Wednesday, December 30, 2020
10 Best Colorado Beers of 2020
In a year that seemed so dark, maybe, just maybe, it was appropriate that Colorado beer makers stepped up their game particularly in the area of dark ales. To be sure, there was much more that highlighted the year, from barrel-aged barleywines to vibrant hazies to sour experiments that included Japanese citrus-based sauces. But it sure seemed as if the most textured, daring and successful creations of the year that was 2020 were those those turned to the dark side - and made it as enjoyable as possible.
This annual list of Colorado's best beers - at least those determined by one local beer writer - is somewhat challenged this year, as the beer festivals and gatherings that often provide the best look at what the state's breweries are doing did not happen after mid-March. But I tried to drink as much as I could from as many locally sourced creators as I could, and these are the most unique, complex and quaffable beers I found:
10) 4 Noses Lotus Rising
The hazy IPA is, by now, an established beverage, and longer-running gems from Weldwerks' Juicy Bits to Westfax Brewing's Urban Lumberjack made lockdown a lot easier to bear. But the best new addition to the category was this gem from Broomfield's 4 Noses Brewing, simultaneously thick with tropical notes and leaving just enough bitterness on the backtaste to remind you that being hoppy is still an important part of being a delicious hazy IPA.
9) Elevation Beer Montanya
Here is how you make an imperial porter stand out: Add Horchata spices and age it in rum barrels from the distiller of its namesake. This beer never seemed as boozy as its 10% ABV suggested, and every taste produced a bite from a seemingly different spice. But it landed both hugely and pleasantly, particularly if you were camping at the foot of a nearby fourteener, and it reminded you how valuable mountain-town breweries like this Poncha Springs beer maker are to the Colorado ecosystem.
8) Cannonball Creek The Return of the Mackaroon
Here's the other approach to dark beer: Take a traditional stout, made by a brewery known far more for its lagers and pale ales, and infuse it with coconut and macaroon to give it a sweetness that neither overwhelms nor is subsumed by it dark body. Rolled out in the spring, this beer felt like the perfect accompaniment to a brisk spring hike (and paired well with pizza). And it served as a reminder at just how versatile Colorado's most consecutively awarded Great American Beer Festival medalist can be.
7) Spangalang Brewery Ms. Behavin'
Anyone who believes that barleywine is a relic of an earlier time is challenged to drink this beautiful barrel-aged beer from one of Denver's most overlooked breweries and declare that it is anything but a full-mouthed joy. Its body is a like a lightly caramelized, raisins-soaked-in-booze blanket, covering over any sign of it s 12.5% ABV content and presenting a beer so smoothly presented that it forgoes astringency and passes straight to warmth. A masterful update of a classic style.
6) Strange Times Too
Strange Craft Beer has played with its traditional recipes in host of ways for 10 years, but few if any variants have landed as successfully as this Brettanomyces-laced version of its Cherry Kriek, which popped to life with a tartness that added to its fruit base and created enough of an edge to be daring without being at all difficult to swallow. Not all big-sellers should be messed with; this experiment, however, gave a whole new definition to a much-loved beer.
5) Purpose Brewing Itadakimasu #032
The boldest Colorado beer of 2020 was this Fort Collins provocateur's sour ale aged with a citrus soy sauce, creating a taste wholly unlike anything else at the Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines Festival where it was unleashed in January - which is a statement in itself. Both tart and unusually thick, this caused a minor flinch at first taste, followed by a stunned appreciation of how owner Peter Bouckaert (talking here, left, with Black Project co-owner James Howat) can blend such flavors together. A revelation into the possibilities of creativity.
4) Verboten German Chocolate Cake Not a Speck of Light
Just the second imperial stout produced by the quickly ascending Loveland brewery, this was a masterful effort with three variants, the German chocolate cake version being the one that packed the most flavor into a 13.6% ABV body that was dangerously easy to drink. Aged for more than a year in a blend of barrels, this took on the characteristics of everything that was in it, particularly Ugandan vanilla beans and Ghana cocoa husks, as well as the barrels that gave it more character.
3) Upslope Wild Christmas Ale
After years of producing some pretty sturdy wild-yeast holiday efforts, this Boulder brewery found a whole new dimension by adding Saigon cinnamon to the delicately tart orange flavor, creating a cacophony of tastes that were both funky and strangely sweet on the aftertaste. In many ways, this is the best original Colorado Christmas ale in the past half-decade, daring drinkers to rethink their definition of a holiday beer while still drawing forth a flavor that was spice-enhanced, even if in a radically different way. Let's hope Upslope does not decide to make this recipe a one-off.
2) Wiley Roots Du Hast Cake Imperial Stout
This gigantically flavored beer is everything that the idea of boundary-pushing pastry stouts purports to be - both unnaturally easy despite it big body and adding to the lexicon of flavors that beer, at its best, can bring forward in our taste buds. Here was coconut and chocolate and dessert sweetness layered upon the most solid traditionally dark-beer base that one could imagine. This Greeley auteur has been pushing boundaries for years - creating, for example, a cinnamon sour - but this is arguably its finest experimentation yet, a beer for beer lovers and sweets lovers and anyone who respects liquid adventure.
1) Casey Brewing & Blending No Title
It felt like a stroke of genius to blend three adjuncts that could make this beer un-drinkably sweet - Madagascar vanilla, coconut and almond - with a heavily roasted and slightly bitter chocolate body that turns this imperial stout from Glenwood Springs into a beer that imbues a bolder and seemingly easier flavor with every sip, despite its 10% ABV body. In a year in which tradition flew out the window at the same speed as our expectations of normalcy, this searing rebuke of Rheinheitsgebot laws was like a break from both the past and the present, daring drinkers to imagine a future in which beer styles are not defined so much as cemented by experimentation. From the first pour to the last swig, it was packed with intensely pleasing flavors without any alcohol burn. It was the beer that signaled both an escape from the surrounding landscape of 2020 and from any preconceptions about how much you could add to beer and still, importantly, make it taste like an excellent beer.
Labels: 4 Noses Brewing, Cannonball Creek Brewing, Casey Brewing, Elevation Beer, Purpose Brewing & Cellars, Strange Craft Beer, Top Beers of Year, Upslope Brewing, Verboten Brewing, Wiley Roots Brewing
Sunday, July 26, 2020
6 Gems that Colorado Breweries Have Produced in this Covid Summer
This is neither a normal time to be producing beers nor a normal time to be reviewing them. Breweries are scrambling to hang on in the face of coronavirus restrictions. Most people are worried more about surviving than thriving.
Yet breweries continue to produce unique, fascinating and sometimes crushable beers in the face of such odds. And while the search for complete lists of excellent summer beers becomes a lot harder when your tasting ability is truncated — oh, how I miss beer festivals — one should still shout out when gems are found. And it to that end that this column is dedicated.
