Thursday, November 22, 2018
TRVE, Distribution and the Betterment of the Denver Beer Scene
Sometimes it's the subtlest things breweries do that make a huge difference. While TRVE was busy wowing drinkers with its Life's Trade saison, Cursed pale ale and host of barrel-aged sours, owner Nick Nunns was also putting into place High Plains Beer Distribution, his company that brings in out-of-state breweries for limited time frames, typically around events.
Maybe you caught High Plains in action at places like Freshcraft during Great American Beer Festival, pouring gems from Alvarado Street, Great Notion and J. Wakefield that don't normally grace the menus of Colorado beer bars. But maybe you didn't notice that in the flood of rare tappings that week, some of which were made possible by other breweries with similar short-term licenses and relationships with auteurs from around the country.
But Nunns and High Plains were on front-and-center display two weeks ago, when the same distribution license allowed him to put on a one-day tapping of Other Half Brewing, a 4-year-old Brooklyn brewery that is making some of the most complex sours and imperial stouts in the U.S. Crowds packed TRVE on an otherwise plain Saturday, and patrons who got the chance to sample Droppin' Millibars (pictured below with an Other Half triple IPA) — an imperial stout with toasted cacao nibs, vanilla, Ceylon cinnamon and coffee — may never look at imperial stouts that way again. No kidding; it was that good.
The idea of forming a distributorship first came to Nunns two years ago, when he was trying to scheme how to get his friends from North Carolina's Burial Brewing in for a tapping. He expanded that temporary license into High Plains, struck up more business relationships and now has the ability to put some of the great breweries outside of Colorado on at his SoBo brewery when they want.
To those outside the beer industry, the idea of showing off competitors' goods in a way that overshadows your own work temporarily may seem outlandish. But to Nunns, the idea is simple: Promote good beer made by good people.
"We are brewers, and we want to do right by other brewers, especially brewers who are our friends," he said in an interview at Freshcraft during GABF week. "We're trying to make it easy to get them out here."
As of late September, 15 breweries had signed on with High Plains. When they're out here for other reasons — think Big Beers in Breckenridge or the recent Shelton Brothers Festival — chances are up you'll be able to get them without buying a festival ticket.
Nunns doesn't have plans to be the guy that is getting these beers into stores and bars on a weekly basis. But as the three-tiered system for beer distribution gets blurrier by the year, he's going to be the guy who makes sure the Three Taverns and Arizona Wildernesses of the world are just a little more available to the people who care for craft beer (like the two beer geeks pictured below with an Other Half MMM Fruit) and have been calling out for them.
"I think everybody's trying to find unique business opportunities and do what's best for the beer," he said. "I'm not looking to screw anyone over. I'm looking to do what's best for consumers and to do what's best for the brewers."
Sometimes it's the subtlest things breweries do that make a huge difference. While TRVE was busy wowing drinkers with its Life's Trade saison, Cursed pale ale and host of barrel-aged sours, owner Nick Nunns was also putting into place High Plains Beer Distribution, his company that brings in out-of-state breweries for limited time frames, typically around events.
Maybe you caught High Plains in action at places like Freshcraft during Great American Beer Festival, pouring gems from Alvarado Street, Great Notion and J. Wakefield that don't normally grace the menus of Colorado beer bars. But maybe you didn't notice that in the flood of rare tappings that week, some of which were made possible by other breweries with similar short-term licenses and relationships with auteurs from around the country.
But Nunns and High Plains were on front-and-center display two weeks ago, when the same distribution license allowed him to put on a one-day tapping of Other Half Brewing, a 4-year-old Brooklyn brewery that is making some of the most complex sours and imperial stouts in the U.S. Crowds packed TRVE on an otherwise plain Saturday, and patrons who got the chance to sample Droppin' Millibars (pictured below with an Other Half triple IPA) — an imperial stout with toasted cacao nibs, vanilla, Ceylon cinnamon and coffee — may never look at imperial stouts that way again. No kidding; it was that good.
The idea of forming a distributorship first came to Nunns two years ago, when he was trying to scheme how to get his friends from North Carolina's Burial Brewing in for a tapping. He expanded that temporary license into High Plains, struck up more business relationships and now has the ability to put some of the great breweries outside of Colorado on at his SoBo brewery when they want.
To those outside the beer industry, the idea of showing off competitors' goods in a way that overshadows your own work temporarily may seem outlandish. But to Nunns, the idea is simple: Promote good beer made by good people.
"We are brewers, and we want to do right by other brewers, especially brewers who are our friends," he said in an interview at Freshcraft during GABF week. "We're trying to make it easy to get them out here."
As of late September, 15 breweries had signed on with High Plains. When they're out here for other reasons — think Big Beers in Breckenridge or the recent Shelton Brothers Festival — chances are up you'll be able to get them without buying a festival ticket.
Nunns doesn't have plans to be the guy that is getting these beers into stores and bars on a weekly basis. But as the three-tiered system for beer distribution gets blurrier by the year, he's going to be the guy who makes sure the Three Taverns and Arizona Wildernesses of the world are just a little more available to the people who care for craft beer (like the two beer geeks pictured below with an Other Half MMM Fruit) and have been calling out for them.
"I think everybody's trying to find unique business opportunities and do what's best for the beer," he said. "I'm not looking to screw anyone over. I'm looking to do what's best for consumers and to do what's best for the brewers."
Labels: Freshcraft, Great American Beer Festival, Other Half Brewing, TRVE
Friday, September 14, 2018
GABF Week: Your High-Level Activities Guide
Colorado Brewers Guild Operations Manager Steve Kurowski put it best when he said Friday at the Denver Beer Fest kickoff that no city welcomes the beer world like Denver will do in the next week - and that virtually every brewery and bar in the area is stepping up their game for the occasion.
"What's happening here this week will make our beer scene even better," Kurowski said before raising a pint with Mayor Michael Hancock and other industry supporters. "We have breweries all over the city putting events with the best beers they ever brew … From a beer lover's standpoint, this is nirvana."
As such, this blog once again presents a high-level guide to the highlights of the week, for people who are looking to plan their schedule carefully with the knowledge that there are only 24 hours in a day to drink beer and that, at some point, you might have to sleep. For a more thorough calendar, I recommend Westword's edition; a warning comes, however, that you may cry when you see just how many events on it you won't be able to hit.
Saturday, Sept. 15
* 11 a.m.-5 p.m.: GABF Bike Loop & Kickoff Party, BarFly at Alamo Drafthouse Sloans Lake. Hop on your trusted steed for an 11-mile guided loop between the westside beer-centric movie theater and WestFax, Joyride, Hogshead, Oasis, Strange and Seedstock. For $30, you get an 8-ounce taster at each brewery and a post-party at BarFly.
* 11 a.m. New Image Brewing and Outer Range Brewing tap Something Dumb with a Wolf - a double IPA hopped with Citra, Simcoe and Columbus - at the New Image taproom in Arvada. There's no possibly way this won't be great.
* 2-6 p.m. Diebolt Brewing hosts a barrel-aged bier garden for its fifth anniversary, featuring BA efforts from the past half-decade, including vertical tastings of Commodore/Vladislav and Biere de Triomphe.
Sunday, Sept. 16
* The Westin Denver International Airport hosts Beer Flights throughout the day from Sept. 14-22, offering 20 beers from 10 different breweries to anyone flying in or out of DIA - or who just feels like driving out and enjoying suds with a grand view.
* Strange Craft Beer taps its Barrel-Aged Dr. Strangelove Barleywine, a beer that's taken home some GABF bling in the past. It's just the start of a week of great tappings at this Denver standout.
Monday, Sept. 17
* 5 p.m.: The Falling Rock Tap House kick-off party every year is a little like the Iowa presidential caucuses every four years. It's traditional. It sounds the trumpet for a crazy week to follow. And, frankly, you just never know what you'll find here - though you know it will be damn good.
* 5-7 p.m.: (Rad) Craft Night at Strange Beer features my very favorite author - me! - talking about "How to Write a Beer Book Without Destroying Your Liver" from 6-6:15 p.m. SpookyBat Designs then will talk about craft-beer woodworking, and there just may be some free samples getting passed around. Seriously, it will be fun.
* 6-11:30 p.m.: TRVE launches High Plains Distribution, its expanded company focused on bringing craft beer into cities for limited runs like the GABF, at Freshcraft and celebrates with its clients, such as Great Notion, J. Wakefield and Scratch Brewing.
Tuesday, Sept. 18
* Strange Craft Beer re-releases maybe the finest beer it's ever made, its Zora Pale Ale, which is made with rosemary and tastes like nothing else that has hit the market in Denver. It used to be a regular tap but now makes just an annual appearance.
* 4-11 p.m. Ursula Brewing's Imperial Crustless is the best high-alcohol peanut butter and jelly beer you'll ever taste. Crafty Fox Taphouse & Pizzeria agrees, and it will host a rare tapping of this beauty.
* 6-9 p.m.: Jameson Caskmates is a partnership between the Irish whiskey maker and Great Divide Brewing in which the whiskey is aged inside an IPA barrel - and a stout barrel - to take on whole new characteristics. Try it at Freshcraft tonight, as well as great beers from the likes of Great Divide, Green Flash and Captain Lawrence.
Wednesday, Sept. 19
* 11 a.m.-9 p.m.: Cedar Creek Pub in Aurora will host a Best of Ohio party featuring beers from renowned brewers like MadTree, Jackie O's and Rhinegeist that don't typically sell in this state. It's a great chance to imbibe in a way that only GABF week will allow you to do.
* 3 p.m. River North Brewery taps a quadruple-dry-hopped version of its Mountain Haze hazy IPA, which is already one of the best beers of its style made in Colorado. Quadruple. Dry. Hopped.
