Sunday, December 20, 2020
The 12 Beers of Christmas 2020
Lockdown has its advantages and disadvantages when it comes to beer exploration. On the down side is the lack of seasonal beer festivals (a.k.a. Denver Beer Festivus) that allowed one to explore many Christmas creations in one fell swoop. On the plus side, however, is the fact that little this year is getting in the way of drinking multiple beers every night in the name of, um, journalism.
So, after a month of diving into as many seasonal offerings as could be scrounged, here is one drinker's guide to 12 Beers of Christmas this year, both from Colorado and from afar, that can help you get through the rest of this year in merry shape. Good beers to all, and to all a good night!
12) Shiner Holiday Cheer
This is the "wait, do I like this?" beer of the season - a dunkelweizen swimming in the flavor of Texas peaches that looks more like a dark champagne than a holiday ale. The fruit is so dominant here, and the beer is acutely sweet. But you won't forget it. And you'll realize there's some real talent behind this.
11) Briar Common Amnesia
Released just on Dec. 19, this is a bold concept - a 13% ABV wood-aged imperial stout brewed with tart cherries - that right now tastes a bit premature, with the thick body taking on more of a port wine characteristic than the feel of a stout. But pick up two and cellar one for six months, as this just feels like a budding masterpiece that can grow very well into its own complexity.
10) Avery Old Jubilation
An 8.3% ABV English-style old ale with a boozy enough feel to be mistaken for a light barleywine, this is truly a winter warmer. This is not an easy sipper, but it is multi-faceted and its blend of four malts makes this one of Avery's least hop-forward classic offerings.
9) Sierra Nevada Celebration
The California craft-beer pioneer long has swerved from the norm by dropping its fresh-hopped IPA as its Christmastime entry. And its Northwest hop profile and amber-brown body make this feel very old school. Still, that doesn't change the fact that it is simple and well-made.
8) Odell Isolation Ale
Much like Celebration, this straddles the "almost too familiar" line but then reminds you why Odell Brewing hasn't messed with the recipe. A malty ale in which neither the malts nor the hops are overbearing, it is plan and simple a perfectly enjoyable easy drinker. And that deserves honoring.
7) Strange Craft Beer Gingerbread Man
The American-style brown ale body almost felt a little lighter this year than in years past. But the spicing here is spot on: Ginger mixed with stabilizing malts in a way that truly approximates a cookie in not-overbearing beer form. This is the beer you bring to the Christmas party (whenever those resume) and have everyone smile with appreciation.
6) N'ice Chouffe
A big body that lays out this 10% ABV Belgian dark ale brewed with spices is even more impressive for its lack of alcohol burn. With its thick head, impenetrably dark body and lingering aftertaste, this annual treat from Belgium's Achouffe Brewery makes a bold statement. Be sure to share it with friends.
5) Westfax Cranberry and Sage Smoothie Sour
OK, technically the holiday this beer brings out is Thanksgiving. But the truth is, it's a phenomenal beer to sample with any elaborate dinner. The ruby red body shimmers like straight-out-of-the-can cranberry sauce, the hugely spiced nose calls to mind turkey stuffing and the tartness tones it down in a way that actually works miraculously well together. It may not be the beer you drink by the six-pack, but it's an impressive experiment from this Lakewood brewery that is worth seeking out and trying.
4) New Belgium Accumulation
The surprisingly long-lasting beer of this season is a light-bodied IPA with a late-breaking hop bite that presents such a cold crispness that it almost seems begging to be drunk in cooler climates. A slight hint of peppercorn adds to the unusual bitterness and makes it noteworthy.
3) Little Machine That's My Yam!
The full-bodied nature of this sweet potato stout lets you know that it's a serious beer, not a gimmick. But it's the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and vanilla beans used in the brewing that combine to give this a taste like an oddly cooling chai stout and make you think more and more about what's in here, even as you simply enjoy this.