Odell Brewing Orange You Glad
The authors of the Reinheitsgebot would hate this kettle-soured blood orange and lychee beer from the brewery's RiNo taproom, but yet its almost soda-like qualities are what makes it so appealing. Fruit sweetness tinged with just enough citrus bitterness to give it a backbone in lieu of an underlying malt presence turns this into a summer sour sipper, offering both the tartness you might seek for a tastebud challenge and a degree of refreshment largely foreign to this style.
Station 26 Desert Haze
As every brewer now comes out with their own interpretation of a hazy IPA, it takes some real skill to create one that is simple enough to defy easy description but impressive enough to make you stop, swirl it an extra time and really try to pick up all its flavors. Furnishing both a tropical-forward flavor and the kind of bitter tinge on the backtaste that reminds you of IPAs from another era, this blends the best of new and traditional brewing in a way that makes you want to lap up more while standing on your back patio cooking a brat.
Elevation Beer Montanya
To be sure, there is nothing that reeks of summer in this rum-barrel-aged horchata imperial porter. It is dark and heavy and pounds you with roasted malts mingling with cinnamon and just a lick of booze. But there is so much going on in here —swirling complexity with simple stout goodness with a surrounding barrel sweetness that only comes from the lingering presence of a sugarcane alcohol — that you won't care as you hoist this before or after a hike into the San Isabel National Forest, lauding all the flavors that leap out from here.
Bruz Beers Dawg Daze
Real conversation with a friend after discovering he too had tried this new Belgian IPA from the Adams County/Denver brewer: "Oh, you had it too? Wasn't it great to style, with heavy esters and an underlying bitterness?" "Yeah, but what really surprised me was how fast I drank it. I looked in my glass and I literally thought some had gone missing somewhere." "Yeah, same thing happened to me. Man, was it smooth."
New Belgium 1985 IPA
An unusual offering in the hazy catalog, bestowing one of the most pineapple-juice aromas of any beer yet produced but somehow managing to make that flavor both bold enough to jump out and balanced enough to not taste like some kind of overly fermented fruit juice. This is also the hazy IPA that gives off bolder flavors as it warms, so don't let the lighter body fool you into drinking this quickly.
Highside Brewing Green Machine
You may think you dislike milkshake IPA, but this creation from the brewery in downtown Frisco will make you reconsider that opinion. More akin to a melon-forward IPA, this pushes the boundaries of tropical flavors without losing any of the high underlying hop qualities that allow you to remember clearly where the flavor is coming from in its sharp body. Given that the brewery is literally across the road from a marina, this may be the perfect beer for kicking back and watching the world sail by your bare feet.
This is neither a normal time to be producing beers nor a normal time to be reviewing them. Breweries are scrambling to hang on in the face of coronavirus restrictions. Most people are worried more about surviving than thriving.
Yet breweries continue to produce unique, fascinating and sometimes crushable beers in the face of such odds. And while the search for complete lists of excellent summer beers becomes a lot harder when your tasting ability is truncated — oh, how I miss beer festivals — one should still shout out when gems are found. And it to that end that this column is dedicated.
Odell Brewing Orange You GladThe authors of the Reinheitsgebot would hate this kettle-soured blood orange and lychee beer from the brewery's RiNo taproom, but yet its almost soda-like qualities are what makes it so appealing. Fruit sweetness tinged with just enough citrus bitterness to give it a backbone in lieu of an underlying malt presence turns this into a summer sour sipper, offering both the tartness you might seek for a tastebud challenge and a degree of refreshment largely foreign to this style.
Station 26 Desert Haze
As every brewer now comes out with their own interpretation of a hazy IPA, it takes some real skill to create one that is simple enough to defy easy description but impressive enough to make you stop, swirl it an extra time and really try to pick up all its flavors. Furnishing both a tropical-forward flavor and the kind of bitter tinge on the backtaste that reminds you of IPAs from another era, this blends the best of new and traditional brewing in a way that makes you want to lap up more while standing on your back patio cooking a brat.
Elevation Beer Montanya
Bruz Beers Dawg Daze
New Belgium 1985 IPA
Highside Brewing Green Machine
Labels: Bruz Beers, Elevation Beer, Highside Brewing, New Belgium Brewing, Odell Brewing, Station 26 Brewing, Summer beers
Sunday, June 10, 2018
Five Best Traditional Colorado Beers for Summer
Some say that summer is the acceptable time to break out "lawnmower" beers - lighter beers known for their drinkability rather than actual flavor. This thinking, however, is outdated and self-defeating.
These days, brewers throughout Colorado have found ways to take traditionally lighter beers and imbue them with big taste without losing the easiness to the body, giving you both craft quality and traditional quaffability in one can. And as the official start of summer approaches quickly, here are the five beers that do that best and will leave you both pleased and thirst-quenched, whether at the end of a hike or during an extended session on a porch.
1) Colorado Kolsch - Steamworks Brewing
This is refreshment defined in a craft beer. The easy-as-water body has both a satisfying fullness and crisp finish that features enough hops to register a bite without any feeling of citrus or pine. It will leave you both sated and satisfied.
2) Mama's Little Yella Pils - Oskar Blues
This is the rare pilsner that uses hops as a primary flavoring ingredient rather than as an afterthought. Yet they do not get in the way nor feel out of place. It's a smooth body with a gutsy finish, producing a lighter beer that just feels more purposeful than many other pilsners on the market.
3) Mexican Lager - Lone Tree Brewing
Too often, an overload of malts can make these traditional lagers feel awkward and heavy. But this is a beer that uses its ingredients judiciously, creating a flavor that is simple, subtly sweet and sharp enough at the finish to leave an impression. You've earned this after mowing a lawn, but you don't have to be hot and sweaty to appreciate its character.
4) 8 Second Kolsch - Elevation Beer Co.
Like Colorado Kolsch, this is refreshing first and foremost. But it has a big presence in your mouth, a combination of a smooth body with a little more hop crispness than one might expect. It's a unique melding that results in a beer that feels breezy but bites you here and there until you realize just how much you are enjoying it.
5) M.E.H. Cream Ale- Brewery Rickoli
This Wheat Ridge brewery, which caught the eye of Boston Beer early in its development, specializes more in boozy, complex ales than simple ones. But its cream ale is an undervalued secret of the local brewing scene, offering a terribly smooth and yet tasty body notable for its balance of malts that leaves it sippable but not overly sweet. And it's gluten-free, as a bonus.
Some say that summer is the acceptable time to break out "lawnmower" beers - lighter beers known for their drinkability rather than actual flavor. This thinking, however, is outdated and self-defeating.
These days, brewers throughout Colorado have found ways to take traditionally lighter beers and imbue them with big taste without losing the easiness to the body, giving you both craft quality and traditional quaffability in one can. And as the official start of summer approaches quickly, here are the five beers that do that best and will leave you both pleased and thirst-quenched, whether at the end of a hike or during an extended session on a porch.
