Sunday, December 16, 2018
5 Things I Learned from Denver Beer Festivus 2018
The biggest annual gathering of Denver breweries in one location found a new home this year at the Denver Sports Castle, and with it there seemed to be an even bigger drive among the 61 breweries in attendance to show off what they had. Beer makers brought six-deep pour lists more extensive than some offer at the Great American Beer Festival, Liberati Osteria introduced timed beer tappings to the event and everyone seemed to have a fresh, new take on classical holiday beers.
There frankly was a lot to be learned at the festival, and the vast majority of it was on the positive side. But here are a few things that jumped particularly to the top of the hit list on a day when most people had a different take on the best things being offered in the venue.
1) If a style sounded impossible, Denver breweries proved it could be done.
That was most apparent in the best beer of the festival - Spangalang's Vanguard 3000, a blend of a bourbon-barrel-aged tripel and an imperial stout flavored with vanilla and maple. Somehow, these vastly different styles melded seamlessly into one giant and surprisingly easy-drinking booze bomb that burst into the stratosphere with the maple addition offering refreshing sweetness.
But Ratio Beerworks managed to add candied sugar, cinnamon and cardamom to its Hold Steady chocolate rye scotch ale and land a beer that is the closest thing you'll try to mulled wine made with hops and barley. And Woods Boss threw candy canes into a chocolate stout to create its Magical Narwhal, and you could picture yourself drinking that throughout the winter by the fire if it wasn't a one-off.
2) Holiday beer variety is very much alive and well.
As Halloween beers seem to be dying from a lack of originality, Denver breweries are redefining Christmas beers in new and more interesting ways.
Zuni Street absolutely killed it with its Gingergrass, a German ale brewed with ginger, hibiscus and lemongrass from the Teatulia tea store next door to it. Little Machine brought back its That's My Yam! Sweet Potato Stout that is dark, refreshing and even a slight bit spicy. And Strange Craft Beer made good use of one of the hardest ingredients to blend effectively into beer - spruce tips - by melding it into a Belgian dubbel and using the malt to bring out the sweetness in the resin in its Just the Tip.
3) Denver continues its transition from a hop town to a sour town.
Yes, IPAs will continue to be the best-selling craft beers in this area by far. But no one was talking about a particular IPA that was being poured on Saturday.
Yet people (justifiably) wouldn't shut up about TRVE's Burning Arrow foeder saison with Citra hops, a whipsaw of big tart flavor and just enough hopping to keep it balanced. Or Baere Brewing's Frambruin sour brown ale that pelted you joyfully with the mouthfeel of sour cherries. Or pretty much everything poured by Black Project, but particularly its Gnomon, a spontaneous raw ale brewed with purple barley that made you think and think again about the wonderful liquid in your mouth.
4) Liberati Osteria & Oenobeers opened many eyes.
The month-and-a-half-old maker of oenobeers - those brewed with grapes as a fermenting ingredient - has thrilled anyone who stopped by, but the legions of devotees still have remained small. Judging by the lines it attracted Saturday, that may be about to end.
Jaws dropped particularly over its Oximonstrum, a 17.25% ABV concoction that was like malted port in a glass and drank far, far too easily. But the fact that the brewery reeled people in with timed tastings and repeatedly rolled out beers that shocked your preconceptions of what a beer can be was emblematic of the festival and of the evolving Denver beer scene.
5) Nobody needs more than 2 ounces at a beer festival.
I hesitate to complain about generosity. But I dumped more beer on Saturday that I can remember relinquishing at a festival - despite the fact that I, unlike others I was with, knew to avoid Burgundian Brewing. What that means is: I had to dump good beer!
When there are more than 60 breweries in a location, the object is to sample the full spectrum available in bits and bites, particularly when there were so many high-gravity beers on the menu. Thus, I felt bad asking so many brewers to toss their counterparts' efforts. But when I'm getting six-ounce pours, that's going to happen.
The biggest annual gathering of Denver breweries in one location found a new home this year at the Denver Sports Castle, and with it there seemed to be an even bigger drive among the 61 breweries in attendance to show off what they had. Beer makers brought six-deep pour lists more extensive than some offer at the Great American Beer Festival, Liberati Osteria introduced timed beer tappings to the event and everyone seemed to have a fresh, new take on classical holiday beers.
There frankly was a lot to be learned at the festival, and the vast majority of it was on the positive side. But here are a few things that jumped particularly to the top of the hit list on a day when most people had a different take on the best things being offered in the venue.
