Monday, January 20, 2020
6 Things I Learned at the 2020 Big Beers Festival
Once again, the variety and complexity of flavors poured at this year's Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines Festival - which celebrated its 20th anniversary last weekend in Breckenridge - were awe-inspiring. But this year's masterpiece of a festival from Laura and Bill Lodge felt distinctly like it was not just about what has been produced by some of the most experimental brewers in America but what will be coming from the industry's boundary-pushers for years to come.
New styles, new flavors and new brewers abounded - a trend exacerbated by the number of cutting-edge beer makers who asked to come out and pour this year, adding to the geographical and taste diversity in the hall. And if one walked away with a few predictions as to what more brewers will be doing after tasting their noteworthy brethren, here is what I dare say they would be.
1) Bold adjuncts in stouts are once again on the rise
If there was a standout beer of the festival, it was Wiley Roots Brewing's Du Hast Cake, a 12% ABV bourbon-barrel-aged German chocolate cake imperial stout that tasted every bit as lusciously desert-like as it sounds - but without a hint of alcohol residue, making it both scrumptious and dangerous. And while pastry stouts have become one of the scapegoats of the "beer doesn't taste like beer anymore" crowd, the only pushback I received when proclaiming this the best beer was from folks who argued Outer Range's Timber from Vanilla Imperial Stout imbued even more awakening flavors.
Indeed, Fremont Brewing's Coconut Edition B-Bomb Imperial Winter Ale and 4 Noses Brewing's Toasted Coconut BMF Imperial Stout proved also how much unique flavor could be added to otherwise big and boozy beers by throwing in something that snubs the Reinheitsgebot. And New Holland Brewing's Dragon's Milk Reserve Oatmeal Cookie tasted of vanilla, cinnamon and brown sugar - not at all of its 11% ABV holdings.
2) Fruit in a sour? How about vanilla, or an Asian soy add-on?
There were, as always, a profusion of both pucker-worthy and smooth-settling sour ales on display at the festival, but there was nothing as remarkable as Purpose Brewing's Itadakimasu #032, which infused the sour rice wine Ponzu into its body and created an entirely new flavor profile. Partly salty and thicker in body than most sours, this is not a beer that will appeal to everyone but absolutely was the gutsiest and most high-risk/high-reward offering of the festival for those willing to drink a beer and mull over it for a significant time, and Purpose owner/brewer Peter Bouckaert (shown below listening to Black Project owner James Howat at a festival seminar) should be commended for his boldness.
Slightly less edgy but no less satisfying was the Language of Origin Sour Ale from Speciation Artisan Ales of Michigan, aged in gin barrels with strawberry, hibiscus, vanilla and lemon. That radical combination melded, and also allowed its ingredients to stand out in alternating turns as it rolled over your taste buds, and it created something that went far beyond the standard definition of a sour ale.
.
3) If going traditional in your sour adjuncts, ignore the typical barrels
Wine, whiskey and other traditional barrels will continue to be used, and for good reason, in aging specialty ales. But Big Beers showed exactly what one could do by reaching further afield for a supply of aging vessels.
Broken Compass Brewing of Breckenridge poured a Port-Barrel-Aged Foreign Export Stout that used tart cherries to impart a pleasantly acidic nose into a sweet and dark body with a pointedness that was lacking from other adjunct ingredients. Meanwhile, Transient Artisan Ales of Michigan put out an Absinthe Anachronism Wild Ale that gave a cherry sweetness to a funky beer without any pucker and made you think twice about its process.
4) The hazy/tropical IPA is about to get doubled
Big Beers is not as much of a showcase for hop bombs as other festivals, but after sucking down 11% ABV imperial stouts for much of the day, you certainly get to know which IPA offerings can break through even the most overused of taste buds.
Oskar Blues Brewery, which produced arguably the most eye-opening beer of 2019 with its Can-O-Bliss Tropical IPA, ramped up the alcohol in its new Double Can-O-Bliss but still managed a creation that focuses on Polynesian fruit without the burn that sometimes accompanies higher ABV. Meanwhile, Outer Range Brewing of Frisco doubled the dry-hopping in its DDH Leave a Trail IPA and made a beer so juicy and bursting with melon hops that it created a new sub-genre: A hazy for people who like big hazies.