1) Colorado Kolsch - Steamworks Brewing
This is refreshment defined in a craft beer. The easy-as-water body has both a satisfying fullness and crisp finish that features enough hops to register a bite without any feeling of citrus or pine. It will leave you both sated and satisfied.
2) Mama's Little Yella Pils - Oskar Blues
This is the rare pilsner that uses hops as a primary flavoring ingredient rather than as an afterthought. Yet they do not get in the way nor feel out of place. It's a smooth body with a gutsy finish, producing a lighter beer that just feels more purposeful than many other pilsners on the market.
3) Mexican Lager - Lone Tree Brewing
Too often, an overload of malts can make these traditional lagers feel awkward and heavy. But this is a beer that uses its ingredients judiciously, creating a flavor that is simple, subtly sweet and sharp enough at the finish to leave an impression. You've earned this after mowing a lawn, but you don't have to be hot and sweaty to appreciate its character.
4) 8 Second Kolsch - Elevation Beer Co.Like Colorado Kolsch, this is refreshing first and foremost. But it has a big presence in your mouth, a combination of a smooth body with a little more hop crispness than one might expect. It's a unique melding that results in a beer that feels breezy but bites you here and there until you realize just how much you are enjoying it.
5) M.E.H. Cream Ale- Brewery Rickoli
This Wheat Ridge brewery, which caught the eye of Boston Beer early in its development, specializes more in boozy, complex ales than simple ones. But its cream ale is an undervalued secret of the local brewing scene, offering a terribly smooth and yet tasty body notable for its balance of malts that leaves it sippable but not overly sweet. And it's gluten-free, as a bonus.
Labels: Brewery Rickoli, Elevation Beer, lager, Lone Tree Brewing, Oskar Blues, Steamworks Brewing, Summer beers
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
4 Things I Learned from Denver Bacon and Beer Festival
Denver Bacon and Beer Festival got a new location and a bit of a new vibe this year. But it was good once again for discovering a few things about taste pairings.
The 4th annual gathering moved from the more crowded confines of a downtown hotel to the Glitter Dome, an old warehouse space in the River North area. The transition allowed for a lot more room to roam around, chat with fellow pork samplers and not get crammed into lines. There also was a little less direct pairing of the bacon dishes with specific beers, but that only meant you had to try a little more of everything to find the best match.
That said, here are some things that became apparent over the course of the festival, thrown once again by Imbibe Denver.
1) If you drink just one barrel-aged barleywine this year, make it Old Ruffian.
Great Divide's hefty creation can be overlooked in discussions of the best barleywines in Colorado, but it certainly should not be. Aged in bourbon and whiskey barrels, it offered both balance and a burst of flavor that rivaled any salted or candied bacon served at the gathering.
2) Maple is a better beer ingredient than bacon
Brewers got into their experimental grooves for the gathering. But while adding the sweet, hearty taste of syrup to beer proved alluring - City Star Brewing especially broke out a Maple Brown that showed off the best attributes of the flavor - several beer makers who tried tossing bacon into their brew created gimmicks lacking in both meaty flavor and heft.
3) Brats and IPA is a pairing made in heaven
There was a lot to savor in the food category, from bacon donuts to a spicy bacon spam from Lena that was much better than those words could describe. But the best suggestion of the afternoon came from the chef at Kitchen Next Door, whose half-bacon brat with a slightly acidic mustard paired as well as he said it would with an IPA - specifically Oskar Blues' new version of the style. A little bite of the beer with a little bite of the pork should be a rule to remember.
4) The kettle sour is on the rise.
Yes, I realize that a bacon and beer festival can be an odd place to realize this. But after breweries such as River North have kicked down the door of the style and made it both appealing and accessible, the fact that Elevation Beer Co. served up its take on the genre (Acide) and made it a talker at a festival where people could have drifted naturally to chunky porters shows how much the kettle sour can stand out - and pair with goodies like a bacon and egg custard.
Denver Bacon and Beer Festival got a new location and a bit of a new vibe this year. But it was good once again for discovering a few things about taste pairings.The 4th annual gathering moved from the more crowded confines of a downtown hotel to the Glitter Dome, an old warehouse space in the River North area. The transition allowed for a lot more room to roam around, chat with fellow pork samplers and not get crammed into lines. There also was a little less direct pairing of the bacon dishes with specific beers, but that only meant you had to try a little more of everything to find the best match.
That said, here are some things that became apparent over the course of the festival, thrown once again by Imbibe Denver.
1) If you drink just one barrel-aged barleywine this year, make it Old Ruffian.
Great Divide's hefty creation can be overlooked in discussions of the best barleywines in Colorado, but it certainly should not be. Aged in bourbon and whiskey barrels, it offered both balance and a burst of flavor that rivaled any salted or candied bacon served at the gathering.
2) Maple is a better beer ingredient than bacon
Brewers got into their experimental grooves for the gathering. But while adding the sweet, hearty taste of syrup to beer proved alluring - City Star Brewing especially broke out a Maple Brown that showed off the best attributes of the flavor - several beer makers who tried tossing bacon into their brew created gimmicks lacking in both meaty flavor and heft.
3) Brats and IPA is a pairing made in heaven
There was a lot to savor in the food category, from bacon donuts to a spicy bacon spam from Lena that was much better than those words could describe. But the best suggestion of the afternoon came from the chef at Kitchen Next Door, whose half-bacon brat with a slightly acidic mustard paired as well as he said it would with an IPA - specifically Oskar Blues' new version of the style. A little bite of the beer with a little bite of the pork should be a rule to remember.4) The kettle sour is on the rise.
Yes, I realize that a bacon and beer festival can be an odd place to realize this. But after breweries such as River North have kicked down the door of the style and made it both appealing and accessible, the fact that Elevation Beer Co. served up its take on the genre (Acide) and made it a talker at a festival where people could have drifted naturally to chunky porters shows how much the kettle sour can stand out - and pair with goodies like a bacon and egg custard.
Labels: City Star Brewing, Elevation Beer, Festivals, Food pairing, Great Divide, Imbibe, Oskar Blues
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Five Things I Learned from Collaboration Fest
It was impossible to drink all 75 beers poured Saturday at the second annual Collaboration Fest, but not just because no liver could handle that load. Much of the event was taken up with stopping and chatting about what you found, what others had tried and how breweries working together were pushing the envelope in ways they may not have on their own.
But between the talking and tasting, it was pretty easy to come away with some distinct impressions about beers done both boldly and expertly.
1) Cherry and basil: two great tastes that taste great together
The stand-out of the show was the Cherry Kriek/Basil Blonde Ale combination created by Strange Craft Beer and Copper Kettle Brewing. No, it doesn't sound like it should work. But the collision of the big and pleasant spice with the big and non-tart fruit taste ended up bringing to mind a beautifully crafted Italian food with a soothing sweetness. Comparisons to both margherita pizza and caprese salad were apt.
