Monday, September 20, 2021
Great Mexican Beer Fiesta Offers Unique Tastes
Denver Beer Co. on Sept. 11 held its Great American Beer Fiesta once again, offering up three beers made in collaboration between the Denver brewery and three Mexican breweries. It was a tradition launched by Jason Buehler, the late Denver Beer brewmaster whose repeated trips to Mexico led not only to a deep connection to the budding beer makers in that country but to the launching of Cerveceria Colorado, the Mexican-style brewery housed in the former barrel room of Denver Beer Co's Platte Street taproom.
This year's three beers show a range of styles, each with a unique ingredient.
The best of the trio is Chipotle Amber Ale, made in collaboration with Cerveza Caserio in the Gulf Coast town of Tampico. Made with meco chipotle chiles, this was a fascinating experiment between two breweries that had never used chipotle in a beer before but kept adding it a little bit at a time until they reached the point where the burn was apparent but not overwhelming, Denver Beer director of innovation Andy Parker said.
What's impressive here is that the heat rises gradually — a little bit at first on the aroma, and then a little bit more on the tongue and a little bit more on the backbite, until you are entranced with the smoky zing and what it can do to a mild beer. Cerveza Caserio brewer Humberto Saldivar said he wanted to use something more balanced than the habaneros and poblano peppers that he's put into his beer before, and he clearly seems to have nailed it.
Also impressive is the Café de Olla Stout made in collaboration with Cerveceria San Pascual Baylon in the city of Cholula. Brewery co-founder Nico Capasso wanted to make something akin to the the traditional Mexican coffee made in earthen clay pots, and he and the Denver Beer team created a beer that tastes both exotic and familiar and leaves you swirling it around on your taste buds to see how many flavors you can pick up.
There is star anise, clove and orange peel in here, but what sets this apart is piloncillo, a caramelized sugar added to the kettle in just the right amount to give this a cushioning sweetness without making a dark and properly spiced beer into something that actually is sweet. It will remind you of some of the bigger-bodied stout experiments popular with Colorado breweries now, but there's nothing that tastes quite like this.
Finally, there is the Blood Orange Gose (pictured at top of blog), made in collaboration with Mexico City's Cerveza Cru Cru, a brewery known for its drinkable beers and the lauded beer competitions that it organizes. Head brewer Luis Enrique de la Reguera said he wanted to use a kind of fruit that can't be found in Mexico but add it to this classic style in a way that calls to mind a michelada, the traditional Mexican drink made with beer, lime juice, tomato juice and spices.
The kettle sour may be on the traditional side, but it's decidedly not sour, with any mild tartness overshadowed by a big dose of orange that renders it overly subtle. Still, if there was a Mexican/Denverite collaboration equivalent of a lawnmower beer, this may just be it, giving you refreshment without the lasting imprint that the other two beers will leave upon you.
The Great Mexican Beer Fiesta offerings are on tap until they run out at Cerveceria Colorado, but brewery co-owner Patrick Crawford said he expects they may last a month or longer.
Labels: Cerveceria Colorado, Cerveceria San Pascual Baylon, Cerveza Caserio, Cerveza Cru Cru, collaboration beers, Denver Beer Co, Great American Beer Festival, Mexican beer
Thursday, April 22, 2021
What's Happening? Denver Beer Is Earning Attention
Denver Beer Co. has never been a boring brewery. From its inception, it turned its beers over frequently and came up with new flavors, from its lovingly received Graham Cracker Porter to its divisively delicious William Wallace Scottish Ale. And it won a lot of Great American Beer Festival medals on the way, including a Colorado-high three in 2020.
Still, the brewery never seemed to become a trend-setter — even though it was one of the pioneers of the city's taproom scene when it opened a decade ago — or one of the must-visit beer-geek stops, even as the patio of its original Platte Street location always teemed with people. Because of several things that have happened in recent months, however, that may be changing.
The brewery made a splash on St. Patrick's Day when it opened its third location, this one in a former garage (like its first two taprooms) in south Denver's Rosedale neighborhood. Just having another location isn't gutsy in itself, but the brewery restaurant includes a one-barrel pilot system for making offerings exclusive to that spot, and an opening-day selection that included a balanced black currant kettle sour and a bold-but-not-too-big campfire coffee stout showed that its creative juices already were flowing well.
But what happened about a month-and-a-half before that could be even more impactful to Denver Beer's place in the sprawling, spectacular Front Range scene. In an announcement that seemed to fly too far under the radar, the brewery announced that it had hired Andy Parker (shown below with his lab, Pete) to be its director of innovation — the same Andy Parker that played a major role in gaining national experimental-darling status for Avery Brewing in an 18-1/2-year career there where he launched its barrel program and grew it to a collection of some 4,000 barrels.
Beer geeks might see the move as an odd one, going from a brewery that attracted throngs of devotees each year at GABF to one whose reputation is one that is more for its tasty accessible beers and is concentrated on its Front Range fans. But as Parker said in an interview earlier this year, the jump isn't so strange upon further examination.
While Avery was a smaller and more free-flowing brewery when Parker started there, it blew up in recent years, particularly with the 2015 opening of its $28 million brewery/restaurant in Boulder County featuring not one but two 30-tap tasting rooms. It sold part of the independent brewery two years later to Spanish brewer Mahou San Miguel, which now owns the majority of Avery, and moved a lot of its effort in recent years to more universally drinkable, nationally sold beers.
Denver Beer, meanwhile, has put its efforts into side projects that keep the beer local and ramp up its flavor profiles, such as the mid-2018 opening of Cerveceria Colorado, which offered an entirely new take on Mexican beers, based on the travels of then-head-brewer Jason Buehler, who passed away late last year. Denver Beer has captured five GABF medals in the past two years, including three for its often-overlooked barrel offerings, and its improvements haven't been lost on Parker.
"Just being a beer geek who's interested in beer, I've been watching Denver Beer get better and better for a decade," he said. "I love to focus on a local market, on Colorado's creativity and lifestyle."
And yes, Parker does plan to ramp up Denver Beer's barrel program, though he said he won't do it to Avery-like magnitude. But he also wants to make beers that can be fermented and sold fairly quickly, so he gets to enjoy the feedback of drinkers who are finding new tastes.
That may just include lighter efforts. The Love This City pilsner, which Denver Beer released early last month in collaboration with artist Pat Milbery, is a subtly delicious take on the classic style, hopped a little bit more liberally for late-breaking bite but still tremendously easy and an all-night sipper. When I half-jokingly asked Parker what he will bring to Denver Beer's seltzer program, he said that he's looking a potential tequila-barrel-aged seltzer, which might be the first entry into the genre that could generate a double-take.
Denver Beer founders Charlie Berger and Patrick Crawford (shown below) said they brought Parker in because of his experience but also because of his seamless fit with the laid-back culture of the brewery. They expect passion, they said, and know that what flows from that will make their beer better.
Drinkers, meanwhile, should frankly recalibrate their expectations of Denver Beer, which may produce another raspberry kolsch or may go off on a route it hasn't traversed previously. But at this point, the brewery deserves recognition for being bold in ways that sometimes are hidden, and here's guessing it's going to get more of that in the coming years.
Labels: Avery Brewing, Denver Beer Co, Great American Beer Festival, pilsner
Monday, April 27, 2020
A Short Piece about the new Michigan Brewery in Town
Those who have swung by the Short's Brewing Co. booth at Great American Beer Festival likely walked away thinking that the northern Michigan brewery was all about fun and experimental games. Offering flavors from carrot cake to strawberry to peaches and cream, it grew a reputation starting about a half-decade ago for turning your head as you walked by and daring you not to stop and try.
About three months ago, the 16-year-old brewery began distribution in Colorado. Yes, the event seemed overshadowed when the whole world blew up about a month after it arrived here (which, by the way, was pure coincidence). But what seemed almost as strange was the brewery entering the state with a portfolio of offerings that could be considered - gasp - somewhat normal.
Its flagship beers that it began selling at liquor stores throughout the area included an IPA, a heavily fruited ale and a light beer, of all things. It also brought along three ciders from the Starcut Ciders facility it operates, as well as a hard seltzer, Beaches, that seems a mandate for all growing craft breweries (but that, like all seltzers, merits no further words).
Since coronavirus shifted so much of our liquor-store buying to curbside pickup and delivery, old favorites are in and newcomers like Short's feel like a luxury that many drinkers may not have time or resources to discover. But there are a couple of Short's offerings that the Colorado craft-enjoying world shouldn't overlook, even as it's putting so much energy rightly into buying locally.
Huma Lupa Licious IPA is an old-school, West-Coast-reminiscent beer that is very balanced, with a medium pine nose but also a little breadiness around the edges when it comes to its aroma. Though 7.7% ABV, it sits like a beer you could drink several of without it weighing you down.
Soft Parade - brewed with puree of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries - looks like fruit juice and smells like berries but does not lack for real beer flavor. Plus, its 7.5% ABV base gives it just enough of a boozy, serious body to make you think about all the flavors you're imbibing.
Maybe the best offering of its entry class, however, was Pulsar, its dry cider made with Michigan apples and Pinot Noir yeast that has a tart enough tinge that it resembles an introductory sour ale. It's truly one of the more complex and advanced ciders you will try, and when considered alongside its Octorock hard cider, it demonstrates that Starcut, like the experimental Short's that beer geeks know, can draw a lot of flavor into its offerings.
That said, the Local's Light is an abundantly strange choice to bring into a mature beer market; there is little other than its smoothness that separates it from the megabreweries' light offerings, and it holds no appeal for those seeking new flavors. And Mosa, a blend of hard cider and orange juice, feels too much like the bad mixed drink you put together in college using orange juice stolen from the cafeteria, pounding you with sweetness and funk (though not the good Brett kind of funk) and just screaming "experiment gone wrong."
