Saturday, August 20, 2011
Five Craft Lager Festival Thoughts
It's been one week now since the Manitou Craft Lager Festival. Generally, if something sticks in your brain that long, it's made an impression. And there are several things from this year's event that made an impression.
1. Odell Brewing can do no wrong
Usually, small-batch pilot experiments are big, bold flavors too risky to appeal to the mass population. But this year, Odell made a pilot kolsch for the festival. And it may have been the best beer there. Glisteningly smooth and crisp, this version of the German style increased the standard amount of hops in a kolsch by just enough to make this a sharp but still very easy-drinking beer. Let's hope this moves from pilot batch to six packs very soon.
2. Summit County brewers are underrated
The longest lines of the weekends formed at the Dillon Dam Brewery booth, where Cory Forster (far right in the photo) poured a malty, approachable Montezuma Marzen that seemed perfect for the summer heat. Next to it, Pug Ryan's brewmaster Dave Simmons (center in photo, next to me) doled out his thick, sweet Helles Bock and a smooth, easy Pallavicini Pilsner. Pug's sends a few beer in cans to the Front Range and Dillon Dam none; these two breweries are proving, however, that Summit County has a selection worth traveling for.
3. Highly hopped pilsners are an idea whose time has come
Avery debuted its Joe's Pilsner last year and shocked a lot of people with the amount of hops you can put into a 4.7 percent, light-bodied beer. It was back this year, but it was not alone in its genre. Lost Rhino Brewing of Virginia, which is set to begin Colorado distribution soon, showed up with an aggressively hopped Rhino Chaser Pils that added a firm, sweet malt backbone to its character. It would not surprise me to see the hopped pilsner, with its combination of refreshment and bitter joy, blowing up to become the next big style, ala the Belgian sour or black IPA.
4. The clown remains a prince
Shmaltz Brewing of New York and its creepy clown symbol remained the most talked-about out-of-state brewer at the festival. I asked a number of people who stopped by the Mountain Brew booth what their favorite beer was, and the most common answer I got was the Coney Island Albino Python, a wistful ginger-touched white lager. But the bock-like Blockhead and whiskey-tinged Barrel-Aged Blockhead added greatly to the resume of a brewery that should find a way to have a bigger presence in Colorado.
5. Festival organizers were attentive to attendees' pleas
Last year, half the beer booths had shut down with two hours to go on Saturday and attendees were up in arms. This year, festival organizers smartly reduced the two-ounce pours to one ounce, leaving lines a bit long at times but ensuring that drinkers could get whatever they wanted to try. They also added distillers, giving the daring another option of beverages to try. And the security was on the lookout for the excessively drunk, meaning that people who were really wanting to sample and discuss the beers weren't being pushed around by the belligerent. Other than the 30-minute rainstorm that stopped strolling and sampling for a while Sunday, this was a better festival all around than last year. And it once again should be regarded as one of the finest in the state.
Labels: Avery Brewing, Dillon Dam Brewery, Lost Rhino, Manitou Springs, Mountain Brew book, Odell Brewing, Pug Ryan's, Shmaltz Brewing
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Stop ... Lager Time
Colorado has more beer festivals than Batman has archenemies. But there are four that year in and year out stand out:
*Denver's Great American Beer Festival in late September;
*Vail's Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines festival in early January;
*Salida's Brewers Rendezvous in early July; and,
*The Manitou Craft Lager Festival, coming up this Saturday and Sunday.
Each of these brings a unique assortment of brewers from across the state and country. And each is notable because the brewers don't just show up but bring harder-to-find selections and even make unique offerings to roll out at the events.
But the Craft Lager Festival, entering its ninth year this year, earns special kudos among the group because it has played a significant role in Colorado breweries taking an outdated style of beer and spicing it up. And any event that makes the lager - the kind of beer most often associated with megaswill - special is worthy of our compliments.
And I'm not just saying that because this is the first festival at which we'll be selling my book, Mountain Brew.
Really, take a look at some of the offerings that will be available this year. Odell Brewing is rolling out a pilot kolsch beer. Rock Bottom Colorado Springs is bringing a chili pepper Mexican lager. And AC Golden, known largely for its Colorado Native lager, is bringing a German-style pilsner that you can't find on store shelves.