* 4 p.m. Tap Fourteen hosts a Fort Collins tap takeover at its rooftop bar. You might think "Can't I get that stuff anyway around here?" The answer is: Stop by and you'll realize how much more there is to the beer mecca to our north other than just New Belgium and Odell.
* 4-7 p.m.: If you love experimental beers, few events should interest you as much as the tap takeover at Crafty Fox by Paradox Beer of Woodland Park and Rowley Farmhouse Ales of Santa Fe.
* 9:30 p.m.: Last year's IPA Throwdown at Falling Rock simultaneously rewarded and destroyed all its visitors' taste buds at once. This year's, hosted by Melvin Brewing, should be the sequel of the week.
Thursday, Sept. 20
* 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Bruz Beers is doing an educational and just plain tasty "Old World Vs. New World" experiment with Merchant du Vin in which it pairs five classic Belgian beers, some rare, beside five of its own Belgian-style creations. At $30, this may be one of the best pre-lunch investments of the week.
* Noon to 10 a.m. Call to Arms Brewing's quirkily named Catalina Wine Mixer is a celebration of its wide range of wine-barrel-aged beers, shown off once a year to keep you sailing through the day.
* 5 p.m.-Midnight: RiNo Beer Garden hosts "Chicago Meets Denver," offering a chance to try beers from Windy City artists like Half Acre, Revolution and Three Floyds. There will be both award-winning and rare offerings here.
* 7 p.m.-Midnight: Epic Brewing once again brings out the big and often unusual guns at its 50 Firkin Fiasco, which features beers aged gently with everything from spices to fruit to children's cereal. This is always a chance to ensure your taste buds come back to life after the Thursday night GABF session.
* 10 p.m.: Telluride Brewing quietly has become one of the best breweries in Colorado. Ska Brewing continues to get more experimental. Put them together at Freshcraft and you'll get not only some of their tastiest individual beers but a collaboration with Freshcraft that's being described as a "gin and juice inspired ale."
Friday, Sept. 21
* 11 a.m.: Woods Boss may just have celebrated its first anniversary, but it's legitimately killing it with its wide selection of beers. Come see just how much it can do with Form & Function, a rum-barrel-aged Belgian quad aged on cacao nibs and dried cherries.
* 11:30 a.m. Hops and Pie never fails to offer up some great beers during GABF. Today it is pouring rarities from California breweries, including Cellarmaker, Rare Barrel and Sante Adairius Rustic Ales.
* 1-4 p.m. Those who've never attended the Denver Rare Beer Tasting hosted by Pints for Prostates at the McNichols Center may not understand how you can pay $125 for a ticket and still feel like you are stealing from the hosts because the range and quality of beers is so wonderful. And it goes to a great cause.
* 3-9 p.m. Cerveceria Colorado will change your mind about what you think Mexican beer is. And now the Denver Beer Co.-operated brewery also is offering collaborations between American and Mexican breweries at its Great Mexican Beer Fiesta - along with a lucha libre match.
* 6-11 p.m. Black Shirt Brewing is trying its hand at a new event this year - CITRAfest, in which 10 breweries make everything from IPAs to kolsches to table sours with the fruit-forward hop. No ticket is required.
Saturday, Sept. 22
* 10 a.m.-2 p.m.: Crooked Stave Artisans Distributing is rolling out some of its rarer beers at a brunch at Crafty Fox, from breweries such as Beachwood, Jack's Abby and Jester King. Oh yeah.
* 4 p.m. Head back to Freshcraft one more time? Why? Because 4 Noses, Green Flash and Alpine will all be featured in this last-day celebration.
* 5-8 p.m. Maybe the idea of Stone Brewing tapping a rare Berliner Weiss or Double IPA doesn't turn you on, though it should. But how about being at Star Bar while the Stone Dodgeball Tournament is going on at the same time?
* 9 p.m. Ratio Beerworks is tapping some great beers during GABF, from its Elderflower Carrot Saison to its Bourbon-Barrel-Aged Genius Wizard Imperial Stout. But you can head to its post-GABF karaoke party tonight to both enjoy them and sing the remaining bit of your voice out.
* 9:30 p.m. After a week of drinking, about the only thing that revives my taste buds is a sour beer. Tonight, Falling Rock breaks out a whole host of them. You're welcome.
Colorado Brewers Guild Operations Manager Steve Kurowski put it best when he said Friday at the Denver Beer Fest kickoff that no city welcomes the beer world like Denver will do in the next week - and that virtually every brewery and bar in the area is stepping up their game for the occasion.
"What's happening here this week will make our beer scene even better," Kurowski said before raising a pint with Mayor Michael Hancock and other industry supporters. "We have breweries all over the city putting events with the best beers they ever brew … From a beer lover's standpoint, this is nirvana."
As such, this blog once again presents a high-level guide to the highlights of the week, for people who are looking to plan their schedule carefully with the knowledge that there are only 24 hours in a day to drink beer and that, at some point, you might have to sleep. For a more thorough calendar, I recommend Westword's edition; a warning comes, however, that you may cry when you see just how many events on it you won't be able to hit.
Saturday, Sept. 15
* 11 a.m.-5 p.m.: GABF Bike Loop & Kickoff Party, BarFly at Alamo Drafthouse Sloans Lake. Hop on your trusted steed for an 11-mile guided loop between the westside beer-centric movie theater and WestFax, Joyride, Hogshead, Oasis, Strange and Seedstock. For $30, you get an 8-ounce taster at each brewery and a post-party at BarFly.* 11 a.m. New Image Brewing and Outer Range Brewing tap Something Dumb with a Wolf - a double IPA hopped with Citra, Simcoe and Columbus - at the New Image taproom in Arvada. There's no possibly way this won't be great.
* 2-6 p.m. Diebolt Brewing hosts a barrel-aged bier garden for its fifth anniversary, featuring BA efforts from the past half-decade, including vertical tastings of Commodore/Vladislav and Biere de Triomphe.
Sunday, Sept. 16
* The Westin Denver International Airport hosts Beer Flights throughout the day from Sept. 14-22, offering 20 beers from 10 different breweries to anyone flying in or out of DIA - or who just feels like driving out and enjoying suds with a grand view.
* Strange Craft Beer taps its Barrel-Aged Dr. Strangelove Barleywine, a beer that's taken home some GABF bling in the past. It's just the start of a week of great tappings at this Denver standout.
Monday, Sept. 17
* 5 p.m.: The Falling Rock Tap House kick-off party every year is a little like the Iowa presidential caucuses every four years. It's traditional. It sounds the trumpet for a crazy week to follow. And, frankly, you just never know what you'll find here - though you know it will be damn good.
* 6-11:30 p.m.: TRVE launches High Plains Distribution, its expanded company focused on bringing craft beer into cities for limited runs like the GABF, at Freshcraft and celebrates with its clients, such as Great Notion, J. Wakefield and Scratch Brewing.
Tuesday, Sept. 18
* Strange Craft Beer re-releases maybe the finest beer it's ever made, its Zora Pale Ale, which is made with rosemary and tastes like nothing else that has hit the market in Denver. It used to be a regular tap but now makes just an annual appearance.
* 4-11 p.m. Ursula Brewing's Imperial Crustless is the best high-alcohol peanut butter and jelly beer you'll ever taste. Crafty Fox Taphouse & Pizzeria agrees, and it will host a rare tapping of this beauty.
* 6-9 p.m.: Jameson Caskmates is a partnership between the Irish whiskey maker and Great Divide Brewing in which the whiskey is aged inside an IPA barrel - and a stout barrel - to take on whole new characteristics. Try it at Freshcraft tonight, as well as great beers from the likes of Great Divide, Green Flash and Captain Lawrence.
Wednesday, Sept. 19* 11 a.m.-9 p.m.: Cedar Creek Pub in Aurora will host a Best of Ohio party featuring beers from renowned brewers like MadTree, Jackie O's and Rhinegeist that don't typically sell in this state. It's a great chance to imbibe in a way that only GABF week will allow you to do.
* 3 p.m. River North Brewery taps a quadruple-dry-hopped version of its Mountain Haze hazy IPA, which is already one of the best beers of its style made in Colorado. Quadruple. Dry. Hopped.
* 4 p.m. Tap Fourteen hosts a Fort Collins tap takeover at its rooftop bar. You might think "Can't I get that stuff anyway around here?" The answer is: Stop by and you'll realize how much more there is to the beer mecca to our north other than just New Belgium and Odell.
* 4-7 p.m.: If you love experimental beers, few events should interest you as much as the tap takeover at Crafty Fox by Paradox Beer of Woodland Park and Rowley Farmhouse Ales of Santa Fe.
* 9:30 p.m.: Last year's IPA Throwdown at Falling Rock simultaneously rewarded and destroyed all its visitors' taste buds at once. This year's, hosted by Melvin Brewing, should be the sequel of the week.
Thursday, Sept. 20
* 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Bruz Beers is doing an educational and just plain tasty "Old World Vs. New World" experiment with Merchant du Vin in which it pairs five classic Belgian beers, some rare, beside five of its own Belgian-style creations. At $30, this may be one of the best pre-lunch investments of the week.
* Noon to 10 a.m. Call to Arms Brewing's quirkily named Catalina Wine Mixer is a celebration of its wide range of wine-barrel-aged beers, shown off once a year to keep you sailing through the day.
* 5 p.m.-Midnight: RiNo Beer Garden hosts "Chicago Meets Denver," offering a chance to try beers from Windy City artists like Half Acre, Revolution and Three Floyds. There will be both award-winning and rare offerings here.