It frankly feels like an odd time to recommend any beer that was brewed more than 10 miles from your home. But when the world calms, Short's is a seasoned beer maker worth a try. And, just maybe, this guru of eclectic flavors can bring out to Colorado some more experiments the state will embrace.
Those who have swung by the Short's Brewing Co. booth at Great American Beer Festival likely walked away thinking that the northern Michigan brewery was all about fun and experimental games. Offering flavors from carrot cake to strawberry to peaches and cream, it grew a reputation starting about a half-decade ago for turning your head as you walked by and daring you not to stop and try.
About three months ago, the 16-year-old brewery began distribution in Colorado. Yes, the event seemed overshadowed when the whole world blew up about a month after it arrived here (which, by the way, was pure coincidence). But what seemed almost as strange was the brewery entering the state with a portfolio of offerings that could be considered - gasp - somewhat normal.
Its flagship beers that it began selling at liquor stores throughout the area included an IPA, a heavily fruited ale and a light beer, of all things. It also brought along three ciders from the Starcut Ciders facility it operates, as well as a hard seltzer, Beaches, that seems a mandate for all growing craft breweries (but that, like all seltzers, merits no further words).
Since coronavirus shifted so much of our liquor-store buying to curbside pickup and delivery, old favorites are in and newcomers like Short's feel like a luxury that many drinkers may not have time or resources to discover. But there are a couple of Short's offerings that the Colorado craft-enjoying world shouldn't overlook, even as it's putting so much energy rightly into buying locally.
Huma Lupa Licious IPA is an old-school, West-Coast-reminiscent beer that is very balanced, with a medium pine nose but also a little breadiness around the edges when it comes to its aroma. Though 7.7% ABV, it sits like a beer you could drink several of without it weighing you down.
Soft Parade - brewed with puree of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries - looks like fruit juice and smells like berries but does not lack for real beer flavor. Plus, its 7.5% ABV base gives it just enough of a boozy, serious body to make you think about all the flavors you're imbibing.
Maybe the best offering of its entry class, however, was Pulsar, its dry cider made with Michigan apples and Pinot Noir yeast that has a tart enough tinge that it resembles an introductory sour ale. It's truly one of the more complex and advanced ciders you will try, and when considered alongside its Octorock hard cider, it demonstrates that Starcut, like the experimental Short's that beer geeks know, can draw a lot of flavor into its offerings.
That said, the Local's Light is an abundantly strange choice to bring into a mature beer market; there is little other than its smoothness that separates it from the megabreweries' light offerings, and it holds no appeal for those seeking new flavors. And Mosa, a blend of hard cider and orange juice, feels too much like the bad mixed drink you put together in college using orange juice stolen from the cafeteria, pounding you with sweetness and funk (though not the good Brett kind of funk) and just screaming "experiment gone wrong."
It frankly feels like an odd time to recommend any beer that was brewed more than 10 miles from your home. But when the world calms, Short's is a seasoned beer maker worth a try. And, just maybe, this guru of eclectic flavors can bring out to Colorado some more experiments the state will embrace.
Labels: American light lager, cider, Fruit beers, Great American Beer Festival, IPA, Michigan beers, Short's Brewing
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Best of GABF 2019
Let's face it, my 16-year-old self would have thought this Great American Beer Festival was made when I stumbled onto two beers within 10 yards of each that both were named Deez Nuts.
But my present 46-year-old self felt that the country's largest gathering of brewers found its true essence in those side trips to an unknown destination that produced surprise after surprise, every one enlightening about the current state of the craft-beer industry. And even if the GABF didn't sell out for the first time in 13 years, there were no complaints from people wandering the floor that American beer makers don't continue to get more daring even as they get more approachable.
With that said, here is the annual look at one beer writer's impressions of the most unique and satisfying malt beverages in the nation - not a one of which was a hard seltzer.
Best Beer of the Festival: Oozlefinch Craft Brewery Sour, Not Stirred
It took guts to make a martini gose. But it took even more talent to make it so perfectly, crafting a beer that was tart and sweet with hints of booze but with pronounced tastes as well of Angelica root, orange peel and just enough bitters to convince yourself you were holding some sort of magical hybrid. During a year when so many beers walked a line between pleasing and challenging, this treat from Virginia was all joy, even as it made you think about just what it was you were imbibing.
Other Best Envelope Pusher: Speciation Artisan Ales Saltation
The most interesting brewery in America - and, yes, this Michigan fermentation king has earned that title - managed to turn heads again with a margarita that produced flavors of lime, saltiness and sweetness in perfect harmony. Owner Mitch Ermatinger offered that this had an almost familiar property to people for something so outside the box. It was comforting even as it woke taste buds.
Best Hop Bomb: Great Notion Brewing Chuck's Notion
You had to look hard for this New England-style IPA - specifically at Finn's Manor before the festival began - but finding it meant diving nose-first into a rich, tropical array of fruit that defines the new IPA and yet keeps it squarely in check with a 7% ABV level.
Best Dark Offering: Weldwerks PBC
In a hall fall of wonderfully boozy barrel-aged stouts, what stood out about Weldwerks' 16% ABV peanut butter cup stout was it was so rich in chocolate and nuts that the alcohol was like a background element. The lines at the Greeley brewery's booth were absurd but somehow worth it.
Best Dad Beer: Cannonball Creek Netflix and Pils
Approachable was in this year, but nothing was as easy and yet as flavorful as this ultra-crispy pilsner from Golden, which laid out its hops as its main flavor attribute but let them present themselves in dry and smooth offering that stuck around your palate like it was something much bigger.
Best Undefinable Beer: Captain Lawrence Brewing Powder Dreams
This beer from upstate New York is listed as a New England IPA. But hints of guava and vanilla and lactose popped in your mouth, leaving you torn between calling it a sour or a milkshake or … never mind. It was just a creative, highly flavorful offering.
Best Beer That Seemed Nothing Like a Beer: J Wakefield Brewing Haterade
Haterade isn't for everyone; it absolutely looked like Hawaiian Punch and tasted like a tart Kool Aid presented on a bed of malt to even it out. But finding a beer like this from this Miami brewery reminds you of why boundaries exist to be pushed, and you couldn't help but go back for more.
\
Best Beer/Food Combination: West Sixth Brewing
If you've never bought a ticket to the Paired beer and food event at GABF, here is what you miss: A Kentucky brewery you might not have known about offering a full but drinkable 13% ABV Snakes in Barrel bourbon-barrel-aged imperial stout in concert with spicy kangaroo sausage from Pope Joan restaurant of Melbourne, Australia. Fantastic alone, they were magical together. And it made you want to try more pairings on your own.
Biggest Surprise of GABF: 105 West Brewing Double Deez Nuts
No, really. I drank it to send a picture of the name to a friend. And I stopped in my tracks, realizing the generous hazelnut overtones in this wee heavy made this a beer that backed up its adjunct ingredients with a solid body that let malt and nuts stand out simultaneously. A true find from Castle Rock.
Let's face it, my 16-year-old self would have thought this Great American Beer Festival was made when I stumbled onto two beers within 10 yards of each that both were named Deez Nuts.
But my present 46-year-old self felt that the country's largest gathering of brewers found its true essence in those side trips to an unknown destination that produced surprise after surprise, every one enlightening about the current state of the craft-beer industry. And even if the GABF didn't sell out for the first time in 13 years, there were no complaints from people wandering the floor that American beer makers don't continue to get more daring even as they get more approachable.
With that said, here is the annual look at one beer writer's impressions of the most unique and satisfying malt beverages in the nation - not a one of which was a hard seltzer.
It took guts to make a martini gose. But it took even more talent to make it so perfectly, crafting a beer that was tart and sweet with hints of booze but with pronounced tastes as well of Angelica root, orange peel and just enough bitters to convince yourself you were holding some sort of magical hybrid. During a year when so many beers walked a line between pleasing and challenging, this treat from Virginia was all joy, even as it made you think about just what it was you were imbibing.
Other Best Envelope Pusher: Speciation Artisan Ales Saltation
The most interesting brewery in America - and, yes, this Michigan fermentation king has earned that title - managed to turn heads again with a margarita that produced flavors of lime, saltiness and sweetness in perfect harmony. Owner Mitch Ermatinger offered that this had an almost familiar property to people for something so outside the box. It was comforting even as it woke taste buds.
Best Hop Bomb: Great Notion Brewing Chuck's Notion
You had to look hard for this New England-style IPA - specifically at Finn's Manor before the festival began - but finding it meant diving nose-first into a rich, tropical array of fruit that defines the new IPA and yet keeps it squarely in check with a 7% ABV level.Best Dark Offering: Weldwerks PBC
In a hall fall of wonderfully boozy barrel-aged stouts, what stood out about Weldwerks' 16% ABV peanut butter cup stout was it was so rich in chocolate and nuts that the alcohol was like a background element. The lines at the Greeley brewery's booth were absurd but somehow worth it.
Best Dad Beer: Cannonball Creek Netflix and Pils
Approachable was in this year, but nothing was as easy and yet as flavorful as this ultra-crispy pilsner from Golden, which laid out its hops as its main flavor attribute but let them present themselves in dry and smooth offering that stuck around your palate like it was something much bigger.
Best Undefinable Beer: Captain Lawrence Brewing Powder Dreams
This beer from upstate New York is listed as a New England IPA. But hints of guava and vanilla and lactose popped in your mouth, leaving you torn between calling it a sour or a milkshake or … never mind. It was just a creative, highly flavorful offering.
Best Beer That Seemed Nothing Like a Beer: J Wakefield Brewing Haterade
Haterade isn't for everyone; it absolutely looked like Hawaiian Punch and tasted like a tart Kool Aid presented on a bed of malt to even it out. But finding a beer like this from this Miami brewery reminds you of why boundaries exist to be pushed, and you couldn't help but go back for more.
