Wednesday, March 29, 2017
6 Things I Learned at Collab Fest 2017
It turns out that Collab Fest didn't need the beautiful setting of the luxury deck at Mile High to stand out as a festival. Moved this year to the National Western Complex, the celebration of breweries making beers together - roughly 180 auteurs combining on some 100 beers - was just as unique and relevant without the glitz factor of being able to look down upon the Broncos' field.
What's more, the types of beers that leaped off the page this year were different than in past years, moving beyond the sour and imperial barrel-aged combinations to a surprising number of very tasty concoctions that used unexpected ingredients. Attending the event left you excited about the creative flavors that remain largely untapped still in the sector.
Here, then, are a few things that stood out:
1) Comrade killed it.
In a festival marked by immense creativity, the best beer of the day - and best by a long stretch, for that matter - was Comrade Brewing's collaboration with Montana-based Uberbrew on Uberpower Triple IPA (pictured at right). Flowery and grassy, huge without a big alcohol taste, this dangerously smooth and flavorful beer was one of the greatest hop assaults that even a tried-and-true hophead has ever had in their mouth.
2) Simple pale ales stood out as well.
In some sense it's hard for a classic, lower-alcohol taste to find a niche among so much blustery boldness. But the Dog vs. Quail Pale Ale from Cannonball Creek Brewing and Hogshead Brewery (pictured at top) was fresh and bright with a lingering piny hop that accented its British, German and American ingredients. And the decision by the Colorado Brewers Guild board to offer a light, grassy pale ale with the moniker of Board's in Session was a surprisingly good and memorable one for the 11 collaborating breweries.
3) Some gimmick beers are worth drinking over and over again.
Lady Fingers, the tiramisu brown ale from Boulder Beer and New Holland Brewing was as sweet as you'd expect but also very approachable, and it seemed no odder on the palate than Boulder's best beer, its Shake Chocolate Porter. Meanwhile, the Corner Store imperial malt lager from Gravity Brewing and Kettlehouse Brewing was a high-quality hoppy beer, with big malts offering a proper base for the slightly boozy but more aggressively flowery hop bite.
4) Others were worth one taste.
The most passionate conversation I had on the floor was with Ryan Hannigan of Focus on the Beer, who insisted that the Mr. Kelly's Coconut Curry Hefeweizen - the Boulder/Ska collaboration that was exactly what it sounds like - was the most unique and best beer on the floor. While I conceded the first part of the statement to him, the bold combination came off a bit like a thick soup full of spices more than a beer, and I was quite happy to have about an ounce of it.
5) Bread beer - the next great trend
Rye pretzels and German malts were the stand-out ingredients in Don't Kvass the Streams, a kvass-inspired German ale from Wit's End and Prost Brewing. And the sour rye taste was an astoundingly good complement to the beer base, rendering the creation both bready and slightly tart. In a market drenched with New England IPAs, I might run more quickly to efforts like this that produce new and exciting flavors.
6) Then again, sours aren't done yet.
TRVE cranked up the flavor profile with Slow Death, its whiskey-barrel-aged dark mixed-culture ale with cinnamon and lemon peel that it produced with Burial Beer Co. of Asheville. Complex and still drinkable, it reminded festival goers of how much room there remains in the sour sector that might seem saturated to some.
It turns out that Collab Fest didn't need the beautiful setting of the luxury deck at Mile High to stand out as a festival. Moved this year to the National Western Complex, the celebration of breweries making beers together - roughly 180 auteurs combining on some 100 beers - was just as unique and relevant without the glitz factor of being able to look down upon the Broncos' field.
What's more, the types of beers that leaped off the page this year were different than in past years, moving beyond the sour and imperial barrel-aged combinations to a surprising number of very tasty concoctions that used unexpected ingredients. Attending the event left you excited about the creative flavors that remain largely untapped still in the sector.
Here, then, are a few things that stood out:
1) Comrade killed it.In a festival marked by immense creativity, the best beer of the day - and best by a long stretch, for that matter - was Comrade Brewing's collaboration with Montana-based Uberbrew on Uberpower Triple IPA (pictured at right). Flowery and grassy, huge without a big alcohol taste, this dangerously smooth and flavorful beer was one of the greatest hop assaults that even a tried-and-true hophead has ever had in their mouth.