2) We have yet to max out the flavor variety of the IPA
There were some fascinating efforts on tap, from the complex Cigar City/Station 26 Imperial White IPA to the deeply bitter Elevation/Black Bottle Double Black IPA. But nothing opened eyes quite like the Fate/Cannonball Creek German IPA that was crisp and easy of body and finished with a melon aftertaste. Here's hoping more of the breweries are inspired to do these on their own.
3) River North is entering "can do no wrong" territory
River North burst out of the seas of sours and big IPAs with a Barrel-Fermented Brown Ale it made in collaboration with Red Leg Brewing that offered the best flavorful malting of the resurgent brown ale style with a funk strain of rye whiskey barrels that made it pop even more to life. I'm not discounting the role of Red Leg here, especially after the Colorado Springs brewery took home a medal at the 2014 GABF. But having this just a few weeks after River North pulled the near-impossible by making a 17-percent-ABV saison that was hugely flavorful without being overly alcoholic seems to confirm that these guys are becoming one of Denver's best breweries.
4) Pumpkin peach ales might not be the next big thing
The most hyped beer of the show was the nine-brewery Peach Fuss Ale collaboration that represented a giant middle finger toward Budweiser. But while the beer was pleasant and creamy - the pumpkin served more as an oatmeal-like texture provider than a spicy heavy flavor addition - it certainly didn't steal the show in terms of its taste profile. It was, however, a hell of a lot better than anything made by the brewery that made fun of the style.
5) Imbibe and the Colorado Brewers Guild have learned some things
I was critical of the festival organizers after beers ran out at alarming speeds during their Sesh Fest last summer. But Imbibe's PJ Hoberman said months later that he had changed the way he requested how much beer must be brought, and on Saturday few things bit the dust before the final hour of the event, with most still available at last call. Combine that with the variety of beers, strong presence of pouring brewers and the great scene site when attendees arrived to pick up their glasses (pictured above), and this was a very well-run event that bodes well for more gutsy efforts in the future.
It was impossible to drink all 75 beers poured Saturday at the second annual Collaboration Fest, but not just because no liver could handle that load. Much of the event was taken up with stopping and chatting about what you found, what others had tried and how breweries working together were pushing the envelope in ways they may not have on their own.
But between the talking and tasting, it was pretty easy to come away with some distinct impressions about beers done both boldly and expertly.
1) Cherry and basil: two great tastes that taste great together
The stand-out of the show was the Cherry Kriek/Basil Blonde Ale combination created by Strange Craft Beer and Copper Kettle Brewing. No, it doesn't sound like it should work. But the collision of the big and pleasant spice with the big and non-tart fruit taste ended up bringing to mind a beautifully crafted Italian food with a soothing sweetness. Comparisons to both margherita pizza and caprese salad were apt.
2) We have yet to max out the flavor variety of the IPA
There were some fascinating efforts on tap, from the complex Cigar City/Station 26 Imperial White IPA to the deeply bitter Elevation/Black Bottle Double Black IPA. But nothing opened eyes quite like the Fate/Cannonball Creek German IPA that was crisp and easy of body and finished with a melon aftertaste. Here's hoping more of the breweries are inspired to do these on their own.
3) River North is entering "can do no wrong" territory
River North burst out of the seas of sours and big IPAs with a Barrel-Fermented Brown Ale it made in collaboration with Red Leg Brewing that offered the best flavorful malting of the resurgent brown ale style with a funk strain of rye whiskey barrels that made it pop even more to life. I'm not discounting the role of Red Leg here, especially after the Colorado Springs brewery took home a medal at the 2014 GABF. But having this just a few weeks after River North pulled the near-impossible by making a 17-percent-ABV saison that was hugely flavorful without being overly alcoholic seems to confirm that these guys are becoming one of Denver's best breweries.
4) Pumpkin peach ales might not be the next big thing
The most hyped beer of the show was the nine-brewery Peach Fuss Ale collaboration that represented a giant middle finger toward Budweiser. But while the beer was pleasant and creamy - the pumpkin served more as an oatmeal-like texture provider than a spicy heavy flavor addition - it certainly didn't steal the show in terms of its taste profile. It was, however, a hell of a lot better than anything made by the brewery that made fun of the style.
5) Imbibe and the Colorado Brewers Guild have learned some things
I was critical of the festival organizers after beers ran out at alarming speeds during their Sesh Fest last summer. But Imbibe's PJ Hoberman said months later that he had changed the way he requested how much beer must be brought, and on Saturday few things bit the dust before the final hour of the event, with most still available at last call. Combine that with the variety of beers, strong presence of pouring brewers and the great scene site when attendees arrived to pick up their glasses (pictured above), and this was a very well-run event that bodes well for more gutsy efforts in the future.
Labels: Black Bottle Brewing, Cannonball Creek Brewing, collaboration beers, Colorado Brewers Guild, Copper Kettle Brewing, Elevation Beer, Fate Brewing, Imbibe, River North Brewery, Station 26 Brewing, Strange Brewing
Monday, November 17, 2014
Nitro. Bacon. And Beer.
For those who've never had the chance to spend Saturday afternoon drinking nitrogenated treats and Sunday afternoon pairing imperial stouts with whiskey candied bacon ice cream, you really need to rethink your weekend agenda.
But after two great festivals - Left Hand's Nitro Fest, which went on in a tent outside the brewery despite Saturday's snow, and Sunday's Denver Beer and Bacon Festival that was overly crowded but still showed some original flourishes - one can pick a few things about where the craft beer industry is going. And with that, here are some things learned from this past weekend's bashes.
1) Nitro Fest
* The IPA on nitro can be a good thing.
Nitro is best known as a smoothing agent for big porters but an additive that makes a sharp, hoppy beer a little boring. But if done well, a little bit of a gas actually can sharpen up an IPA. Take, for example, Green Flash's West Coast IPA, a wickedly bitter beer that, with the addition of nitrogen, becomes more approachable but still blasts you with a mouthful of fresh grass. Or there is Bear Republic's Demolition Derby, which gives not only a hard hop finish but a barrel-aged woodiness that shines with the nitro. This is a trend that needs to be pushed further.
* Coffee and pumpkin make a nitro beer glow.
Left Hand rolled out six nitro beers for its birthday bash, but none shined as brightly as Beer Week Sauce, its too-often-overlooked coffee porter that takes on hints of creamy vanilla when gassed up. Just as intriguing: Mountain Sun's Dark Harvest Pumpkin Stout, which is a melange of spices knocked down just one smooth notch to the point where you could drink the complex beer all day.
* Boulder Beer's Shake may be the two best beers of 2014.
Few offerings this year have seemed as genuinely unique as the chocolate porter that tastes like an old-time ice cream treat. But when it's on nitro, it becomes less straight beer and more desert treat - and it may be more intriguing.