5) Clean saisons and gueuzes are the new experimental
For all the giant, genre-expanding beers poured at Big Beers, some of the subtlest standouts remained cleaner beers of Belgian origin that serve as a reminder why the country's influence should be honored so passionately.
Take, for example, the Atom Brewing 3-Year Blend Anniversary Wild Ale, which not only impresses with its smoothness but with the brewery's ability to find just the right examples of beers that meld into creations that are better than their stand-alone origins. Similarly, Referind Brewing's Le Differend Gueze is wonderfully tart but is more a better version of something that's been made for hundreds of years than a new category of the style.
6) Your journey no longer ends at the exit sign at Big Beers
One of the most brilliant strokes the Lodges came up with this year was the idea of raffling off boxes of 12 beers donated by festival participants. That allowed visitors to take home beers that aren't able to be found in their states - and for the non-profit event to raise more money for groups like the Breckenridge Mountain Rotary.
I won one of those boxes (shown below) after buying a lot of raffle tickets to support the cause. I've been working my way through beer from the likes of Mad Fritz Brewing, Side Project and the aforementioned New Holland Brewing, among others. And it's an idea, for tasting and charitable purposes that a lot of beer festivals should consider.
Once again, the variety and complexity of flavors poured at this year's Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines Festival - which celebrated its 20th anniversary last weekend in Breckenridge - were awe-inspiring. But this year's masterpiece of a festival from Laura and Bill Lodge felt distinctly like it was not just about what has been produced by some of the most experimental brewers in America but what will be coming from the industry's boundary-pushers for years to come.
New styles, new flavors and new brewers abounded - a trend exacerbated by the number of cutting-edge beer makers who asked to come out and pour this year, adding to the geographical and taste diversity in the hall. And if one walked away with a few predictions as to what more brewers will be doing after tasting their noteworthy brethren, here is what I dare say they would be.
1) Bold adjuncts in stouts are once again on the rise
If there was a standout beer of the festival, it was Wiley Roots Brewing's Du Hast Cake, a 12% ABV bourbon-barrel-aged German chocolate cake imperial stout that tasted every bit as lusciously desert-like as it sounds - but without a hint of alcohol residue, making it both scrumptious and dangerous. And while pastry stouts have become one of the scapegoats of the "beer doesn't taste like beer anymore" crowd, the only pushback I received when proclaiming this the best beer was from folks who argued Outer Range's Timber from Vanilla Imperial Stout imbued even more awakening flavors.Indeed, Fremont Brewing's Coconut Edition B-Bomb Imperial Winter Ale and 4 Noses Brewing's Toasted Coconut BMF Imperial Stout proved also how much unique flavor could be added to otherwise big and boozy beers by throwing in something that snubs the Reinheitsgebot. And New Holland Brewing's Dragon's Milk Reserve Oatmeal Cookie tasted of vanilla, cinnamon and brown sugar - not at all of its 11% ABV holdings.
2) Fruit in a sour? How about vanilla, or an Asian soy add-on?
There were, as always, a profusion of both pucker-worthy and smooth-settling sour ales on display at the festival, but there was nothing as remarkable as Purpose Brewing's Itadakimasu #032, which infused the sour rice wine Ponzu into its body and created an entirely new flavor profile. Partly salty and thicker in body than most sours, this is not a beer that will appeal to everyone but absolutely was the gutsiest and most high-risk/high-reward offering of the festival for those willing to drink a beer and mull over it for a significant time, and Purpose owner/brewer Peter Bouckaert (shown below listening to Black Project owner James Howat at a festival seminar) should be commended for his boldness.
