year's virgin efforts seemed like early homebrew creations, the House's IPA and the Senate's coffee stout both are high-quality beers. It's worth a look, if for no other reason than to have the elected officials serving you booze.
The "bigger and beerier" Great American Beer Festival, with its 90,000 more square feet of space and 11,000 more attendees, kicked off in fine style Thursday. Here's a few things that stood out.
* Goose Island. Wow.
Bourbon County Stout has always been one of those beers you seek out at this event. But the Chicago brewery brought it to a whole new level - and may have grabbed the mantle as "Best in Show" - with its Vanilla Rye Bourbon County Brand Stout. Sweet with a backtaste of bitter and mouth-filling without seeming the 13% ABV bomb that it is, it warms you as it goes down.
* The sour scene is diversifying.
Once it was that everyone lined up at Russian River to see what this crazy "sour" thing was. Now you can't stumble across a booth without being offered something tart. Places like Former Future Brewing's Black Project are getting justifiably long lines. And the styles are getting wider. One could easily find several sour apricots, including a great version from Dry Dock, And the Transilience - a tart imperial Berliner weisse from two-year-old Southbound Brewing of Savannah - ranked among the best beers of the evening.
* The new "beer geek" section has some advantages.
It wasn't as if brewers were swimming around the area pouring their beer into your mouth. But the Meet the Brewer area did attract some impressive beer makers who clearly thought about what they wanted to offer, from the aforementioned Dry Dock and Southbound to places like Weyerbacher and Short's, with its magnificent array of offerings. There is more concentrated quality here than anywhere else in the Colorado Convention Center.
* Best hoppy beer so far: Strange Dry-Hopped 1000 Barrels Imperial IPA.
It's always a good idea to try some of the gems cooked up by the locals for the fest. This combines a big mouthful of grass with a huge malty backtaste expertly.
* Legislators have picked up their game.
The Colorado Brewers Guild booth features a "Hop the Vote" showdown between state House and state Senate members who brewed beers with Cannonball Creek and Big Choice, respectively, and want you to vote on which is better. While last year's virgin efforts seemed like early homebrew creations, the House's IPA and the Senate's coffee stout both are high-quality beers. It's worth a look, if for no other reason than to have the elected officials serving you booze.
Labels: Dry Dock Brewing, Former Future Brewing, Goose Island, Great American Beer Festival, Short's Brewing, Southbound Brewing, Strange Brewing, Weyerbacher Brewing
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Eight Beers That Stood Out at the 2015 Big Beers Festival
It was hard - really hard - to find a bad beer at the Big Beers Belgians & Barleywines Festival in Vail last weekend. Whether it was the slew of barrel-aged stouts, the profusion of tart but not overdone sours or the exciting number of beers that were brewing extremely well with spices, experimentation was alive and well.
But with the advantage of a few days to simmer on the multitude of flavors, a few beers rose to the top of the well-sipped heap at this wonderful event. And these are beers that will be worth looking for all year long - if some of these rarities can even be found.
Altitude Chophouse's Your Royal Chai-Ness
Year in and year out, this small Wyoming brewery brings something that makes you look - and return to their booth - twice. But it exceeded all of its past performances this year with what may have been the best beer of the festival, a chai-infused dunkelweizen that was so mellow in body and so sharply spicy in taste that it resembled a beer-y ginger soda.
Dry Dock Whiskey-barrel Aged Double Hazelnut Brown Ale
No brewery made the statement that malty beers are back quite so well as these Aurora auteurs, who offered up four dark, double barrel-aged beers. Easily the best, however, was this one, presenting a taste that was sweet and creamy and also vanilla and nutty, with the barrel standing out more than the whiskey did.
Goose Island Proprietary Blend
Bourbon County Stout is an awfully well-made beer. But this take on it, which added coconut water and simple syrup, made it not only more complex but dangerously drinkable for something this big.
Casey Brewing & Blending Saison
Troy Casey (seen here pouring for some clever beer writer) brought a lot of impressively bold farmhouse ales re-fermented with fruit like grapes and peaches. But at a festival of big beers, nothing was so palate-catching as his "simple" Saison - a concoction that was oak-barrel aged and wickedly sharp without being acidic.
AC Golden Dark Kriek
It was good to see that Casey left his former brewery in good hands, however. This blend of a golden sour and burgundy sour featured sharp, sharp cherry and a slight grape taste.
Former Future Brewing Black Project #2 - Jumpseat
Completing the dream sour/tart trio was this spectacularly tart spontaneously fermented ale that offered a taste of green apple on top of what could only be described as a gose-like beer made in a Belgian, rather than German, tradition.
Papago Brewing Coconut Joe
The star of Friday night's excellent Papago/Brouwerij Van Steenberge traditional brewmasters' dinner was this surprisingly sessionable (5.5% ABV) but roasty-sweet coconut coffee stout that paired spectacularly well with spiced peanut caramel apples (as the Beer Geekette ably demonstrates here).
Copper Kettle Brewing Mexican Chocolate Stout
This beer is way too well-known to call it a find anymore. But the reason it makes this list is that in a festival where high-gravity, experimentally spiced stouts had a bigger presence than ever, none packed the spicy/cinnamon/taste-bud-jolting punch of this emerging Colorado classic.
It was hard - really hard - to find a bad beer at the Big Beers Belgians & Barleywines Festival in Vail last weekend. Whether it was the slew of barrel-aged stouts, the profusion of tart but not overdone sours or the exciting number of beers that were brewing extremely well with spices, experimentation was alive and well.
But with the advantage of a few days to simmer on the multitude of flavors, a few beers rose to the top of the well-sipped heap at this wonderful event. And these are beers that will be worth looking for all year long - if some of these rarities can even be found.
Altitude Chophouse's Your Royal Chai-Ness
Year in and year out, this small Wyoming brewery brings something that makes you look - and return to their booth - twice. But it exceeded all of its past performances this year with what may have been the best beer of the festival, a chai-infused dunkelweizen that was so mellow in body and so sharply spicy in taste that it resembled a beer-y ginger soda.
Dry Dock Whiskey-barrel Aged Double Hazelnut Brown Ale
No brewery made the statement that malty beers are back quite so well as these Aurora auteurs, who offered up four dark, double barrel-aged beers. Easily the best, however, was this one, presenting a taste that was sweet and creamy and also vanilla and nutty, with the barrel standing out more than the whiskey did.
Goose Island Proprietary Blend
Bourbon County Stout is an awfully well-made beer. But this take on it, which added coconut water and simple syrup, made it not only more complex but dangerously drinkable for something this big.