* 7 p.m.-Midnight: Epic Brewing once again brings out the big and often unusual guns at its 50 Firkin Fiasco, which features beers aged gently with everything from spices to fruit to children's cereal. This is always a chance to ensure your taste buds come back to life after the Thursday night GABF session.
Friday, Sept. 21
* 11 a.m.: Woods Boss may just have celebrated its first anniversary, but it's legitimately killing it with its wide selection of beers. Come see just how much it can do with Form & Function, a rum-barrel-aged Belgian quad aged on cacao nibs and dried cherries.
* 11:30 a.m. Hops and Pie never fails to offer up some great beers during GABF. Today it is pouring rarities from California breweries, including Cellarmaker, Rare Barrel and Sante Adairius Rustic Ales.
* 3-9 p.m. Cerveceria Colorado will change your mind about what you think Mexican beer is. And now the Denver Beer Co.-operated brewery also is offering collaborations between American and Mexican breweries at its Great Mexican Beer Fiesta - along with a lucha libre match.
* 6-11 p.m. Black Shirt Brewing is trying its hand at a new event this year - CITRAfest, in which 10 breweries make everything from IPAs to kolsches to table sours with the fruit-forward hop. No ticket is required.
Saturday, Sept. 22
* 10 a.m.-2 p.m.: Crooked Stave Artisans Distributing is rolling out some of its rarer beers at a brunch at Crafty Fox, from breweries such as Beachwood, Jack's Abby and Jester King. Oh yeah.
* 4 p.m. Head back to Freshcraft one more time? Why? Because 4 Noses, Green Flash and Alpine will all be featured in this last-day celebration.
* 5-8 p.m. Maybe the idea of Stone Brewing tapping a rare Berliner Weiss or Double IPA doesn't turn you on, though it should. But how about being at Star Bar while the Stone Dodgeball Tournament is going on at the same time?
* 9 p.m. Ratio Beerworks is tapping some great beers during GABF, from its Elderflower Carrot Saison to its Bourbon-Barrel-Aged Genius Wizard Imperial Stout. But you can head to its post-GABF karaoke party tonight to both enjoy them and sing the remaining bit of your voice out.
* 9:30 p.m. After a week of drinking, about the only thing that revives my taste buds is a sour beer. Tonight, Falling Rock breaks out a whole host of them. You're welcome.
Labels: Denver Beer Fest, Falling Rock Taphouse, Freshcraft, Great American Beer Festival, Green Flash Brewing, Strange Craft Beer
Friday, January 19, 2018
What does Oskar Blues' new location bring to Denver?
When Oskar Blues announced plans to open a beer bar/restaurant/music venue in downtown Denver, it was met by resistance by some in the craft beer community, most notably folks at Falling Rock Tap House, who said it would compete against entities that had nurtured the brewery's development. Leaders of the Longmont brewery replied that they were growing, not cannibalizing patrons.
That venue, Oskar Blues Grill & Brew, officially debuted last weekend after a month-long soft opening. And as such, it's worth looking at what the facility is, as well as what it isn't.
Those who have come to know Oskar Blues only since its ascension into the 10 largest craft breweries in America may not realize it began humbly as a Lyons Cajun-style restaurant that brought in musical acts from the get-go but took two years to get the idea to make its own beer. Anyone who's visited that original location, still tucked into an outdoor shopping center, will recognize the resemblance right away in this new venue, which in many senses is food and music first and beer as a complement to those purposes.
That isn't to say that the beer is an afterthought by any stretch. Last Saturday there were 48 beers on tap - roughly half from the Oskar Blues family that includes Cigar City and Perrin Brewing, and the other half from craft or European-invested breweries, including smaller local purveyors like Odyssey, Rails End and Odd 13. The only mega-brew on the menu was the original Coors.
So, when it comes to the beer offerings, it would be hard to say that OB Grill & Brew is cutting off the oxygen from other craft-beer purveyors. Its menu, while extensive, isn't as varied as what you'll find at Falling Rock or Freschcraft or even Lucky Pie. This is clearly the place to go in downtown if you want to find Oskar Blues family rarer or seasonal offerings, from the sensational OB Death By Coconut to Perrin's 15 percent ABV No Rules, a porter rife with cinnamon, vanilla and booziness. But no other bar was striving to be the go-to Oskar Blues destination in Denver - other than its already existing RiNo Chuburger location. And having some 25 other offerings on tap hardly makes it unique in the downtown beer scene anymore.
And when it comes to food, OB Grill & Brew also is treading a different path than other beer-focused bars in the area. Euclid Hall has poutine and upscale sausages, Freshcraft has a notch-above-normal wide-ranging menu and Lucky Pie has its pizza and cheese curds. But people who want to get the likes of crab cake, crawfish etouffee or Carolina spicy-mustard ribs aren't going to be considering existing beer bars. The food is quite impressive at Oskar Blues, and it will stand on its own, but it gives beer-focused bar hoppers a slightly more ethnic and full-plated option, if that's what they're looking for.
And a music venue that offers seating for 300
plus 48 taps - well, that just isn't happening in Denver right now. Breweries themselves, particularly Ratio Beerworks and Station 26 Brewing, have become great venues for seeing certain types of bands while sipping beer. But the major concert venues as a whole aren't beer-geek magnets for their selections, and Oskar Blues has a chance to be disruptive and new in that sense.
So, no, existing beer bars shouldn't be worried about what Oskar Blues brings to the table. The high-end Great American Beer Festival tappings are not going to happen there. And the weekend beer-bar-hopping crowds are just going to have one more option, though not one that's going to such the oxygen out of everyone else. I'll still be frequenting the other spots I mentioned, some far more than I'll be hitting OB Grill & Brew.
What the new place truly offers is extensive beer list for the crowds that are prioritizing food or music above their beer and now have a more legitimate option in which they don't have to choose between hearty, high-quality food and hearty, high-quality beers. And for some people just looking for a good rack or ribs or a good concert, it may well introduce them to the idea of pairing said activity with a locally made IPA rather than watered-down swill that's trying to pass itself off as American beer.
So, welcome the new Oskar Blues venue, Denver beer community. Maybe you won't be hanging out there all the time. But it lessens the chances that, in less beer-centric crowds, you'll be forced to hang out somewhere that can offer good chow or tunes but also offers a "craft" beer menu made up entirely of breweries scavenged by Anheuser-Busch.
When Oskar Blues announced plans to open a beer bar/restaurant/music venue in downtown Denver, it was met by resistance by some in the craft beer community, most notably folks at Falling Rock Tap House, who said it would compete against entities that had nurtured the brewery's development. Leaders of the Longmont brewery replied that they were growing, not cannibalizing patrons.
That venue, Oskar Blues Grill & Brew, officially debuted last weekend after a month-long soft opening. And as such, it's worth looking at what the facility is, as well as what it isn't.Those who have come to know Oskar Blues only since its ascension into the 10 largest craft breweries in America may not realize it began humbly as a Lyons Cajun-style restaurant that brought in musical acts from the get-go but took two years to get the idea to make its own beer. Anyone who's visited that original location, still tucked into an outdoor shopping center, will recognize the resemblance right away in this new venue, which in many senses is food and music first and beer as a complement to those purposes.
That isn't to say that the beer is an afterthought by any stretch. Last Saturday there were 48 beers on tap - roughly half from the Oskar Blues family that includes Cigar City and Perrin Brewing, and the other half from craft or European-invested breweries, including smaller local purveyors like Odyssey, Rails End and Odd 13. The only mega-brew on the menu was the original Coors.
So, when it comes to the beer offerings, it would be hard to say that OB Grill & Brew is cutting off the oxygen from other craft-beer purveyors. Its menu, while extensive, isn't as varied as what you'll find at Falling Rock or Freschcraft or even Lucky Pie. This is clearly the place to go in downtown if you want to find Oskar Blues family rarer or seasonal offerings, from the sensational OB Death By Coconut to Perrin's 15 percent ABV No Rules, a porter rife with cinnamon, vanilla and booziness. But no other bar was striving to be the go-to Oskar Blues destination in Denver - other than its already existing RiNo Chuburger location. And having some 25 other offerings on tap hardly makes it unique in the downtown beer scene anymore.
And a music venue that offers seating for 300
plus 48 taps - well, that just isn't happening in Denver right now. Breweries themselves, particularly Ratio Beerworks and Station 26 Brewing, have become great venues for seeing certain types of bands while sipping beer. But the major concert venues as a whole aren't beer-geek magnets for their selections, and Oskar Blues has a chance to be disruptive and new in that sense.
What the new place truly offers is extensive beer list for the crowds that are prioritizing food or music above their beer and now have a more legitimate option in which they don't have to choose between hearty, high-quality food and hearty, high-quality beers. And for some people just looking for a good rack or ribs or a good concert, it may well introduce them to the idea of pairing said activity with a locally made IPA rather than watered-down swill that's trying to pass itself off as American beer.
So, welcome the new Oskar Blues venue, Denver beer community. Maybe you won't be hanging out there all the time. But it lessens the chances that, in less beer-centric crowds, you'll be forced to hang out somewhere that can offer good chow or tunes but also offers a "craft" beer menu made up entirely of breweries scavenged by Anheuser-Busch.
Labels: beer bars, Cigar City Brewing, Euclid Hall, Falling Rock Taphouse, Freshcraft, Lucky Pie, Oskar Blues, Perrin Brewing, Ratio Beerworks, Station 26 Brewing
Sunday, October 01, 2017
It’s Time to GABF!
The Great American Beer Festival is the best gathering of
brewers in America. But, nearly as important, it’s turned into a catalyst for
what is arguably the greatest set of fermented-beverage events in one week
anywhere in the world. And it is for the enjoyment of that week that this
column is written.