2) Bacon and Beer Festival
* S**t you never thought of pairing goes very well together
Maybe you've never had Little Man Ice Cream's whiskey candied bacon ice cream. Even if you have, maybe you'd never thought "Wow, what beer compliments this?" The answer is: Though an Epic Imperial Stout (pictured above) introduces a commonly sought tough-on-sweet texture with the ice cream, the real winner is the Elevation/Epic Epication Blackberry Imperial Saison, which brings out the sweetness in the candied meat like nothing you'd expect. And that's what happens when you get to pair a lot of porks and porters in one brilliantly conceived festival.
* The next big taste? How about a hoppy wheat?
Once a style that seemed more a lark than a serious effort, the light but bitter combo of two seemingly disparate tastes now is coming together quite successfully. TRVE's Scorn, a dry-hopped pale wheat, was extremely crisp and eye-opening. And Denver Beer Co's hopped wheat, which is soon to be its next canned offering, stepped the game up even more with a great blending of the lemon mouthfeel of the wheat and the citrus bite of the hops. Oh, and if you can pair it with Cap City Tavern's bacon potato torte with pork belly, all the better.
* Our Mutual Friend has some tricks up its sleeve.
The most interesting beer of Beer and Bacon was a brown ale from the RiNo brewery - that had been run through a randall full of orange peel, cocoa nibs and Amarillo hops, picking up the orange peel especially to give it a dark desert type of feel. At a time when many breweries experiment by going extreme, the idea of going sweet and subtle with a standard beer was a great winner.
For those who've never had the chance to spend Saturday afternoon drinking nitrogenated treats and Sunday afternoon pairing imperial stouts with whiskey candied bacon ice cream, you really need to rethink your weekend agenda.
But after two great festivals - Left Hand's Nitro Fest, which went on in a tent outside the brewery despite Saturday's snow, and Sunday's Denver Beer and Bacon Festival that was overly crowded but still showed some original flourishes - one can pick a few things about where the craft beer industry is going. And with that, here are some things learned from this past weekend's bashes.
1) Nitro Fest
* The IPA on nitro can be a good thing.
Nitro is best known as a smoothing agent for big porters but an additive that makes a sharp, hoppy beer a little boring. But if done well, a little bit of a gas actually can sharpen up an IPA. Take, for example, Green Flash's West Coast IPA, a wickedly bitter beer that, with the addition of nitrogen, becomes more approachable but still blasts you with a mouthful of fresh grass. Or there is Bear Republic's Demolition Derby, which gives not only a hard hop finish but a barrel-aged woodiness that shines with the nitro. This is a trend that needs to be pushed further.
* Coffee and pumpkin make a nitro beer glow.
Left Hand rolled out six nitro beers for its birthday bash, but none shined as brightly as Beer Week Sauce, its too-often-overlooked coffee porter that takes on hints of creamy vanilla when gassed up. Just as intriguing: Mountain Sun's Dark Harvest Pumpkin Stout, which is a melange of spices knocked down just one smooth notch to the point where you could drink the complex beer all day.
* Boulder Beer's Shake may be the two best beers of 2014.
Few offerings this year have seemed as genuinely unique as the chocolate porter that tastes like an old-time ice cream treat. But when it's on nitro, it becomes less straight beer and more desert treat - and it may be more intriguing.
2) Bacon and Beer Festival
* S**t you never thought of pairing goes very well together
Maybe you've never had Little Man Ice Cream's whiskey candied bacon ice cream. Even if you have, maybe you'd never thought "Wow, what beer compliments this?" The answer is: Though an Epic Imperial Stout (pictured above) introduces a commonly sought tough-on-sweet texture with the ice cream, the real winner is the Elevation/Epic Epication Blackberry Imperial Saison, which brings out the sweetness in the candied meat like nothing you'd expect. And that's what happens when you get to pair a lot of porks and porters in one brilliantly conceived festival.
* The next big taste? How about a hoppy wheat?
Once a style that seemed more a lark than a serious effort, the light but bitter combo of two seemingly disparate tastes now is coming together quite successfully. TRVE's Scorn, a dry-hopped pale wheat, was extremely crisp and eye-opening. And Denver Beer Co's hopped wheat, which is soon to be its next canned offering, stepped the game up even more with a great blending of the lemon mouthfeel of the wheat and the citrus bite of the hops. Oh, and if you can pair it with Cap City Tavern's bacon potato torte with pork belly, all the better.
* Our Mutual Friend has some tricks up its sleeve.
The most interesting beer of Beer and Bacon was a brown ale from the RiNo brewery - that had been run through a randall full of orange peel, cocoa nibs and Amarillo hops, picking up the orange peel especially to give it a dark desert type of feel. At a time when many breweries experiment by going extreme, the idea of going sweet and subtle with a standard beer was a great winner.
Labels: Bear Republic, Boulder Beer, Denver Beer Co, Elevation Beer, Epic Brewing, Festivals, Green Flash Brewing, Left Hand Brewing, Mountain Sun, Our Mutual Friend, TRVE
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Top 10 Colorado Beers of 2013
Thinking back on the best that Colorado had to offer in 2013, I am struck most by the scrappy and transient natures of the honorees.
Just two of my favorite 10 beers of the year was made by breweries — Ska and Epic — that distribute to more than one state outside of Colorado. That's not to say that the giants of Colorado craft brew that usually dominate this list — Great Divide, Odell, Avery, etc. — did not produce great beers; they just seemed to be outshined by some of the creativity emanating from the state's little guys.
Also, my greatest beef with the beers on this list was that many came and went so quickly, available for limited times and sometimes in extremely limited quantities, that the conversation around them was too limited for them to become part of the common beer vernacular. In those cases, I can only hope their brewers realize the gems they have created and crank them up in greater volume so that more people can experience their joy in 2014.
That said, without further ado ...
10. Cinnamon Almond Ale - Colorado Plus
At a time when brewers are becoming bolder about incorporating uncommon flavors, Adam Draeger took two flavors no one associated with great beer and made them sing in one of the most unique concoctions of the year. Allowing the almond to serve as the smooth landing for the spice of the cinnamon made this intriguing and unforgettable.
9. Watermelon Kolsch - Fate Brewing
This was the beer that proved that summer beers don't have to be boring - a light but crisp kolsch with a hearty dose of watermelon that provides huge refreshment at the same time it ups the complexity of this traditional German style.
8. Penitente Hermano - Three Barrel Brewing
One of the most exciting "exports" of the year was the arrival in Denver liquor stores of this creative brewery from the San Luis Valley. Penitente Hermano, a Belgian sour ale with a coriander kick on the back, paved its entrance after being one of the most gushed-over efforts of the 2013 Vail Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywines festival.
7. Sentience - Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project
The way this Denver brewery is turning out fascinating sours, you could almost throw a dart blindly at a board of its offerings and put whatever it lands on onto this list. But the Sentience stood out as the "it" beer of the Avery Strong Ale Festival this year, a tart wild quad whose whiskey-barrel aging accented its sharpness perfectly.