\
Best Beer/Food Combination: West Sixth Brewing
If you've never bought a ticket to the Paired beer and food event at GABF, here is what you miss: A Kentucky brewery you might not have known about offering a full but drinkable 13% ABV Snakes in Barrel bourbon-barrel-aged imperial stout in concert with spicy kangaroo sausage from Pope Joan restaurant of Melbourne, Australia. Fantastic alone, they were magical together. And it made you want to try more pairings on your own.
Biggest Surprise of GABF: 105 West Brewing Double Deez Nuts
No, really. I drank it to send a picture of the name to a friend. And I stopped in my tracks, realizing the generous hazelnut overtones in this wee heavy made this a beer that backed up its adjunct ingredients with a solid body that let malt and nuts stand out simultaneously. A true find from Castle Rock.
Labels: 105 West Brewing, Cannonball Creek Brewing, Great American Beer Festival, Great Notion Brewing, J Wakefield Brewing, Oozlefinch Craft Brewery, Speciation Artisan Ales, Weldwerks Brewing
Tuesday, October 01, 2019
Denver's Beer Restaurant Scene is Going Through an Evolution
Denver has its breweries and it has its beer bars, as the world knows while it descends upon the Great American Beer Festival this week. But an under-appreciated part of the scene the Mile High City is developing is its beer-themed restaurants - and few represent it as well as Former Saint.
Former Saint Craft Kitchen and Taps is located on the first floor of the Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center, not exactly a place where you might think beer culture might flourish. But the restaurant - named not for its latent soul but for its being the site of St. Mary's Academy, the first all-girls school in Colorado - was developed over a number of years with the theme of Colorado being front and center the entire time.
That's evident in the menu, heavy on state-produced meats and vegetables, from its bison burger to its buffalo steak. And it's evident in the 16-tap, all-Colorado beer list, which Dane Fiscella, the hotel's assistant food and beverage manager, works closely with his beverage guru to for the largely conventioneers' crowd that stays there.
Here you will find a range from local lagers to Epic Brewing's Big Bad Baptist Imperial Stout. More importantly, you will find beers ranging from those produced by the state's largest craft brewer, New Belgium Brewing, to only-distributed-in-Denver artisans like Goldspot Brewing.
Fiscella, a veteran of the venerable Philadelphia beer scene, goes out on scouting trips often for local beers, and he thinks not of what will appeal to the masses but what will genuinely provoke customers' interests. The biggest seller the space has seen is not a light lager but Station 26 Brewing Juicy Banger, which Coloradans know as one of the best IPAs made in the Centennial State.
And when the beer isn't flowing through the copper pipes from the glass-walled taproom (pictured above) that draw so many questions, it is taking a supporting role on the menu. The restaurant's popular quail and waffles (pictured below) is slathered with a syrup made from Denver Beer Co's Graham Cracker Porter.
Certainly, there are places around downtown Denver that serve a larger and riskier portfolio of Colorado craft beers than Former Saint. But the eatery - which is hosting a Sierra Nevada pairing dinner on Wednesday and a number of tap takeovers throughout this week - is a prime example of how the Denver beer scene is starting to imbue itself in places well beyond the beer-geek haunts of yore, and it is well worth a stop on the way into or out of the Colorado Convention Center to see how craft beer and fine food have become allies rather than opposites , even in a corporate hotel setting.
"Our Colorado themed hyper-focus, it sets us apart from our competitors," Fiscella said recently. "When you're staying at a hotel, you're going on a trip. "If we can give you that sense in downtown Denver of adventure and of out-of-the-ordinary, that's what we want to do."
Denver has its breweries and it has its beer bars, as the world knows while it descends upon the Great American Beer Festival this week. But an under-appreciated part of the scene the Mile High City is developing is its beer-themed restaurants - and few represent it as well as Former Saint.
Former Saint Craft Kitchen and Taps is located on the first floor of the Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center, not exactly a place where you might think beer culture might flourish. But the restaurant - named not for its latent soul but for its being the site of St. Mary's Academy, the first all-girls school in Colorado - was developed over a number of years with the theme of Colorado being front and center the entire time.
That's evident in the menu, heavy on state-produced meats and vegetables, from its bison burger to its buffalo steak. And it's evident in the 16-tap, all-Colorado beer list, which Dane Fiscella, the hotel's assistant food and beverage manager, works closely with his beverage guru to for the largely conventioneers' crowd that stays there.
Here you will find a range from local lagers to Epic Brewing's Big Bad Baptist Imperial Stout. More importantly, you will find beers ranging from those produced by the state's largest craft brewer, New Belgium Brewing, to only-distributed-in-Denver artisans like Goldspot Brewing.
Fiscella, a veteran of the venerable Philadelphia beer scene, goes out on scouting trips often for local beers, and he thinks not of what will appeal to the masses but what will genuinely provoke customers' interests. The biggest seller the space has seen is not a light lager but Station 26 Brewing Juicy Banger, which Coloradans know as one of the best IPAs made in the Centennial State.
And when the beer isn't flowing through the copper pipes from the glass-walled taproom (pictured above) that draw so many questions, it is taking a supporting role on the menu. The restaurant's popular quail and waffles (pictured below) is slathered with a syrup made from Denver Beer Co's Graham Cracker Porter.
Certainly, there are places around downtown Denver that serve a larger and riskier portfolio of Colorado craft beers than Former Saint. But the eatery - which is hosting a Sierra Nevada pairing dinner on Wednesday and a number of tap takeovers throughout this week - is a prime example of how the Denver beer scene is starting to imbue itself in places well beyond the beer-geek haunts of yore, and it is well worth a stop on the way into or out of the Colorado Convention Center to see how craft beer and fine food have become allies rather than opposites , even in a corporate hotel setting.
"Our Colorado themed hyper-focus, it sets us apart from our competitors," Fiscella said recently. "When you're staying at a hotel, you're going on a trip. "If we can give you that sense in downtown Denver of adventure and of out-of-the-ordinary, that's what we want to do."
Labels: Denver Beer Co, Epic Brewing, Food pairing, Former Saint Craft Kitchen and Taps, Goldspot Brewing, Great American Beer Festival, Sierra Nevada Brewing, Station 26 Brewing
Sunday, September 29, 2019
Your GABF/Denver Beer Week Events Guide 2019
This is where the magic happens. Denver. Great American Beer Festival week. The whole beer-drinking world is watching.
As always, I've tried to throw together a high-level list of the events happening around the country's biggest gathering of brewers - not a complete list of every tapping, dinner and mini festival, but a highlight reel of what is scheduled around the Oct. 3-5 festival. Get to one, get to many - but whatever you do, get out of your house, because all that craft beer has to offer will never be as much at your fingertips as it is this week.
Monday
11 a.m.: First Draft Taproom + Kitchen, Denver's leading pour-yourself-and-pay-by-the-ounce bar, has a stacked lineup all week. But today's kickoff with Western Distributing - featuring lesser-known Colorado gems like Pikes Peak, Bonfire and Lone Tree - is a good way to sample the far-flung scene.
Noon: Jagged Mountain also has a big week lined up, including Thursday's release of a doppelbock aged in 24-year-old rum barrels. Today launches the festivities, however, with the release of the Royal Gourdge Pumpkin Pie Ale, showing off the brewery's proclivity with unusual ingredients.
4-9 p.m.: Beginning on the hour each hour, a rambling tour will descend upon FlyteCo, The Emporium, DeSteeg, The Grateful Gnome and Call to Arms - the Tennyson neighborhood breweries participating in the Tennysinners Brewery Crawl. There's no charge except for your beers.
5ish: Falling Rock Tap House, Denver's lauded beer bar, kicks off every GABF week with 20 or so special beers on tap from auteurs both locally and nationwide. This year will be no exception. And, no, you don't even need to know the breweries pouring to justify making this trip.
6-8 p.m.: You'll be drinking a lot of barrel-aged beers this week. Want to really geek out on the art of aging before you start? Strange Craft Beer and Wit's End Brewing present a "Barrel Talk" that will feature samples of some of their aged creations.
Tuesday
Noon: When Great Divide Brewing boasts of releasing a new beer with an "otherworldly amount of hops," you would be wise to listen. Hopnaut Double Juicy IPA follows on the huge success of its Hazy IPA launch last year, and it will be on tap at both locations.
4-7 p.m.: Thirst Colorado puts together an annual Tour of Colorado event at Tap Fourteen's Ballpark location highlighting breweries from throughout the state making unique beers. This year's event showcases Boulder Beer, Bruz Beers, Wiley Roots, Fossil Craft and Bristol, among others.
4 p.m to 1 a.m..: Is hazy or clear IPA the path to true beer-drinking heaven? Finn's Manor gives you a chance to decide, offering hazies from the likes of Great Notion, Trillium and Outer Range and traditionals from folks such as Russian River, Beachwood and pFriem Family Brewers.
5-10 p.m.: Barrels and Bottles Brewery in Golden is showing off Crooked Stave Artisans Distribution beers as well as its own. Tonight's tap list of CSA beers includes gems from Half Acre, Perennial, Cascade, 3 Floyds and Societe.
6-11 p.m.: Are sessionable beers really "Dad Beers"? Ratio posits the question at The Occidental, where it will tap lower-ABV beers from it, 3 Floyds, Modern Times, Stone, Ska and Cannonball Creek as part of its "Punk Is Dad Beers" celebration.
6:30-10 p.m.: Odell Brewing really turned 30 this year. To celebrate the milestone, gastropub Euclid Hall is serving up a six-course dinner for $70 that includes a special Odell/Euclid Hall collaboration you won't find anywhere else.
Wednesday
Noon to 6 p.m.: Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project will take the rare step of opening its barrel room to the public daily through Saturday. Visitors can just pop in for a taster for the first time in five years and also can get tours of the beautiful-bug-laden facility.