And, of course, that doesn't even count the fantastic offerings from smaller breweries that aren't available statewide, such as Pug Ryan's Helles Bock or Rocky Mountain Brewery's Smoked Hefeweizen.
The only complaint that patrons have had in the past about the festival is that it's grown so fast that breweries run out of beer too quickly. But organizers have always responded strongly to feedback, and there are great hopes that the beer flows until close to closing time this year.
So, cheers for the Craft Lager Festival, which runs from 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. And I hope to see a number of you down there celebrating this unique take on the Colorado brewing tradition.
Labels: AC Golden, Manitou Springs, Mountain Brew book, Odell Brewing, Pug Ryan's, Rock Bottom Brewery, Rocky Mountain Brewery
Monday, August 23, 2010
Manitou Festival HighlightsYes, there were a few problems getting all of the beers you wanted at the Manitou Craft Lager Festival this year. But, showing why the event is so good, there were also some finds. Here's a look at a few things that stood out among the entries from the the 26 participating breweries:
*Avery Brewing is officially through the looking glass in terms of hopping a lager. Its recently released Joe's Premium American Pilsner blends a truly refreshing lighter body with a jump-up-and-grab-your-attention amount of hops to create one of the most interesting summer beers in recent memory.
*Looking for the next impressive beer trend? Think Helles. The bolder, sweeter style of lager was on fine display at several breweries. Pug Ryan's brought the biggest and toughest of the bunch, and its charge could not be ignored. The soon-to-open BierWerks of Woodland Park also rolled out a very medium-bodied, balanced and refreshing entry.
*Oak aging is doing wonderful things to lagers. This was most evident for the short window of time in which Odell was pouring its Woodcut #4, a shockingly smooth 11% ABV vanilla wonderland of a double-marzen-style lager aged in virgin American oak barrels. And even a smaller brewery like Rockyard showed with its Excavator Doppelbock that oak aging can make what is considered by some to be the simpler style of beer into a complex and meaty creation.
*Left Hand Brewing's Oxymoron was tapped a little early at the festival - it had yet to be filtered, I was told - but it portended a fascinating experiment to come. This "teutonic India pale ale" was brewed with a lager strain and was the hoppiest entry of the festival.
*If you're looking for someone to push the envelope a little further, look no further than Trinity Brewing. This year's debutante beer was the Kinky Reggae, an unhopped lager brewed with Jamaican jerk spices. There was considerable debate among the Fearless Tasting Crew about the merits of unhopped beers, but the rising spice level left this alone in terms of unique flavors at the event.
Labels: Avery Brewing, Left Hand Brewing, Manitou Springs, Trinity Brewing
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Manitou Festival Growing Pains
It didn't take long last weekend to remember why the Manitou Craft Lager Festival is one of the highlights of the Colorado summer season. Breweries from up and down the Front Range converged on an eclectic small town. Many brought beers well outside their standard fare that can be found in any liquor store. Some even brought beers that they were debuting at the festival (or, in the case of Left Hand Brewing, were showing off even before its official debut).
But by late afternoon Saturday, the increasingly popular gathering was starting to show its growing pains. By 4 p.m. - two hours before the five-hour session was over - two popular breweries had run out of beer. By 5, a full 13 out of the 26 breweries present had gone dry, though Trinity Brewing deserves credit for tapping another keg late in the day after it had run out originally. And the lines at the remaining booths had moved from resembling Russian River crowds Thursday night at the GABF to bearing a similarity to those New Glarus giant queues at the Saturday afternoon tasting session.
An overabundance of beer drinkers is not always a fatal problem; it's certainly no worse than, if not less of a problem than, throwing a tasting where nobody comes. But the great joy of the Manitou festival has always been that it felt just a little different from many of its summer cohorts, more like a laid-back gathering of beer aficionados hanging out on a summer day than a cram-packed room of people searching for any beer they could find. It got to the point this year where a close friend told me: "That's it, I'm not coming back next year." I'm not ready to take that step, but any time you get longtime fans - this buddy and I were at the very first Manitou festival together - spouting that level of frustration, it may be time to re-examine things.