2) Simple pale ales stood out as well.
In some sense it's hard for a classic, lower-alcohol taste to find a niche among so much blustery boldness. But the Dog vs. Quail Pale Ale from Cannonball Creek Brewing and Hogshead Brewery (pictured at top) was fresh and bright with a lingering piny hop that accented its British, German and American ingredients. And the decision by the Colorado Brewers Guild board to offer a light, grassy pale ale with the moniker of Board's in Session was a surprisingly good and memorable one for the 11 collaborating breweries.
3) Some gimmick beers are worth drinking over and over again.
Lady Fingers, the tiramisu brown ale from Boulder Beer and New Holland Brewing was as sweet as you'd expect but also very approachable, and it seemed no odder on the palate than Boulder's best beer, its Shake Chocolate Porter. Meanwhile, the Corner Store imperial malt lager from Gravity Brewing and Kettlehouse Brewing was a high-quality hoppy beer, with big malts offering a proper base for the slightly boozy but more aggressively flowery hop bite.
4) Others were worth one taste.
5) Bread beer - the next great trend
Rye pretzels and German malts were the stand-out ingredients in Don't Kvass the Streams, a kvass-inspired German ale from Wit's End and Prost Brewing. And the sour rye taste was an astoundingly good complement to the beer base, rendering the creation both bready and slightly tart. In a market drenched with New England IPAs, I might run more quickly to efforts like this that produce new and exciting flavors.
6) Then again, sours aren't done yet.
TRVE cranked up the flavor profile with Slow Death, its whiskey-barrel-aged dark mixed-culture ale with cinnamon and lemon peel that it produced with Burial Beer Co. of Asheville. Complex and still drinkable, it reminded festival goers of how much room there remains in the sour sector that might seem saturated to some.
Labels: Boulder Beer, Cannonball Creek Brewing, collaboration beers, Colorado Brewers Guild, Comrade Brewing, Gravity Brewing, Hogshead Brewery, Prost Brewing, Ska Brewing, TRVE, Wit's End Brewery
Thursday, March 23, 2017
10 Beers To Try at Collaboration Fest
Saturday marks the fourth Collaboration Fest, and the beers that will be served there only continue to get more nuanced and more adventurous. But since there are 180 breweries combining on roughly 100 beers at the event, it can be a bit overwhelming to decide even which direction you want to head when entering the National Western Complex for the show.
Consider this, then, a high-level sneak peak at the strangest, wildest, most wonderful combinations that will be poured at the Two Parts/Colorado Brewers Guild event. And if you haven't gotten your tickets for the mid-afternoon adventure of the palate yet, consider this your chance to decide if you want to buy them - or, frankly, if you can afford not to attend.
1) Ladyfingers - Boulder Beer and New Holland Brewing
Maybe you feel like you've tried a lot of desert-style beers in recent years, but there's a good chance you haven't drunk a tiramisu brown ale before, especially one made with New Holland's house vanilla extract. After Boulder's creation of Shake Chocolate Porter in 2013, one is wise not to turn away sweet beers that America's oldest craft brewery may offer.
2) Uberpower Triple IPA - Comrade Brewing and Uberbrew
The idea of drinking a triple IPA from Comrade Brewing is enticing enough on its own, given how the east Denver brewery is pushing the boundaries of hoppy beers. But combining its talents with the talents of the 2016 Small Brewery of the Year winner out of Montana bumps this up to irresistible.
3) Japance Off - Denver Beer and Altitude Chophouse and Brewery
Altitude's absence at the Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines festival this year was a sad one, but one of the most clever small breweries in the Rocky Mountain West found another reason to come back to Colorado - and partner with a Denver beer maker that continues to up its game. This is a hybrid Japanese and French saison made with sake yeast and floral French hops. No word yet on whether it's a traditional Japanese saison or a new-age version ....
4) Corner Store - Gravity Brewing and KettleHouse Brewing
The Louisville and Montana breweries are offering up a dry hopped imperial malt liquor. Just let that description sink in. And then try to imagine the reaction of an OE 800 fan trying one.