Casey Brewing & Blending Saison
Troy Casey (seen here pouring for some clever beer writer) brought a lot of impressively bold farmhouse ales re-fermented with fruit like grapes and peaches. But at a festival of big beers, nothing was so palate-catching as his "simple" Saison - a concoction that was oak-barrel aged and wickedly sharp without being acidic.
AC Golden Dark Kriek
It was good to see that Casey left his former brewery in good hands, however. This blend of a golden sour and burgundy sour featured sharp, sharp cherry and a slight grape taste.
Former Future Brewing Black Project #2 - Jumpseat
Completing the dream sour/tart trio was this spectacularly tart spontaneously fermented ale that offered a taste of green apple on top of what could only be described as a gose-like beer made in a Belgian, rather than German, tradition.
Papago Brewing Coconut JoeThe star of Friday night's excellent Papago/Brouwerij Van Steenberge traditional brewmasters' dinner was this surprisingly sessionable (5.5% ABV) but roasty-sweet coconut coffee stout that paired spectacularly well with spiced peanut caramel apples (as the Beer Geekette ably demonstrates here).
Copper Kettle Brewing Mexican Chocolate Stout
This beer is way too well-known to call it a find anymore. But the reason it makes this list is that in a festival where high-gravity, experimentally spiced stouts had a bigger presence than ever, none packed the spicy/cinnamon/taste-bud-jolting punch of this emerging Colorado classic.
Labels: AC Golden, Altitude Chophouse and Brewery, Big Beers, Casey Brewing, Copper Kettle Brewing, Dry Dock Brewing, Festivals, Former Future Brewing, Goose Island, Papago Brewing
Saturday, November 09, 2013
All Colorado Beer Festival Ascending
With so many beer festivals in Colorado, a lot of them tend to blend together. And for the first six years of its existence, the All Colorado Beer Festival in Colorado Springs fell into that category of fun but unspectacular.
Something was different about this year's version, though - different enough where the ACBF might have to move into that don't-miss category in 2014. And it was a combination of things that elevated it.
First, the sheer number of breweries set the festival apart. Last year there were 37 beer makers pouring their products there. This year the number rose to 68 - all from Colorado, many small, some just barely open. Kudos to organizer Randy Dipner for that.
Second, one of the drawbacks of this fest in the past, like many massive beer gatherings, was that many of the breweries crammed into the space were offering the same beers you could find on any shelf all year long. That wasn't true this year.
From Gravity Brewing's intriguing Belgian Peppercorn Ale to Epic Brewing's fabulous coffee bomb Big Bad Baptist to Verboten Brewing's Good Day to You - a chocolate porter with sea salt - the Freedom Financial Services Expo Center floor was lined with new and different offerings. Even when a brewery brought something that missed wildly - such as Fort Collins Brewery's overwhelming Mesquite Chili Lime Ale - it missed by trying, not resting on its laurels.
Third, the VIP area continues to shine and is well worth the extra money. It was there that Grimm Brothers poured the tastiest beer of the festival, if not of the entire year, in its Devil's Riddle Ale, a strong ale aged nine months in Buffalo Trace barrels packed with Brettanomyces to complex effect. And it was there where the likes of New Belgium, Three Barrel and Trinity could happily turn an ordinary festival into a sour festival.
Finally, as a "celebrity judge" for the second year, I had the privilege of helping choose the winners in the IPA/imperial IPA category, and I noticed a huge difference in the quality of entrants just from last year. So when we blindly picked New Belgium's Rampant Imperial IPA for the gold medal and Dry Dock's Hop Abomination IPA for the silver (as shown in the photo at the top), it felt like we were honoring about the best in the state, not just the best there.
The ACBF typically occurs about a month after the Great American Beer Festival. If you haven't been yet, it's worth making a trip to Colorado Springs next year to do so.
With so many beer festivals in Colorado, a lot of them tend to blend together. And for the first six years of its existence, the All Colorado Beer Festival in Colorado Springs fell into that category of fun but unspectacular.
Something was different about this year's version, though - different enough where the ACBF might have to move into that don't-miss category in 2014. And it was a combination of things that elevated it.
First, the sheer number of breweries set the festival apart. Last year there were 37 beer makers pouring their products there. This year the number rose to 68 - all from Colorado, many small, some just barely open. Kudos to organizer Randy Dipner for that.
Second, one of the drawbacks of this fest in the past, like many massive beer gatherings, was that many of the breweries crammed into the space were offering the same beers you could find on any shelf all year long. That wasn't true this year.
From Gravity Brewing's intriguing Belgian Peppercorn Ale to Epic Brewing's fabulous coffee bomb Big Bad Baptist to Verboten Brewing's Good Day to You - a chocolate porter with sea salt - the Freedom Financial Services Expo Center floor was lined with new and different offerings. Even when a brewery brought something that missed wildly - such as Fort Collins Brewery's overwhelming Mesquite Chili Lime Ale - it missed by trying, not resting on its laurels.
Third, the VIP area continues to shine and is well worth the extra money. It was there that Grimm Brothers poured the tastiest beer of the festival, if not of the entire year, in its Devil's Riddle Ale, a strong ale aged nine months in Buffalo Trace barrels packed with Brettanomyces to complex effect. And it was there where the likes of New Belgium, Three Barrel and Trinity could happily turn an ordinary festival into a sour festival.
Finally, as a "celebrity judge" for the second year, I had the privilege of helping choose the winners in the IPA/imperial IPA category, and I noticed a huge difference in the quality of entrants just from last year. So when we blindly picked New Belgium's Rampant Imperial IPA for the gold medal and Dry Dock's Hop Abomination IPA for the silver (as shown in the photo at the top), it felt like we were honoring about the best in the state, not just the best there.
The ACBF typically occurs about a month after the Great American Beer Festival. If you haven't been yet, it's worth making a trip to Colorado Springs next year to do so.
Labels: All Colorado Beer Festival, Dry Dock Brewing, Epic Brewing, Fort Collins Brewing, Gravity Brewing, Grimm Brothers Brewhouse, Three Barrel Brewing, Trinity Brewing, Verboten Brewing
Saturday, October 05, 2013
Where Have the Tasty Pumpkin Beers Gone?
September and October have, in the past decade or so, become a time when breweries can freely experiment with adding spices galore to dark beers and sometimes saisons and creating a pumpkin wonderland. As more beer makers have ventured into these efforts, many of them have become quite good at it.