1) If a style sounded impossible, Denver breweries proved it could be done.
But Ratio Beerworks managed to add candied sugar, cinnamon and cardamom to its Hold Steady chocolate rye scotch ale and land a beer that is the closest thing you'll try to mulled wine made with hops and barley. And Woods Boss threw candy canes into a chocolate stout to create its Magical Narwhal, and you could picture yourself drinking that throughout the winter by the fire if it wasn't a one-off.
2) Holiday beer variety is very much alive and well.
As Halloween beers seem to be dying from a lack of originality, Denver breweries are redefining Christmas beers in new and more interesting ways.
Zuni Street absolutely killed it with its Gingergrass, a German ale brewed with ginger, hibiscus and lemongrass from the Teatulia tea store next door to it. Little Machine brought back its That's My Yam! Sweet Potato Stout that is dark, refreshing and even a slight bit spicy. And Strange Craft Beer made good use of one of the hardest ingredients to blend effectively into beer - spruce tips - by melding it into a Belgian dubbel and using the malt to bring out the sweetness in the resin in its Just the Tip.
3) Denver continues its transition from a hop town to a sour town.
Yes, IPAs will continue to be the best-selling craft beers in this area by far. But no one was talking about a particular IPA that was being poured on Saturday.
Yet people (justifiably) wouldn't shut up about TRVE's Burning Arrow foeder saison with Citra hops, a whipsaw of big tart flavor and just enough hopping to keep it balanced. Or Baere Brewing's Frambruin sour brown ale that pelted you joyfully with the mouthfeel of sour cherries. Or pretty much everything poured by Black Project, but particularly its Gnomon, a spontaneous raw ale brewed with purple barley that made you think and think again about the wonderful liquid in your mouth.
4) Liberati Osteria & Oenobeers opened many eyes.
The month-and-a-half-old maker of oenobeers - those brewed with grapes as a fermenting ingredient - has thrilled anyone who stopped by, but the legions of devotees still have remained small. Judging by the lines it attracted Saturday, that may be about to end.Jaws dropped particularly over its Oximonstrum, a 17.25% ABV concoction that was like malted port in a glass and drank far, far too easily. But the fact that the brewery reeled people in with timed tastings and repeatedly rolled out beers that shocked your preconceptions of what a beer can be was emblematic of the festival and of the evolving Denver beer scene.
5) Nobody needs more than 2 ounces at a beer festival.
I hesitate to complain about generosity. But I dumped more beer on Saturday that I can remember relinquishing at a festival - despite the fact that I, unlike others I was with, knew to avoid Burgundian Brewing. What that means is: I had to dump good beer!
When there are more than 60 breweries in a location, the object is to sample the full spectrum available in bits and bites, particularly when there were so many high-gravity beers on the menu. Thus, I felt bad asking so many brewers to toss their counterparts' efforts. But when I'm getting six-ounce pours, that's going to happen.
Labels: Baere Brewing, Black Project, Festivus, Liberati Osteria & Oenobeers, Little Machine Beer, Ratio Beerworks, Spangalang Brewery, Strange Craft Beer, TRVE, Woods Boss Brewing, Zuni Street Brewing
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
The Undefinable Brewery Liberati
To be sure, Liberati Osteria & Oenobeers is not the place where you should plan to go if you want to kick back for a few typical beers with friends. No, it is somewhere you will need to set aside time to discern and discuss the beers in front of you, because each is a thought-provoking experience.
Opened on Oct. 29, it is the first exclusively oenobeer brewery - one that crafts all of its beers with some percentage of wine grapes - anywhere in the world. Italian native Alex Liberati chose Denver to be the home of this grand experiment after 11 years of operating Rome's most daring brewery and beer bar and then deciding it was too difficult to continue to run a business there.
The menu offers up roughly a dozen beers, though Liberati has tap space to grow that to 42 eventually. But even at this early "small" number of creations, the daring jumps off the menu - and is amped up even further when you dive into a sampler.
Some of the oenobeers, to be sure, are more intriguing than mind-blowing. Parvus Titan, a petite farmhouse ale brewed with East Kent Goldings hops and 20 percent Viongnier grapes, comes in at just 3.7 percent ABV and has a crisp-lager feel, but the grapes give it an intriguing flavor that makes you realize there is something more here, even if it's undefinable. Liberati (pictured below), a man who is looking to make a truly great small beer, calls this his favorite offering.