1-10 p.m.: Westfax Brewing has become one of the subtle stars of the Denver area scene, but because they are located in Lakewood, a lot of Denverites may not make it out. Today's the right time to cruise down Colfax, as the brewery is tapping both a hazy double IPA and a pastry stout.
4 p.m.: Finn's Manor once again will be a place worth visiting, as it pours beers from "Weldwerks and Friends" - friends that include Casey Brewing and Blending, Forbidden Root, Great Notion, Outer Range and Mikerphone.
6 p.m.: Speaking of breweries that are off the beaten path but well worth the drive, Burns Family Artisan Ales has been punching out envelope-pushing high-ABV experiments in the former Wit's End location for a year. Today it taps a pomegranate IIIPA.
6 p.m.: Former Saint Craft Kitchen & Taps will put on an Oktoberfest-themed beer dinner, but the beer it will pair throughout will be Sierra Nevada, likely outpacing most O-fest celebrations' selection. The dinner is $50; if you miss it, there will be a Sierra Nevada tap takeover on Thursday.
6-10 p.m.: Feeling like three days of GABF is not enough? Tivoli Brewing will lengthen the celebration with a Mini American Beer Festival, for $25, featuring ticketed pours from 4 Noses, Alpine, Destihl, Green Flash and Surly, among others.
9 p.m. to midnight: For true hopheads, few events satisfy quite like Falling Rock's annual All-Star IPA Throwdown hosted by Melvin Brewing. The ticketed event features taps from Moonraker, Parish, 3 Floyds, Toppling Goliath and Maine Beer, among others.
Thursday
11:30 a.m.: Boulder County is a drive from Denver, but it's worth it when Avery Brewing re-releases its rum-soaked, double espresso Mephistopheles Stout for the first time in ages at its Gunbarrel location.
Noon: Other Half Brewing of New York is making both some of the best hazy IPAs in the country and some of the best palate-pleasing imperial stouts. TRVE Brewing lets the visitor take over a bunch of its taps today.
Noon: Boulevard Brewing also turns 30 this year. To celebrate, both Falling Rock and Smok, a Kansas City BBQ restaurant in the Source Hotel, will tap its Changeling dark sour, its Chill Vibes cucumber sour and its 30th Anniversary Ale that is a blend of barrel-aged treats.
Noon: Austin Beer Garden is an annual big winner at GABF, but you can't find its beers in Denver very often. So, today, Our Mutual Friend is hosting a tap takeover for the rising Texas star.
Noon to 9: There is considerable debate over the aftertaste of the first GABF session should feature light or huge beers. If you tend toward the latter answer, Freshcraft will be pouring double hazies and blistering sours from the likes of Lawson's Finest Liquids, Creature Comforts and The Rare Barrel.
7-10 p.m.: If, however, you believe in giving your taste buds a break after a day of drinking, First Draft will have a Lager Party featuring creations from Wiseacre, Sun King, Chuckanut, Rhinegeist … and Creature Comforts.
Friday
11 a.m.: Kegged, delivered and tapped in a span of a few hours, Station 26 Brewing's Same Day Hazy IPA is an experiment that puts the fresh in fresh hopping. Highland Tap & Burger, Lowry Beer Garden and Walter's 303 are just a few of the locations that will be featuring it today.
11:30 a.m to 11 p.m.: Hops & Pie has a big week all week. But today's offering - 11 beers from Casey Brewing and Blending, seven from Toppling Goliath and five from Weldwerks - may be its standout event for Denver Beer Week.
Noon to 4 p.m.: Denver Rare Beer Tasting is the most worthwhile $200 festival you'll ever attend. In addition to raising money for Pints for Prostates, the event features supremely hard-to-find aged creations and experiments. Cascade, Side Project and Speciation are among 50-plus pourers.
Noon to 1 a.m.: Goed Zuur taps into two of the most renowned farmhouse breweries in America, as it offers eight beers from Jester King and three beers from Rowley Farmouse Ales in New Mexico.
4 p.m.: Is Austin or Ohio more of your beer scene? No matter, Freshcraft will feature libations from both regions simultaneously, with Jester King, Skull Mechanix and Vista Brewing repping Texas and MadTree, Jackie O's and Taft's among the Midwestern stars.
9:30 p.m.: Sure, you can get Bell's Brewery offerings in Denver these days. But how often do you enjoy them with cheese curds and fried fish in an authentic Midwestern joint? Wally's Wisconsin Tavern hosts a tap takeover following the GABF session.
Saturday
11 a.m.: Like Bell's, Brooklyn Brewery and 21st Amendment can now be found in Colorado liquor-store coolers. Still, a tap takeover like Former Saint is hosting all day is one that can show off why they are American classics.
1-5 p.m.: It's both a curse and a blessing to be celebrating your third anniversary in the midst of the country's biggest beer celebration. But that isn't stopping Briar Common Brewery & Eatery from busting out three new beers to go with its excellent menu.
1-8 p.m.: Is the Great American Beer Festival not international enough for you? Cerveceria Colorado, the Mexican-beer arm of Denver Beer Co., is hosting its Great Mexican Beer Fiesta, rolling out collaborations made with five south-of-the-border brewers - and the brewers themselves.
4-8 p.m.: It's a doubleheader at Rhein Haus, which is offering a Lawson's Finest Liquids tap takeover from 4 to 6, then a takeover of Crooked Stave-distributed beers - including Two Roads, Fremont and La Cumbre - from 6 to 8.
9 p.m. to 1 a.m.: Looking for a wind-down that's not all about big beer? Ratio Beerworks once again is throwing its karaoke contest. If you don't go, you'll never be able to try to guess whether your favorite brewer sings that way because they're hammered or just tone-deaf.
As always, I've tried to throw together a high-level list of the events happening around the country's biggest gathering of brewers - not a complete list of every tapping, dinner and mini festival, but a highlight reel of what is scheduled around the Oct. 3-5 festival. Get to one, get to many - but whatever you do, get out of your house, because all that craft beer has to offer will never be as much at your fingertips as it is this week.
Monday
11 a.m.: First Draft Taproom + Kitchen, Denver's leading pour-yourself-and-pay-by-the-ounce bar, has a stacked lineup all week. But today's kickoff with Western Distributing - featuring lesser-known Colorado gems like Pikes Peak, Bonfire and Lone Tree - is a good way to sample the far-flung scene.
4-9 p.m.: Beginning on the hour each hour, a rambling tour will descend upon FlyteCo, The Emporium, DeSteeg, The Grateful Gnome and Call to Arms - the Tennyson neighborhood breweries participating in the Tennysinners Brewery Crawl. There's no charge except for your beers.
5ish: Falling Rock Tap House, Denver's lauded beer bar, kicks off every GABF week with 20 or so special beers on tap from auteurs both locally and nationwide. This year will be no exception. And, no, you don't even need to know the breweries pouring to justify making this trip.
6-8 p.m.: You'll be drinking a lot of barrel-aged beers this week. Want to really geek out on the art of aging before you start? Strange Craft Beer and Wit's End Brewing present a "Barrel Talk" that will feature samples of some of their aged creations.
Tuesday
Noon: When Great Divide Brewing boasts of releasing a new beer with an "otherworldly amount of hops," you would be wise to listen. Hopnaut Double Juicy IPA follows on the huge success of its Hazy IPA launch last year, and it will be on tap at both locations.
4-7 p.m.: Thirst Colorado puts together an annual Tour of Colorado event at Tap Fourteen's Ballpark location highlighting breweries from throughout the state making unique beers. This year's event showcases Boulder Beer, Bruz Beers, Wiley Roots, Fossil Craft and Bristol, among others.
5-10 p.m.: Barrels and Bottles Brewery in Golden is showing off Crooked Stave Artisans Distribution beers as well as its own. Tonight's tap list of CSA beers includes gems from Half Acre, Perennial, Cascade, 3 Floyds and Societe.
6-11 p.m.: Are sessionable beers really "Dad Beers"? Ratio posits the question at The Occidental, where it will tap lower-ABV beers from it, 3 Floyds, Modern Times, Stone, Ska and Cannonball Creek as part of its "Punk Is Dad Beers" celebration.
6:30-10 p.m.: Odell Brewing really turned 30 this year. To celebrate the milestone, gastropub Euclid Hall is serving up a six-course dinner for $70 that includes a special Odell/Euclid Hall collaboration you won't find anywhere else.
Wednesday
Noon to 6 p.m.: Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project will take the rare step of opening its barrel room to the public daily through Saturday. Visitors can just pop in for a taster for the first time in five years and also can get tours of the beautiful-bug-laden facility.
1-10 p.m.: Westfax Brewing has become one of the subtle stars of the Denver area scene, but because they are located in Lakewood, a lot of Denverites may not make it out. Today's the right time to cruise down Colfax, as the brewery is tapping both a hazy double IPA and a pastry stout.
4 p.m.: Finn's Manor once again will be a place worth visiting, as it pours beers from "Weldwerks and Friends" - friends that include Casey Brewing and Blending, Forbidden Root, Great Notion, Outer Range and Mikerphone.
6 p.m.: Speaking of breweries that are off the beaten path but well worth the drive, Burns Family Artisan Ales has been punching out envelope-pushing high-ABV experiments in the former Wit's End location for a year. Today it taps a pomegranate IIIPA.
6 p.m.: Former Saint Craft Kitchen & Taps will put on an Oktoberfest-themed beer dinner, but the beer it will pair throughout will be Sierra Nevada, likely outpacing most O-fest celebrations' selection. The dinner is $50; if you miss it, there will be a Sierra Nevada tap takeover on Thursday.
6-10 p.m.: Feeling like three days of GABF is not enough? Tivoli Brewing will lengthen the celebration with a Mini American Beer Festival, for $25, featuring ticketed pours from 4 Noses, Alpine, Destihl, Green Flash and Surly, among others.