But something seems to have gone awry in 2013, as the pumpkin experiments have become more of the mad-scientist or bland-scientist variety. And finding a great pumpkin beer has become decidedly difficult this year, even from breweries that otherwise make some great ales.
One of the problems is an over-reliance by brewers on cinnamon to spice the beers, creating what might be called "cinnamon bombs." Hop bombs can be pleasantly challenging; cinnamon bombs, not so much.
The primary example of this is Elysian Brewing's The Great Pumpkin, a beer that, at its best, has been one of most flavorful in the country, approximating the taste of sticking a straw into an alcoholic pumpkin pie. The imperial 2013 version, however, is so cinnamon-heavy it's almost medicinal, and it creates a whole new level of bitterness.
Similarly but not as offensively, the Dry Dock Imperial Pumpkin also relies so much on cinnamon that it brings to mind the taste of mulled wine.
Then there is the opposite but just as prevalent trend — "pumpkin" beers that have just a hint of pumpkin and seem to concentrate far more on the base style than the special spicing. These are not necessarily bad beers, but they are disappointments when you go in looking for a new kind of creation.
A prime example of this is Denver Beer Co's Hey Pumpkin! (which I'm drinking at Freshcraft in the photo above). Denver Beer Co. normally doesn't skimp on flavor, but this is more like an amber ale with barely a hint of nutmeg, almost a starter pumpkin beer.
Epic Brewing created an Imperial Pumpkin Porter that is impressive in its strength and darkness, but the pumpkin is almost an afterthought. Ditto for Tommyknocker Brewery's Small Batch Pumpkin Ale, which is so light in pumpkin that it's forgotten even before it's down your throat.
There are a few notable exceptions to this year's patch of disappointment. Rogue Farms Pumpkin Patch Ale, for example, is a full-mouthed taste aided by a pinch of ginger that cuts the sharpness of the cinnamon.
The biggest surprise of the season, though, is St. Ambroise Pumpkin, the product of McAuslan Brewing of Quebec A full but not heavy beer with a big taste of nutmeg, it has both sweet and spicy tones and seems to capture the mellowing but intriguing spirit of the fall season. And that seems to make it a rarity this year.
September and October have, in the past decade or so, become a time when breweries can freely experiment with adding spices galore to dark beers and sometimes saisons and creating a pumpkin wonderland. As more beer makers have ventured into these efforts, many of them have become quite good at it.
But something seems to have gone awry in 2013, as the pumpkin experiments have become more of the mad-scientist or bland-scientist variety. And finding a great pumpkin beer has become decidedly difficult this year, even from breweries that otherwise make some great ales.
One of the problems is an over-reliance by brewers on cinnamon to spice the beers, creating what might be called "cinnamon bombs." Hop bombs can be pleasantly challenging; cinnamon bombs, not so much.
The primary example of this is Elysian Brewing's The Great Pumpkin, a beer that, at its best, has been one of most flavorful in the country, approximating the taste of sticking a straw into an alcoholic pumpkin pie. The imperial 2013 version, however, is so cinnamon-heavy it's almost medicinal, and it creates a whole new level of bitterness.
Similarly but not as offensively, the Dry Dock Imperial Pumpkin also relies so much on cinnamon that it brings to mind the taste of mulled wine.
Then there is the opposite but just as prevalent trend — "pumpkin" beers that have just a hint of pumpkin and seem to concentrate far more on the base style than the special spicing. These are not necessarily bad beers, but they are disappointments when you go in looking for a new kind of creation.A prime example of this is Denver Beer Co's Hey Pumpkin! (which I'm drinking at Freshcraft in the photo above). Denver Beer Co. normally doesn't skimp on flavor, but this is more like an amber ale with barely a hint of nutmeg, almost a starter pumpkin beer.
Epic Brewing created an Imperial Pumpkin Porter that is impressive in its strength and darkness, but the pumpkin is almost an afterthought. Ditto for Tommyknocker Brewery's Small Batch Pumpkin Ale, which is so light in pumpkin that it's forgotten even before it's down your throat.
There are a few notable exceptions to this year's patch of disappointment. Rogue Farms Pumpkin Patch Ale, for example, is a full-mouthed taste aided by a pinch of ginger that cuts the sharpness of the cinnamon.
The biggest surprise of the season, though, is St. Ambroise Pumpkin, the product of McAuslan Brewing of Quebec A full but not heavy beer with a big taste of nutmeg, it has both sweet and spicy tones and seems to capture the mellowing but intriguing spirit of the fall season. And that seems to make it a rarity this year.Labels: Denver Beer Co, Dry Dock Brewing, Elysian Brewing, Epic Brewing, Pumpkin beers, Rogue Ales, St. Ambroise, Tommyknocker Brewery
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Three Cool Notes from the Colorado Brewing Scene
Just catching up on a few tidbits from today that will make you want to raise a pint glass:
1) Black Fox Is Back
Black Fox Brewing was Colorado's first all-saison brewery, adroitly churning out farmhouse-style ales with ingredients like ground gingerroot, black peppercorns and red chilies, even before saisons were cool. Then John Davidson left Bristol Brewing, in which Black Fox was housed while he also made beer for the Colorado Springs brewery, went to work for Dry Dock and put his side project on hiatus.
Black Fox announced via Facebook Thursday that is has made its comeback beer, "Cracked," and expects to have it on tap in 10-14 days at Dry Dock. A lot of breweries have specialized in and made some great saisons over the past four years, but Black Fox's John Schneider turned out head-turning creations, including a chocolate chili saison one that was the talk of Vail Big Beers 2011. It will be good to have the brewery back.
2) Patty's Chile in Your Living Room
Patty's Chile Beer, the longtime Wynkoop Brewing gem, is neither the best chile beer in Colorado (that's Billy's Chilies from Twisted Pine) nor the best beer from Wynkoop (that's Belgorado). But it is the most intriguing beer to quaff before a summer Rockies game, that subtle but fiery touch of Anaheim chiles and smoked Ancho peppers perfectly complementing the German-style ale to be both light and complex.
On Thursday, Wynkoop announced it is now canning and distributing Patty's Chile Beer, making it one of the most interesting of the brewery's products available for take-home enjoyment. And unlike the Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout, which is sold only in two packs, you can get four of these at a time.
3) BDG2C Ups Its Game
I'm a bit behind on finally poring over the 7th edition of the Beer Drinker's Guide to Colorado, which was released on July 31, but I have to say it's pretty extraordinary. The map now includes 224 operating and soon-to-open breweries, including some in towns that even us beer geeks didn't realize offered a brewery.