5) Spiciest Memelord - Odd 13 Brewing and Kane Brewing
One might worry that a kettle sour could be lost on the taste buds with all of the double IPAs and imperial stouts that breweries will be rolling out. Then you realize that this is made with habanero and raspberry. Oh, and that it's Odd 13 working with a respected New Jersey brewer.
6) Chocolate Orange Belgian Tripel - Ratio Beerworks and WeldWerks Brewing
If these two breweries made an American-style light lager, it would be worth trying. But this collaboration is as ambitious as it sounds. And it's hard to imagine it being anything short of startling.
7) Oaked Rye Dunkelweizen - Upslope Brewing and Resolute Brewing
Dunkelweizen is one of the most underutilized styles in America, and the appealing combination of this style aged on medium toast French oak cubes with some Colorado rye in there means a lot of good experimentation.
8) Brettxit - Bonfire Brewing and Casey Brewing
Casey can do sours. But an ESB fermented in wine barrels with four different Brett strains, made with an under-the-radar Eagle brewery? This is the kind of beer that defines a festival if it works out well.
9) Enemy of the People IPA - Great Divide Brewing and beer bloggers
Last year's Fourth Estate Belgian Chocolate Stout, made by bloggers and Lost Highway, was one of the real hits of the event. As an added bonus this year, I had to miss the group brew with Great Divide at the last minute even though my name is still on the beer - and that can only help its flavor profile.
10) Calvin and Hops - Something Brewery and New Boswell Brewing
I'm a guy who believes really well named beers deserve a taste. And this kumquat double IPA that is a product of a relatively new Brighton Brewery (Something) and an Indiana brewery you've probably never tried before boasts the coolest name of the festival.
Saturday marks the fourth Collaboration Fest, and the beers that will be served there only continue to get more nuanced and more adventurous. But since there are 180 breweries combining on roughly 100 beers at the event, it can be a bit overwhelming to decide even which direction you want to head when entering the National Western Complex for the show.
Consider this, then, a high-level sneak peak at the strangest, wildest, most wonderful combinations that will be poured at the Two Parts/Colorado Brewers Guild event. And if you haven't gotten your tickets for the mid-afternoon adventure of the palate yet, consider this your chance to decide if you want to buy them - or, frankly, if you can afford not to attend.
1) Ladyfingers - Boulder Beer and New Holland Brewing
Maybe you feel like you've tried a lot of desert-style beers in recent years, but there's a good chance you haven't drunk a tiramisu brown ale before, especially one made with New Holland's house vanilla extract. After Boulder's creation of Shake Chocolate Porter in 2013, one is wise not to turn away sweet beers that America's oldest craft brewery may offer.
2) Uberpower Triple IPA - Comrade Brewing and Uberbrew
The idea of drinking a triple IPA from Comrade Brewing is enticing enough on its own, given how the east Denver brewery is pushing the boundaries of hoppy beers. But combining its talents with the talents of the 2016 Small Brewery of the Year winner out of Montana bumps this up to irresistible.
3) Japance Off - Denver Beer and Altitude Chophouse and Brewery
Altitude's absence at the Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines festival this year was a sad one, but one of the most clever small breweries in the Rocky Mountain West found another reason to come back to Colorado - and partner with a Denver beer maker that continues to up its game. This is a hybrid Japanese and French saison made with sake yeast and floral French hops. No word yet on whether it's a traditional Japanese saison or a new-age version ....
4) Corner Store - Gravity Brewing and KettleHouse Brewing
The Louisville and Montana breweries are offering up a dry hopped imperial malt liquor. Just let that description sink in. And then try to imagine the reaction of an OE 800 fan trying one.
5) Spiciest Memelord - Odd 13 Brewing and Kane Brewing
One might worry that a kettle sour could be lost on the taste buds with all of the double IPAs and imperial stouts that breweries will be rolling out. Then you realize that this is made with habanero and raspberry. Oh, and that it's Odd 13 working with a respected New Jersey brewer.