Thursday
11:30 a.m.: Boulder County is a drive from Denver, but it's worth it when Avery Brewing re-releases its rum-soaked, double espresso Mephistopheles Stout for the first time in ages at its Gunbarrel location.
Noon: Boulevard Brewing also turns 30 this year. To celebrate, both Falling Rock and Smok, a Kansas City BBQ restaurant in the Source Hotel, will tap its Changeling dark sour, its Chill Vibes cucumber sour and its 30th Anniversary Ale that is a blend of barrel-aged treats.
Noon: Austin Beer Garden is an annual big winner at GABF, but you can't find its beers in Denver very often. So, today, Our Mutual Friend is hosting a tap takeover for the rising Texas star.
Noon to 9: There is considerable debate over the aftertaste of the first GABF session should feature light or huge beers. If you tend toward the latter answer, Freshcraft will be pouring double hazies and blistering sours from the likes of Lawson's Finest Liquids, Creature Comforts and The Rare Barrel.
7-10 p.m.: If, however, you believe in giving your taste buds a break after a day of drinking, First Draft will have a Lager Party featuring creations from Wiseacre, Sun King, Chuckanut, Rhinegeist … and Creature Comforts.
Friday
11 a.m.: Kegged, delivered and tapped in a span of a few hours, Station 26 Brewing's Same Day Hazy IPA is an experiment that puts the fresh in fresh hopping. Highland Tap & Burger, Lowry Beer Garden and Walter's 303 are just a few of the locations that will be featuring it today.
11:30 a.m to 11 p.m.: Hops & Pie has a big week all week. But today's offering - 11 beers from Casey Brewing and Blending, seven from Toppling Goliath and five from Weldwerks - may be its standout event for Denver Beer Week.
Noon to 1 a.m.: Goed Zuur taps into two of the most renowned farmhouse breweries in America, as it offers eight beers from Jester King and three beers from Rowley Farmouse Ales in New Mexico.
4 p.m.: Is Austin or Ohio more of your beer scene? No matter, Freshcraft will feature libations from both regions simultaneously, with Jester King, Skull Mechanix and Vista Brewing repping Texas and MadTree, Jackie O's and Taft's among the Midwestern stars.
9:30 p.m.: Sure, you can get Bell's Brewery offerings in Denver these days. But how often do you enjoy them with cheese curds and fried fish in an authentic Midwestern joint? Wally's Wisconsin Tavern hosts a tap takeover following the GABF session.
Saturday
11 a.m.: Like Bell's, Brooklyn Brewery and 21st Amendment can now be found in Colorado liquor-store coolers. Still, a tap takeover like Former Saint is hosting all day is one that can show off why they are American classics.
1-5 p.m.: It's both a curse and a blessing to be celebrating your third anniversary in the midst of the country's biggest beer celebration. But that isn't stopping Briar Common Brewery & Eatery from busting out three new beers to go with its excellent menu.
1-8 p.m.: Is the Great American Beer Festival not international enough for you? Cerveceria Colorado, the Mexican-beer arm of Denver Beer Co., is hosting its Great Mexican Beer Fiesta, rolling out collaborations made with five south-of-the-border brewers - and the brewers themselves.
4-8 p.m.: It's a doubleheader at Rhein Haus, which is offering a Lawson's Finest Liquids tap takeover from 4 to 6, then a takeover of Crooked Stave-distributed beers - including Two Roads, Fremont and La Cumbre - from 6 to 8.
9 p.m. to 1 a.m.: Looking for a wind-down that's not all about big beer? Ratio Beerworks once again is throwing its karaoke contest. If you don't go, you'll never be able to try to guess whether your favorite brewer sings that way because they're hammered or just tone-deaf.
Labels: Casey Brewing, Denver Beer Week, Falling Rock Taphouse, Finn's Manor, First Draft Taproom + Kitchen, Great American Beer Festival, Great Notion Brewing, Outer Range Brewing, Weldwerks Brewing
Thursday, September 19, 2019
One Year In, Brooklyn Brewery's Arrival to Colorado Remains Worth Celebrating
Between the rate at which out-of-state breweries enter Colorado and the rate at which new breweries open within the Centennial State, there is little reason to acknowledge a beer maker from the other 49, regardless to celebrate it. Brooklyn Brewery, however, is the exception to that corollary.
Nearly one year after the 35-year-old brewery first began to offer its wares at local bars and liquor stores, there is something that distinguishes it from the other breweries that have crept into our hotbed of a beer market, even as fantastic as some of those breweries (i.e. Bell's) are. And that something is a sense of craft-beer history that continues to waft out of each of its cans and bottles, almost like it would be far more unnatural if Brooklyn's beers were not with us than the fact that a New York-brewed offering is sitting on our shelves beside 90 different Colorado creations.
Brooklyn founder Steve Hindy (pictured above), after all, is a true pioneer of the American scene. A former Middle East correspondent for the Associated Press who discovered homebrewing through envoys that made their own libations in countries where it was illegal to buy them, he started a "microbrewery" at the time when the idea was foreign to American drinkers. He made fans not only in New York but among pilots and oil tycoons from Europe and Asia who insisted he start exporting the beer by 1988. And yet it was only 30 years later that he felt the time was right to distribute in Colorado.
"You do have quite a few breweries here. I think the craft beer movement is largely about local," Hindy told me over a couple of pints last October at Falling Rock Tap House. "But the beer industry is about brands. And brands can transcend local."
One sip of the brewery's Sorachi Ace, a saison with a slightly lemony aroma and bigger-than-it-seems wallop of alcohol in the body, will tell you that. Colorado has some great saison makers — including Funkwerks, the Fort Collins brewery in which Brooklyn bought a minority stake in order to distribute throughout the country — but Sorachi Ace still stands out as one of the cleanest and yet most unique saisons out there.
Or there is its Bel Air Sour, a lighter-bodied Lactobacillus-tinged wild ale that gives off a pre-ripe fruit feel at first blush but settles to a level of tartness that licks the taste buds without burning them up. It's become my go-to beer to introduce to friends who are sour-curious but still not sure how much they want to try the style.
Brooklyn's entry also brought 21st Amendment Brewery into the market, as it has a similar financial relationship to that San Francisco denizen as it has to Funkwerks. And 21st Amendment has brought the state the unique Hell or High Watermelon Wheat and the excellent Brew Free or Die Blood Orange IPA, two beers that also transcend local and make you want to crave a classic.
There is, of course, the Brooklyn Lager, a finely made remnant of 1990s beer culture that reminds you of why people wanted to switch from flavorless light lagers to American takes on the style that imbued a shocking amount of flavor at that time. The beer (thanks, Dustin Hall, for the photo) still represents 50% of Brooklyn's production, and it's the one Hindy will drink all night as he explains how it just seemed the time last year to make Colorado the 30th state in which the brewery is sold.
So, come Great American Beer Festival, I will seek out the new and bold and hip and daring, because that excitement of boundary-pushing continues to define why craft beer is so fresh even after it's become a market go-to for 10 years. But I also will seek out the Brooklyn booth, despite it being embedded in Colorado at this point, because seeking the future without knowing the delicious past of this sector creates a lack of direction, long after Hindy, brewer Garrett Oliver and others pointed the industry to the place where it now sits.
Nearly one year after the 35-year-old brewery first began to offer its wares at local bars and liquor stores, there is something that distinguishes it from the other breweries that have crept into our hotbed of a beer market, even as fantastic as some of those breweries (i.e. Bell's) are. And that something is a sense of craft-beer history that continues to waft out of each of its cans and bottles, almost like it would be far more unnatural if Brooklyn's beers were not with us than the fact that a New York-brewed offering is sitting on our shelves beside 90 different Colorado creations.
Brooklyn founder Steve Hindy (pictured above), after all, is a true pioneer of the American scene. A former Middle East correspondent for the Associated Press who discovered homebrewing through envoys that made their own libations in countries where it was illegal to buy them, he started a "microbrewery" at the time when the idea was foreign to American drinkers. He made fans not only in New York but among pilots and oil tycoons from Europe and Asia who insisted he start exporting the beer by 1988. And yet it was only 30 years later that he felt the time was right to distribute in Colorado.
"You do have quite a few breweries here. I think the craft beer movement is largely about local," Hindy told me over a couple of pints last October at Falling Rock Tap House. "But the beer industry is about brands. And brands can transcend local."One sip of the brewery's Sorachi Ace, a saison with a slightly lemony aroma and bigger-than-it-seems wallop of alcohol in the body, will tell you that. Colorado has some great saison makers — including Funkwerks, the Fort Collins brewery in which Brooklyn bought a minority stake in order to distribute throughout the country — but Sorachi Ace still stands out as one of the cleanest and yet most unique saisons out there.
Or there is its Bel Air Sour, a lighter-bodied Lactobacillus-tinged wild ale that gives off a pre-ripe fruit feel at first blush but settles to a level of tartness that licks the taste buds without burning them up. It's become my go-to beer to introduce to friends who are sour-curious but still not sure how much they want to try the style.
Brooklyn's entry also brought 21st Amendment Brewery into the market, as it has a similar financial relationship to that San Francisco denizen as it has to Funkwerks. And 21st Amendment has brought the state the unique Hell or High Watermelon Wheat and the excellent Brew Free or Die Blood Orange IPA, two beers that also transcend local and make you want to crave a classic.
There is, of course, the Brooklyn Lager, a finely made remnant of 1990s beer culture that reminds you of why people wanted to switch from flavorless light lagers to American takes on the style that imbued a shocking amount of flavor at that time. The beer (thanks, Dustin Hall, for the photo) still represents 50% of Brooklyn's production, and it's the one Hindy will drink all night as he explains how it just seemed the time last year to make Colorado the 30th state in which the brewery is sold.