Those who have visited this blog before know this annual
column is not meant to be the catch-all, everything-that-is-happening listing
of some 250 events like Westword or PorchDrinking.com offer. Instead, this is a
curated list of some of the most interesting events that will take place across
the next seven days, meant to help you – and me – determine how to spend your
entirely too-limited time when there are so many options.
Monday
· Noon to 8 p.m.: It’s been a number of years
since Great Divide Brewing churned out a new style of its signature Yeti
Imperial Stout. That drought ends today, when Denver’s largest brewery rolls
out Chai Yeti at its Barrel Bar.
· Noon: Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project has a
jaw-droppingly impressive line-up of beers slated for release this week. It
begins with today’s release in bottle and draught of Nightmare on Brett
Marionberry Harvest 2016, a blend of dark sour barrel-aged beers with a serious
boost of this unique blackberry.
· 4 p.m.: Diebolt Brewing, which seems to get a
little more experimental each year, also is busting out a barrel-aged treat –
or, more specifically, five of them. The fun starts with its brandy-barrel-aged
C'est la Saison-Imperial French Saison, then proceeds to the same beer aged in
rye, bourbon and Cabernet barrels before rolling out a 100% Brett version.
· 5 p.m.: Few events during the week are as iconic
as the Falling Rock kickoff party. Horse & Dragon and Upslope will have
special tappings, and pretty much everyone from the industry who is in town
will stop by at some point during the night.
· 7 p.m.: “Why not blow out your taste buds to
start the week?” should be the informal name of the Sour Party at Freshcraft.
Treats from Almanac, Black Project, Captain Lawrence and more will be on tap.
Tuesday
· 2 p.m.: Strange Craft Beer has created such a
bounty of beers that several years ago it took one of its truly eye-opening
offerings, its Zora Rosemary Pale Ale, out of its rotation. Today it brings it
back for a limited time.
· 2 to 6 p.m.: Tapping Crooked Stave is one thing.
But when you offer up pretty much all of Crooked Stave Artisans' distribution list at
once – as Crafty Fox will do here – that means the likes of Two Roads, Prairie,
Perennial and more are up for grabs.
· 5 p.m.: Goed Zuur will be featuring California
breweries that you normally wait in line at GABF to try: Russian River
(including Supplication), Rare Barrel, Port Brewing and more.
· 5 to 11 p.m.: Southside Bar and Kitchen is
hosting a night of specialty brews from Loveland and Longmont breweries that is
the finest-named event of the week: Love you Long time. Grimm Brothers,
Loveland Aleworks, Verboten Brewing and more will pour.
· 6 to 9 p.m.: Beers Made by Walking may be one of
the most unique events of the week – a tapping of ales made just for the event
by brewers using ingredients inspired by their hikes. This year’s event,
courtesy of Colorado Springs’ Focus on the Beer, is at the Denver Museum of
Nature & Science, and tickets are $40.
· 7 p.m.: Freshcraft, a long-time supporter of
up-and-coming Colorado brewers, turns its focus tonight to local offerings with
gems from Weldwerks, Black Shirt, Lost
Highway and more.
· 7:30 p.m.: There are lots of beer dinners this
week, but very few at restaurants that just undertook a complete menu revamp to
keep it fresh. The Corner Office just did that, and tonight it will pair five
courses with five Strange Craft Beer rarities, as well as one staple, for $50.
Wednesday
· 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.: Toppling Goliath brewery is the hottest thing
to come out of Iowa since … well, pretty much ever. LowDown Brewery of Denver
will be tapping its nationally renowned PseudoSue, as well as nine other beers,
until they’re gone.
· Noon to 3 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m.: Want to see what
breweries are lighting up Colorado without getting nationwide distribution? NewImage Brewing will host two intimate mini festivals with five other breweries that
are grabbing attention – including WeldWerks, Odd 13 and Wiley Roots – for the
price of $35 per person.
· 2 p.m.: The best beer Strange Craft Beer ever
made was a one-off for the 2015 Collaboration Fest with Copper Kettle Brewing
called Basil Kriek Blonde that combined Copper Kettle’s Basil Blonde with its
Cherry Kriek. It makes a rare re-appearance today.
· 3 to 5 p.m.: Local[ish] Market is a new store at Denver Union Station that sells local food and products and has a small bar of
Colorado beers. But today it veers away from its model for just a short time as
it offers a tap takeover by Two Roads Brewing of Connecticut, which makes one
of the best krieks in America.
· 4 to 7 p.m.: Dogfish Head 120-Minute IPA is one
of the rare hop bombs that can stand up to aging, and today Avanti F&B will
be pouring vintages from 2014 through 2017, plus a couple other Dogfish Head
gems. Oh, and some guy named Sam Calagione will be there too.
· 5 to 7 p.m.: One of the truest geek-out
experiences of the week is Wynkoop Brewery’s Beer Drinker of the Year contest,
which will feature judges in funny wigs tossing out-of-left-field beer
questions at three finalists for the award. And the beer will be flowing.
· 5 p.m.: Ska Brewing has ramped up its experimentation
in the past year through its Mod Project. Those beers – Pink Vapor Stew, Tart
Mexican Logger, Sour Apple Gose and more – will take over the rooftop taps of
Tap XIV tonight.
· 6 p.m.: The What The Funk? Invitational, hosted
by Crooked Stave, is truly a jaw-dropping collection of barrel-aged and other
experimental beers. This year’s event is at the Studio at Overland Crossing,
though tickets are sold out, so it’s time to call in those favors to
beer-industry friends.
· 9:30 p.m.: Falling Rock hosts an All-Star IPA
Throwdown that includes everyone from Melvin to Lawson’s and Breakside to La
Cumbre. Your taste buds will love you or possibly hate you.
Thursday
· 11:30 a.m.: Sun King is an Indianapolis brewery
that doesn’t distribute in Colorado, robbing you of the opportunity to enjoy
gems like its Cherry Busey Oud Bruin Ale. Today it will be pouring at Hops& Pie.
· Noon/5 p.m.: One of Crooked Stave’s most
intriguing releases of the week is its Mama Bear’s Burgundy Sour Cherry Pie
Harvest 2016, a burgundy sour ale aged in oak barrels with Colorado cherries.
It taps at noon, and two whiskey-barrel-aged varieties go on tap at 5.
· 3 to 7 p.m.: Skip the lines at these booths at
the GABF tonight and go instead to Goed Zuur, which is hosting a Small Batch
Thursday featuring Black Project, Amalgam Brewing, Red Fox Cellars and more.
· 4 to 9 p.m.: River North Brewery may not be
located in the River North neighborhood this year (thank you very much,
heartless landlord), but the brewery is doing things worth traveling to north
Denver for. Today it opens up it cellar to release 2016 versions of its
Decennial Series – a quad, an imperial stout and an old ale all weighing in at
more than 15 percent ABV.
· 6 p.m.: Freshcraft concentrates for a few hours
on the brilliant offerings of Casey Brewing and Blending. Go now or go after
the GABF session; just get there.
· 7 p.m.: A now annual tradition, Epic Brewing
again offers its 50 Firkin Fiasco, for which the brewery has tossed the likes
of gummy bears and breakfast cereals into its bevy of beers and come up with
some real surprises in the past. Tickets are $35.
· 8 p.m.: Asbury Provisions says it will be
the first bar in Colorado to host a tap takeover with Captain Lawrence Brewing –
a statement that seems hard to believe, but I’ll still trust them. Sours and
IPAs will rain down.
· 10 p.m.: Speaking of breweries that you don’t
find often in Colorado, Rare Barrel will offer up a number of its mind-blowing
selections at Falling Rock after the GABF session.
· 10 p.m.: After-parties rock following festival
sessions. Left Hand will be serving up a lot of good stuff at a rooftop party
at Tap XIV.
Friday
· Noon to 4 p.m.: The single best event of the
week outside of the Colorado Convention Center is the Pints for Prostates DenverRare Beer Tasting at the McNichols Building, where some of the best breweries
in America pour some of their rarest beers while screeners beg to take a test
to make sure you don’t have the same cancer that led Rick Lyke to found this
event. The $115 ticket is, if anything, underpriced (though sold out).
· Noon to 3 p.m.: If you don’t have the Rare Beer
ticket, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better alternative activity than a
tapping featuring Captain Lawrence, Great Divide – and the beer Great Divide
made in conjunction with Jameson Irish Whiskey.
· 2 p.m.: Breweries that offer tap takeovers to
out-of-town breweries should get a special place in heaven. Today, MockeryBrewing does just that for Virginia’s Adroit Theory, which will be bringing out
an Oud Bruin collaboration they made earlier this year.
· 2 to 9 p.m.: Speaking of collaborations, DenverBeer Co. will host a mini festival featuring collaboration beers that it made
with breweries throughout Colorado, the U.S., Mexico and Brazil. Tickets are
$30.
· 3 to 11 p.m.: Call it “underrated Colorado
breweries day” at Crafty Fox. Wiley Roots Brewing and Outer Range Brewing take
over the taps, offering up treats like Cinnamon/Vanilla Pastry Stout and Final
Summit French saison.
· 5 p.m.: After a week of drinking, you might want
to eat a little, so do it in style. Goed Zuur is offering a beer and food
pairing with Casey Brewing and Blending, Jester King and Side Project supplying
the beer. There will be four two-hour sessions, and tickets for each of them
are $60.
· 6 p.m.: Highland Tap & Burger offers up four
Midwest breweries – Jolly Pumpkin, New Holland, RhineGeist and MadTree Brewing –
that are either not available in Colorado or available in limited sites. It’s a
good chance to enjoy the brewing world coming here.
