Friday, February 21, 2020
Beer and Donuts Is the New Beer and Pizza
Leave it to the couple that decided mixing IPA and mac 'n cheese was a good idea - and shocking everyone all by proving themselves right - to have the first beer bar/restaurant in Denver to open up a donut shop inside as well.
Come Wednesday, Hops & Pie will also be home to Berkeley Donuts, a shop that will open at 7:30 a.m. and be located right beside the bar that serves one of the best tap lists of local and national craft beer in Denver. Folks can come in and get the donuts - sourdough, vegan or made New England-style with potatoes for extra fluff - until around lunchtime and, if they wish, they can enjoy one or more with a beer such as a coffee stout or a barrel-aged stout, which are co-owner Drew Watson's recommended pairings.
Beer and donuts aren't a new thing in Denver. Denver Beer Co. has been offering irregular pairings of the two important food groups for years, an idea that other breweries since have picked up as well. And Oskar Blues Brewery ran one of the best donut shops in town, Hotbox Roasters, beside its CHUBurger beer bar before shutting both concepts down late last year to concentrate on its full-service restaurants and its brewing capacity.
But what Drew and Leah Watson are doing represents, in many ways, the first chance to dive head-first into trying a great donut - trust me when I say to try the almond coconut chocolate donut or the sourdough frosted with lemon poppyseed icing (both pictured above) - beside a great beer. And Drew, who has been perfecting this concept for two years in the kitchen of his Arvada house, has a few thoughts on how a perfect pairing would work.
He's partial to dark cake with dark malts, he said Friday, and has concocted a menu that includes donut flavors like S'mores, salted caramel and toffee with pretzel. But he also appreciates that a sweeter frosting could pair with a sour or maybe a wheat.
And he acknowledged that, just maybe, he's looking for a way to work hops into donuts, possibly through a combination of grapefruit or other citrus frosting flavors and Southern Hemisphere hops.
"I think any style of beer goes with any style of donut," he mused. "But I think clearly the heavy stouts and Belgians and porters go particularly well."
Donuts aren't likely to replace pizza or even pretzels as the ultimate beer-pairing food yet, but they allow for an impressive level of creativity in terms of how their richness can add to a fullness of flavor in a brew. And the idea that at least one high-level beer hangout in Denver is willing to bet big on the combination shows a continuing maturation of a city that's willing to try new things.
"Denver's a lot in my mind like Portland, Oregon, or Portland, Maine, and those cities have that donut presence," Drew said. "And I've always wondered why Denver doesn't."
Leave it to the couple that decided mixing IPA and mac 'n cheese was a good idea - and shocking everyone all by proving themselves right - to have the first beer bar/restaurant in Denver to open up a donut shop inside as well.
Come Wednesday, Hops & Pie will also be home to Berkeley Donuts, a shop that will open at 7:30 a.m. and be located right beside the bar that serves one of the best tap lists of local and national craft beer in Denver. Folks can come in and get the donuts - sourdough, vegan or made New England-style with potatoes for extra fluff - until around lunchtime and, if they wish, they can enjoy one or more with a beer such as a coffee stout or a barrel-aged stout, which are co-owner Drew Watson's recommended pairings.
Beer and donuts aren't a new thing in Denver. Denver Beer Co. has been offering irregular pairings of the two important food groups for years, an idea that other breweries since have picked up as well. And Oskar Blues Brewery ran one of the best donut shops in town, Hotbox Roasters, beside its CHUBurger beer bar before shutting both concepts down late last year to concentrate on its full-service restaurants and its brewing capacity.
But what Drew and Leah Watson are doing represents, in many ways, the first chance to dive head-first into trying a great donut - trust me when I say to try the almond coconut chocolate donut or the sourdough frosted with lemon poppyseed icing (both pictured above) - beside a great beer. And Drew, who has been perfecting this concept for two years in the kitchen of his Arvada house, has a few thoughts on how a perfect pairing would work.
He's partial to dark cake with dark malts, he said Friday, and has concocted a menu that includes donut flavors like S'mores, salted caramel and toffee with pretzel. But he also appreciates that a sweeter frosting could pair with a sour or maybe a wheat.
And he acknowledged that, just maybe, he's looking for a way to work hops into donuts, possibly through a combination of grapefruit or other citrus frosting flavors and Southern Hemisphere hops.