Slightly less edgy but no less satisfying was the Language of Origin Sour Ale from Speciation Artisan Ales of Michigan, aged in gin barrels with strawberry, hibiscus, vanilla and lemon. That radical combination melded, and also allowed its ingredients to stand out in alternating turns as it rolled over your taste buds, and it created something that went far beyond the standard definition of a sour ale.
.
3) If going traditional in your sour adjuncts, ignore the typical barrels
Wine, whiskey and other traditional barrels will continue to be used, and for good reason, in aging specialty ales. But Big Beers showed exactly what one could do by reaching further afield for a supply of aging vessels.
Broken Compass Brewing of Breckenridge poured a Port-Barrel-Aged Foreign Export Stout that used tart cherries to impart a pleasantly acidic nose into a sweet and dark body with a pointedness that was lacking from other adjunct ingredients. Meanwhile, Transient Artisan Ales of Michigan put out an Absinthe Anachronism Wild Ale that gave a cherry sweetness to a funky beer without any pucker and made you think twice about its process.
4) The hazy/tropical IPA is about to get doubled
Big Beers is not as much of a showcase for hop bombs as other festivals, but after sucking down 11% ABV imperial stouts for much of the day, you certainly get to know which IPA offerings can break through even the most overused of taste buds.
Oskar Blues Brewery, which produced arguably the most eye-opening beer of 2019 with its Can-O-Bliss Tropical IPA, ramped up the alcohol in its new Double Can-O-Bliss but still managed a creation that focuses on Polynesian fruit without the burn that sometimes accompanies higher ABV. Meanwhile, Outer Range Brewing of Frisco doubled the dry-hopping in its DDH Leave a Trail IPA and made a beer so juicy and bursting with melon hops that it created a new sub-genre: A hazy for people who like big hazies.
5) Clean saisons and gueuzes are the new experimental
For all the giant, genre-expanding beers poured at Big Beers, some of the subtlest standouts remained cleaner beers of Belgian origin that serve as a reminder why the country's influence should be honored so passionately.
Take, for example, the Atom Brewing 3-Year Blend Anniversary Wild Ale, which not only impresses with its smoothness but with the brewery's ability to find just the right examples of beers that meld into creations that are better than their stand-alone origins. Similarly, Referind Brewing's Le Differend Gueze is wonderfully tart but is more a better version of something that's been made for hundreds of years than a new category of the style.
6) Your journey no longer ends at the exit sign at Big Beers
One of the most brilliant strokes the Lodges came up with this year was the idea of raffling off boxes of 12 beers donated by festival participants. That allowed visitors to take home beers that aren't able to be found in their states - and for the non-profit event to raise more money for groups like the Breckenridge Mountain Rotary.
I won one of those boxes (shown below) after buying a lot of raffle tickets to support the cause. I've been working my way through beer from the likes of Mad Fritz Brewing, Side Project and the aforementioned New Holland Brewing, among others. And it's an idea, for tasting and charitable purposes that a lot of beer festivals should consider.
Labels: Atom Brewing, Big Beers, Broken Compass Brewing, Fremont Brewing, Oskar Blues, Outer Range Brewing, Purpose Brewing, Speciation Artisan Ales, Transient Artisan Ales, Wiley Roots Brewing
Sunday, December 29, 2019
10 Best Colorado Beers of 2019
As Colorado exceeded 400 breweries in 2019, the need for beer makers to stand out to attract customers was never more acute. Some developed all new flavors, some put new spins on traditional styles and some doubled down on what they do best.
The result was akin to a dream scenario for fans of experimental creations, offering a wide variety of efforts that sometimes landed with a thud but often seemed to produce stunning tastes, both in one-offs and in packaged or regular-rotation beers. As such, the 10 best Colorado beers of 2019 - beers that either were introduced this year or took on a special significance over the past 12 months - are heavy on envelope-pushing but still are wildly satisfying. Enjoy.
10) Storm Peak Brewing Hoochie Mama
As breweries across the country rush to nail the "accessible sour," they should look toward Steamboat Springs, where Storm Peak produces a sour blonde ale with guava that fills the mouth with unusual fruit flavors and then eases in a tart backtaste that sticks around. Hoochie Mama won a silver medal at the Great American Beer Festival for fruited American-style sour ales, ensuring that 2019 was the year that Colorado began to know its greatness.