· 7:30 p.m.: Want something a little more literary
than you’ve had the rest of the week? BookBar in northwest Denver is hosting an
event in which staffers pair their favorite beers with books and lead a beer
tasting. Not sure how bitter the hops in a beer have to be to pair with, say,
Tess of the D’Urbervilles.
Saturday
· 8 a.m.: How do you want to start the final day
of the festival? How about Breakfast with the Bruery at Freshcraft, where the
California artists will whip out perfect breakfast pairings, like Midnight
Autumn Maple and Chocolate Rain (its 20% ABV vanilla/cacao bourbon-barrel-aged
imperial stout).
· 9:30 a.m.: Oh, I’m sorry, you want something
lighter with your fifth-straight-day-of-hangover breakfast? Denver Beer Co. is
offering a barleywine/smothered breakfast burrito combination for $18.
· Noon: Ratio Beerworks taps its New Wave
Strawberry Berliner Weisse, a summer seasonal back for a limited run. This is,
in my opinion, the hands-down best Berliner Weisse made in Colorado, and
probably one of the state’s 10 best beers, period.
· Noon to 8 p.m.: Bruz Beers will be tapping from
its reserve – 15 beers from its reserve. This is the proper way to blow out the
festival at a brewery that’s been doing some daring things.
· 9 p.m.: It’s been a long week. Let loose at the
Ratio Beerworks karaoke after-party, which will involve some surprise tappings
as well as some pretty awful, overconfident ballad performances.
· 9:30 p.m.: Falling Rock will tap a pucker-load of
sours from Crooked Stave Artisans' distribution list. If you’re still drinking at this
time of night, that may be the only thing that can resurrect your taste buds.
· 10 p.m.: Some people swear by going light-bodied
at the end of the week, however. If that’s your choice, you might want to check
out Tap XIV, where attention-grabbing German-style brewer Wibby Brewing of
Longmont will be pouring dunkels, a helles and an IPL on the rooftop.
Labels: Crooked Stave, Denver Beer Co, Falling Rock Taphouse, Freshcraft, Great American Beer Festival, Great Divide, Ratio Beerworks, Strange Craft Beer
Wednesday, February 01, 2017
A February Full of Beer-Event Personality
Craft beer fans and football fans share a mutual disdain for the month of February. For football fans, it's that desolate time in between the Super Bowl and the NFL Draft. For beer aficionados in Colorado, it's the lonely month between Big Beers Festival and Collaboration Fest.
Luckily, though, a few event organizers have heard the anguished cry of the craft-beer drinker and tried to do something to make this month more memorable. And over the next 28 days, a number of gatherings - including a pair of new or reborn events in particular - are going to fill calendars surprisingly quickly and make March seem it got here with no delay at all.
First there is Beer Fight Club, the brainchild of buddies Jeff Flood and Adam Schell that debuts on Saturday at Larimer Beer Hall. Less an all-out Tyler Durden-style brawl and more a civilized March Madness-style precursor, it pits eight River North neighborhood breweries against each other in head-to-head blind-taste tests until only one survives the bracket to be crowned Beer Fight Club champion.
Flood and Schell had wanted to get into the craft-beer promotion business, and so they talked with a number of breweries about what kind of event might draw out drinkers and get them through the doldrums of winter. What they came up with was a ticketed event in which the eight contestants bring a beer of their choosing and advance through the bracket based on the combined votes of audience members and a specially chosen panel of experts. Flood and Schell hope to host three more such events featuring different brewing neighborhoods in the coming months, and then have a "best-of''' bracket to determine the ultimate Beer Fight Club champion.
"Every weekend there's a different type of beer fest, so we asked how we do something different," Flood said of the event, scheduled from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday at Larimer Beer Hall featuring breweries like Epic, Mockery and River North - all of which will have folks at the event. "We really want to connect the beer drinker to the brewers, so they can establish a little longer-term relationship."
A smaller event was also the theme around which Colin Bickford and Patrick Brown wanted to organize the Mile High Beer Festival, a collection of 25 Colorado breweries that will be pouring beer at the Exdo Center in RiNo on Feb. 11 for both an afternoon and an evening session. They wanted reasonable lines, breweries that came from a reasonable distance away and a crowd that got to taste a substantive number of beers on the Colorado scene.
Bickford earlier organized the Epic Beer Festival with 80-plus breweries in 2013 and the Country Beer Festival in Jefferson County in 2016, but he wanted a different event in the heart of Denver this year. So, he and Brown gathered an array of Colorado craft breweries - from heavyweights like Odell and Crooked Stave to up-and-comers like ,Resolute and Verboten - and will have them pouring in a fairly intimate setting of some 500 attendees that revives the first Mile High Beer Festival, which Brown organized several years ago.
"We found that people don't want bigger. They just want a nice experience," Bickford said.
Those are two of the highlights for the month. Here's a few more:
* Denver Beer Co. which is becoming the master of the food-and-beer-pairing events, will host a beer, bacon and coffee festival at its main brewery from 8:30 to 11 a.m. on Feb. 12.
* A number of breweries and bars are hosting Valentine's Day events. But for my money, you can't go wrong going down to Freshcraft that night, which will be tapping Southern Tier Creme Brulee.
* On Feb. 15, Yak & Yeti Brewery officially becomes Spice Trade Brewing Co., which will continue to operate within the Arvada restaurant but as a separate entity. It will tap a Szechuan Saison and a Mayan Chocolate Russian Imperial Stout, among other things.
* On Feb. 18, Bristol Brewing brings back its annual Firkin Rendezvous, in which 40 breweries will tap experimental versions of their beers. Tickets are $45.
* And, of course, all month is Stout Month at Mountain Sun and its affiliated brewery restaurants. Their offerings include the likes of a Mint Chocolate Girl Scout Stout, a Coconut Cream Stout and a Norwegian Wheat Stout. Oh, yes.
Craft beer fans and football fans share a mutual disdain for the month of February. For football fans, it's that desolate time in between the Super Bowl and the NFL Draft. For beer aficionados in Colorado, it's the lonely month between Big Beers Festival and Collaboration Fest.Luckily, though, a few event organizers have heard the anguished cry of the craft-beer drinker and tried to do something to make this month more memorable. And over the next 28 days, a number of gatherings - including a pair of new or reborn events in particular - are going to fill calendars surprisingly quickly and make March seem it got here with no delay at all.
First there is Beer Fight Club, the brainchild of buddies Jeff Flood and Adam Schell that debuts on Saturday at Larimer Beer Hall. Less an all-out Tyler Durden-style brawl and more a civilized March Madness-style precursor, it pits eight River North neighborhood breweries against each other in head-to-head blind-taste tests until only one survives the bracket to be crowned Beer Fight Club champion.
Flood and Schell had wanted to get into the craft-beer promotion business, and so they talked with a number of breweries about what kind of event might draw out drinkers and get them through the doldrums of winter. What they came up with was a ticketed event in which the eight contestants bring a beer of their choosing and advance through the bracket based on the combined votes of audience members and a specially chosen panel of experts. Flood and Schell hope to host three more such events featuring different brewing neighborhoods in the coming months, and then have a "best-of''' bracket to determine the ultimate Beer Fight Club champion.
"Every weekend there's a different type of beer fest, so we asked how we do something different," Flood said of the event, scheduled from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday at Larimer Beer Hall featuring breweries like Epic, Mockery and River North - all of which will have folks at the event. "We really want to connect the beer drinker to the brewers, so they can establish a little longer-term relationship."
Bickford earlier organized the Epic Beer Festival with 80-plus breweries in 2013 and the Country Beer Festival in Jefferson County in 2016, but he wanted a different event in the heart of Denver this year. So, he and Brown gathered an array of Colorado craft breweries - from heavyweights like Odell and Crooked Stave to up-and-comers like ,Resolute and Verboten - and will have them pouring in a fairly intimate setting of some 500 attendees that revives the first Mile High Beer Festival, which Brown organized several years ago.
"We found that people don't want bigger. They just want a nice experience," Bickford said.
Those are two of the highlights for the month. Here's a few more:
* Denver Beer Co. which is becoming the master of the food-and-beer-pairing events, will host a beer, bacon and coffee festival at its main brewery from 8:30 to 11 a.m. on Feb. 12.
* A number of breweries and bars are hosting Valentine's Day events. But for my money, you can't go wrong going down to Freshcraft that night, which will be tapping Southern Tier Creme Brulee.* On Feb. 15, Yak & Yeti Brewery officially becomes Spice Trade Brewing Co., which will continue to operate within the Arvada restaurant but as a separate entity. It will tap a Szechuan Saison and a Mayan Chocolate Russian Imperial Stout, among other things.
* On Feb. 18, Bristol Brewing brings back its annual Firkin Rendezvous, in which 40 breweries will tap experimental versions of their beers. Tickets are $45.
* And, of course, all month is Stout Month at Mountain Sun and its affiliated brewery restaurants. Their offerings include the likes of a Mint Chocolate Girl Scout Stout, a Coconut Cream Stout and a Norwegian Wheat Stout. Oh, yes.
Labels: Beer Fight Club, Bristol Brewing, Denver Beer Co, Freshcraft, Mile High Beer Festival, Mountain Sun, Spice Trade Brewing Co.
Monday, October 03, 2016
Your Guide to GABF Week 2016
Let's face it: You abused your liver in college in many horrible ways, often with no reward for your taste buds. Later, you looked back on it and realized it wasn't the sharpest thing to do, especially because there was no upside, even in retrospect, to assaults by Busch Light and Keystone.
But this week, you can return to teaching that liver who is the boss - while also finding an incredible variety of complex tastes to cross your palate and making the vital-organ abuse a side product, rather than goal of your activities. And this blog is here to help you do it.