What Mike Laur has done so well in crafting this map - aside from including $300 in free beer coupons in a product that retails for $14.95 - is capturing the constant growth of the beer scene throughout the state. It lists breweries, beer bars, homebrew shops, recommended glassware, even national monuments. And it is well worth the investment to pin this puppy up to your wall and thumbtack your conquests, so you can stay ahead of the game - at least until the 8th edition comes out with 300 breweries on it.
Just catching up on a few tidbits from today that will make you want to raise a pint glass:
1) Black Fox Is Back
Black Fox Brewing was Colorado's first all-saison brewery, adroitly churning out farmhouse-style ales with ingredients like ground gingerroot, black peppercorns and red chilies, even before saisons were cool. Then John Davidson left Bristol Brewing, in which Black Fox was housed while he also made beer for the Colorado Springs brewery, went to work for Dry Dock and put his side project on hiatus.
Black Fox announced via Facebook Thursday that is has made its comeback beer, "Cracked," and expects to have it on tap in 10-14 days at Dry Dock. A lot of breweries have specialized in and made some great saisons over the past four years, but Black Fox's John Schneider turned out head-turning creations, including a chocolate chili saison one that was the talk of Vail Big Beers 2011. It will be good to have the brewery back.
2) Patty's Chile in Your Living Room
Patty's Chile Beer, the longtime Wynkoop Brewing gem, is neither the best chile beer in Colorado (that's Billy's Chilies from Twisted Pine) nor the best beer from Wynkoop (that's Belgorado). But it is the most intriguing beer to quaff before a summer Rockies game, that subtle but fiery touch of Anaheim chiles and smoked Ancho peppers perfectly complementing the German-style ale to be both light and complex.
On Thursday, Wynkoop announced it is now canning and distributing Patty's Chile Beer, making it one of the most interesting of the brewery's products available for take-home enjoyment. And unlike the Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout, which is sold only in two packs, you can get four of these at a time.
3) BDG2C Ups Its Game
I'm a bit behind on finally poring over the 7th edition of the Beer Drinker's Guide to Colorado, which was released on July 31, but I have to say it's pretty extraordinary. The map now includes 224 operating and soon-to-open breweries, including some in towns that even us beer geeks didn't realize offered a brewery.What Mike Laur has done so well in crafting this map - aside from including $300 in free beer coupons in a product that retails for $14.95 - is capturing the constant growth of the beer scene throughout the state. It lists breweries, beer bars, homebrew shops, recommended glassware, even national monuments. And it is well worth the investment to pin this puppy up to your wall and thumbtack your conquests, so you can stay ahead of the game - at least until the 8th edition comes out with 300 breweries on it.
Labels: Beer Drinker's Guide to Colorado, Black Fox Brewing, Dry Dock Brewing, Twisted Pine Brewing, Wynkoop Brewery
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Making Colorado Proud
Two weeks ago, the Colorado Department of Agriculture launched the "Choose Colorado" state tour, promoting local agriculture and products. There was talk of local cantaloupes and corn. But make no mistake, this tour is laden with beer as well.
The 14-year-old "Colorado Proud" program is set up to promote all food and beverage products grown and made in Colorado, and it is heading out on statewide tour for the first time this year. And state officials have not been shy about pointing out the advantage of locally grown hops, barley and additives that make locally brewed beverages especially special.
Take, for example, Breckenridge Brewery's Agave Wheat, a beer made with a key cactus ingredient that Breck brewers picked up at Sprouts grocery stores throughout the Denver area. They created the beer, labeled it proudly as a Colorado ale and watched sales of the tangy wheat with a stronger punch than most of its ilk grow across the country.
And, said marketing director Todd Thibault (pictured to left), he and brewer Todd Usry used the Colorado label to promote it, especially when growing into a new market in South Carolina some seven years ago.
"We'd walk in bars and say 'We're Todd and Todd from Breckenridge Brewery in Colorado. And people would say, "Hey, Colorado?'" he said.
Doug Hyndman, head brewer at Dry Dock Brewing, went to Clemson University in that very same state of South Carolina, and he (pictured below) followed the Colorado reputation across the country. Dry Dock just recently joined Colorado Proud to support Colorado's efforts to promote its homegrown products, he said. (And we all know how well that brewery promotes Colorado beer.)
So, what does this program really mean for the average beer geek, who already tends to search out Colorado brews and promote the state's brewing scene? Probably not a whole lot to the learned.
But what can it do for businesses that are considering whether to invest more in Colorado products, including Colorado beers, as well as their customers? Well, just ask Rob Lanphier, owner of the Handlebar bar/restaurant and Pour Kids Bar Group.
Pour Kids is a "statetriotic" effort that promotes not just Colorado beer, wine and liquor but Colorado-raised produce and Colorado-made products. People may not think about ordering Colorado-specific when they come in, but when presented with a menu full of state-centric options, they tend to gravitate toward them and support local products, Lanphier said.
"There's really a heightened interest in buying local. I've noticed this trend the last couple of years," he said.
And that's a goal that all Colorado beer drinkers can support.
Two weeks ago, the Colorado Department of Agriculture launched the "Choose Colorado" state tour, promoting local agriculture and products. There was talk of local cantaloupes and corn. But make no mistake, this tour is laden with beer as well.
The 14-year-old "Colorado Proud" program is set up to promote all food and beverage products grown and made in Colorado, and it is heading out on statewide tour for the first time this year. And state officials have not been shy about pointing out the advantage of locally grown hops, barley and additives that make locally brewed beverages especially special.
Take, for example, Breckenridge Brewery's Agave Wheat, a beer made with a key cactus ingredient that Breck brewers picked up at Sprouts grocery stores throughout the Denver area. They created the beer, labeled it proudly as a Colorado ale and watched sales of the tangy wheat with a stronger punch than most of its ilk grow across the country.
"We'd walk in bars and say 'We're Todd and Todd from Breckenridge Brewery in Colorado. And people would say, "Hey, Colorado?'" he said.
Doug Hyndman, head brewer at Dry Dock Brewing, went to Clemson University in that very same state of South Carolina, and he (pictured below) followed the Colorado reputation across the country. Dry Dock just recently joined Colorado Proud to support Colorado's efforts to promote its homegrown products, he said. (And we all know how well that brewery promotes Colorado beer.)
So, what does this program really mean for the average beer geek, who already tends to search out Colorado brews and promote the state's brewing scene? Probably not a whole lot to the learned.