So, before I laud some of the stellar creations that were served at the festival (which will be tomorrow or Saturday's post), I want to make a plea to organizers as a fan: Some changes are needed.
*Ask the breweries to bring a few more kegs. Even if people are drinking, say, Ska's standard fare rather than their tasty, rarer schwarzbier late in the festival, they'll have something there to enjoy.
*Consider limiting limiting the number of tickets sold. While I can criticize a certain other friend who didn't show up until 4 p.m. (and I did), his tardiness should not have left him largely without options for most of his time there, since he did show up for 40 percent of the festival.
*Create more activities that didn't involve standing in line. You've already got a headier crowd than at most summer festivals. Rather than just throwing up your standard music stage, have some big name brewers give a talk or pour a special creation for seated crowds at various times. This might pull some people away from the long lines and slow down the taps just a little.
Again, I will be back next year. The festival is too interesting and the beer entries too creative to ignore. But once you start losing hard-core beer geeks who have been there for eight years - the kind of people who will step out of lines to discuss the beer with strangers who want to have the same conversation - you run the risk of taking away the joy of what makes the event special.
It didn't take long last weekend to remember why the Manitou Craft Lager Festival is one of the highlights of the Colorado summer season. Breweries from up and down the Front Range converged on an eclectic small town. Many brought beers well outside their standard fare that can be found in any liquor store. Some even brought beers that they were debuting at the festival (or, in the case of Left Hand Brewing, were showing off even before its official debut).
But by late afternoon Saturday, the increasingly popular gathering was starting to show its growing pains. By 4 p.m. - two hours before the five-hour session was over - two popular breweries had run out of beer. By 5, a full 13 out of the 26 breweries present had gone dry, though Trinity Brewing deserves credit for tapping another keg late in the day after it had run out originally. And the lines at the remaining booths had moved from resembling Russian River crowds Thursday night at the GABF to bearing a similarity to those New Glarus giant queues at the Saturday afternoon tasting session.
An overabundance of beer drinkers is not always a fatal problem; it's certainly no worse than, if not less of a problem than, throwing a tasting where nobody comes. But the great joy of the Manitou festival has always been that it felt just a little different from many of its summer cohorts, more like a laid-back gathering of beer aficionados hanging out on a summer day than a cram-packed room of people searching for any beer they could find. It got to the point this year where a close friend told me: "That's it, I'm not coming back next year." I'm not ready to take that step, but any time you get longtime fans - this buddy and I were at the very first Manitou festival together - spouting that level of frustration, it may be time to re-examine things.
So, before I laud some of the stellar creations that were served at the festival (which will be tomorrow or Saturday's post), I want to make a plea to organizers as a fan: Some changes are needed.
*Ask the breweries to bring a few more kegs. Even if people are drinking, say, Ska's standard fare rather than their tasty, rarer schwarzbier late in the festival, they'll have something there to enjoy.
*Consider limiting limiting the number of tickets sold. While I can criticize a certain other friend who didn't show up until 4 p.m. (and I did), his tardiness should not have left him largely without options for most of his time there, since he did show up for 40 percent of the festival.
*Create more activities that didn't involve standing in line. You've already got a headier crowd than at most summer festivals. Rather than just throwing up your standard music stage, have some big name brewers give a talk or pour a special creation for seated crowds at various times. This might pull some people away from the long lines and slow down the taps just a little.
Again, I will be back next year. The festival is too interesting and the beer entries too creative to ignore. But once you start losing hard-core beer geeks who have been there for eight years - the kind of people who will step out of lines to discuss the beer with strangers who want to have the same conversation - you run the risk of taking away the joy of what makes the event special.
Labels: Manitou Springs
Friday, August 13, 2010
This Week in Colorado BeerThere are very few weekends that I mark early in the year and reserve, but this is one of them ...
Beer Festivals
*Saturday and Sunday, 1 to 6 p.m.: One of Colorado's finest beer festivals, the Craft Lager Festival in Manitou Springs, takes place this weekend in Memorial Park. Colorado's finest brewers bring in their wheats, their pilsners and their special creations, some made just for this festival. And a few breweries will pop in from places like New York, Massachusetts and Oregon as well. The sun is hot, the atmosphere is casual and the cost is $35 - or $65 for a couple. Plus the money goes to benefit open-space preservation.