Once again, I don't claim this to be the comprehensive list of everything going on in the week leading up to the Oct. 6-8 Great American Beer Festival at the Colorado Convention Center - websites like Westword, Brewtally Insane and Porch Drinking can lay out everything happening in town for you. Instead, this is meant to be a highlight sheet, offering you the can't-miss and shouldn't-overlook fests, dinners and tappings for those of you with a desire to experience the week fully but a limited amount of time to sort through all of your options.
With that said, happy tasting. Even your liver will forgive you for going nuts this week.
Monday
* Noon - GABF veterans may remember the days when Great Divide Brewing essentially kicked off the festival with its media party on Thursday mornings. Now the party goes all week. But the Denver brewery will release a new Velvet Yeti on Monday at its taproom, and then keep the momentum with a tapping party from 6 to 9 p.m. at Avanti F&B.
* 5 p.m. Falling Rock Tap House tends to be the gathering spot all week for out-of-town brewers, throwing rare kegs on tap for all to try. That officially begins tonight, and only owner Chris Black knows exactly what he'll be busting out to commence the activities.
* 7 to midnight. GABF week is a haven for people seeking the cutting edge in sour beers. Freshcraft dives right into the melee with its Wild and Sour Monday, featuring beers from auteurs like Wicked Weed, Jester King and New Belgium.
Tuesday
* 5 p.m. First Draft, the beer bar where you pay by the ounce and get to sample from 40 different taps, is working with a lot of national brewers on special tappings during the week. But its Tuesday showcase of Odd 13 beers, featuring both hop bombs and sour gems like Hawaiian Bartender, gives locals unfamiliar with the Lafayette brewery the chance to see why it's growing an increasing reputation for being one of the best in Colorado.
* 5 to 9 p.m. IPA remains the king style in America, and Ernie's Bar & Pizza gets right to heart of the style, hosting a tour of some of the best hoppy beers in the country. Beers from Dogfish Head, Stone, Green Flash, Alpine and Comrade will be among the tasty options on the menu.
* 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Beers Made by Walking has become one of the signature events of the week in recent years, showcasing beers that were dreamed up when brewers were hiking and spotted intriguing local ingredients. The $35 festival is at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science this year.
* 6 p.m. to midnight. Another marquee event is What the Funk?, the annual celebration of wild-fermented ales that tends to leave far more of a (spectacular) beating on your taste buds than on your liver. For a cool $100, you can get access to a number of breweries that won't even be pouring their wares at GABF.
Wednesday
* 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Anyone who attended What the Funk? on Tuesday night will still be recovering on Wednesday morning. If you didn't, head to Hops & Pie for the Cliffs-notes version of the event, where the pizza restaurant/beer bar will be delving deep into the Crooked Stave Artisans collection of distributed beer.
* 1 p.m. Blunt honesty is good in assessing the week. So when Little Machine, a still-somewhat-secret treasure in the Jefferson Park neighborhood, puts on a pig roast, busts out new beers and calls it a "Brewers Health Fair," all are advised to check it out, purely for medical reasons.
* 5 p.m. River North, the recently displaced RiNo-neighborhood pioneer, will be all over the place during GABF week. Few, if any, of its events are as alluring as its tapping, in combination with Fort Collins masterminds Funkwerks, at Lucky Pie in downtown Denver.
* 5 p.m. Tivoli Brewing (pictured above) operates a distribution company that's accumulated 20 up-and-coming breweries and cideries in its portfolio, from local stand-outs like Grimm Brothers to national eyebrow raisers like Pipeworks Brewing out of Chicago. Tonight it holds its "pre-party," featuring rare offerings from throughout its catalog.
* 5 p.m. One of the highlights of this week is the number of bars and restaurants not normally associated with rare tappings that are getting their full beer geek on. A prime example: el Camino Community Tavern in the Highlands neighborhood will be brandishing beers from the likes of TRVE. Creature Comforts. 4 Noses and more today.
* 6 to 10 p.m. Possibly the oddest recurring event is Offensively Delicious, the Renegade Brewing-organized celebration where brewers not only pour their beers but then get up on stage and try their hands at stand-up comedy - before real comedians finish out the show. Curious? It's on again this year at the McNichols Building.
* 7 p.m. Ginger Johnson gained a name for herself in the beer world with her Oregon-based consulting/event business Women Enjoying Beer. She just released a book chastising breweries for their poor marketing to women. And she'll be at Kokopelli Beer Co. tonight annotating the book.
Thursday
* Strange Craft Beer makes a habit out of rolling out its most experimental offerings around GABF. Today you can not only try but take home its medal-winning Doctor Strangelove, as the Denver brewery offers up its annual bomber release of the complex ale.
* 11:30 a.m. Sun King Brewing burst onto the national beer consciousness a few years back by taking home seven medals from the GABF. You still can't get the Indianapolis brewery out here anytime but this week. But it will be pouring a boatload of its offerings all day today at Hops & Pie.
* 4 p.m. Among Colorado breweries, Casey Brewing and Blending is one of the rarest gems, offering occasional hours during which it released some of the most sought-after bombers of saison and sour beers in the state. It'll be easier to grab some today at Freshcraft.
* 5 p.m. Three Floyds produces big, beefy beers that are admired nationally - but not sold far beyond the doors of its Indiana brewhouse. Today however, it will be tapping a number of them at LowDown Brewery + Kitchen in Denver.
* 7 p.m. to midnight. Epic Brewing offers its 50 Firkin Fiasco tradition each year after the opening night of the GABF. The intriguing twist this year: Other breweries than just the Utah/RiNo beer maker were given a chance to take its beers and create their own firkins with them.
* 10 p.m. Avanti F&B has the closest relationship with Dogfish Head of any beer bar in Denver. That's why when it holds an after-party featuring Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione, you almost have to show up to see what he is breaking out for the festivities.
Friday
* 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Start the day the only way you should - with a Gospel brunch hosted by Oskar Blues at its Tasty Weasel taproom in Longmont. Yeah, it's a ways north of Denver. But by now, you need some time behind the wheel when you actually won't be drinking.
* Noon to 4 p.m. The most expensive ticket of the week is also one of the most sought-after - a $115 ducat to get into the Rare Beer Tasting at McNichols, offering a peak into the cellars of some of America's best breweries and beers you may never seen again.
* 4 to 11 p.m. Crafty Fox has made a ballyhooed entrance into the Denver beer-bar scene this year with a fantastic tap list. And today it adds to its mystique by featuring the beers of Bellingham, Washington - including award winners such as Chuckanut and Boundary Bay Brewing - with a side splash of hop king Melvin Brewing and sour king Crooked Stave.
* 7 to 10 p.m. New Belgium and Ratio Beerworks aren't as hard to find as, say, Bellingham beers. But when they throw something as specific as a fruit luau at Illegal Pete's, it's a focused collection of pucker-worthy beers worth seeking out.
* 10 p.m. After the GABF session, you may find your palate somewhat wrecked. Freshcraft will be tapping the beers of Stone, Green Flash and Melvin, among others, which is guaranteed to either resuscitate your taste buds or finish them for good.
Saturday
* 9 a.m. to noon. After drinking heavily for five days, you may think that nothing new can come down the pipe. And then you discover that Denver Beer Co. is offering a Burritos and Barleywines breakfast event, and you happily say to yourself, "Well, I was wrong."
* 10 a.m. For those wanting to leave town with a few souvenirs, Black Project Spontaneous & Wild Ales will begin a two-day sale of some of its tucked-away bottles, suitable for enjoying when your liver has begun to recover somewhat.
* 9 p.m. There will be lots of after parties beginning tonight - but few that test whether you can cross the last boundary of the week quite like Ratio Beerworks' karaoke after-party. Oh, and the killer brewery will be breaking out some new and rare brews.
* 11 p.m. For many years, I viewed the traditional post-festival tapping of New Belgium sours at Falling Rock Tap House as the defibrillator to shock my taste buds back to life. Whether or not you agree, this event offers a great chance to find out.
Let's face it: You abused your liver in college in many horrible ways, often with no reward for your taste buds. Later, you looked back on it and realized it wasn't the sharpest thing to do, especially because there was no upside, even in retrospect, to assaults by Busch Light and Keystone.
But this week, you can return to teaching that liver who is the boss - while also finding an incredible variety of complex tastes to cross your palate and making the vital-organ abuse a side product, rather than goal of your activities. And this blog is here to help you do it.
Once again, I don't claim this to be the comprehensive list of everything going on in the week leading up to the Oct. 6-8 Great American Beer Festival at the Colorado Convention Center - websites like Westword, Brewtally Insane and Porch Drinking can lay out everything happening in town for you. Instead, this is meant to be a highlight sheet, offering you the can't-miss and shouldn't-overlook fests, dinners and tappings for those of you with a desire to experience the week fully but a limited amount of time to sort through all of your options.
With that said, happy tasting. Even your liver will forgive you for going nuts this week.
Monday
* 5 p.m. Falling Rock Tap House tends to be the gathering spot all week for out-of-town brewers, throwing rare kegs on tap for all to try. That officially begins tonight, and only owner Chris Black knows exactly what he'll be busting out to commence the activities.
* 7 to midnight. GABF week is a haven for people seeking the cutting edge in sour beers. Freshcraft dives right into the melee with its Wild and Sour Monday, featuring beers from auteurs like Wicked Weed, Jester King and New Belgium.