6. Snowed In - Copper Kettle Brewing
We're so far into the Christmas beer trend that you don't think anything can surprise you anymore. Then you have a sip of this imperial oatmeal stout aged six months in bourbon barrels with coffee and chocolate and you're not only blown away by its easy-drinking big-alcohol complexity, you have to tell yourself to hang out more at this east Denver brewery.
5. 4.0 Grapefruit Pale Ale - Bull & Bush Brewery
The idea of hopping a pale ale or an IPA to resemble a grapefruit was a very popular one this summer. But this Denver brewery took it a step further, adding grapefruit juice to the mix and turning out a low-alcohol summer creation that was one of the unique tastes of the entire year. Can't wait for this to come back in 2014.
4. Two Tone Montanya - Ska Brewing
The most impressive Colorado sour of this year was this Belgian dubbel aged in Montanya rum barrels to take on a tart citrus character combined with a big, sweet body. This is arguably the finest beer made by the 18-year-old brewery.
3. Fan Boy - Elevation Beer
At some point, you really believe that no matter how good a new IPA can be, it won't be inherently different than what it out there already. Then you taste this oak-barrel-aged double IPA, filled with a full mouth of hops but also with oak and vanilla and introducing to this market something acutely original - and phenomenal in its flavor.
2. Devil's Riddle Ale - Grimm Brothers Brewhouse
The most unique beer I tried in 2013 was this strong ale aged nine months in Buffalo Trace barrels with Brettanomyces. It was musty, it was big, it was biting me with a strange tartness that came out of nowhere. It was complex. It was great. And it may just signify a new era for these German beer makers from Loveland.
1. Big Bad Baptist - Epic Brewing
Those outside of the Denver area were able to enjoy this monster of an imperial stout (10.5% ABV), made with cocoa nibs and with a tone of coffee. But when Epic opened its Colorado brewery in May, it was a revelation to the rest of us, a darker-than-night whirlwind that could knock you down with its alcohol but somehow was just smooth enough to allow you to drink more than you should. No beer generated more talk this year, whether in its classic form or when it was mixed with Strange Brewing's Cherry Kriek - a combination that shouldn't have worked but somehow did. Few beers were more satisfying. And that's the mark of a beer of the year.
Thinking back on the best that Colorado had to offer in 2013, I am struck most by the scrappy and transient natures of the honorees.
Just two of my favorite 10 beers of the year was made by breweries — Ska and Epic — that distribute to more than one state outside of Colorado. That's not to say that the giants of Colorado craft brew that usually dominate this list — Great Divide, Odell, Avery, etc. — did not produce great beers; they just seemed to be outshined by some of the creativity emanating from the state's little guys.
Also, my greatest beef with the beers on this list was that many came and went so quickly, available for limited times and sometimes in extremely limited quantities, that the conversation around them was too limited for them to become part of the common beer vernacular. In those cases, I can only hope their brewers realize the gems they have created and crank them up in greater volume so that more people can experience their joy in 2014.
That said, without further ado ...
10. Cinnamon Almond Ale - Colorado Plus
At a time when brewers are becoming bolder about incorporating uncommon flavors, Adam Draeger took two flavors no one associated with great beer and made them sing in one of the most unique concoctions of the year. Allowing the almond to serve as the smooth landing for the spice of the cinnamon made this intriguing and unforgettable.
9. Watermelon Kolsch - Fate Brewing
This was the beer that proved that summer beers don't have to be boring - a light but crisp kolsch with a hearty dose of watermelon that provides huge refreshment at the same time it ups the complexity of this traditional German style.
8. Penitente Hermano - Three Barrel Brewing
One of the most exciting "exports" of the year was the arrival in Denver liquor stores of this creative brewery from the San Luis Valley. Penitente Hermano, a Belgian sour ale with a coriander kick on the back, paved its entrance after being one of the most gushed-over efforts of the 2013 Vail Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywines festival.
7. Sentience - Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project
The way this Denver brewery is turning out fascinating sours, you could almost throw a dart blindly at a board of its offerings and put whatever it lands on onto this list. But the Sentience stood out as the "it" beer of the Avery Strong Ale Festival this year, a tart wild quad whose whiskey-barrel aging accented its sharpness perfectly.
6. Snowed In - Copper Kettle Brewing
We're so far into the Christmas beer trend that you don't think anything can surprise you anymore. Then you have a sip of this imperial oatmeal stout aged six months in bourbon barrels with coffee and chocolate and you're not only blown away by its easy-drinking big-alcohol complexity, you have to tell yourself to hang out more at this east Denver brewery.
5. 4.0 Grapefruit Pale Ale - Bull & Bush Brewery
The idea of hopping a pale ale or an IPA to resemble a grapefruit was a very popular one this summer. But this Denver brewery took it a step further, adding grapefruit juice to the mix and turning out a low-alcohol summer creation that was one of the unique tastes of the entire year. Can't wait for this to come back in 2014.
4. Two Tone Montanya - Ska Brewing
The most impressive Colorado sour of this year was this Belgian dubbel aged in Montanya rum barrels to take on a tart citrus character combined with a big, sweet body. This is arguably the finest beer made by the 18-year-old brewery.
3. Fan Boy - Elevation Beer
At some point, you really believe that no matter how good a new IPA can be, it won't be inherently different than what it out there already. Then you taste this oak-barrel-aged double IPA, filled with a full mouth of hops but also with oak and vanilla and introducing to this market something acutely original - and phenomenal in its flavor.
2. Devil's Riddle Ale - Grimm Brothers Brewhouse
The most unique beer I tried in 2013 was this strong ale aged nine months in Buffalo Trace barrels with Brettanomyces. It was musty, it was big, it was biting me with a strange tartness that came out of nowhere. It was complex. It was great. And it may just signify a new era for these German beer makers from Loveland.
1. Big Bad Baptist - Epic Brewing
Those outside of the Denver area were able to enjoy this monster of an imperial stout (10.5% ABV), made with cocoa nibs and with a tone of coffee. But when Epic opened its Colorado brewery in May, it was a revelation to the rest of us, a darker-than-night whirlwind that could knock you down with its alcohol but somehow was just smooth enough to allow you to drink more than you should. No beer generated more talk this year, whether in its classic form or when it was mixed with Strange Brewing's Cherry Kriek - a combination that shouldn't have worked but somehow did. Few beers were more satisfying. And that's the mark of a beer of the year.
Labels: Bull and Bush, Colorado Plus Brew Pub, Copper Kettle Brewing, Crooked Stave, Elevation Beer, Epic Brewing, Fate Brewing, Grimm Brothers Brewhouse, Ska Brewing, Three Barrel Brewing, Top Beers of Year
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
What stood out about the recently completed Great American Beer Festival was that so many beers stood out, maybe more than at any time in the past 10 years. And what's more, beer aficionados didn't have to wait in the 70-person lines at the hottest breweries to find experiments that were both fascinating and extremely well done.