"I think any style of beer goes with any style of donut," he mused. "But I think clearly the heavy stouts and Belgians and porters go particularly well."
Donuts aren't likely to replace pizza or even pretzels as the ultimate beer-pairing food yet, but they allow for an impressive level of creativity in terms of how their richness can add to a fullness of flavor in a brew. And the idea that at least one high-level beer hangout in Denver is willing to bet big on the combination shows a continuing maturation of a city that's willing to try new things.
"Denver's a lot in my mind like Portland, Oregon, or Portland, Maine, and those cities have that donut presence," Drew said. "And I've always wondered why Denver doesn't."
Labels: Belgian-style beers, Denver Beer Co, donuts, Food pairing, hops, Hops and Pie, Oskar Blues, Porters, stouts
Monday, October 03, 2016
Your Guide to GABF Week 2016
Let's face it: You abused your liver in college in many horrible ways, often with no reward for your taste buds. Later, you looked back on it and realized it wasn't the sharpest thing to do, especially because there was no upside, even in retrospect, to assaults by Busch Light and Keystone.
But this week, you can return to teaching that liver who is the boss - while also finding an incredible variety of complex tastes to cross your palate and making the vital-organ abuse a side product, rather than goal of your activities. And this blog is here to help you do it.
Once again, I don't claim this to be the comprehensive list of everything going on in the week leading up to the Oct. 6-8 Great American Beer Festival at the Colorado Convention Center - websites like Westword, Brewtally Insane and Porch Drinking can lay out everything happening in town for you. Instead, this is meant to be a highlight sheet, offering you the can't-miss and shouldn't-overlook fests, dinners and tappings for those of you with a desire to experience the week fully but a limited amount of time to sort through all of your options.
With that said, happy tasting. Even your liver will forgive you for going nuts this week.
Monday
* Noon - GABF veterans may remember the days when Great Divide Brewing essentially kicked off the festival with its media party on Thursday mornings. Now the party goes all week. But the Denver brewery will release a new Velvet Yeti on Monday at its taproom, and then keep the momentum with a tapping party from 6 to 9 p.m. at Avanti F&B.
* 5 p.m. Falling Rock Tap House tends to be the gathering spot all week for out-of-town brewers, throwing rare kegs on tap for all to try. That officially begins tonight, and only owner Chris Black knows exactly what he'll be busting out to commence the activities.
* 7 to midnight. GABF week is a haven for people seeking the cutting edge in sour beers. Freshcraft dives right into the melee with its Wild and Sour Monday, featuring beers from auteurs like Wicked Weed, Jester King and New Belgium.
Tuesday
* 5 p.m. First Draft, the beer bar where you pay by the ounce and get to sample from 40 different taps, is working with a lot of national brewers on special tappings during the week. But its Tuesday showcase of Odd 13 beers, featuring both hop bombs and sour gems like Hawaiian Bartender, gives locals unfamiliar with the Lafayette brewery the chance to see why it's growing an increasing reputation for being one of the best in Colorado.
* 5 to 9 p.m. IPA remains the king style in America, and Ernie's Bar & Pizza gets right to heart of the style, hosting a tour of some of the best hoppy beers in the country. Beers from Dogfish Head, Stone, Green Flash, Alpine and Comrade will be among the tasty options on the menu.
* 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Beers Made by Walking has become one of the signature events of the week in recent years, showcasing beers that were dreamed up when brewers were hiking and spotted intriguing local ingredients. The $35 festival is at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science this year.
* 6 p.m. to midnight. Another marquee event is What the Funk?, the annual celebration of wild-fermented ales that tends to leave far more of a (spectacular) beating on your taste buds than on your liver. For a cool $100, you can get access to a number of breweries that won't even be pouring their wares at GABF.
Wednesday
* 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Anyone who attended What the Funk? on Tuesday night will still be recovering on Wednesday morning. If you didn't, head to Hops & Pie for the Cliffs-notes version of the event, where the pizza restaurant/beer bar will be delving deep into the Crooked Stave Artisans collection of distributed beer.
* 1 p.m. Blunt honesty is good in assessing the week. So when Little Machine, a still-somewhat-secret treasure in the Jefferson Park neighborhood, puts on a pig roast, busts out new beers and calls it a "Brewers Health Fair," all are advised to check it out, purely for medical reasons.