But then you start to work through the hoppy selections and realize that something is very different. The Nomen Omen IIPA with 20 percent Marsanne grapes takes on an oaky, almost vegetal flavor. The I-3PO Triple IPA with 25 percent Gewürztraminer grapes sends the hops to the background and covers up the 12.8 percent alcohol volume completely, making the grapes the stars of the show. These are not India pale ales for hopheads looking to get their lupulin fix; these are experiments that redefine the IPA in eye-opening ways.
Where Liberati really shines, though, is when the grapes become a near majority of the fermentables and the beer is transformed into something that seems a whole new beverage type. In Medio Stat Virtus, a Belgian golden ale made with 48 percent Chardonnay grapes, manages to blend the sweetness of its beer style with the strong dryness of its fruit, allowing you to sense both styles of drinks coming together in a strong and passionate way. And when you linger over the Recioto Denveris, a 12.8 percent ABV dark-as-night imperial stout made with 23 percent Petit Verdot grapes, you shock yourself that a beer so thick and viscous also can be so drinkable.
One theme is that the beers, which are served with charcuterie plates or pasta dishes, are uniformly dangerous - beers that carry a big impact without a big hit of booze, much like a fine Italian wine. The other is that nothing on the menu tastes like what you are expecting, even when you're going in with an open mind and not knowing what the hell to expect.
Liberati is a sensory trip, a flavorful experiment, a true effort in redefining beer. The truth is, I don't know what I'll think the second and third times I return, when the offerings will be less surprising but no less expertly made. But I know I'm going back, because uniqueness like this needs to be rewarded.
To be sure, Liberati Osteria & Oenobeers is not the place where you should plan to go if you want to kick back for a few typical beers with friends. No, it is somewhere you will need to set aside time to discern and discuss the beers in front of you, because each is a thought-provoking experience.
Opened on Oct. 29, it is the first exclusively oenobeer brewery - one that crafts all of its beers with some percentage of wine grapes - anywhere in the world. Italian native Alex Liberati chose Denver to be the home of this grand experiment after 11 years of operating Rome's most daring brewery and beer bar and then deciding it was too difficult to continue to run a business there.
The menu offers up roughly a dozen beers, though Liberati has tap space to grow that to 42 eventually. But even at this early "small" number of creations, the daring jumps off the menu - and is amped up even further when you dive into a sampler.
Some of the oenobeers, to be sure, are more intriguing than mind-blowing. Parvus Titan, a petite farmhouse ale brewed with East Kent Goldings hops and 20 percent Viongnier grapes, comes in at just 3.7 percent ABV and has a crisp-lager feel, but the grapes give it an intriguing flavor that makes you realize there is something more here, even if it's undefinable. Liberati (pictured below), a man who is looking to make a truly great small beer, calls this his favorite offering.
But then you start to work through the hoppy selections and realize that something is very different. The Nomen Omen IIPA with 20 percent Marsanne grapes takes on an oaky, almost vegetal flavor. The I-3PO Triple IPA with 25 percent Gewürztraminer grapes sends the hops to the background and covers up the 12.8 percent alcohol volume completely, making the grapes the stars of the show. These are not India pale ales for hopheads looking to get their lupulin fix; these are experiments that redefine the IPA in eye-opening ways.
Where Liberati really shines, though, is when the grapes become a near majority of the fermentables and the beer is transformed into something that seems a whole new beverage type. In Medio Stat Virtus, a Belgian golden ale made with 48 percent Chardonnay grapes, manages to blend the sweetness of its beer style with the strong dryness of its fruit, allowing you to sense both styles of drinks coming together in a strong and passionate way. And when you linger over the Recioto Denveris, a 12.8 percent ABV dark-as-night imperial stout made with 23 percent Petit Verdot grapes, you shock yourself that a beer so thick and viscous also can be so drinkable.
One theme is that the beers, which are served with charcuterie plates or pasta dishes, are uniformly dangerous - beers that carry a big impact without a big hit of booze, much like a fine Italian wine. The other is that nothing on the menu tastes like what you are expecting, even when you're going in with an open mind and not knowing what the hell to expect.
Liberati is a sensory trip, a flavorful experiment, a true effort in redefining beer. The truth is, I don't know what I'll think the second and third times I return, when the offerings will be less surprising but no less expertly made. But I know I'm going back, because uniqueness like this needs to be rewarded.
Labels: farmhouse ales, IPA, Liberati Osteria & Oenobeers, New Colorado breweries, oenobeers