Tuesday
* 5 p.m. First Draft, the beer bar where you pay by the ounce and get to sample from 40 different taps, is working with a lot of national brewers on special tappings during the week. But its Tuesday showcase of Odd 13 beers, featuring both hop bombs and sour gems like Hawaiian Bartender, gives locals unfamiliar with the Lafayette brewery the chance to see why it's growing an increasing reputation for being one of the best in Colorado.* 5 to 9 p.m. IPA remains the king style in America, and Ernie's Bar & Pizza gets right to heart of the style, hosting a tour of some of the best hoppy beers in the country. Beers from Dogfish Head, Stone, Green Flash, Alpine and Comrade will be among the tasty options on the menu.
* 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Beers Made by Walking has become one of the signature events of the week in recent years, showcasing beers that were dreamed up when brewers were hiking and spotted intriguing local ingredients. The $35 festival is at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science this year.
* 6 p.m. to midnight. Another marquee event is What the Funk?, the annual celebration of wild-fermented ales that tends to leave far more of a (spectacular) beating on your taste buds than on your liver. For a cool $100, you can get access to a number of breweries that won't even be pouring their wares at GABF.
Wednesday
* 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Anyone who attended What the Funk? on Tuesday night will still be recovering on Wednesday morning. If you didn't, head to Hops & Pie for the Cliffs-notes version of the event, where the pizza restaurant/beer bar will be delving deep into the Crooked Stave Artisans collection of distributed beer.
* 1 p.m. Blunt honesty is good in assessing the week. So when Little Machine, a still-somewhat-secret treasure in the Jefferson Park neighborhood, puts on a pig roast, busts out new beers and calls it a "Brewers Health Fair," all are advised to check it out, purely for medical reasons.
* 5 p.m. River North, the recently displaced RiNo-neighborhood pioneer, will be all over the place during GABF week. Few, if any, of its events are as alluring as its tapping, in combination with Fort Collins masterminds Funkwerks, at Lucky Pie in downtown Denver.
* 5 p.m. One of the highlights of this week is the number of bars and restaurants not normally associated with rare tappings that are getting their full beer geek on. A prime example: el Camino Community Tavern in the Highlands neighborhood will be brandishing beers from the likes of TRVE. Creature Comforts. 4 Noses and more today.
* 6 to 10 p.m. Possibly the oddest recurring event is Offensively Delicious, the Renegade Brewing-organized celebration where brewers not only pour their beers but then get up on stage and try their hands at stand-up comedy - before real comedians finish out the show. Curious? It's on again this year at the McNichols Building.
* 7 p.m. Ginger Johnson gained a name for herself in the beer world with her Oregon-based consulting/event business Women Enjoying Beer. She just released a book chastising breweries for their poor marketing to women. And she'll be at Kokopelli Beer Co. tonight annotating the book.
Thursday
* Strange Craft Beer makes a habit out of rolling out its most experimental offerings around GABF. Today you can not only try but take home its medal-winning Doctor Strangelove, as the Denver brewery offers up its annual bomber release of the complex ale.
* 11:30 a.m. Sun King Brewing burst onto the national beer consciousness a few years back by taking home seven medals from the GABF. You still can't get the Indianapolis brewery out here anytime but this week. But it will be pouring a boatload of its offerings all day today at Hops & Pie.
* 4 p.m. Among Colorado breweries, Casey Brewing and Blending is one of the rarest gems, offering occasional hours during which it released some of the most sought-after bombers of saison and sour beers in the state. It'll be easier to grab some today at Freshcraft.
* 5 p.m. Three Floyds produces big, beefy beers that are admired nationally - but not sold far beyond the doors of its Indiana brewhouse. Today however, it will be tapping a number of them at LowDown Brewery + Kitchen in Denver.
* 7 p.m. to midnight. Epic Brewing offers its 50 Firkin Fiasco tradition each year after the opening night of the GABF. The intriguing twist this year: Other breweries than just the Utah/RiNo beer maker were given a chance to take its beers and create their own firkins with them.
* 10 p.m. Avanti F&B has the closest relationship with Dogfish Head of any beer bar in Denver. That's why when it holds an after-party featuring Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione, you almost have to show up to see what he is breaking out for the festivities.
Friday
* 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Start the day the only way you should - with a Gospel brunch hosted by Oskar Blues at its Tasty Weasel taproom in Longmont. Yeah, it's a ways north of Denver. But by now, you need some time behind the wheel when you actually won't be drinking.
* Noon to 4 p.m. The most expensive ticket of the week is also one of the most sought-after - a $115 ducat to get into the Rare Beer Tasting at McNichols, offering a peak into the cellars of some of America's best breweries and beers you may never seen again.
* 4 to 11 p.m. Crafty Fox has made a ballyhooed entrance into the Denver beer-bar scene this year with a fantastic tap list. And today it adds to its mystique by featuring the beers of Bellingham, Washington - including award winners such as Chuckanut and Boundary Bay Brewing - with a side splash of hop king Melvin Brewing and sour king Crooked Stave.
* 7 to 10 p.m. New Belgium and Ratio Beerworks aren't as hard to find as, say, Bellingham beers. But when they throw something as specific as a fruit luau at Illegal Pete's, it's a focused collection of pucker-worthy beers worth seeking out.
* 10 p.m. After the GABF session, you may find your palate somewhat wrecked. Freshcraft will be tapping the beers of Stone, Green Flash and Melvin, among others, which is guaranteed to either resuscitate your taste buds or finish them for good.
Saturday
* 9 a.m. to noon. After drinking heavily for five days, you may think that nothing new can come down the pipe. And then you discover that Denver Beer Co. is offering a Burritos and Barleywines breakfast event, and you happily say to yourself, "Well, I was wrong."* 10 a.m. For those wanting to leave town with a few souvenirs, Black Project Spontaneous & Wild Ales will begin a two-day sale of some of its tucked-away bottles, suitable for enjoying when your liver has begun to recover somewhat.
* 9 p.m. There will be lots of after parties beginning tonight - but few that test whether you can cross the last boundary of the week quite like Ratio Beerworks' karaoke after-party. Oh, and the killer brewery will be breaking out some new and rare brews.
* 11 p.m. For many years, I viewed the traditional post-festival tapping of New Belgium sours at Falling Rock Tap House as the defibrillator to shock my taste buds back to life. Whether or not you agree, this event offers a great chance to find out.
Labels: Avanti F&B, Denver Beer Fest, Falling Rock Taphouse, Freshcraft, Great American Beer Festival, Hops and Pie
Thursday, April 28, 2016
Something Totally New - and Tasty - from Left Hand
Considering of all the things Left Hand Brewing has done in its 22 years, the most surprising omission from its resume has been "make a year-round American IPA." With this month's release of Extrovert, however, that feat no longer is lacking - and what the brewery's done is introduce something that can only be called uniquely Left Hand.
Extrovert's main hop is Jarrylo, which gives it a tropical taste with even a little hint of pineapple. Beer makers at the Longmont brewery had been experimenting with a number of single-hop ales ever since they purchased a seven-barrel pilot system last year, and when they tasted the stone-fruit flavor this one gave off, they decided that it was going to be their centerpiece in the IPA, said Nick Cassaro, the company's Denver sales rep who was showing off the beer at Freshcraft on Thursday.
At first blush, Extrovert might remind you of Boulder Beer's Mojo IPA for its unusually fruity quality. But it breaks from many others in the genre by finishing crisp and dry with only a touch of bitterness on the back of the tongue - a quality developed with the use of Acidulated and 2-Row Rye malts, Cassaro said.
These characteristics also make the release of Extrovert perfectly timed to take advantage of a summer beer market where beer geeks are seeking something light but flavorful. Good IPAs always fit the second part of that description but not always the first; Extrovert stakes its territory there.
One may be tempted to ask why a major brewery would add an IPA after waiting, almost stubbornly, for two decades to jump into the most popular style of craft beer. (Left Hand's biggest forays into the IPA world have been 400-Lb. Monkey, an English-style IPA, and Introvert, a session IPA.) Said Cassaro: "It was time."
Yeah, it was time. But the truth is, Extrovert was worth the wait. It may not blow your taste buds away like an Odell or Melvin Brewing IPA. But it carves out its unique niche. And it's a beer you may come back to time and again.
Considering of all the things Left Hand Brewing has done in its 22 years, the most surprising omission from its resume has been "make a year-round American IPA." With this month's release of Extrovert, however, that feat no longer is lacking - and what the brewery's done is introduce something that can only be called uniquely Left Hand.Extrovert's main hop is Jarrylo, which gives it a tropical taste with even a little hint of pineapple. Beer makers at the Longmont brewery had been experimenting with a number of single-hop ales ever since they purchased a seven-barrel pilot system last year, and when they tasted the stone-fruit flavor this one gave off, they decided that it was going to be their centerpiece in the IPA, said Nick Cassaro, the company's Denver sales rep who was showing off the beer at Freshcraft on Thursday.
At first blush, Extrovert might remind you of Boulder Beer's Mojo IPA for its unusually fruity quality. But it breaks from many others in the genre by finishing crisp and dry with only a touch of bitterness on the back of the tongue - a quality developed with the use of Acidulated and 2-Row Rye malts, Cassaro said.
These characteristics also make the release of Extrovert perfectly timed to take advantage of a summer beer market where beer geeks are seeking something light but flavorful. Good IPAs always fit the second part of that description but not always the first; Extrovert stakes its territory there.
One may be tempted to ask why a major brewery would add an IPA after waiting, almost stubbornly, for two decades to jump into the most popular style of craft beer. (Left Hand's biggest forays into the IPA world have been 400-Lb. Monkey, an English-style IPA, and Introvert, a session IPA.) Said Cassaro: "It was time."
Yeah, it was time. But the truth is, Extrovert was worth the wait. It may not blow your taste buds away like an Odell or Melvin Brewing IPA. But it carves out its unique niche. And it's a beer you may come back to time and again.