* 5 p.m. River North, the recently displaced RiNo-neighborhood pioneer, will be all over the place during GABF week. Few, if any, of its events are as alluring as its tapping, in combination with Fort Collins masterminds Funkwerks, at Lucky Pie in downtown Denver.
* 5 p.m. Tivoli Brewing (pictured above) operates a distribution company that's accumulated 20 up-and-coming breweries and cideries in its portfolio, from local stand-outs like Grimm Brothers to national eyebrow raisers like Pipeworks Brewing out of Chicago. Tonight it holds its "pre-party," featuring rare offerings from throughout its catalog.
* 5 p.m. One of the highlights of this week is the number of bars and restaurants not normally associated with rare tappings that are getting their full beer geek on. A prime example: el Camino Community Tavern in the Highlands neighborhood will be brandishing beers from the likes of TRVE. Creature Comforts. 4 Noses and more today.
* 6 to 10 p.m. Possibly the oddest recurring event is Offensively Delicious, the Renegade Brewing-organized celebration where brewers not only pour their beers but then get up on stage and try their hands at stand-up comedy - before real comedians finish out the show. Curious? It's on again this year at the McNichols Building.
* 7 p.m. Ginger Johnson gained a name for herself in the beer world with her Oregon-based consulting/event business Women Enjoying Beer. She just released a book chastising breweries for their poor marketing to women. And she'll be at Kokopelli Beer Co. tonight annotating the book.
Thursday
* Strange Craft Beer makes a habit out of rolling out its most experimental offerings around GABF. Today you can not only try but take home its medal-winning Doctor Strangelove, as the Denver brewery offers up its annual bomber release of the complex ale.
* 11:30 a.m. Sun King Brewing burst onto the national beer consciousness a few years back by taking home seven medals from the GABF. You still can't get the Indianapolis brewery out here anytime but this week. But it will be pouring a boatload of its offerings all day today at Hops & Pie.
* 4 p.m. Among Colorado breweries, Casey Brewing and Blending is one of the rarest gems, offering occasional hours during which it released some of the most sought-after bombers of saison and sour beers in the state. It'll be easier to grab some today at Freshcraft.
* 5 p.m. Three Floyds produces big, beefy beers that are admired nationally - but not sold far beyond the doors of its Indiana brewhouse. Today however, it will be tapping a number of them at LowDown Brewery + Kitchen in Denver.
* 7 p.m. to midnight. Epic Brewing offers its 50 Firkin Fiasco tradition each year after the opening night of the GABF. The intriguing twist this year: Other breweries than just the Utah/RiNo beer maker were given a chance to take its beers and create their own firkins with them.
* 10 p.m. Avanti F&B has the closest relationship with Dogfish Head of any beer bar in Denver. That's why when it holds an after-party featuring Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione, you almost have to show up to see what he is breaking out for the festivities.
Friday
* 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Start the day the only way you should - with a Gospel brunch hosted by Oskar Blues at its Tasty Weasel taproom in Longmont. Yeah, it's a ways north of Denver. But by now, you need some time behind the wheel when you actually won't be drinking.
* Noon to 4 p.m. The most expensive ticket of the week is also one of the most sought-after - a $115 ducat to get into the Rare Beer Tasting at McNichols, offering a peak into the cellars of some of America's best breweries and beers you may never seen again.
* 4 to 11 p.m. Crafty Fox has made a ballyhooed entrance into the Denver beer-bar scene this year with a fantastic tap list. And today it adds to its mystique by featuring the beers of Bellingham, Washington - including award winners such as Chuckanut and Boundary Bay Brewing - with a side splash of hop king Melvin Brewing and sour king Crooked Stave.
* 7 to 10 p.m. New Belgium and Ratio Beerworks aren't as hard to find as, say, Bellingham beers. But when they throw something as specific as a fruit luau at Illegal Pete's, it's a focused collection of pucker-worthy beers worth seeking out.
* 10 p.m. After the GABF session, you may find your palate somewhat wrecked. Freshcraft will be tapping the beers of Stone, Green Flash and Melvin, among others, which is guaranteed to either resuscitate your taste buds or finish them for good.
Saturday
* 9 a.m. to noon. After drinking heavily for five days, you may think that nothing new can come down the pipe. And then you discover that Denver Beer Co. is offering a Burritos and Barleywines breakfast event, and you happily say to yourself, "Well, I was wrong."
* 10 a.m. For those wanting to leave town with a few souvenirs, Black Project Spontaneous & Wild Ales will begin a two-day sale of some of its tucked-away bottles, suitable for enjoying when your liver has begun to recover somewhat.