So, come Great American Beer Festival, I will seek out the new and bold and hip and daring, because that excitement of boundary-pushing continues to define why craft beer is so fresh even after it's become a market go-to for 10 years. But I also will seek out the Brooklyn booth, despite it being embedded in Colorado at this point, because seeking the future without knowing the delicious past of this sector creates a lack of direction, long after Hindy, brewer Garrett Oliver and others pointed the industry to the place where it now sits.
Labels: 21st Amendment Brewing, Bell's Brewing, Brooklyn Brewery, Funkwerks, Great American Beer Festival, lager, Saisons, sour ale
Wednesday, September 04, 2019
The Art of the Beer Dinner, Big Beers Style
If the tone of the evening was set by the rows of taster glasses splayed across the bar at the Quandary Grille when guests arrived, the mood was struck by Dave Thibodeau comparing the lifestyle of Durango to that of Nynashamn, Sweden. The Ska Brewing co-founder described outdoor adventures and big beers on the Baltic Sea while pouring five beers that ranged from effervescently sour to dark and pucker-worthy.
The January 2019 Traditional Brewmasters' Dinner was quintessential Big Beers Belgians & Barleywines Festival, combining a dissection of great fermented beverages, the appearance of hard-to-find libations (and the brewmaster from Nynashamns Angbryggeri, who flew in for the occasion) and events that elevate beer. And as tickets for the 2020 festival, scheduled from Jan. 9-11 in Breckenridge, go on sale again this week, it's worth considering why beer-food pairings like these can be so illuminating.
To start with, there is the beer, which is usually pulled from the shelves at the back of cellars where brewers like to keep offerings they open only for special occasions. Nynashamns' contributions included three aged beers and two imperial stouts, one of which it had not served before. Ska rolled out five beers from its sour collection, including its 23rd Anniversary Ale, seemingly showing off what it could do to anyone who dared think of its brewers as "the True Blonde guys."
Then there is the truly well-thought-out pairings of beers that you might suspect would be best enjoyed as stand-alone treats on cold evenings. Ska's Cru d'état, a mixed-culture Brett beer aged in a foeder that hasn't been cleaned in six years, accented the candied bacon on the duck cassoulet toasted pasta (pictured at left) in a way that was unexpected. Its Pink Vapor Stew brightened a parnsip, turnip and beet salad (pictured below) — partly because it shared some ingredients with the leafy feast. Nynashamns' three-year-old Botet Barleywine, aged in Portuguese sherry barrels, cut its own head-turning path with the salad.
The final ingredient for any successful dinner, of course, is good conversation, and this beer dinner had plenty of that. Thibodeau spoke of how difficult it was to break into the Swedish beer market - and how that turned into a friendship between the two breweries. Nynashamns co-founder Lasse Ericsson described the evolution of his country's brewing scene. Critiques of dishes were traded among diners, many of whom met for the first time at the meal.
Beer dinners are not cheap; this year's Traditional Brewmasters' Dinner, hosted on Jan. 9 by Neil Fisher of Weldwerks and Troy Casey of Casey Brewing & Blending, costs $135. You don't go daily to these events, nor do you go lightly. But when they are done correctly — and Big Beers has a long history of doing them correctly — you leave them jsmarter about brewing methods and culinary choices, as well as a little bit more stuffed than you expected.
Big Beers features a small plates and craft beer pairing as well next year, and the festival as a whole is a can't-miss event. Great American Beer Festival is lined with special beer dinners in the week heading into the Oct. 3-5 celebration next month, and a number of them will show the same creativity as the Big Beers event.
Wherever you go to blend beer and food under the guidance of brewers and chefs, just go. Then the next thing you know, you'll be hosting your own such dinners at your house and impressing guests with how much they can learn when they let their taste buds wander.
If the tone of the evening was set by the rows of taster glasses splayed across the bar at the Quandary Grille when guests arrived, the mood was struck by Dave Thibodeau comparing the lifestyle of Durango to that of Nynashamn, Sweden. The Ska Brewing co-founder described outdoor adventures and big beers on the Baltic Sea while pouring five beers that ranged from effervescently sour to dark and pucker-worthy.The January 2019 Traditional Brewmasters' Dinner was quintessential Big Beers Belgians & Barleywines Festival, combining a dissection of great fermented beverages, the appearance of hard-to-find libations (and the brewmaster from Nynashamns Angbryggeri, who flew in for the occasion) and events that elevate beer. And as tickets for the 2020 festival, scheduled from Jan. 9-11 in Breckenridge, go on sale again this week, it's worth considering why beer-food pairings like these can be so illuminating.
To start with, there is the beer, which is usually pulled from the shelves at the back of cellars where brewers like to keep offerings they open only for special occasions. Nynashamns' contributions included three aged beers and two imperial stouts, one of which it had not served before. Ska rolled out five beers from its sour collection, including its 23rd Anniversary Ale, seemingly showing off what it could do to anyone who dared think of its brewers as "the True Blonde guys."
Then there is the truly well-thought-out pairings of beers that you might suspect would be best enjoyed as stand-alone treats on cold evenings. Ska's Cru d'état, a mixed-culture Brett beer aged in a foeder that hasn't been cleaned in six years, accented the candied bacon on the duck cassoulet toasted pasta (pictured at left) in a way that was unexpected. Its Pink Vapor Stew brightened a parnsip, turnip and beet salad (pictured below) — partly because it shared some ingredients with the leafy feast. Nynashamns' three-year-old Botet Barleywine, aged in Portuguese sherry barrels, cut its own head-turning path with the salad.
Beer dinners are not cheap; this year's Traditional Brewmasters' Dinner, hosted on Jan. 9 by Neil Fisher of Weldwerks and Troy Casey of Casey Brewing & Blending, costs $135. You don't go daily to these events, nor do you go lightly. But when they are done correctly — and Big Beers has a long history of doing them correctly — you leave them jsmarter about brewing methods and culinary choices, as well as a little bit more stuffed than you expected.
Wherever you go to blend beer and food under the guidance of brewers and chefs, just go. Then the next thing you know, you'll be hosting your own such dinners at your house and impressing guests with how much they can learn when they let their taste buds wander.
Labels: barleywines, Beer dinners, Big Beers, Casey Brewing, Great American Beer Festival, Nynashamns Angbryggeri, Ska Brewing, sour ale, Weldwerks Brewing
Sunday, April 07, 2019
A Most Unique Denver Brewery
Your first impression of the offerings at Dos Luces Brewery, frankly, is: These aren't beer. The thick, multicolored samplers at your fingertips are bright and flavorful, but there's no way they are beer.
And yet, owner Judd Belstock not only is serving up beer, he is fashioning malted beverages in a uniquely American way from the Pulque and Chicha traditions of Mexico and Peru — traditions passed down from his father, who spent a portion of the 1960s with the Peace Corps in South America enjoying the unusual native beverages.
As the brewing world descends on Denver this week for the Craft Brewers Conference, there are no shortage of great breweries making memorable beer for them to stop by. But there may be none so wildly unique as Dos Luces, so much so that the biggest question is whether it inspires copycats or simply remains a one-of-a-kind draw.
"Our mission statement is we want to change the way that people think about beer," Belstock said.
Over the past 10 years, the onslaught of sours, pastry stouts and IPAs with all manners of adjunct ingredients already has redefined beer. What separates Dos Luces' offerings is the wide range of tastes they produce from just two base styles of beer.
Chicha, a corn-based beverage made in the Peruvian tradition, has a natural sweetness, even as Belstock makes it with a slightly nuttier-tasting blue corn, and it works perfectly as a base when spice is added. The brewery's flagship Chicha Inti has strong flavors of both clove and cinnamon, and that has given life to a series of one-offs, including a Pumpkin Spice Chicha from late 2018 that used ginger to create a particularly refreshing aftertaste.
Pulque, a Mexican drink traditionally made from the sap of the maguey plant, brings a slightly more familiar taste, one that's less juice-reminiscent and more earthy and malty in its design — particularly in the always-available Pulque Metztli, which is Brett-fermented and kettle-soured. It's produced fascinating spin-offs such as a slightly tart Strawberry Nutmeg Pulque and a Lime Ancho Chile Pulque that brings the full mouth of a meal cooked with spices rather than the traditional burn of a chile beer.
Belstock (pictured below) makes his creations from barley and corn in order to meet the definition of beer, though the lack of hops in his offerings renders them eligible for just two categories at the Great American Beer Festival — historical and experimental brews. At his first festival last year, just a few months after the brewery opened, he found drinkers confused as to what they were imbibing, yet still wanting to come back and have more.
The reaction is understandable, and it's one that only will grow as he adds more twists on his two flagship beers, including a collaboration Belgian-style saison made with maguey sap — brewed with with Atrevida Beer Co. of Colorado Springs and BorderX Brewing of San Diego — that will be on at Dos Luces throughout this week. That follows the brewery's first imperial chicha, released last month.
But as other breweries scramble for ways to stand out in a crowded market, Dos Luces needs only to attract attention for people to note how it's different. And in a city that has embraced everything from traditional English-style cask beers to oenobeers, it deserves its own spotlight.
Your first impression of the offerings at Dos Luces Brewery, frankly, is: These aren't beer. The thick, multicolored samplers at your fingertips are bright and flavorful, but there's no way they are beer.And yet, owner Judd Belstock not only is serving up beer, he is fashioning malted beverages in a uniquely American way from the Pulque and Chicha traditions of Mexico and Peru — traditions passed down from his father, who spent a portion of the 1960s with the Peace Corps in South America enjoying the unusual native beverages.
As the brewing world descends on Denver this week for the Craft Brewers Conference, there are no shortage of great breweries making memorable beer for them to stop by. But there may be none so wildly unique as Dos Luces, so much so that the biggest question is whether it inspires copycats or simply remains a one-of-a-kind draw.
"Our mission statement is we want to change the way that people think about beer," Belstock said.
Over the past 10 years, the onslaught of sours, pastry stouts and IPAs with all manners of adjunct ingredients already has redefined beer. What separates Dos Luces' offerings is the wide range of tastes they produce from just two base styles of beer.