*Saturday, noon to 5 p.m.: Won't be on the Front Range for the lagerfest? The Winter Park Beer Festival features 19 breweries, many of them doing double duty at both gatherings. Tickets are $30 for unlimited tasting, and there's tons of music planned at Hideaway Park as well.
New Releases
*Friday, 5 p.m.: Trinity Brewing of Colorado Springs releases its Kinky Reggae, a Jamaican jerk-spiced concoction. Word from the brewery is that it tastes like a spice-filled Christmas beer.
*Tuesday, 5 p.m.: Bristol Brewing of Colorado Springs releases its Cheyenne Canon Ale, a pinon nut-roasted brown ale that benefits the Friends of Cheyenne Canon.
*Just got an e-mail this week that BJ's Brewhouse has put out its Light Switch Lager, for those of you looking for something really light this summer.
Beer/Food Pairing
*Tuesday, 7 p.m.: It's like man vs. beast or soccer vs. football. Great Divide Brewing engages in a beer vs. wine dinner at Denver's downtown TAG restaurant. Weigh in for $60.
Labels: BJ's, Bristol Brewing, Great Divide, Manitou Springs, Trinity Brewing
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Five Things I Learned from the Manitou Craft Lager FestivalThe seventh annual Manitou Craft Lager Festival took place this past weekend, and at two full days with 22 different breweries (and one beer made by about a dozen brewers), it was bigger than ever. One is always tempted to use the cliche "bigger and better," and with a bevy of good bluegrass music and host Jason Yester strolling throughout the festival talking beer with everyone, that expression is probably true.
But I'll choose to use the term "bigger and smarter" instead, because that's how I came away from the event. And here's a few of those things to smarten you up that many attendees may have picked up this year:
1) Just because a beer is of a typically light style doesn't mean it is. Ask especially the Sam Adams Double Bock, which was, in the opinion of this one beer geek, the offering of the festival. A dark, malty, ass-kicking beer that weighed in at 9.5 percent ABV, this is the most complex version of a lager that you'll find. Kudos as well to Carver Brewing's X-Rock Bock, whose big alcohol left it with a caramely sweet taste.
2) Even if it is light doesn't mean it tastes anything like (Insert Megabrewery Here) Light. Some of the finest sips on this 85-degree day came from thin, translucent beers with easy malt flavoring - the emphasis being on actual flavor. Left Hand's Polestar Pilsner (which judges named the beer of the festival) was crisp, refreshing and style-defining. Likewise, Del Norte's pale Orale Mexican-style lager was just lightly hopped and sweet enough to pronounce its personality without getting in the way of your need for something less than chewy under the summer sun.
3) Fruit, which soars in Belgian-style ales and adds personality if done right in regular ales, can be intrusive in a lager. Ask Michelob, whose Pear Beer resembled a pushy cider but not a beer. Even Rocky Mountain Brewing, the Colorado Springs envelope-pushers who have added everything but a thick steak to their beers in their first year of existence, demonstrated that a little lemongrass in a lager might intrigue you, but it also can take over the beer.
4) "Bitter" and "lager" no longer are mutually exclusive terms. Shmaltz Brewing, another envelope pusher, opened a lot of eyes with its Sword Swallower, an IPA-inspired lager brewed with eight hops that jolted while most of the other beers poured at the festival soothed. Meanwhile, Boulder Beer rolled out a new Rye't On! Lager that presented a spicy and bitter taste to you.
5) Pug Ryan's needs to find a way to get its Helles Good Beer out to the Colorado market somehow. A sweet and highly malty seasonal bock that somehow finishes with cooling properties, it had the best combination of originality and drinkability of any lager on tap. A number of people said the same thing at the 2008 Arapahoe Basin beer festival. The small Dillon brewpub right now cans just one of its concoctions - its Morningwood Wheat. If you can't wait for the Helles to come to you, I'd suggest getting up to Summit County to try it this summer.
Labels: Festivals, Manitou Springs, Pug Ryan's, Sam Adams
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Bigger and Lagerer Than EverAt a time when it seems like every business is shrinking or dying, here's a bit of good news: The Manitou Craft Lager Festival is expanding this year.