* 9 p.m. There will be lots of after parties beginning tonight - but few that test whether you can cross the last boundary of the week quite like Ratio Beerworks' karaoke after-party. Oh, and the killer brewery will be breaking out some new and rare brews.
* 11 p.m. For many years, I viewed the traditional post-festival tapping of New Belgium sours at Falling Rock Tap House as the defibrillator to shock my taste buds back to life. Whether or not you agree, this event offers a great chance to find out.
Let's face it: You abused your liver in college in many horrible ways, often with no reward for your taste buds. Later, you looked back on it and realized it wasn't the sharpest thing to do, especially because there was no upside, even in retrospect, to assaults by Busch Light and Keystone.
But this week, you can return to teaching that liver who is the boss - while also finding an incredible variety of complex tastes to cross your palate and making the vital-organ abuse a side product, rather than goal of your activities. And this blog is here to help you do it.
Once again, I don't claim this to be the comprehensive list of everything going on in the week leading up to the Oct. 6-8 Great American Beer Festival at the Colorado Convention Center - websites like Westword, Brewtally Insane and Porch Drinking can lay out everything happening in town for you. Instead, this is meant to be a highlight sheet, offering you the can't-miss and shouldn't-overlook fests, dinners and tappings for those of you with a desire to experience the week fully but a limited amount of time to sort through all of your options.
With that said, happy tasting. Even your liver will forgive you for going nuts this week.
Monday
* 5 p.m. Falling Rock Tap House tends to be the gathering spot all week for out-of-town brewers, throwing rare kegs on tap for all to try. That officially begins tonight, and only owner Chris Black knows exactly what he'll be busting out to commence the activities.
* 7 to midnight. GABF week is a haven for people seeking the cutting edge in sour beers. Freshcraft dives right into the melee with its Wild and Sour Monday, featuring beers from auteurs like Wicked Weed, Jester King and New Belgium.
Tuesday
* 5 p.m. First Draft, the beer bar where you pay by the ounce and get to sample from 40 different taps, is working with a lot of national brewers on special tappings during the week. But its Tuesday showcase of Odd 13 beers, featuring both hop bombs and sour gems like Hawaiian Bartender, gives locals unfamiliar with the Lafayette brewery the chance to see why it's growing an increasing reputation for being one of the best in Colorado.* 5 to 9 p.m. IPA remains the king style in America, and Ernie's Bar & Pizza gets right to heart of the style, hosting a tour of some of the best hoppy beers in the country. Beers from Dogfish Head, Stone, Green Flash, Alpine and Comrade will be among the tasty options on the menu.
* 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Beers Made by Walking has become one of the signature events of the week in recent years, showcasing beers that were dreamed up when brewers were hiking and spotted intriguing local ingredients. The $35 festival is at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science this year.
* 6 p.m. to midnight. Another marquee event is What the Funk?, the annual celebration of wild-fermented ales that tends to leave far more of a (spectacular) beating on your taste buds than on your liver. For a cool $100, you can get access to a number of breweries that won't even be pouring their wares at GABF.
Wednesday
* 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Anyone who attended What the Funk? on Tuesday night will still be recovering on Wednesday morning. If you didn't, head to Hops & Pie for the Cliffs-notes version of the event, where the pizza restaurant/beer bar will be delving deep into the Crooked Stave Artisans collection of distributed beer.
* 1 p.m. Blunt honesty is good in assessing the week. So when Little Machine, a still-somewhat-secret treasure in the Jefferson Park neighborhood, puts on a pig roast, busts out new beers and calls it a "Brewers Health Fair," all are advised to check it out, purely for medical reasons.
* 5 p.m. River North, the recently displaced RiNo-neighborhood pioneer, will be all over the place during GABF week. Few, if any, of its events are as alluring as its tapping, in combination with Fort Collins masterminds Funkwerks, at Lucky Pie in downtown Denver.
* 5 p.m. One of the highlights of this week is the number of bars and restaurants not normally associated with rare tappings that are getting their full beer geek on. A prime example: el Camino Community Tavern in the Highlands neighborhood will be brandishing beers from the likes of TRVE. Creature Comforts. 4 Noses and more today.