2) Great Divide Hibernation Ale
Even in its 25th year of production, this English-style old ale feels surprisingly fresh and relevant. Its body touches the edges of being both woody and smoky but doesn't settle into either of those characteristics. It's all malt, but with a sweet and slightly boozy aspect that makes this incredibly approachable. It doesn't rely on any of the typical Christmas-beer trappings but feels like a slope-side cabin fire in liquid form. It's brewed to a style but remains indefinable. It's just great.
1) Upslope Wild Christmas Ale
These Boulder auteurs have produced impressive versions of their typically tart Christmas ales for years now, but nothing has come close to the 2020 version. Aged in oak barrels with orange juice and orange peel with a Saigon cinnamon addition, this goes way beyond being a "sour" beer and kicks up the body with the cinnamon in such a smooth way that it seems it's what a generation of brewers have been looking to do with spice. The exotic flavor seems almost soothing in comparison to the bitterness, providing a hint of donut-esque sweetness that is a defining last taste to an already impressive complexity. It is a really, really unique effort.
Labels: Briar Common Brewery + Eatery, Great Divide, Little Machine Beer, New Belgium Brewing, Odell Brewing, Sierra Nevada Brewing, Strange Craft Beer, Upslope Brewing, Westfax Brewing
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
Monday, March 26, 2018
Collaboration Fest: Where the Stories Behind the Beers Matter
Speaking about collaboration beers to Jordan Fink, co-owner and head brewer of Denver's Woods Boss Brewing, is a little like talking about throwing the greatest party you can imagine. It's not an act of obligation, of somehow working with your cohorts to find a shared vision, to him so much as it is an inspired task, one that can leave you giddy with the possibilities of what you can create.
"I can't speak for anyone else. But for me, I have so many friends in the industry. We get together and drink together and talk about what we'd like to do together," Fink shared Thursday night at an industry gathering to welcome Thirsty Monk brewery to town. "It's an official opportunity for us to mind-meld and do things that we'd never do alone ... I love being with other brewers."
If Fink gets you excited about the idea of what can come from brewery collaborations, you're not alone. On Saturday afternoon, 200 breweries will unveil more than 100 beers that are the products of their unions at the fifth annual Collaboration Fest at the Hyatt Regency Denver. The gathering, put on by Two Parts and the Colorado Brewers Guild, is one of the best in the state at showing off the daring and creativity that sometimes only comes when two or more friends masquerading as pseudo-competitors poke each other enough, saying, "Is that all you've got?"
The beers that will be on display are worth mentioning and will be dissected in a column later this week. But the spirit of the festival is more than the liquid that is poured into your taster glass. It's the "why" behind the beers that are going into that glass.
So, after streaming through countless emails and sharing a few beers recently with some of the participants in the event, here are five of the best stories of how collaborations came together.
1) Escaping from a Desert Island
Denverites Baere and Mockery Brewing originally decided to brew together because they opened just a few months apart, but their experiment has turned into a four-year odyssey of beers that tell the story of someone being stranded on a desert island and then working to escape. Following efforts like a smoked pineapple saison, this year's edition, Intercontinental When I Eat French Toast, is a huge pastry stout imagining the story's hero fleeing from the island on rum barrels and floating all the way to France, co-owner Kevin Greer shared.
2) Beer-Crowd-Sourcing
For its collaboration with organizer Two Parts, Little Machine Beer wanted to let ticket holders to the festival have a say. So, after deciding the style would be a saison, it's been having attendees vote on most of the rest of the ingredients for months, and the result (shown in production above) will be the aptly named People's Beer.
3) Getting the Band Back Together
Fink began his brewing journey at Tommyknocker Brewery, and to celebrate his heritage, he invited as many former fellow beer makers from the Idaho Springs icon back to craft a collaboration. The resulting baltic porter, 10K Alumni, involved eight breweries and was the 10,000th batch made on Tommyknocker's system.
4) A Cross-Border Experiment
Upslope Brewing of Boulder and Santa Fe Brewing (shown at right) wanted to craft a beverage that showed off the
best of each of their states. Thigh Five, a "southwest common" includes huitlacoche, a plant fungus that grows on the ears of corn and has a slightly smoky flavor. Bet you didn't see that coming.