6) Chocolate Orange Belgian Tripel - Ratio Beerworks and WeldWerks Brewing
If these two breweries made an American-style light lager, it would be worth trying. But this collaboration is as ambitious as it sounds. And it's hard to imagine it being anything short of startling.
7) Oaked Rye Dunkelweizen - Upslope Brewing and Resolute Brewing
Dunkelweizen is one of the most underutilized styles in America, and the appealing combination of this style aged on medium toast French oak cubes with some Colorado rye in there means a lot of good experimentation.
8) Brettxit - Bonfire Brewing and Casey Brewing
Casey can do sours. But an ESB fermented in wine barrels with four different Brett strains, made with an under-the-radar Eagle brewery? This is the kind of beer that defines a festival if it works out well.
9) Enemy of the People IPA - Great Divide Brewing and beer bloggers
Last year's Fourth Estate Belgian Chocolate Stout, made by bloggers and Lost Highway, was one of the real hits of the event. As an added bonus this year, I had to miss the group brew with Great Divide at the last minute even though my name is still on the beer - and that can only help its flavor profile.
10) Calvin and Hops - Something Brewery and New Boswell Brewing
I'm a guy who believes really well named beers deserve a taste. And this kumquat double IPA that is a product of a relatively new Brighton Brewery (Something) and an Indiana brewery you've probably never tried before boasts the coolest name of the festival.
Labels: Boulder Beer, Casey Brewing, collaboration beers, Comrade Brewing, Denver Beer Co, Gravity Brewing, Great Divide, Odd 13 Brewing, Ratio Beerworks, Upslope Brewing, Weldwerks Brewing
Saturday, November 09, 2013
All Colorado Beer Festival Ascending
With so many beer festivals in Colorado, a lot of them tend to blend together. And for the first six years of its existence, the All Colorado Beer Festival in Colorado Springs fell into that category of fun but unspectacular.
Something was different about this year's version, though - different enough where the ACBF might have to move into that don't-miss category in 2014. And it was a combination of things that elevated it.
First, the sheer number of breweries set the festival apart. Last year there were 37 beer makers pouring their products there. This year the number rose to 68 - all from Colorado, many small, some just barely open. Kudos to organizer Randy Dipner for that.
Second, one of the drawbacks of this fest in the past, like many massive beer gatherings, was that many of the breweries crammed into the space were offering the same beers you could find on any shelf all year long. That wasn't true this year.
From Gravity Brewing's intriguing Belgian Peppercorn Ale to Epic Brewing's fabulous coffee bomb Big Bad Baptist to Verboten Brewing's Good Day to You - a chocolate porter with sea salt - the Freedom Financial Services Expo Center floor was lined with new and different offerings. Even when a brewery brought something that missed wildly - such as Fort Collins Brewery's overwhelming Mesquite Chili Lime Ale - it missed by trying, not resting on its laurels.
Third, the VIP area continues to shine and is well worth the extra money. It was there that Grimm Brothers poured the tastiest beer of the festival, if not of the entire year, in its Devil's Riddle Ale, a strong ale aged nine months in Buffalo Trace barrels packed with Brettanomyces to complex effect. And it was there where the likes of New Belgium, Three Barrel and Trinity could happily turn an ordinary festival into a sour festival.
Finally, as a "celebrity judge" for the second year, I had the privilege of helping choose the winners in the IPA/imperial IPA category, and I noticed a huge difference in the quality of entrants just from last year. So when we blindly picked New Belgium's Rampant Imperial IPA for the gold medal and Dry Dock's Hop Abomination IPA for the silver (as shown in the photo at the top), it felt like we were honoring about the best in the state, not just the best there.
The ACBF typically occurs about a month after the Great American Beer Festival. If you haven't been yet, it's worth making a trip to Colorado Springs next year to do so.
With so many beer festivals in Colorado, a lot of them tend to blend together. And for the first six years of its existence, the All Colorado Beer Festival in Colorado Springs fell into that category of fun but unspectacular.
Something was different about this year's version, though - different enough where the ACBF might have to move into that don't-miss category in 2014. And it was a combination of things that elevated it.