* 6 to 10 p.m. Possibly the oddest recurring event is Offensively Delicious, the Renegade Brewing-organized celebration where brewers not only pour their beers but then get up on stage and try their hands at stand-up comedy - before real comedians finish out the show. Curious? It's on again this year at the McNichols Building.
* 7 p.m. Ginger Johnson gained a name for herself in the beer world with her Oregon-based consulting/event business Women Enjoying Beer. She just released a book chastising breweries for their poor marketing to women. And she'll be at Kokopelli Beer Co. tonight annotating the book.
Thursday
* Strange Craft Beer makes a habit out of rolling out its most experimental offerings around GABF. Today you can not only try but take home its medal-winning Doctor Strangelove, as the Denver brewery offers up its annual bomber release of the complex ale.
* 11:30 a.m. Sun King Brewing burst onto the national beer consciousness a few years back by taking home seven medals from the GABF. You still can't get the Indianapolis brewery out here anytime but this week. But it will be pouring a boatload of its offerings all day today at Hops & Pie.
* 4 p.m. Among Colorado breweries, Casey Brewing and Blending is one of the rarest gems, offering occasional hours during which it released some of the most sought-after bombers of saison and sour beers in the state. It'll be easier to grab some today at Freshcraft.
* 5 p.m. Three Floyds produces big, beefy beers that are admired nationally - but not sold far beyond the doors of its Indiana brewhouse. Today however, it will be tapping a number of them at LowDown Brewery + Kitchen in Denver.
* 7 p.m. to midnight. Epic Brewing offers its 50 Firkin Fiasco tradition each year after the opening night of the GABF. The intriguing twist this year: Other breweries than just the Utah/RiNo beer maker were given a chance to take its beers and create their own firkins with them.
* 10 p.m. Avanti F&B has the closest relationship with Dogfish Head of any beer bar in Denver. That's why when it holds an after-party featuring Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione, you almost have to show up to see what he is breaking out for the festivities.
Friday
* 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Start the day the only way you should - with a Gospel brunch hosted by Oskar Blues at its Tasty Weasel taproom in Longmont. Yeah, it's a ways north of Denver. But by now, you need some time behind the wheel when you actually won't be drinking.
* Noon to 4 p.m. The most expensive ticket of the week is also one of the most sought-after - a $115 ducat to get into the Rare Beer Tasting at McNichols, offering a peak into the cellars of some of America's best breweries and beers you may never seen again.
* 4 to 11 p.m. Crafty Fox has made a ballyhooed entrance into the Denver beer-bar scene this year with a fantastic tap list. And today it adds to its mystique by featuring the beers of Bellingham, Washington - including award winners such as Chuckanut and Boundary Bay Brewing - with a side splash of hop king Melvin Brewing and sour king Crooked Stave.
* 7 to 10 p.m. New Belgium and Ratio Beerworks aren't as hard to find as, say, Bellingham beers. But when they throw something as specific as a fruit luau at Illegal Pete's, it's a focused collection of pucker-worthy beers worth seeking out.
* 10 p.m. After the GABF session, you may find your palate somewhat wrecked. Freshcraft will be tapping the beers of Stone, Green Flash and Melvin, among others, which is guaranteed to either resuscitate your taste buds or finish them for good.
Saturday
* 9 a.m. to noon. After drinking heavily for five days, you may think that nothing new can come down the pipe. And then you discover that Denver Beer Co. is offering a Burritos and Barleywines breakfast event, and you happily say to yourself, "Well, I was wrong."* 10 a.m. For those wanting to leave town with a few souvenirs, Black Project Spontaneous & Wild Ales will begin a two-day sale of some of its tucked-away bottles, suitable for enjoying when your liver has begun to recover somewhat.
* 9 p.m. There will be lots of after parties beginning tonight - but few that test whether you can cross the last boundary of the week quite like Ratio Beerworks' karaoke after-party. Oh, and the killer brewery will be breaking out some new and rare brews.
* 11 p.m. For many years, I viewed the traditional post-festival tapping of New Belgium sours at Falling Rock Tap House as the defibrillator to shock my taste buds back to life. Whether or not you agree, this event offers a great chance to find out.
Labels: Avanti F&B, Denver Beer Fest, Falling Rock Taphouse, Freshcraft, Great American Beer Festival, Hops and Pie
Saturday, January 23, 2016
Denver's Enhanced West Side
When talk of Denver's best beer neighborhoods comes up, River North, South Broadway and the beer-bar-laden downtown all jump to the forefront. But in recent months, some new arrivals are doing their best to make sure the city's west side is beginning to get its due.