In its sixth year, one of Colorado's most unique summer festivals is going for the first time to a two-day schedule. Mark off Aug. 8 and 9 on your calendar, and then pick either or both.
Not only is it expanding its visiting hours, but the festival also is expanding its locale. Anyone who remembers the cramped quarters at Soda Springs Park last year will be pleased to know the event is moving down the street to the roomier Memorial Park, which also happens to have a lot more convenient parking adjacent to it.
Festival guru Jason Yester, whose Trinity Brewing in Colorado Springs will celebrate its first birthday later this year, said he's expanding the non-profit festival to drive up revenue, create more capital and eventually bring in some big-name bands, hoping to make it a "mini-Telluride." And of course, he's hoping to increase the number of brewers, a feat he's managed to pull off every year so far at what is believed to be the nation's only solar-powered beer festival.
There are plenty of festivals to talk about this summer, from A-Basin to Salida to Breckenridge, and I hope to lay that schedule out in the near future (if I can just get off work earlier and start blogging more). But I've always had a soft spot in my heart for the lager festival, as its unique beer parameters, longest-lasting Springs-area tradition and annual team-brewed edition of Warning Sign imperial eisbock make it a place that just feels a little bit mellower and a little happier than anywhere else.
Until then, crack open a cold lager - a good one, that is - and get ready for it.
Labels: Manitou Springs, Trinity Brewing
Monday, August 18, 2008
Remember the Lagers
My goodness, do these days go fast. Between elections and Olympics, the past week has passed quicker than a Bud Light through a beer bong. Has it really been more than a week since the Manitou Craft Lagerfest? It's a good thing that Jason Yester and Mike Hall once again created a festival to remember.
First, I want to say thanks to all the people who came up to me and said hello. Though I've been writing The Gazette's beer column for five years now, I guess I never realized that people actually read it until last weekend. With so much interest in good beers, it seems like there's hope for humanity after all.
That said, the aforementioned organizers once made me believe in lagers again too. Sure there were a couple of watery swill clones there. But between spices, malt and alcohol, sweet alcohol, there was also so much more. Here's a rundown of my thoughts on the festival. Please feel free to share yours.
1) With roughly 75 beers on tap, I was ready to be seduced by whatever jumped out and demanded to be the Beer of the Show. But in my opinion, that honor should have gone to exactly the beer that has made this festival famous. This year's Warning Sign Eisbock, a combined brew of 14 of the festival participants, packed more strength and hops than one could have imagined in a smooth beer. It seemed only appropriate that the combined efforts of the best lager brewers in Colorado exceeded the output of one. If you want to learn a little about how this wonderful creation is made, check out my column from Aug. 8: http://www.gazette.com/entertainment/festival_39067___article.html/springs_most.html
2) A few others stood out too. Here's some thoughts:
- Schmaltz Brewing's Coney Island Albino Python had an attention-grabbing light ginger taste that permeated a very satisfying lager.
- Rock Bottom's Goat Toppler may not have been the best beer at the show (though that was the award the organizers gave it), but its full and malty taste may make it the best beer Jason Leeman has ever made there.
- No beer defied its style so well as Arctic's Oktoberfest, a pungent, almost citrusy surprise that still retains the amber feel of fall but breathes life into a style that is often less than stand-out. It goes on tap at the Colorado Springs brewery in three weeks.
- Ska's Pilsner Lager may have been the best classic lager there, an incredibly smooth and tasty summer beer that didn't challenge you.
3) There's nothing you can do about the lines that people were quick to complain about; the festival has just gotten that popular, and that's something to celebrate. Most people I bumped into were there because they really knew beer, not because they wanted to stand around in the sun and get drunk. This was a true aficionado's' gathering. But you could move the event from Soda Springs Park back to Manitou Springs Memorial Park, which just had a little more room.
4) Kudos to the first festival I've attended this summer that seemed to compel brewers to stretch outside their normal offerings. A-Basin and Breckenridge are fine gatherings, but I could walk into most any decent liquor store or local brewery and get everything I found there. When Arctic is sampling new creations, Durango is springing a much debated blueberry wheat ale on patrons and you're bringing in hard-to-find beers from San Luis Valley Brewing, Rockyard and Carver, this becomes a festival where people can actually explore.