Labels: Freshcraft, IPA, Left Hand Brewing, Summer beers
Friday, July 11, 2014
4 Ways to Reward Your Palate and Destroy Your Liver This Weekend
There are good beer-drinking weekends, there are great beer-drinking weekends and there are those weekends when you're just faced with making painful choices. This weekend is one of the latter.
1) Colorado Brewers Rendezvous, 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday
The 18th annual collection of 75 Colorado brewers squeezing into Salida's main city park and doling out some of their oddities is one of the best beer gatherings of the year. Tickets are just $40 and well worth it. If you don't have a hotel reserved by now, however, it would be wise to start begging friends for some space on their motel floors.
2) Breckenridge Brewery 24th Anniversary Hootenanny, 11 a.m. Saturday
The word "hootenanny" is fun to write. But it's not as fun as seeing what Todd Usry and the rest of the Breck bunch pull out for their rare beer tasting as they close down Kalamath Street in front of their soon-to-be-former main brewery before they move to Littleton. (If we're lucky, they may haul out some of the Barleywine pictured above.) And if you haven't had the BBQ here before, that alone is worth the $30 ticket.
3) Freshcraft Rare Beer Tasting, 11 a.m. Saturday
You have to love a beer bar that gives everyone a reason to get up (relatively) early on Saturdays. This week, Denver's Freshcraft is busting out an Alaskan Brewing 25th Anniversary Stout that's been cellared for three years, as well as a 2008 Barley Wine from the same brewery. And Alaskan representatives will be there to help you savor the goodness.
4) Avery releases Black Eye, 11 a.m. Sunday
If the screaming hangover doesn't keep you in bed Sunday, head up to Boulder, where the Front Range's pre-eminent experimental beer auteurs bust out an imperial stout aged in rum barrels. Bottle sales don't begin until 1, which only gives you two hours to try a couple of these and decide if you want to invest more - assuming you're still standing.
There are good beer-drinking weekends, there are great beer-drinking weekends and there are those weekends when you're just faced with making painful choices. This weekend is one of the latter.
1) Colorado Brewers Rendezvous, 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday
The 18th annual collection of 75 Colorado brewers squeezing into Salida's main city park and doling out some of their oddities is one of the best beer gatherings of the year. Tickets are just $40 and well worth it. If you don't have a hotel reserved by now, however, it would be wise to start begging friends for some space on their motel floors.
2) Breckenridge Brewery 24th Anniversary Hootenanny, 11 a.m. Saturday
The word "hootenanny" is fun to write. But it's not as fun as seeing what Todd Usry and the rest of the Breck bunch pull out for their rare beer tasting as they close down Kalamath Street in front of their soon-to-be-former main brewery before they move to Littleton. (If we're lucky, they may haul out some of the Barleywine pictured above.) And if you haven't had the BBQ here before, that alone is worth the $30 ticket.
3) Freshcraft Rare Beer Tasting, 11 a.m. Saturday
You have to love a beer bar that gives everyone a reason to get up (relatively) early on Saturdays. This week, Denver's Freshcraft is busting out an Alaskan Brewing 25th Anniversary Stout that's been cellared for three years, as well as a 2008 Barley Wine from the same brewery. And Alaskan representatives will be there to help you savor the goodness.
4) Avery releases Black Eye, 11 a.m. Sunday
If the screaming hangover doesn't keep you in bed Sunday, head up to Boulder, where the Front Range's pre-eminent experimental beer auteurs bust out an imperial stout aged in rum barrels. Bottle sales don't begin until 1, which only gives you two hours to try a couple of these and decide if you want to invest more - assuming you're still standing.
Labels: Avery Brewing, Beer calendar, Breckenridge Brewery, Freshcraft
Wednesday, July 04, 2012
Make Summer 2012 the Season of the Beer Dinner
Beer festivals are great collections of many breweries, but if I learned one thing at the Colorado Brewers' Festival a week-and-a-half ago, it was that 100-degree weather and voluminous drinking don't always pair well. So, how's a sweaty beer drinker supposed to spend the summer?
The answer: It's beer dinner time. Think about it. You're indoors, in air conditioning, with people serving you great food and great beer, while you don't have to move. The crowds are much smaller. And I've never seen a brewer say, "Sorry, we ran out of our specialty" in the middle of dinner.
With the Beer Geekette, I recently attended one of the finest beer/food pairings in memory - the Colorado Brewers Guild's monthly Colorado Beer Tour event at the Bridgewater Grill in Golden, this one with Ska Brewing. And through it, attendees can see all the elements that make beer dinners such worthy events.
First, a knowledgeable brewery representative - we'll call him Eric Kaizer, for the sake of this article - was there to explain the history of each beer, both the traditional history of its style and how it came to be in Ska. Eric threw in stories about the brewery leaders' antics (no surprise, if you've met Dave Thibodeau), had trivia contests with prizes (love the shirt) and just made you feel like you were part of the brewing team for one night.
Second, the fine chefs at the Bridgewater incorporated beer into many of the dishes, giving you something you couldn't find if you'd just gone to a restaurant and ordered a good beer. A ginger and beer syrup for the blackened scallop (pictured above, with more emphasis on the scallops than in the opening shot), beer mixed into the chicken jalapeno poppers and - the piece de resistance - beer salt made from several Ska brews on appetizer popcorn was quite the mix.
And third, there was the food, which was not only intricately cooked but very well paired with the beer. Let's face it, the hot dogs sold at outdoor festivals don't really bring out the character of your IPA. But when the citrus on the macadamia-crusted tuna blends wonderfully with the sharp candy taste of True Blonde Dubbel and the Modus Hoperandi compliments the hint of sweetness in the glaze on the bone-in beef ribeye (pictured above), you can truly appreciate why beer pairs better than wine with excellent food.
The Colorado Beer Tour continues at the Bridgewater Grill with a July 11 Left Hand dinner and an Aug. 1 dinner with Oskar Blues. Yes, both of those dates conflict with book signings I'm doing at Vine Street Pub and Twisted Pine Brewing, respectively. So, I can only recommend that you come visit me on one of those nights and hit the restaurant on the other. (Because it's not like you've got anything else to do this summer, right?)
Also, Freschcraft has a July 18 dinner featuring beers from Dry Dock, Funkwerks and Great Divide, among other breweries. And in Colorado Springs, Trinity Brewing just announced a six-course dinner on Aug. 19 featuring its sour and saison beers.
And there will be many more pairings throughout the next two months as well. So, vow to beat the heat, eat some meat and find ways to support local breweries that won't leave you panting with exhaustion.
Oh, and happy Fourth of July, everyone. Let's celebrate by drinking some American beer.
Beer festivals are great collections of many breweries, but if I learned one thing at the Colorado Brewers' Festival a week-and-a-half ago, it was that 100-degree weather and voluminous drinking don't always pair well. So, how's a sweaty beer drinker supposed to spend the summer?
The answer: It's beer dinner time. Think about it. You're indoors, in air conditioning, with people serving you great food and great beer, while you don't have to move. The crowds are much smaller. And I've never seen a brewer say, "Sorry, we ran out of our specialty" in the middle of dinner.
With the Beer Geekette, I recently attended one of the finest beer/food pairings in memory - the Colorado Brewers Guild's monthly Colorado Beer Tour event at the Bridgewater Grill in Golden, this one with Ska Brewing. And through it, attendees can see all the elements that make beer dinners such worthy events.
First, a knowledgeable brewery representative - we'll call him Eric Kaizer, for the sake of this article - was there to explain the history of each beer, both the traditional history of its style and how it came to be in Ska. Eric threw in stories about the brewery leaders' antics (no surprise, if you've met Dave Thibodeau), had trivia contests with prizes (love the shirt) and just made you feel like you were part of the brewing team for one night.
Second, the fine chefs at the Bridgewater incorporated beer into many of the dishes, giving you something you couldn't find if you'd just gone to a restaurant and ordered a good beer. A ginger and beer syrup for the blackened scallop (pictured above, with more emphasis on the scallops than in the opening shot), beer mixed into the chicken jalapeno poppers and - the piece de resistance - beer salt made from several Ska brews on appetizer popcorn was quite the mix.
And third, there was the food, which was not only intricately cooked but very well paired with the beer. Let's face it, the hot dogs sold at outdoor festivals don't really bring out the character of your IPA. But when the citrus on the macadamia-crusted tuna blends wonderfully with the sharp candy taste of True Blonde Dubbel and the Modus Hoperandi compliments the hint of sweetness in the glaze on the bone-in beef ribeye (pictured above), you can truly appreciate why beer pairs better than wine with excellent food.
The Colorado Beer Tour continues at the Bridgewater Grill with a July 11 Left Hand dinner and an Aug. 1 dinner with Oskar Blues. Yes, both of those dates conflict with book signings I'm doing at Vine Street Pub and Twisted Pine Brewing, respectively. So, I can only recommend that you come visit me on one of those nights and hit the restaurant on the other. (Because it's not like you've got anything else to do this summer, right?)
Also, Freschcraft has a July 18 dinner featuring beers from Dry Dock, Funkwerks and Great Divide, among other breweries. And in Colorado Springs, Trinity Brewing just announced a six-course dinner on Aug. 19 featuring its sour and saison beers.
And there will be many more pairings throughout the next two months as well. So, vow to beat the heat, eat some meat and find ways to support local breweries that won't leave you panting with exhaustion.
Oh, and happy Fourth of July, everyone. Let's celebrate by drinking some American beer.
Labels: Beer dinners, Colorado Brewers Guild, Freshcraft, Ska Brewing, Trinity Brewing