It's not like the vast area west of Interstate 25 has been a craft-beer wasteland. Hops & Pie is one of the best beer bars in the city, offering a variety of hard-to-find taps. Hogshead Brewery serves spot-on English-style ales. And Diebolt Brewing, after a relatively slow start, is making some exceptional ales, particularly its fig-infused Algerian Biere de Garde.
But the introduction of two new breweries in particular to the scene in the past six months is beginning to raise the profile of the area, and deservedly so. And as such, it's worth paying a little more attention to Call to Arms Brewing and Little Machine Beer.
Call to Arms, the brainchild of three former Avery Brewing workers, opened in July with a full 14 taps and is getting accolades for its craftsmanship as well as its variety of beers. Located on the northern end of the increasingly hip Tennyson Street corridor, it's also very family-accessible, as Lincoln (pictured with coaster) was one of four kids there for early happy hour during a recent visit.
The vast selection of styles almost ensures that no one beer on Call to Arms' tap list stands out,
though the bold, dandelion-esque Son of a Beesting IPA that was on this fall stood above many others. But the surprisingly hoppy sessionable Clintonian Pale Ale, open-fermented Burkhalter dunkelweizen and Oats and Hose - an oatmeal porter with a hint of dark cherry - rank among the brewery's other standouts.
Even more impressive in many ways is Little Machine, which opened in October in the Jefferson Park neighborhood north of Sports Authority Field. It presents a more experimental vibe and has been able to score touchdowns with a few of its efforts.
Most exciting has been its Coffee Oatmeal Stout, a Nicaraguan-coffee-infused version of its solid Tractor Beam Oatmeal Stout that has both a big coffee flavor and an almost creamy undertone. Another more limited release, the Alternating Currant Kettle Sour, offered a hard-to-nail-down raspberry/blackberry feel in a way that did not overwhelm the taste buds.
Among its more regular beers, Little Machine's Colorado Stock Ale has a hop-forward taste for a pale ale that, at 5.3 percent ABV, could be sipped through the night. And its The Reason Saison, if not challenging to the palate, is malty and very drinkable.
Like in pretty much every neighborhood in Colorado, more breweries are sure to follow. But Denver's newcomers on the west side, following in the footsteps of a couple of their predecessors, are making the area worthy of a full-day tour.
When talk of Denver's best beer neighborhoods comes up, River North, South Broadway and the beer-bar-laden downtown all jump to the forefront. But in recent months, some new arrivals are doing their best to make sure the city's west side is beginning to get its due.
It's not like the vast area west of Interstate 25 has been a craft-beer wasteland. Hops & Pie is one of the best beer bars in the city, offering a variety of hard-to-find taps. Hogshead Brewery serves spot-on English-style ales. And Diebolt Brewing, after a relatively slow start, is making some exceptional ales, particularly its fig-infused Algerian Biere de Garde.
But the introduction of two new breweries in particular to the scene in the past six months is beginning to raise the profile of the area, and deservedly so. And as such, it's worth paying a little more attention to Call to Arms Brewing and Little Machine Beer.
Call to Arms, the brainchild of three former Avery Brewing workers, opened in July with a full 14 taps and is getting accolades for its craftsmanship as well as its variety of beers. Located on the northern end of the increasingly hip Tennyson Street corridor, it's also very family-accessible, as Lincoln (pictured with coaster) was one of four kids there for early happy hour during a recent visit.
The vast selection of styles almost ensures that no one beer on Call to Arms' tap list stands out,though the bold, dandelion-esque Son of a Beesting IPA that was on this fall stood above many others. But the surprisingly hoppy sessionable Clintonian Pale Ale, open-fermented Burkhalter dunkelweizen and Oats and Hose - an oatmeal porter with a hint of dark cherry - rank among the brewery's other standouts.
Even more impressive in many ways is Little Machine, which opened in October in the Jefferson Park neighborhood north of Sports Authority Field. It presents a more experimental vibe and has been able to score touchdowns with a few of its efforts.
Most exciting has been its Coffee Oatmeal Stout, a Nicaraguan-coffee-infused version of its solid Tractor Beam Oatmeal Stout that has both a big coffee flavor and an almost creamy undertone. Another more limited release, the Alternating Currant Kettle Sour, offered a hard-to-nail-down raspberry/blackberry feel in a way that did not overwhelm the taste buds.