With that said, here is one beer geek's opinion about the best the industry showed off in Denver this past weekend. I've deviated from past formats by failing to narrow it down to just one beer in several categories because, well, too many beers deserve recognition.
Best in Show: CHP, Heretic Brewing
This is almost a random pick with so many equally worthy contestants, but this northern California brewery's chocolate hazelnut porter was the most surprising and refreshing find of the weekend. At a time when more brewers are stepping up their games with use of chocolate, this offered the perfect blend of nuttiness and sweetness in a beer that went down smoothly and made you want to try it over and over again.
Best with Hops: Muffin Top (Clown Shoes) and Fan Boy (Elevation Beer)
The push to over-hop beers seems thankfully to have been replaced by a push to add new flavoring to go with big hops. And these two seemed to lead the way in that respect.
Muffin Top is a Belgian Tripel IPA from Massachusetts, blowing your taste buds with the sweet ester of a strong Belgian beer combined with mouth-consuming grassy hops. Fan Boy is a soon-to-be-released (if the government gets its act together) barrel-aged double IPA from Poncha Springs that imbues oak and vanilla through its big, bold character in a way that may even appeal to non-hopheads.
Best Traditional Sour: Salado Kriek, Freetail Brewing
This San Antonio brewery's kriek is both eye-openingly tart and wonderfully fruity, leaving it cherry-like and sharp at the same time.
Best Barrel-Aged Sours: Saint Dekkera Reserve Sour Paw Paw Ale (Destihl) and Farmer's Reserve No. 3 (Almanac Beer)
To hell with cherries. Breweries from across the countries are throwing rare fruits and fruit blends into barrels and producing complex and pucker-worthy beers of unique flavor.
Destihl, the barrel-aging masters from central Illinois, outdid themselves with their use of the "prairie banana" to make a very tart effort that leans somewhere between a citrus and sweeter fruit but satisfies immensely. San Francisco's Almanac, which earned its reputation as one of the "it" beers of the festival, brought strawberries and nectarines together and kept you guessing what you were tasting.
Best Aged Non-Sours: Dragon's Milk Reserve - Smaug's Breath (New Holland Brewing) and My Turn Series: Chris (Lakefront Brewery)
The increasing diversity of aged beers may be the biggest trend in craft brewing. And two one-off products showed why it should continue.
Michigan's New Holland offered a bourbon-barrel stout made with chile that left you with two extreme tastes surprisingly blending in your mouth rather than competing for your attention. Milwaukee's Lakefront rolled out a vanilla maple doppelbock - not barrel-aged, but aged naturally for 10 months to give it smoothness - that allowed the vanilla to mellow the maple while putting forth both tastes.
Best Unique Additives, Colorado Style: Basil Blonde (Copper Kettle Brewing) and Card Your Mom Saison (Caution Brewing)
Colorado isn't the only state using herbs and spices to liven up beers. But these two Denver breweries deserve a special call-out.
Copper Kettle's addition of basil allows the taste to permeate the blonde ale and give it an earthy, sweet feel without overdoing it or, most importantly, teasing you to the point where you can't taste it. Caution's cardamom saison offers flavors both big and exotic and raises the question of why there aren't more breweries trying Middle Eastern and Asian ingredients.
Labels: Almanac Beer, Caution Brewing, Clown Shoes, Copper Kettle Brewing, Destihl, Elevation Beer, Freetail Brewing, Great American Beer Festival, Heretic Brewing, Lakefront Brewery, New Holland Brewing
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Cheers to the All-Colorado Beer Bars
While Colorado Plus gets a lot of well-deserved attention from the beer geeks on the west side of Denver, there is another recently opened all-Colorado beer bar on the east side meriting the same kudos.
Stapleton Tap House, which owner Michael Kearns (above left, with fearless assistant Justin) debuted seven weeks ago in the Northfield shopping center - and which the Fearless Tasting Crew visited last night - offers up 35 Colorado craft brews on tap. Kearns adds the twist, though, that not only will he not serve you out-of-state crap, but you won't even find the likes of the state's largest craft brewers - such as New Belgium, Breckenridge or Odell - on his tap list. (Kearns acknowledged, however, that he would think about tapping a rare or one-off beer from the "big" boys if offered.)
Instead, patrons get to choose from the likes of smaller gems, such as Trinity or River North, or even breweries you won't find at a lot of places yet, such as Copper Kettle or Echo. Upslope IPA is as mainstream as you get at Stapleton Tap House - and while that's a tasty brew, Kearns noted that he doesn't sell much of it, because people are keen to try things they haven't quaffed before.
Stapleton Tap House also eschews food trucks, but for a more practical reason - there's a half-dozen restaurants within steps of its front door happy to serve up to-go plates for you to bring back to the bar. While many are larger chains, one is Jim ' N Nick's BBQ, whose local owner, Paul Bestafka, is a big supporter of craft beer.
In its first visit, the tasting crew enjoyed a variety of quality beers that included Crabtree Cezanne Apricot Saison, Trinity Soleil Farmhouse Saison, Elevation Little 'Mo Porter and Twisted Pine Hoppy Boy IPA. The night was complete only when Stapleton kicked a keg of the excellent Copper Kettle Mexican Chocolate Stout but stifled our tears by replacing it with River North Hoppenberg Uncertainty Principle, arguably the tastiest beer made in Colorado.
One can question the business sense of opening a craft beer bar in shopping center surrounded by chains; several times we were shocked to see that there were a number of open tables at the taphouse on a Friday night. But you've got to give credit to what Kearns and his staff are doing, and it gives you a reason to head east for craft beer for a change.
While Colorado Plus gets a lot of well-deserved attention from the beer geeks on the west side of Denver, there is another recently opened all-Colorado beer bar on the east side meriting the same kudos.
Stapleton Tap House, which owner Michael Kearns (above left, with fearless assistant Justin) debuted seven weeks ago in the Northfield shopping center - and which the Fearless Tasting Crew visited last night - offers up 35 Colorado craft brews on tap. Kearns adds the twist, though, that not only will he not serve you out-of-state crap, but you won't even find the likes of the state's largest craft brewers - such as New Belgium, Breckenridge or Odell - on his tap list. (Kearns acknowledged, however, that he would think about tapping a rare or one-off beer from the "big" boys if offered.)
Instead, patrons get to choose from the likes of smaller gems, such as Trinity or River North, or even breweries you won't find at a lot of places yet, such as Copper Kettle or Echo. Upslope IPA is as mainstream as you get at Stapleton Tap House - and while that's a tasty brew, Kearns noted that he doesn't sell much of it, because people are keen to try things they haven't quaffed before.