But what can it do for businesses that are considering whether to invest more in Colorado products, including Colorado beers, as well as their customers? Well, just ask Rob Lanphier, owner of the Handlebar bar/restaurant and Pour Kids Bar Group.
Pour Kids is a "statetriotic" effort that promotes not just Colorado beer, wine and liquor but Colorado-raised produce and Colorado-made products. People may not think about ordering Colorado-specific when they come in, but when presented with a menu full of state-centric options, they tend to gravitate toward them and support local products, Lanphier said.
"There's really a heightened interest in buying local. I've noticed this trend the last couple of years," he said.
And that's a goal that all Colorado beer drinkers can support.
Labels: Breckenridge Brewery, Colorado Brews, Dry Dock Brewing
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Top 10 Colorado Beers of 2012
In thinking back on the past year that was for Colorado brewing, what stands out is the lack of standouts - but in a good way.
Looking back on last year's list, the top two beers were a 14-brewer collaboration that sold for $40 a champagne bottle and a beer that was introduced at one of the most hyped Great American Beer Festival press events of all time. And that's OK.
This year, however, Colorado's finest beers seemed to happen almost when you weren't looking, sneaking into liquor stores and taprooms and even one-time events with great subtlety. And so, without further ado, here is one man's thoughts on the best that the Centennial State offered in 2012:
10) Black Swan - Twisted Pine Brewing
The most interesting beer of the summer was a saison that oscillated in taste from peat moss to mellow licorice to slightly sweet ester, making you rethink what is happening with each sip. What's more, it represented the maturing of a Boulder brewery that has produced good beers for years but is now pushing itself to create one-offs that are likely to redefine it again.
9) Saison du Tomme - Trinity Brewing
Jason Yester never fails to produce fascinating tastes, but it was where he produced his best beer of 2012 that exemplifies the Colorado Springs brewmaster's willingness to experiment. Saison du Tomme rolled out as part of Focus on the Beer's fantastic Beers Made by Walking series, in which brewers go on hikes and produce something original with ingredients found on the way. This saison included rose hips, lemongrass and grains of paradise, and its pixie-stick goodness should come back in future years.
8) Wild Wild Brett Green - Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project
The lines that clogged the Crooked Stave booth at the GABF - and if you didn't see them, they were impressive - went there for pure sour concoctions. But the best thing Denver experimenter Chad Yakobson rolled out this year was a daring crossover blending his wild yeast with a traditionally hopped beer. What came out of it was a yet-undefined new style on which Crooked Stave hopefully will continue to push boundaries.
7) NBB Love Felix - New Belgium Brewing
The best sour-beer creators in Colorado pumped out another talk-worthy creation and GABF medal winner this year with their blond sour ale aged in oak foeders. Not as bristling as wonderful creations of theirs such as the Le Terroir, this offering stung the tongue just mildly before letting citrus flavors roll over it. In what was a great year of experimentation for the Fort Collins masters, this was one of their best.
6) Mick Jaggery - Wit's End Brewing
The terms "Top 10 beers" and "ESB" rarely cross. But when you combine a seriously hopped ESB with the Indian cooking sugar Jaggery (hence the name), the result was a bitter and sweet melange of tastes that literally stunned the entire Fearless Drinking Crew one night earlier this month. Scott Witsoe's beers are all a little bit off of any style description, but this one pushed definitions far enough to let the Denver brewery truly stand out.
5) Zora Rosemary Pale Ale - Strange Brewing
Of all the unusual ingredients that have been added to Colorado beers in 2012 - from Hawaiian black lava salt to bull testicles - none of them has made as positive a difference as the rosemary that Strange brewers Tim Myers and John Fletcher decided to drop into a pale ale earlier this year. The woodsy herbal taste combined with the natural floral overtones of a heavily hopped pale was like an awakening in a glass. Frankly, it's surprising that more brewers haven't realized how good this flavor combination is. Until they do, however, Strange should endeavor to keep this on tap constantly.
4) Oud Floris - Avery Brewing
Here's how to push the limits: Combine beer aged in Cabernet, chardonnay, whiskey and rum barrels and produce a tart sour that not only is complex but shockingly has a softer side to it, an almost buttery peach taste. Avery can make beers that scorch the palate; Oud Floris stands out for being a ridiculously approachable effort that is as good as anything that has come out of the Boulder brewery's barrels.
3) Super IPA - New Belgium Brewing
Every year, it seems, one more beer gets added to the repertoire of phenomenal Colorado double IPAs. What is so surprising about this year's addition is that it came from a brewery whose reputation was not for mastering the hop. But in a collaboration offering with San Diego's Alpine Brewing, New Belgium amped up flowery goodness to new levels while keeping the body of this limited release so easy-drinking that you have to rethink the hop presence.
2) Ambassador Barrel-Aged Sour Ale - Dry Dock Brewing
A personal story: It was the day after GABF, and the last thing that the Beer Geekette and I planned was to drink beer. But when we stumbled across this in a Highlands buffalo-wing restaurant, we had to try it. And even the shattered liver could appreciate something so tart that it lit up the sides of the tongue while being so peach-cherry-citrus-forward that every sip was an adventure in discovering what wild yeast could add to a medium-bodied masterpiece. As Dry Dock goes big-time with its expansion next year, it would do well to think about making more of this sour that adds to its constantly growing resume of world-class beers.
1) Hoppenberg Uncertainty Principle - River North Brewery
When you define a year in beers, the question must be asked: What beer did you go back to over and over again? The answer here is: A Belgian-style double IPA made by a brewery that is now just 11 months old but has crafted such daring products (featured in picture above) that it must be mentioned in the same breath as Denver's finest breweries. The beer formerly known as Hypothesis (a name apparently bogarted by a California winery) pushed styles in two ways, taking the brewery's signature ester-ful yeast and mixing it with a hop-laden beer that swirled over the taste buds like a one-two punch of grass and citrus-clove. The beer may help to redefine the Belgo-IPA style. And the crew is looking forward to drinking much more of it in 2013.
Looking back on last year's list, the top two beers were a 14-brewer collaboration that sold for $40 a champagne bottle and a beer that was introduced at one of the most hyped Great American Beer Festival press events of all time. And that's OK.
This year, however, Colorado's finest beers seemed to happen almost when you weren't looking, sneaking into liquor stores and taprooms and even one-time events with great subtlety. And so, without further ado, here is one man's thoughts on the best that the Centennial State offered in 2012:
10) Black Swan - Twisted Pine Brewing
The most interesting beer of the summer was a saison that oscillated in taste from peat moss to mellow licorice to slightly sweet ester, making you rethink what is happening with each sip. What's more, it represented the maturing of a Boulder brewery that has produced good beers for years but is now pushing itself to create one-offs that are likely to redefine it again.