First, the sheer number of breweries set the festival apart. Last year there were 37 beer makers pouring their products there. This year the number rose to 68 - all from Colorado, many small, some just barely open. Kudos to organizer Randy Dipner for that.
Second, one of the drawbacks of this fest in the past, like many massive beer gatherings, was that many of the breweries crammed into the space were offering the same beers you could find on any shelf all year long. That wasn't true this year.
From Gravity Brewing's intriguing Belgian Peppercorn Ale to Epic Brewing's fabulous coffee bomb Big Bad Baptist to Verboten Brewing's Good Day to You - a chocolate porter with sea salt - the Freedom Financial Services Expo Center floor was lined with new and different offerings. Even when a brewery brought something that missed wildly - such as Fort Collins Brewery's overwhelming Mesquite Chili Lime Ale - it missed by trying, not resting on its laurels.
Third, the VIP area continues to shine and is well worth the extra money. It was there that Grimm Brothers poured the tastiest beer of the festival, if not of the entire year, in its Devil's Riddle Ale, a strong ale aged nine months in Buffalo Trace barrels packed with Brettanomyces to complex effect. And it was there where the likes of New Belgium, Three Barrel and Trinity could happily turn an ordinary festival into a sour festival.
Finally, as a "celebrity judge" for the second year, I had the privilege of helping choose the winners in the IPA/imperial IPA category, and I noticed a huge difference in the quality of entrants just from last year. So when we blindly picked New Belgium's Rampant Imperial IPA for the gold medal and Dry Dock's Hop Abomination IPA for the silver (as shown in the photo at the top), it felt like we were honoring about the best in the state, not just the best there.
The ACBF typically occurs about a month after the Great American Beer Festival. If you haven't been yet, it's worth making a trip to Colorado Springs next year to do so.
Labels: All Colorado Beer Festival, Dry Dock Brewing, Epic Brewing, Fort Collins Brewing, Gravity Brewing, Grimm Brothers Brewhouse, Three Barrel Brewing, Trinity Brewing, Verboten Brewing
Tuesday, March 05, 2013
Four Things I Learned at the Boulder Strong Ale Fest
For those of you who have never been to one of Avery Brewing's on-property festivals, it is hard to put into words how decadent they are.
At this past weekend's Strong Ale Fest, tasting stations offering eight beers each left participants with the choice between, say, Pliny the Younger, Strange's award-winning barleywine or several oak-aged offerings. Quality, normal porters and saisons stood little chance of being requested.
Even as attendees got accidentally drunk from tasting so many high-alcohol beers - and I defend the use of the term "accidentally," no matter how many people laughed when I used it Saturday - there was much to be remembered. (Especially if you were one of those geeks, like me, carrying around a notebook.) Here are some of the highlights:
1) The beer trend of 2013? How about monster coffee stouts? Sour beers have been hip for at least half a decade, and the offerings at the last two Great American Beer Festivals showed that oak barrels aren't up-and-coming; they're here. But the coffee bombs are truly on their way up.
Pizza Port Brewing's Bacon & Eggs, made with 25 pounds of roasters, was as smooth as it was bulky and java-heavy. And Epic Brewing's Big Bad Baptist - coming soon to Denver - offered a full mouth of coffee and cocoa in a startlingly tempting 11% ABV package. They were just two of many such offerings in a show that may point the way to the next great trend.
2) It's OK to use fruit in a big beer. Really. Anyone who got the joy of trying The Bruery's Five Golden Rings this Christmas season realized a brewmaster could add pineapple juice to the mix and still blow you out of the water with alcohol.
Avery's Missionary Position - its Reverend Belgian Quad with guava and pineapple - was refreshing and, dare we say, almost light and easy for a 10% booze blast. And the grape must that Odell added to its Amuste imperial porter was smooth enough to make it stand out in a room of darks.
3) The new generation of double IPAs are far more earthy and astringently bitter than their forebears. Classics of the style, such as Firestone Walker's Double Jack and Avery's Maharaja were assaulting in their citrus-fruit and flower-petal qualities, making them dangerously easy to enjoy. But the new breweries on the block have a different idea.