Pulque, a Mexican drink traditionally made from the sap of the maguey plant, brings a slightly more familiar taste, one that's less juice-reminiscent and more earthy and malty in its design — particularly in the always-available Pulque Metztli, which is Brett-fermented and kettle-soured. It's produced fascinating spin-offs such as a slightly tart Strawberry Nutmeg Pulque and a Lime Ancho Chile Pulque that brings the full mouth of a meal cooked with spices rather than the traditional burn of a chile beer.
Belstock (pictured below) makes his creations from barley and corn in order to meet the definition of beer, though the lack of hops in his offerings renders them eligible for just two categories at the Great American Beer Festival — historical and experimental brews. At his first festival last year, just a few months after the brewery opened, he found drinkers confused as to what they were imbibing, yet still wanting to come back and have more.
But as other breweries scramble for ways to stand out in a crowded market, Dos Luces needs only to attract attention for people to note how it's different. And in a city that has embraced everything from traditional English-style cask beers to oenobeers, it deserves its own spotlight.
Labels: Atrevida Beer Co., BorderX Brewing, chicha, Craft Brewers Conference, Dos Luces Brewery, Great American Beer Festival, New Colorado breweries, pulque
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
Tuesday, October 02, 2018
GABF Alphabetical Challenge Completed
Three beers into the Great American Beer Festival Alphabet challenge, I was doubting myself. A watered-down 2SP Brewing Antonym, a weak 8th Wonder Brewing Boss Beer and an Alaskan Brewing Cranberry Tart that was far less tart than advertised, and I asked, "Am I wasting time letting fate choose my beers at the world's greatest beer festival rather than going for known gold?"
But in just a matter of minutes, I was playing rock, paper, scissors with the bartender at Three Weavers Brewing to get a free hat, feeling better about my embarrassing loss only when I got to enjoy a Festbier that was the tastiest Oktoberfest I had all festival. Then I bent my rules when I got lassoed in by the folks at Beachwood BBQ & Brewing and enjoyed an Amalgamator West-Coast-style IPA (it counted as my "G" beer) that reminded me how well hops can shine in non-hazy beers. And by the time I stumbled onto the taste-bud-awakening Island Baby from Black Star Brewing Co-Op. - a rum-barrel-aged beer re-fermented with pineapple, passionfruit and pomegranate juice - I knew I was on a journey I wouldn't forget.
The GABF Alphabetical challenge, for those who didn't read my pre-festival blog, was a self-created way to end 18 years of run-to-the-hot-brewery routine and soak in everyone at the festival in a way that put every beer on display in a new way. I started at one end of the hall and drank the first beer I saw that began with "A," then "B" and then "C," and so on, to let me soak in the full range of breweries that made the trip to Denver, from the superstars to the little guys pouring two beers.
Throughout the night, I hit a variety of both the big names and those I'd never tried before. And though not every taste was pure bliss, I certainly discovered flavors I otherwise would not have known.
The most astounding find, for example, was Devil Wind Brewing Watermelon Goes of Xenia, Ohio - a brewery that brought just three beers and sat in the comparative shadow of next-door booth Deschutes Brewery, no line in sight. Very share and fruit-forward, this beer may have imbued more flavor from the often-shy watermelon than possibly any beer I've had, and it was a revelation that I never would have found on my own.
Not far away was the Pro-Am booth that I often skip; instead, I found Pillory, an American sour ale brewed with Lacto that not only cut just right but introduced me to Ghost Town Brewing. I knew Bosque Brewing a little but likely wouldn't have stopped to try Open Space Haze and its uber-pineapple flavor with the challenge. Ditto for Reuben's Brews, which offered a Gose that was as sharp and drinkable as just about any gose I found during the show.
Sometimes the excursion took me to places I knew. At Weldwerks, I happened to land on Extra Extra Juicy Bits, a huge, exotic-fruit-laced offering that was as good as any hazy being poured on the floor. At Cigar City, I was almost disappointed to have a beer as familiar as Jai Alai IPA, even as balanced as it was. Then again, at Destihl, the excursion led me away from the fruit beers I seek there so often and toward Dasvidanya, a 12.5 percent ABV Russian imperial stout (though in retrospect, I would have preferred a sour).
Twice I mixed things up. The first time was with the aforementioned Beachwood Amalgamator, and that was a gift. The second time, meanwhile, was when I entered Paired, the food/beer mash-up featuring nationwide knock-out chefs that required me to switch to getting a beer and plate with the next letter in the name of the food or beer rather than starting it.
Yeah, maybe I wouldn't have tried the sea urchin mousse from Big Grove Brewery in Iowa, which proved absolutely as un-pairable as it sounds. And I probably wouldn't have sought out the Oktoberfest from Accomplice Brewing, which was far too weak for the wagyu beef taco with which it was paired.
But I also may not have headed for Armadillo Ale Works' tropical sour, whose sweet notes accented the taste of a rockfish ceviche. And I, well, I probably would have headed anyway for the Barrel-Aged Mocha Snowed In that Copper Kettle Brewing matched up with a chocolate layer cake. And I surely would have gone for J. Wakefield Brewing's sour saison Aren't You a Peach, but, still, it was more than perfect with an olive-oil cake. (And in a note of irony, when I finally reach J. Wakefield on Saturday afternoon, it was tapped when I got there.)
To be sure, there was some bad stuff I found in my wanderings. Chapman's Brewing of Indiana had an IPA, Undaunted, that tasted so much of plastic that I had to take the rare step of dumping it out. Bold Missy Brewery of North Carolina had a honey blonde, 9 to 5, that actually inspired me to write the word "Ugh" in my notes.
(I also was in the right place at the right time to meet the Visit Santa Rosa hop mascot coming out of his changing booth, but that didn't fit into my alphabetical stylings. Still, see the photo above.)
I didn't make it across the entire floor with my adventures. as that is a task that's become increasingly impossible, no matter your pattern for the night. But I hit places I never dreamt I'd hit. And, truth be told, I am thankful that I had that chance.
Would I recommend the GABF Alphabetical Challenge for everyone? No. Most people come once every few years and have a certain amount of breweries they want to hit, and that is something that should bear no shame.
But I would recommend that next year when you're walking across the floor and you see that booth next to the big-name brewery that has no line, stop there. Ask someone about the brewery, if a representative is at the table. Try their beers. Make a new find. This, after all, is what the Great American Beer Festival is all about. And forcing yourself to find that spirit is a noble end.
Three beers into the Great American Beer Festival Alphabet challenge, I was doubting myself. A watered-down 2SP Brewing Antonym, a weak 8th Wonder Brewing Boss Beer and an Alaskan Brewing Cranberry Tart that was far less tart than advertised, and I asked, "Am I wasting time letting fate choose my beers at the world's greatest beer festival rather than going for known gold?"But in just a matter of minutes, I was playing rock, paper, scissors with the bartender at Three Weavers Brewing to get a free hat, feeling better about my embarrassing loss only when I got to enjoy a Festbier that was the tastiest Oktoberfest I had all festival. Then I bent my rules when I got lassoed in by the folks at Beachwood BBQ & Brewing and enjoyed an Amalgamator West-Coast-style IPA (it counted as my "G" beer) that reminded me how well hops can shine in non-hazy beers. And by the time I stumbled onto the taste-bud-awakening Island Baby from Black Star Brewing Co-Op. - a rum-barrel-aged beer re-fermented with pineapple, passionfruit and pomegranate juice - I knew I was on a journey I wouldn't forget.
The GABF Alphabetical challenge, for those who didn't read my pre-festival blog, was a self-created way to end 18 years of run-to-the-hot-brewery routine and soak in everyone at the festival in a way that put every beer on display in a new way. I started at one end of the hall and drank the first beer I saw that began with "A," then "B" and then "C," and so on, to let me soak in the full range of breweries that made the trip to Denver, from the superstars to the little guys pouring two beers.
Throughout the night, I hit a variety of both the big names and those I'd never tried before. And though not every taste was pure bliss, I certainly discovered flavors I otherwise would not have known.
Not far away was the Pro-Am booth that I often skip; instead, I found Pillory, an American sour ale brewed with Lacto that not only cut just right but introduced me to Ghost Town Brewing. I knew Bosque Brewing a little but likely wouldn't have stopped to try Open Space Haze and its uber-pineapple flavor with the challenge. Ditto for Reuben's Brews, which offered a Gose that was as sharp and drinkable as just about any gose I found during the show.
Twice I mixed things up. The first time was with the aforementioned Beachwood Amalgamator, and that was a gift. The second time, meanwhile, was when I entered Paired, the food/beer mash-up featuring nationwide knock-out chefs that required me to switch to getting a beer and plate with the next letter in the name of the food or beer rather than starting it.
Yeah, maybe I wouldn't have tried the sea urchin mousse from Big Grove Brewery in Iowa, which proved absolutely as un-pairable as it sounds. And I probably wouldn't have sought out the Oktoberfest from Accomplice Brewing, which was far too weak for the wagyu beef taco with which it was paired.
To be sure, there was some bad stuff I found in my wanderings. Chapman's Brewing of Indiana had an IPA, Undaunted, that tasted so much of plastic that I had to take the rare step of dumping it out. Bold Missy Brewery of North Carolina had a honey blonde, 9 to 5, that actually inspired me to write the word "Ugh" in my notes.(I also was in the right place at the right time to meet the Visit Santa Rosa hop mascot coming out of his changing booth, but that didn't fit into my alphabetical stylings. Still, see the photo above.)
I didn't make it across the entire floor with my adventures. as that is a task that's become increasingly impossible, no matter your pattern for the night. But I hit places I never dreamt I'd hit. And, truth be told, I am thankful that I had that chance.
Would I recommend the GABF Alphabetical Challenge for everyone? No. Most people come once every few years and have a certain amount of breweries they want to hit, and that is something that should bear no shame.