Among its more regular beers, Little Machine's Colorado Stock Ale has a hop-forward taste for a pale ale that, at 5.3 percent ABV, could be sipped through the night. And its The Reason Saison, if not challenging to the palate, is malty and very drinkable.
Like in pretty much every neighborhood in Colorado, more breweries are sure to follow. But Denver's newcomers on the west side, following in the footsteps of a couple of their predecessors, are making the area worthy of a full-day tour.
Labels: Call to Arms Brewing, Coffee beer, Diebolt Brewing, Hogshead Brewery, Hops and Pie, IPA, Little Machine Beer, New Colorado breweries, West Side breweries
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Roll Out the Barrels
If barrel-aging was the top beer trend among big, established breweries in 2012, then 2013 looks to be bringing something just as exciting: Micro-barrel projects.
Take, for example, yesterday afternoon's festivities at Denver beer bar Hops and Pie, which tapped five barrel-aged creations (pictured above) from five Front Range breweries. These weren't just any concoctions chosen by the beer makers, though - they were gems aged six months in Maker's Mark barrels given specifically to the breweries by Hops and Pie. And when barrel aging becomes that accessible, it's a joy to celebrate.
One could talk about the brilliant offerings of the quintet. Odell's combo of Mountain Standard and Lugene Chocolate Milk Stout, known as "Decadent Double Black Hooch," integrated the tastes of chocolate and hops with the vanilla touch of oak and a background of whiskey. And River North's Avarice became a complex, dark-as-night beast intertwining tastes of bourbon, chocolate malt and licorice when aged.
But what's worth noting even more is that such profusion of barrel-aged experiments means the average drinker no longer has to save up the better portion of a week's paycheck to get a corked bottle of barrel-aged beer. It may not be long before every brewery and beer bar of merit will keep an oak-aged offering on tap at all times.
To think: Just 15 years ago, old whiskey and wine barrels were seen as aged wood, used up from their original purpose with nothing more to do.
Even the early experiments with barrels nearly scared some of the great artisans off. Matt Brynildson of Firestone Walker noted at this year's Vail Big Beers festival that his early experiments with chardonnay barrels tasted like salad dressing. Now the California company is busting barrel barriers with Sour Opal, one of the most exciting beers of the new year.
Ah, yes, it's good to live in a time when brewers push boundaries every day. And while barrel-aging may already be going big time, the wider use of the practice may turn up new tricks and styles of which we haven't yet thought.
If barrel-aging was the top beer trend among big, established breweries in 2012, then 2013 looks to be bringing something just as exciting: Micro-barrel projects.
Take, for example, yesterday afternoon's festivities at Denver beer bar Hops and Pie, which tapped five barrel-aged creations (pictured above) from five Front Range breweries. These weren't just any concoctions chosen by the beer makers, though - they were gems aged six months in Maker's Mark barrels given specifically to the breweries by Hops and Pie. And when barrel aging becomes that accessible, it's a joy to celebrate.
One could talk about the brilliant offerings of the quintet. Odell's combo of Mountain Standard and Lugene Chocolate Milk Stout, known as "Decadent Double Black Hooch," integrated the tastes of chocolate and hops with the vanilla touch of oak and a background of whiskey. And River North's Avarice became a complex, dark-as-night beast intertwining tastes of bourbon, chocolate malt and licorice when aged.
But what's worth noting even more is that such profusion of barrel-aged experiments means the average drinker no longer has to save up the better portion of a week's paycheck to get a corked bottle of barrel-aged beer. It may not be long before every brewery and beer bar of merit will keep an oak-aged offering on tap at all times.
To think: Just 15 years ago, old whiskey and wine barrels were seen as aged wood, used up from their original purpose with nothing more to do.
Even the early experiments with barrels nearly scared some of the great artisans off. Matt Brynildson of Firestone Walker noted at this year's Vail Big Beers festival that his early experiments with chardonnay barrels tasted like salad dressing. Now the California company is busting barrel barriers with Sour Opal, one of the most exciting beers of the new year.
Ah, yes, it's good to live in a time when brewers push boundaries every day. And while barrel-aging may already be going big time, the wider use of the practice may turn up new tricks and styles of which we haven't yet thought.
Labels: Barrel aging, Big Beers, Firestone Walker Brewing, Hops and Pie, Odell Brewing, River North Brewery