5) Lastly, I hate to say anything that could be perceived as critical, but there was one brewery whose omission was very notable to a number of attendees: Bristol. It just seemed odd that Colorado Springs' best beer maker - and one that creates tasty lagers - would not be at El Paso County's premier beer event. I know that some of the festival organizers did not leave Bristol under the best of circumstances. But if you can bring 14 different brewers together to set aside any competitive feelings and make a fantastic eisbock, there has to be some room to set aside any differences and bring everyone into the show. For the sake of all of us who admire great brewers, bring Bristol back next year.
Otherwise, don't change a thing. This is one of Colorado's great beer festivals, plain and simple.
My goodness, do these days go fast. Between elections and Olympics, the past week has passed quicker than a Bud Light through a beer bong. Has it really been more than a week since the Manitou Craft Lagerfest? It's a good thing that Jason Yester and Mike Hall once again created a festival to remember.
First, I want to say thanks to all the people who came up to me and said hello. Though I've been writing The Gazette's beer column for five years now, I guess I never realized that people actually read it until last weekend. With so much interest in good beers, it seems like there's hope for humanity after all.
That said, the aforementioned organizers once made me believe in lagers again too. Sure there were a couple of watery swill clones there. But between spices, malt and alcohol, sweet alcohol, there was also so much more. Here's a rundown of my thoughts on the festival. Please feel free to share yours.
1) With roughly 75 beers on tap, I was ready to be seduced by whatever jumped out and demanded to be the Beer of the Show. But in my opinion, that honor should have gone to exactly the beer that has made this festival famous. This year's Warning Sign Eisbock, a combined brew of 14 of the festival participants, packed more strength and hops than one could have imagined in a smooth beer. It seemed only appropriate that the combined efforts of the best lager brewers in Colorado exceeded the output of one. If you want to learn a little about how this wonderful creation is made, check out my column from Aug. 8: http://www.gazette.com/entertainment/festival_39067___article.html/springs_most.html
2) A few others stood out too. Here's some thoughts:
- Schmaltz Brewing's Coney Island Albino Python had an attention-grabbing light ginger taste that permeated a very satisfying lager.
- Rock Bottom's Goat Toppler may not have been the best beer at the show (though that was the award the organizers gave it), but its full and malty taste may make it the best beer Jason Leeman has ever made there.
- No beer defied its style so well as Arctic's Oktoberfest, a pungent, almost citrusy surprise that still retains the amber feel of fall but breathes life into a style that is often less than stand-out. It goes on tap at the Colorado Springs brewery in three weeks.
- Ska's Pilsner Lager may have been the best classic lager there, an incredibly smooth and tasty summer beer that didn't challenge you.
3) There's nothing you can do about the lines that people were quick to complain about; the festival has just gotten that popular, and that's something to celebrate. Most people I bumped into were there because they really knew beer, not because they wanted to stand around in the sun and get drunk. This was a true aficionado's' gathering. But you could move the event from Soda Springs Park back to Manitou Springs Memorial Park, which just had a little more room.
4) Kudos to the first festival I've attended this summer that seemed to compel brewers to stretch outside their normal offerings. A-Basin and Breckenridge are fine gatherings, but I could walk into most any decent liquor store or local brewery and get everything I found there. When Arctic is sampling new creations, Durango is springing a much debated blueberry wheat ale on patrons and you're bringing in hard-to-find beers from San Luis Valley Brewing, Rockyard and Carver, this becomes a festival where people can actually explore.
5) Lastly, I hate to say anything that could be perceived as critical, but there was one brewery whose omission was very notable to a number of attendees: Bristol. It just seemed odd that Colorado Springs' best beer maker - and one that creates tasty lagers - would not be at El Paso County's premier beer event. I know that some of the festival organizers did not leave Bristol under the best of circumstances. But if you can bring 14 different brewers together to set aside any competitive feelings and make a fantastic eisbock, there has to be some room to set aside any differences and bring everyone into the show. For the sake of all of us who admire great brewers, bring Bristol back next year.
Otherwise, don't change a thing. This is one of Colorado's great beer festivals, plain and simple.
Labels: Arctic, Festivals, Jason Yester, lager, Manitou Springs