But I would recommend that next year when you're walking across the floor and you see that booth next to the big-name brewery that has no line, stop there. Ask someone about the brewery, if a representative is at the table. Try their beers. Make a new find. This, after all, is what the Great American Beer Festival is all about. And forcing yourself to find that spirit is a noble end.
Labels: Accomplice Brewing, Beachwood BBQ & Brewing, Black Star Brewing Co-Op, Bosque Brewing, Copper Kettle Brewing, Devil Wind Brewing, Great American Beer Festival, J. Wakefield Brewing, Weldwerks Brewing
Thursday, September 27, 2018
Best of the GABF 2018
The Great American Beer Festival took on a new look this year - a new layout for the booths, a new group of special sections on the floor, an extra 100,000 feet in the Colorado Convention Center for wandering. But what didn't change was the quality of the beer being poured and the excitement that could be found in new discoveries.
And in evaluating what stood out this year, it wasn't one style or brewery so much as the multitude of flavors on display from so many parts of the country. And to that end — the diversity of excellence that makes it hard to cite a definitive must-have experience at the 37th annual event but acknowledges that there were multiple paths beer lovers could take to finding the many, many "it" beers out there — is what this column is dedicated.
Beer of the Festival: Parish Brewing Jameson-Barrel-Aged Irish Coffee Stout
If there was one offering that continually came to mind as both unique and delicious, it was this combination — which, in retrospect, represents a bit of a no-duh moment — of a beer mimicking a classic Irish drink aged in the barrel that produces the alcoholic part of that drink. A melange of cream, booziness and coffee —wrapped in a dark body that stands on its own yet lets all the tastes shine though — represented the best of what experimentation could produce this year. And it came from a Louisiana brewery, to boot.
Brewery of the Festival: Speciation Artisan Ales
This not-yet-two-year-old Michigan spontaneous-yeast specialist is breaking new ground with its use of tequila and mezcal barrels, and bringing new flavors to the sour genre. And it was hard not to return to its booth continually to run the entire menu of its offerings. Its Proglacial tequila sour with passion fruit burst to life with complex and full flavors; similarly, its Saltation tequila-barrel-aged ale with blood orange and salt created its own universe of taste that was both tart and refreshing.
Beer-Drinking Experience of the Festival: The Referend Bier Blendery
In the hub-bub of tens of thousands of people rushing to get the best pours, the actual experience of beer presentation is usually lost. But the folks from this New Jersey brewery took visitors to their booth through a step-by-step explanation of the process of fermenting and aging their beer to create its terroir — doing so while pouring out of carefully crafted baskets to hold their bottles — and left a new appreciation for what you could learn about new and yet old-world brewing methods in just a short time. And the beer was sharp, dry and delicious.
Best (Non-Speciation) Sour: Two Roads Brewing Philsamic
This Flanders Red from Connecticut managed to find the perfect balance of cutting tartness and enveloping fruit flavors, managing both to stun with its complexity and to please with its drinkability. A close second goes to Epic Brewing's Oak & Orchard Pink Guava, which used the fruit to conjure a bright and brilliant taste that reminded one of tart lemonade.
Best Hop Bomb: River North Quadruple Dry-Hopped Mountain Haze
The only place you could find this Denver brewery pouring at the festival was briefly in the Buffalo Wild Wings booth. But what it broke out for the week was an amazingly smooth hazy IPA that was alive with tropical fruit flavors as its normally Citra-dominated beer added Mosaic, Simcoe and Idaho 7 hops and created a symphony of flavors that no out-of-state comer could match.
Best Addition to the Festival: Jameson Caskmates section
Highlighting the work of 17 breweries that aged a wide range of beers in Irish whiskey barrels, including the aforementioned Parish Brewing, was like a national tour of experimental flavors. Not every combination worked. But from Fat Head's decision to age its Mexican Hot Chocolate Stout in the vessels and pick up a new twist of flavor to Heavy Seas Beer's IPA being dry-hopped and then aged, there was a startling variety of new tastes created.
Worst Addition to the Festival: Exterior line management
I'm not sure exactly what changed in the way that people were let into the festival. But horror stories abounded — from the Beer Geekette arriving right as doors opened Thursday and having to wait 35 minutes to get in, to a friend relating the tale of the Saturday-afternoon line wrapping twice around the convention center. Something went very wrong, and ticket holders spent too much time waiting to get beer in their glasses.
Best Reminders that Great Beers Don't Have to Change: Serendipity and Hop Zombie
It was worth waiting, once again, in a 30-person line at New Glarus Brewing, for Serendipity — an ale brewed with cherries, apples and cranberries and found annually in Denver only at the GABF — to remember just how rich fruit beer can be without being soured. And in an era of hazy-everything IPAs, Lone Tree Brewing's imperial red IPA, Hop Zombie, was almost shocking in its ability to imbue deep hop flavors in a complex, dark body.
Best Find of the Festival: Devil Wind Brewing Watermelon Wingman Gose
Tucked into a side booth with just three beers being poured, this line-less brewery got more out of an often-too-subtle fruit than any bigger-name brewer has. But for the story of how I found out, you'll have to check back in my next blog ...
The Great American Beer Festival took on a new look this year - a new layout for the booths, a new group of special sections on the floor, an extra 100,000 feet in the Colorado Convention Center for wandering. But what didn't change was the quality of the beer being poured and the excitement that could be found in new discoveries.
And in evaluating what stood out this year, it wasn't one style or brewery so much as the multitude of flavors on display from so many parts of the country. And to that end — the diversity of excellence that makes it hard to cite a definitive must-have experience at the 37th annual event but acknowledges that there were multiple paths beer lovers could take to finding the many, many "it" beers out there — is what this column is dedicated.
Beer of the Festival: Parish Brewing Jameson-Barrel-Aged Irish Coffee Stout
If there was one offering that continually came to mind as both unique and delicious, it was this combination — which, in retrospect, represents a bit of a no-duh moment — of a beer mimicking a classic Irish drink aged in the barrel that produces the alcoholic part of that drink. A melange of cream, booziness and coffee —wrapped in a dark body that stands on its own yet lets all the tastes shine though — represented the best of what experimentation could produce this year. And it came from a Louisiana brewery, to boot.
Brewery of the Festival: Speciation Artisan Ales
This not-yet-two-year-old Michigan spontaneous-yeast specialist is breaking new ground with its use of tequila and mezcal barrels, and bringing new flavors to the sour genre. And it was hard not to return to its booth continually to run the entire menu of its offerings. Its Proglacial tequila sour with passion fruit burst to life with complex and full flavors; similarly, its Saltation tequila-barrel-aged ale with blood orange and salt created its own universe of taste that was both tart and refreshing.
Beer-Drinking Experience of the Festival: The Referend Bier BlenderyIn the hub-bub of tens of thousands of people rushing to get the best pours, the actual experience of beer presentation is usually lost. But the folks from this New Jersey brewery took visitors to their booth through a step-by-step explanation of the process of fermenting and aging their beer to create its terroir — doing so while pouring out of carefully crafted baskets to hold their bottles — and left a new appreciation for what you could learn about new and yet old-world brewing methods in just a short time. And the beer was sharp, dry and delicious.
Best (Non-Speciation) Sour: Two Roads Brewing Philsamic
This Flanders Red from Connecticut managed to find the perfect balance of cutting tartness and enveloping fruit flavors, managing both to stun with its complexity and to please with its drinkability. A close second goes to Epic Brewing's Oak & Orchard Pink Guava, which used the fruit to conjure a bright and brilliant taste that reminded one of tart lemonade.
Best Hop Bomb: River North Quadruple Dry-Hopped Mountain Haze
The only place you could find this Denver brewery pouring at the festival was briefly in the Buffalo Wild Wings booth. But what it broke out for the week was an amazingly smooth hazy IPA that was alive with tropical fruit flavors as its normally Citra-dominated beer added Mosaic, Simcoe and Idaho 7 hops and created a symphony of flavors that no out-of-state comer could match.
Best Addition to the Festival: Jameson Caskmates section
Highlighting the work of 17 breweries that aged a wide range of beers in Irish whiskey barrels, including the aforementioned Parish Brewing, was like a national tour of experimental flavors. Not every combination worked. But from Fat Head's decision to age its Mexican Hot Chocolate Stout in the vessels and pick up a new twist of flavor to Heavy Seas Beer's IPA being dry-hopped and then aged, there was a startling variety of new tastes created.
Worst Addition to the Festival: Exterior line management
I'm not sure exactly what changed in the way that people were let into the festival. But horror stories abounded — from the Beer Geekette arriving right as doors opened Thursday and having to wait 35 minutes to get in, to a friend relating the tale of the Saturday-afternoon line wrapping twice around the convention center. Something went very wrong, and ticket holders spent too much time waiting to get beer in their glasses.
Best Reminders that Great Beers Don't Have to Change: Serendipity and Hop Zombie
It was worth waiting, once again, in a 30-person line at New Glarus Brewing, for Serendipity — an ale brewed with cherries, apples and cranberries and found annually in Denver only at the GABF — to remember just how rich fruit beer can be without being soured. And in an era of hazy-everything IPAs, Lone Tree Brewing's imperial red IPA, Hop Zombie, was almost shocking in its ability to imbue deep hop flavors in a complex, dark body.
Best Find of the Festival: Devil Wind Brewing Watermelon Wingman Gose
Tucked into a side booth with just three beers being poured, this line-less brewery got more out of an often-too-subtle fruit than any bigger-name brewer has. But for the story of how I found out, you'll have to check back in my next blog ...
Labels: Fat Head's Brewery, Great American Beer Festival, Heavy Seas Beer, Lone Tree Brewing, New Glarus, Parish Brewing, River North Brewery, Speciation Artisan Ales, The Referend Bier Blendery, Two Roads Brewing