Stapleton Tap House also eschews food trucks, but for a more practical reason - there's a half-dozen restaurants within steps of its front door happy to serve up to-go plates for you to bring back to the bar. While many are larger chains, one is Jim ' N Nick's BBQ, whose local owner, Paul Bestafka, is a big supporter of craft beer.
In its first visit, the tasting crew enjoyed a variety of quality beers that included Crabtree Cezanne Apricot Saison, Trinity Soleil Farmhouse Saison, Elevation Little 'Mo Porter and Twisted Pine Hoppy Boy IPA. The night was complete only when Stapleton kicked a keg of the excellent Copper Kettle Mexican Chocolate Stout but stifled our tears by replacing it with River North Hoppenberg Uncertainty Principle, arguably the tastiest beer made in Colorado.
One can question the business sense of opening a craft beer bar in shopping center surrounded by chains; several times we were shocked to see that there were a number of open tables at the taphouse on a Friday night. But you've got to give credit to what Kearns and his staff are doing, and it gives you a reason to head east for craft beer for a change.
Labels: Copper Kettle Brewing, Crabtree Brewery, Elevation Beer, River North Brewery, Stapleton Tap House, Trinity Brewing, Twisted Pine Brewing
Monday, July 15, 2013
Colorado Brewers Rendezvous: Oh Yeah!
Sure, there were 73 breweries planted in Salida's Riverside Park - the largest gathering of beer makers at an outdoor festival in Colorado history. But it wasn't the number of brewers so much as the age; at least half of them, by my count, were less than three years old.
And it was that youth, that seeming camaraderie of spirit to define Colorado beer in their own terms, that just imbued this past Saturday's Colorado Brewers Rendezvous with a certain energy, a certain newness. And one couldn't help but walk away with a few trinkets of knowledge from the Colorado Brewers Guild's annual signature event about where the state of the craft brewing industry is going.
1) Tart sours were sooo 2012. Now, even the boundary-pushing beers are having their boundaries pushed in new directions.
Take, for example, Trinity Brewing's Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta, an intriguingly dark and chewy sour that combines the tastes of roasted chocolate, raisin and a tart cherry strain. It's enough to make you stop and think a little longer than usual.
Or, if roasty sour wasn't quite enough, Three Barrel Brewing took it a step further and added ancho chile to the already jarring taste of a chocolate sour and might have made the intriguing beer of the festival with its Melaza. The Del Norte brewery is supposed to have beer in at least one Denver liquor store by the end of the summer, and it couldn't come soon enough.
2) The more herbs or spices in the beer, the more fascinating it gets.
Example A is Cannonball Creek's Rosemary Sourdough Saison, whose lighter body allows you to taste not only the floral flavor of the rosemary but just a hint of sour. Combined with Strange Brewing's excellent Zora Rosemary Pale Ale, and you have two area beers that make a baker jealous of their flavors.
Example B is Copper Kettle's Mexican Chocolate Stout, a time-tested pleaser with a chocolate-cinnamon come-on and back-of-the-tastebud kick that is now available in bottles. Everyone should try this at least once.
3) Dare I say there is a kolsch battle going on in Colorado? Steamworks was serving up its Colorado Kolsch, which is by no means new but continues to set the standard for crisp and refreshing in this state with just enough light hops to give it full flavor.
But I have to hand it to Elevation Beer, whose 8 Second Kolsch was on tap at every bar in Salida. It is sweeter, with just a hint of light fruit to its heavier-than-hops malt taste. And it presents the state with a good problem: Which of two kolsch beers to spend time with this summer.
4) You know who's impressive? Fate Brewing. Yes, one could have picked out almost any brewer at the rendezvous, admittedly, for recognition. But the new Boulder brewer, which kicked convention in the teeth by making a fantastic watermelon kolsch already this summer, debuted its Gose Saturday.
It takes guts to make a German sour to begin with, but this version calms the salty overtones too often prevalent in the style and adds a citrus twang without a peltingly sour body. At the very least, it will be fascinating to watch where this 5-month-old brewery goes.
Sure, there were 73 breweries planted in Salida's Riverside Park - the largest gathering of beer makers at an outdoor festival in Colorado history. But it wasn't the number of brewers so much as the age; at least half of them, by my count, were less than three years old.
And it was that youth, that seeming camaraderie of spirit to define Colorado beer in their own terms, that just imbued this past Saturday's Colorado Brewers Rendezvous with a certain energy, a certain newness. And one couldn't help but walk away with a few trinkets of knowledge from the Colorado Brewers Guild's annual signature event about where the state of the craft brewing industry is going.
1) Tart sours were sooo 2012. Now, even the boundary-pushing beers are having their boundaries pushed in new directions.
Take, for example, Trinity Brewing's Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta, an intriguingly dark and chewy sour that combines the tastes of roasted chocolate, raisin and a tart cherry strain. It's enough to make you stop and think a little longer than usual.
Or, if roasty sour wasn't quite enough, Three Barrel Brewing took it a step further and added ancho chile to the already jarring taste of a chocolate sour and might have made the intriguing beer of the festival with its Melaza. The Del Norte brewery is supposed to have beer in at least one Denver liquor store by the end of the summer, and it couldn't come soon enough.2) The more herbs or spices in the beer, the more fascinating it gets.
Example A is Cannonball Creek's Rosemary Sourdough Saison, whose lighter body allows you to taste not only the floral flavor of the rosemary but just a hint of sour. Combined with Strange Brewing's excellent Zora Rosemary Pale Ale, and you have two area beers that make a baker jealous of their flavors.
Example B is Copper Kettle's Mexican Chocolate Stout, a time-tested pleaser with a chocolate-cinnamon come-on and back-of-the-tastebud kick that is now available in bottles. Everyone should try this at least once.
3) Dare I say there is a kolsch battle going on in Colorado? Steamworks was serving up its Colorado Kolsch, which is by no means new but continues to set the standard for crisp and refreshing in this state with just enough light hops to give it full flavor.
But I have to hand it to Elevation Beer, whose 8 Second Kolsch was on tap at every bar in Salida. It is sweeter, with just a hint of light fruit to its heavier-than-hops malt taste. And it presents the state with a good problem: Which of two kolsch beers to spend time with this summer.
4) You know who's impressive? Fate Brewing. Yes, one could have picked out almost any brewer at the rendezvous, admittedly, for recognition. But the new Boulder brewer, which kicked convention in the teeth by making a fantastic watermelon kolsch already this summer, debuted its Gose Saturday.It takes guts to make a German sour to begin with, but this version calms the salty overtones too often prevalent in the style and adds a citrus twang without a peltingly sour body. At the very least, it will be fascinating to watch where this 5-month-old brewery goes.
Labels: Cannonball Creek Brewing, Colorado Brewers Guild, Colorado Brewers Rendezvous, Copper Kettle Brewing, Elevation Beer, Fate Brewing, Steamworks Brewing, Strange Brewing, Three Barrel Brewing, Trinity Brewing