5) Let the Music Play
Any shared set of interests, from a common neighborhood to a common distributor, can bring about a reason to craft a collaboration beer. But when you are the two breweries in Colorado most closely associated with love of music — the former-punk-rock-promoters-turned-impromptu-concert-hosts at Ratio Beerworks and the guys from Ska Brewing whose name reflects the tunes blaring over their speakers when they began to brew — the Magnetic North Norwegian white IPA can only be a melodious product (as shown in the photo at top).
Speaking about collaboration beers to Jordan Fink, co-owner and head brewer of Denver's Woods Boss Brewing, is a little like talking about throwing the greatest party you can imagine. It's not an act of obligation, of somehow working with your cohorts to find a shared vision, to him so much as it is an inspired task, one that can leave you giddy with the possibilities of what you can create.
"I can't speak for anyone else. But for me, I have so many friends in the industry. We get together and drink together and talk about what we'd like to do together," Fink shared Thursday night at an industry gathering to welcome Thirsty Monk brewery to town. "It's an official opportunity for us to mind-meld and do things that we'd never do alone ... I love being with other brewers."
If Fink gets you excited about the idea of what can come from brewery collaborations, you're not alone. On Saturday afternoon, 200 breweries will unveil more than 100 beers that are the products of their unions at the fifth annual Collaboration Fest at the Hyatt Regency Denver. The gathering, put on by Two Parts and the Colorado Brewers Guild, is one of the best in the state at showing off the daring and creativity that sometimes only comes when two or more friends masquerading as pseudo-competitors poke each other enough, saying, "Is that all you've got?"
The beers that will be on display are worth mentioning and will be dissected in a column later this week. But the spirit of the festival is more than the liquid that is poured into your taster glass. It's the "why" behind the beers that are going into that glass.
So, after streaming through countless emails and sharing a few beers recently with some of the participants in the event, here are five of the best stories of how collaborations came together.
1) Escaping from a Desert Island
Denverites Baere and Mockery Brewing originally decided to brew together because they opened just a few months apart, but their experiment has turned into a four-year odyssey of beers that tell the story of someone being stranded on a desert island and then working to escape. Following efforts like a smoked pineapple saison, this year's edition, Intercontinental When I Eat French Toast, is a huge pastry stout imagining the story's hero fleeing from the island on rum barrels and floating all the way to France, co-owner Kevin Greer shared.
For its collaboration with organizer Two Parts, Little Machine Beer wanted to let ticket holders to the festival have a say. So, after deciding the style would be a saison, it's been having attendees vote on most of the rest of the ingredients for months, and the result (shown in production above) will be the aptly named People's Beer.
3) Getting the Band Back Together
Fink began his brewing journey at Tommyknocker Brewery, and to celebrate his heritage, he invited as many former fellow beer makers from the Idaho Springs icon back to craft a collaboration. The resulting baltic porter, 10K Alumni, involved eight breweries and was the 10,000th batch made on Tommyknocker's system.4) A Cross-Border Experiment
Upslope Brewing of Boulder and Santa Fe Brewing (shown at right) wanted to craft a beverage that showed off the
best of each of their states. Thigh Five, a "southwest common" includes huitlacoche, a plant fungus that grows on the ears of corn and has a slightly smoky flavor. Bet you didn't see that coming.
5) Let the Music Play
Any shared set of interests, from a common neighborhood to a common distributor, can bring about a reason to craft a collaboration beer. But when you are the two breweries in Colorado most closely associated with love of music — the former-punk-rock-promoters-turned-impromptu-concert-hosts at Ratio Beerworks and the guys from Ska Brewing whose name reflects the tunes blaring over their speakers when they began to brew — the Magnetic North Norwegian white IPA can only be a melodious product (as shown in the photo at top).
Labels: Baere Brewing, collaboration beers, Colorado Brewers Guild, Little Machine Beer, Mockery Brewing, Ratio Beerworks, Santa Fe Brewing, Ska Brewing, Two Parts, Upslope Brewing, Woods Boss Brewing
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