Gravity Brewing's Acceleration Double IPA, for example, showed off its 9.8% ABV in the most malt-forward way possible. And Telluride Brewing's Fishwater Double IPA presented a caramel initial taste before rolling out its bitterness gradually. Both were head-turners in their surprisingly non-citrus character, though it's yet to be seen whether they were unique to the style or the new - and slightly less approachable - standard bearers.
4) Sometimes the hype is worth it. For the most part, the Fearless Tasting Crew avoided long GABF lines in favor of exploring unknown breweries, and it's never stood in line for hours to get a ticket for one 10-oz. pour. But on Saturday, two almost cliched offerings really stole the show.
Crooked Stave - it of the ridiculous lines at every festival where it's pouring - put up the best beer of the fest with Sentience, a tart wild quad whose whiskey-barrel aging accented its sharpness perfectly. And the hands-down best hop bomb there was, yes, Pliny the Younger; Russian River's line-inducing triple IPA was pure benevolence, sliding sweetly over tongues of everyone who made the smart decision to seek it out.
At this past weekend's Strong Ale Fest, tasting stations offering eight beers each left participants with the choice between, say, Pliny the Younger, Strange's award-winning barleywine or several oak-aged offerings. Quality, normal porters and saisons stood little chance of being requested.
Even as attendees got accidentally drunk from tasting so many high-alcohol beers - and I defend the use of the term "accidentally," no matter how many people laughed when I used it Saturday - there was much to be remembered. (Especially if you were one of those geeks, like me, carrying around a notebook.) Here are some of the highlights:
1) The beer trend of 2013? How about monster coffee stouts? Sour beers have been hip for at least half a decade, and the offerings at the last two Great American Beer Festivals showed that oak barrels aren't up-and-coming; they're here. But the coffee bombs are truly on their way up.
Pizza Port Brewing's Bacon & Eggs, made with 25 pounds of roasters, was as smooth as it was bulky and java-heavy. And Epic Brewing's Big Bad Baptist - coming soon to Denver - offered a full mouth of coffee and cocoa in a startlingly tempting 11% ABV package. They were just two of many such offerings in a show that may point the way to the next great trend.
2) It's OK to use fruit in a big beer. Really. Anyone who got the joy of trying The Bruery's Five Golden Rings this Christmas season realized a brewmaster could add pineapple juice to the mix and still blow you out of the water with alcohol.
Avery's Missionary Position - its Reverend Belgian Quad with guava and pineapple - was refreshing and, dare we say, almost light and easy for a 10% booze blast. And the grape must that Odell added to its Amuste imperial porter was smooth enough to make it stand out in a room of darks.
3) The new generation of double IPAs are far more earthy and astringently bitter than their forebears. Classics of the style, such as Firestone Walker's Double Jack and Avery's Maharaja were assaulting in their citrus-fruit and flower-petal qualities, making them dangerously easy to enjoy. But the new breweries on the block have a different idea.
Gravity Brewing's Acceleration Double IPA, for example, showed off its 9.8% ABV in the most malt-forward way possible. And Telluride Brewing's Fishwater Double IPA presented a caramel initial taste before rolling out its bitterness gradually. Both were head-turners in their surprisingly non-citrus character, though it's yet to be seen whether they were unique to the style or the new - and slightly less approachable - standard bearers.
4) Sometimes the hype is worth it. For the most part, the Fearless Tasting Crew avoided long GABF lines in favor of exploring unknown breweries, and it's never stood in line for hours to get a ticket for one 10-oz. pour. But on Saturday, two almost cliched offerings really stole the show.
Crooked Stave - it of the ridiculous lines at every festival where it's pouring - put up the best beer of the fest with Sentience, a tart wild quad whose whiskey-barrel aging accented its sharpness perfectly. And the hands-down best hop bomb there was, yes, Pliny the Younger; Russian River's line-inducing triple IPA was pure benevolence, sliding sweetly over tongues of everyone who made the smart decision to seek it out.
Labels: Avery Brewing, Coffee beer, Crooked Stave, Epic Brewing, Festivals, Gravity Brewing, IPA, Odell Brewing, Pizza Port, Russian River, Telluride Brewing