9) Saison du Tomme - Trinity Brewing
Jason Yester never fails to produce fascinating tastes, but it was where he produced his best beer of 2012 that exemplifies the Colorado Springs brewmaster's willingness to experiment. Saison du Tomme rolled out as part of Focus on the Beer's fantastic Beers Made by Walking series, in which brewers go on hikes and produce something original with ingredients found on the way. This saison included rose hips, lemongrass and grains of paradise, and its pixie-stick goodness should come back in future years.
8) Wild Wild Brett Green - Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project
The lines that clogged the Crooked Stave booth at the GABF - and if you didn't see them, they were impressive - went there for pure sour concoctions. But the best thing Denver experimenter Chad Yakobson rolled out this year was a daring crossover blending his wild yeast with a traditionally hopped beer. What came out of it was a yet-undefined new style on which Crooked Stave hopefully will continue to push boundaries.
7) NBB Love Felix - New Belgium Brewing
The best sour-beer creators in Colorado pumped out another talk-worthy creation and GABF medal winner this year with their blond sour ale aged in oak foeders. Not as bristling as wonderful creations of theirs such as the Le Terroir, this offering stung the tongue just mildly before letting citrus flavors roll over it. In what was a great year of experimentation for the Fort Collins masters, this was one of their best.
6) Mick Jaggery - Wit's End Brewing
The terms "Top 10 beers" and "ESB" rarely cross. But when you combine a seriously hopped ESB with the Indian cooking sugar Jaggery (hence the name), the result was a bitter and sweet melange of tastes that literally stunned the entire Fearless Drinking Crew one night earlier this month. Scott Witsoe's beers are all a little bit off of any style description, but this one pushed definitions far enough to let the Denver brewery truly stand out.
5) Zora Rosemary Pale Ale - Strange Brewing
Of all the unusual ingredients that have been added to Colorado beers in 2012 - from Hawaiian black lava salt to bull testicles - none of them has made as positive a difference as the rosemary that Strange brewers Tim Myers and John Fletcher decided to drop into a pale ale earlier this year. The woodsy herbal taste combined with the natural floral overtones of a heavily hopped pale was like an awakening in a glass. Frankly, it's surprising that more brewers haven't realized how good this flavor combination is. Until they do, however, Strange should endeavor to keep this on tap constantly.
4) Oud Floris - Avery Brewing
Here's how to push the limits: Combine beer aged in Cabernet, chardonnay, whiskey and rum barrels and produce a tart sour that not only is complex but shockingly has a softer side to it, an almost buttery peach taste. Avery can make beers that scorch the palate; Oud Floris stands out for being a ridiculously approachable effort that is as good as anything that has come out of the Boulder brewery's barrels.
3) Super IPA - New Belgium Brewing
Every year, it seems, one more beer gets added to the repertoire of phenomenal Colorado double IPAs. What is so surprising about this year's addition is that it came from a brewery whose reputation was not for mastering the hop. But in a collaboration offering with San Diego's Alpine Brewing, New Belgium amped up flowery goodness to new levels while keeping the body of this limited release so easy-drinking that you have to rethink the hop presence.
2) Ambassador Barrel-Aged Sour Ale - Dry Dock Brewing
A personal story: It was the day after GABF, and the last thing that the Beer Geekette and I planned was to drink beer. But when we stumbled across this in a Highlands buffalo-wing restaurant, we had to try it. And even the shattered liver could appreciate something so tart that it lit up the sides of the tongue while being so peach-cherry-citrus-forward that every sip was an adventure in discovering what wild yeast could add to a medium-bodied masterpiece. As Dry Dock goes big-time with its expansion next year, it would do well to think about making more of this sour that adds to its constantly growing resume of world-class beers.
1) Hoppenberg Uncertainty Principle - River North Brewery
When you define a year in beers, the question must be asked: What beer did you go back to over and over again? The answer here is: A Belgian-style double IPA made by a brewery that is now just 11 months old but has crafted such daring products (featured in picture above) that it must be mentioned in the same breath as Denver's finest breweries. The beer formerly known as Hypothesis (a name apparently bogarted by a California winery) pushed styles in two ways, taking the brewery's signature ester-ful yeast and mixing it with a hop-laden beer that swirled over the taste buds like a one-two punch of grass and citrus-clove. The beer may help to redefine the Belgo-IPA style. And the crew is looking forward to drinking much more of it in 2013.
Labels: Avery Brewing, Beers of the Year, Crooked Stave, Dry Dock Brewing, Focus on the Beer, New Belgium Brewing, River North Brewery, Strange Brewing, Trinity Brewing, Twisted Pine Brewing, Wit's End Brewery
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Colorado Kicks A** Again at the GABF
If you would have said before the Great American Beer Festival that Great Divide, Odell, Oskar Blues and Bristol would nab zero medals this year, I would have figured the rest of the U.S. had caught up to Colorado.
As it turns out, the state's just so good at making beer these days that the rest of its breweries are catching up on the seasoned experts.
Twenty-eight Centennial State breweries walked away with 35 medals at yesterday's ceremony - a total second only to California's (49) and well ahead of third-place Oregon (24). And Funkwerks scored the biggest prize of any of the locals, hoisting the trophy as Small Brewery of the Year.
No brewery had more than two individual medals, and the seven that did spanned the spectrum: Dry Dock, Funkwerks, New Belgium, Rock Bottom Westminster, SandLot, Tommyknocker and Twisted Pine. Some of the medal winners, such as Avery's White Rascal, are at this point considered classics; others, such as Keystone Light, are not.
But if you want to set up a tasting checklist for the next year, all the winners are listed in a story I wrote for my day job at the Denver Business Journal that includes good anecdotes about a few of the beers, including a gold-medalist from the crew at Equinox Brewing (pictured above). Check it out as soon as your liver recovers from this past weekend.
If you would have said before the Great American Beer Festival that Great Divide, Odell, Oskar Blues and Bristol would nab zero medals this year, I would have figured the rest of the U.S. had caught up to Colorado.
As it turns out, the state's just so good at making beer these days that the rest of its breweries are catching up on the seasoned experts.
Twenty-eight Centennial State breweries walked away with 35 medals at yesterday's ceremony - a total second only to California's (49) and well ahead of third-place Oregon (24). And Funkwerks scored the biggest prize of any of the locals, hoisting the trophy as Small Brewery of the Year.
No brewery had more than two individual medals, and the seven that did spanned the spectrum: Dry Dock, Funkwerks, New Belgium, Rock Bottom Westminster, SandLot, Tommyknocker and Twisted Pine. Some of the medal winners, such as Avery's White Rascal, are at this point considered classics; others, such as Keystone Light, are not.
But if you want to set up a tasting checklist for the next year, all the winners are listed in a story I wrote for my day job at the Denver Business Journal that includes good anecdotes about a few of the beers, including a gold-medalist from the crew at Equinox Brewing (pictured above). Check it out as soon as your liver recovers from this past weekend.
Labels: Avery Brewing, Dry Dock Brewing, Equinox Brewing, Funkwerks, Great American Beer Festival, New Belgium Brewing, Rock Bottom Brewery, SandLot Brewery, Tommyknocker Brewery, Twisted Pine Brewing
Thursday, October 06, 2011
GABF Wrap: Colorado ShinesBy now, you've probably heard the stats on Colorado's props from the Great American Beer Festival, and they are impressive. Thirty-nine medals go to 29 breweries, including 15 gold medals. The state places second in overall medals and golds only to California. Pandemonium ensues.
But before we shut the door on the recaps of this year's magnificent gathering of American brewers, it's worth delving a little deeper on some of the honors that were garnered - and a few that weren't.
*Great Divide, Avery, Left Hand and Trinity make make most of the short lists for the best breweries in Colorado. It is worth noting, however, that none took home a medal this year. That is partly due to the fact that these four breweries simply don't make beers that fit easily into any of the 83 categories in which beers are judged. ("And the medal for best imperial stout infused with Belgian yeast is ... Belgian Yeti, the only one made in America.") But is it shocking all the same. And it tells you something about the state when it can garner 39 medals without any tallies from these big four.
*Two other omissions worth noting are the lack of medals for Bristol's Laughing Lab Scottish Ale and Steamworks' Steam Engine Lager, the two most honored beers in state history, with 15 combined medals. Without rifling through my notes, I can't remember the last time neither medaled. Both are still great beers; sometimes it's just not your year.
*Colorado's big winners, meanwhile, were Dry Dock and Oskar Blues, which took home three medals each. Dry Dock, which scored with its Hefeweizen, Coffee Milk Stout and Pro-Am Kriek, is making a habit of this, tying or leading the state in medals for the third year in a row. Oskar Blues, honored for its Old Chub, Mama's Little Yella Pils and Deviant Dale's (which needs to be canned) is certainly worthy as well.
*Copper Kettle Brewing opened in April and Denver Beer Co. cut its ribbon just in August. Yet, both walked away with medals in their first half-years of existence. Copper Kettle scored gold among herb and spice beers with its Mexican Chocolate Stout and Denver Beer a bronze in specialty beers with its Graham Cracker Porter. Grimm Brothers Brewhouse in Loveland, which opened last fall, also was a medal winner at its first GABF, taking gold among altbiers for its Little Red Cap.
*Colorado breweries took the gold and bronze in the pro-am category. C.B. & Potts Westminster had the best collaboration brew with its Before Capone pre-Prohibition pilsner and Dry Dock nabbed bronze for the aforementioned Kriek. This is no coincidence. No other state in the country fosters such an atmosphere of amateurs working with pros, and it's beginning to show.
*Bash Coors all you want, but four of its breweries - Blue Moon, SandLot, AC Golden and the main house all won medals for various creations. And none went to anything in the American lager or light lager categories.
*All of the medals were well earned, but several were exceptionally good choices. New Belgium's Le Terroir snagged the gold in American-style sour ale, as it should - no beer out there combines Belgian technique and American hopping quite as well. Odell's Friek, which mixes sour beers from three differently aged barrels, walked away with a richly deserved gold among wood- and barrel-aged sour beers. And the Funkwerks Saison that took silver for French- and Belgian-style saisons is delicious without being overwhelming.
*Best name out of all the winners: The SandLot's Move Back, the gold-medal recipient among dortmunder or German-style Oktoberfest beers. As brewer Tom Hall told me for my book, it's dedicated to all the Chicago Cubs fans who moved to Denver but complain that Chicago is a much better city.
Labels: CB Potts, Coors Brewing, Copper Kettle Brewing, Denver Beer Co, Dry Dock Brewing, Funkwerks, Great American Beer Festival, Grimm Brothers Brewhouse, New Belgium Brewing, Odell Brewing, Oskar Blues
Monday, September 20, 2010
Best of GABF 2010Change was in the air this year at the Great American Beer Festival. Yes, the long-time best breweries brought their game (Russian River with a still trend-setting pucker-worthy Supplication, New Glarus with its consistently unique Raspberry Tart, Great Divide shaking things up with its oak-aged Rumble IPA). But this seemed to be the year when five other breweries really stepped up to grab the spotlight.
Call it the "line test." When you grabbed a one-ounce pour, where was it that you just wanted to turn around, head to the back of the line and wait, no matter how long, for another beer to see what else that brewer could do? Just within the confines of the Fearless Tasting Crew, these were those places: Cigar City Brewing, Six Rivers Brewing, Odell Brewing, Cascade Brewing and late-session find Weyerbacher Brewing Co.
And so, here is just one man's very abbreviated opinion of the best beers that could be found at the 29th Great American Beer Festival.
Best in Show: Based on its uniqueness as a cross between a sour and a saison alone, Cigar City's Guava Grove might have been the beer about which the most people left the festival buzzing. But what separated it from the sour genre and truly made it special was that the use of the guava for flavor, unlike sour cherries or raspberries, was not especially penetrating or intense. Instead, it just sat on the tongue, making this the most accessible and pleasing sour beer in a show where more and more made their way to the forefront.
Best hoppy beer: Judging by the fact that it, unlike most other types of hop, showed up in several beers' names, simcoe is the "it" hop right now. And nothing made better use of this edgy and intense floral flavor than Easton, Pa.-based Weyerbacher Brewing's Double Simcoe IPA. Introducing itself with a huge burst of flavor but leaving you with a more full-mouthed grassy rather than bitter backtaste, this beer, more so than any others of its genre, straddled the line between sweet and bite.
Best dark beer: Old-school stouts and porters seem to be on their way out. In fact the words "oatmeal porter" were about as rare this year as the term "light lager." But between chocolate-milk stouts and coffee-infused Russian imperial stouts, the taste that stood out the most was Six Rivers' Smoky Joe's Spicy Porter, which deftly weaved together mesquite, roasted malt and pepper spices into its own creation.
Best traditional sour: The three different barrel-aged creations that went into Odell's Friek looked at first like some strange blend of tomato and pineapple juice. But the raspberry-cherry overlap turned out to blend amazingly well and prove as refreshing as it was challenging. Kudos go as well to Cascade's Apricot Ale and its Kriek.
Best wheat/lager/lighter ale: At a festival that seemed to be all about barrels, coffee, smoke and limit-pushing new ingredients, it seemed that just about the only lighter beer turning heads was Dry Dock Brewing's Paragon Apricot Blonde. Accessibly fruit-tinged without being overpowering and without forgetting that the beer is more important than the additive, this calmed your taste buds and left you thinking "Mmm, session beer" more than anything else you tasted at the GABF.
Labels: Cigar City Brewing, Dry Dock Brewing, Great American Beer Festival, Odell Brewing, Six Rivers Brewery, Weyerbacher Brewing
Friday, May 21, 2010
This Week in Colorado BeerI haven't done this in a while, but seeing how it's American Craft Beer Week and the weather is too nice to stay inside and drink, it sounds like an appropriate time to start again ....
New Brewery
Two of my former Rocky Mountain News colleagues, Tim Myers and John Fletcher, officially opened Strange Brewing Company in Denver on Wednesday afternoon. It will be cranking from 4 to 8 p.m. both today and tomorrow at 1330 Zuni, Unit M.
Beer Festival
Saturday, Noon to 4 p.m.: Pumphouse Brewery and Restaurant in Longmont is bringing in about 20 breweries - from the local to Pacific Coast darlings like Lagunitas - to raise money for the charity Doctors Without Borders. Tickets for the Spring Beer Festival are $30 at the door and get you 10 4-ounce tasters.
Beer Tappings
Today, 5 p.m.: Trinity Brewing of Colorado Springs releases Southern Hospitality, which is brewed with fresh roasted pecans, brown sugar, whole cinnamon sticks and fresh Madagascar vanilla beans.
*Dry Dock Brewing of Aurora releases two Craft Beer Week specials over the next two days: Its Firkin of Wasabi Rice beer today and its Cream Ale tomorrow.
Beer-Food Pairings
Tuesday, 6 p.m.: Great Divide Brewing hosts a beer dinner at Duo Restaurant for $39.
Tuesday, 5-8 p.m.: If that's too rich for your blood, amble down to Great Divide for its monthly beer-cheese pairing, which will run you $18.
Labels: Dry Dock Brewing, Great Divide, Pumphouse Brewery, Strange Brewing, Trinity Brewing
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
This Week in Colorado BeerHelp a Brewer Out
Sunday: Dry Dock Brewing Company, the Aurora rags-to-riches story that went from start-up brewery to World Beer Cup medal winner a few years ago, is moving to bigger digs. They're looking for a little help in the move and are willing to ply faithful servants with kegs of CB & Potts Frambozen and Great Divide's Belgica and Titan IPA. (Their beer is being moved, of course.)
Beer Pairing Dinner
Thursday, 6:30 p.m.: Oskar Blues is hosting a dinner at Castle Rock's Barking Goat Tavern. The menu includes salmon, pork medallions . . . oh, and some Gordon Double Red and Ten Fidy Imperial Stout. Cost is $42 and reservations are appreciated.
New Tappings
And you'll excuse me if I'm a little behind on some of these . . .
*Odell Brewing has released its St. Lupulin Extra Pale Ale, a dry-hopped tribute to the scientific name of hops given by that legend, Pliny the Elder.
*Trinity Brewing has put out its Root Saison, a Belgian-style farmhouse ale brewed with beets, quinoa and dreadlock hops.
*Gordon Biersch in Broomfield has given the world its Sommerbrau, a light Kolsch-style ale.
*Thursday: The Rock Bottom in downtown Denver rolls out its Liquid Sun.
Mmmm . . . kegs
Friday: Oskar Blues taps a firkin of Farmhouse DPA, a Dale's Pale Ale fermented with Belgian farmhouse yeast.
Saturday, noon to 9 p.m.: It's time for another tapping of a cask IPA at Bristol Brewing.
Labels: Bristol Brewing, Dry Dock Brewing, Odell Brewing, Oskar Blues, Rock Bottom Brewery, Trinity Brewing
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
This Week in Colorado BeerFirst, I want to apologize to anyone who may have come here over the past 3-1/2 weeks looking for what's going on in Colorado brewing. It's been a tumultuous time for me, what with my newspaper closing and me having to find a new job. I've been drinking a lot of beer, but not all of it necessarily was in conjunction with tasting it for reviews.
That said, my new reporting position with the Denver Business Journal actually includes the brewing industry as part of my beat, so I should not only be able to litter this site with my opinions about beer from now on but with news as well. And with that said . . .
Brewing news
Beer drinkers seemed to come down all over the spectrum on a bill that would have allowed grocery and convenience stores to sell full-strength beer. That measure died, due in large part to efforts of craft brewers against it. Here's the story: http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2009/03/09/daily55.html
St. Patrick's DayYour favorite brewpub will be serving drinks. And there will be a whole bunch of amateur drunks there, swearing at the bartender because he can't just pour them a Bud Light. But there are some good reasons to go out today as well:
*Shamrock Brewing opens the day with a 7 a.m. Irish breakfast. If you're in Pueblo and you're reading this, stop and go there now.
*CB & Potts, at its five Colorado locations, is one of two places advertising itself as making a beer specifically for the occasion. Ole St. Nick's Dry Stout has been on tap for almost two weeks, but today seems the perfect day to try it.
*The other? Wynkoop Brewing broke out its Irish Milk Stout over the weekend.
New Tappings
*I'm a few days late on this, but Rock Bottom Brewery in downtown Denver cracked open an Uberwit last Thursday.
*Dry Dock Brewing, meanwhile, will tap its Paragon Apricot Blonde on Monday at 3 p.m. First round is on the Aurora brewery. No kidding.
Beer to Go
*Those of you who have been to Trinity Brewing before and, like me, been told that you couldn't buy a growler on a particular day because the brewery didn't have the proper license can go in there again without fear of further frustration. The Colorado Springs brewery is filling them seven days a week now.
Labels: CB Potts, Dry Dock Brewing, Rock Bottom Brewery, Shamrock Brewing, Trinity Brewing, Wynkoop Brewery