9) Briar Common Joyce + Brett
The first barrel-aged experiment from this too-often-overlooked Denver brewery was a saison that sat in one of its seven tanks for 18 months with Brettanomyces and then another nine months on French oak. But the immense outlay of facility space was more than worth it, as what came of it was a sharp beer (second from right in the lead photo in this blog) that crackles with the feel of its yeast and its barrel and at the same time is wildly smooth. If Briar Common had doubts about jumping into barrel aging, this should end them.
8) Weldwerks Peanut Butter Cup Medianoche
This beer is Weldwerks in a nutshell: An imperial stout that uses an unusual and easily flubbable ingredient coming in at an ABV (around 15%) that seemingly is too high to enjoy. Yet, the Greeley brewery nailed it, offering a thick and peanut-butter-laden creation that fills you up but also leaves you wanting more of the well-blended flavors it presents. It's another reminder that no matter what Weldwerks and founder/brewer Neil Fisher (pictured at left) is doing, it is worth trying.
7) Dueces Wild/Brass Brewing/Cerberus Imperial IPL
The most surprising find of the year was a rarely tried style from three Colorado Springs breweries that stole the show at Collaboration Beer Fest in March with a huge Polynesian hop taste that hasn't been seen before in an India pale lager. And it served as a reminder that at a time when visiting every brewery in the state is impossible, gems will continue to pop up outside the Denver/Boulder/Fort Collins area that deserve the beer community's attention.
6) Black Project Stargate Peach Rye: Nectarine Bourbon
Black Project isn't a brewery that tends to fly under the radar. But the hugely tart and complex spontaneously fermented sour ale it was pouring at January's Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywines Festival should have gotten even more attention than it did, for it ranked among the best creations ever from the Denver sour master. And it showed that no combination of barrels, yeast and fruit is too much to handle - either for Black Project or for a drinker's taste buds.
5) Great Divide Mexican Chocolate Yeti
Sixteen years into its brewery-defining Yeti imperial stout series, Great Divide continues to experiment with flavors and, in doing so, has produced its best creation yet. Vanilla, coffee and traditional Mexican spices combine to create a flavor profile that many other breweries have tried but that arguably none has pulled off so well before now - with a 9.5% ABV body that drinks like non-alcoholic coffee. Mexican Yeti proves once again that though Great Divide is a seemingly ancient 25 years of age, it's churning out experiments as well or better than its much younger competitors.
4) Spangalang Brewery Nonesuch
Once a year, like clockwork it happens: I drop into Spangalang, try a few new offerings and hit the floor with awe at how at least one experiment turns out. This year it was Nonesuch, a lighter-hued ale that was aged first in Chardonnay barrels and then in whiskey barrels and came out with a mouth-filling wallop of grape skins, woody overtones and a Brettanomyces zing that somehow blends into one artful and lasting sweet and sour taste. The Five Points brewery has become an absolute must-stop on any Denver beer tour.
3) Purpose Brewing Smoeltrekker # 13
What former New Belgium brewmaster Peter Bouckaert is doing at his small Fort Collins brewery is like rebellious, avant-garde art. There's an undefinable hoppy brew here, a taco-flavored brew there. But the piece de resistance of Purpose Brewing's portfolio in 2019 was a beer that approximated Bouckaert's celebrated La Folie creation - and than exceeded it with a flavor profile that hit your tart taste buds right away but then led you down a rabbit hole that embraced the well-used barrel it inhabited and let you feel an almost apple-and-cherry-like underbelly that soothed its wild overtones. This is a seasoned veteran at the height of his abilities.
2) Paradox Beer Smoked Maple Manhattan
There understandably will be people who say that the combined tastes of pancake syrup, an Italian amarena cherry made for cocktails and the base of a tart golden ale are just too much to handle in one drink. But for those who like their beers daring and dancing precariously on the edge of an overshot without stepping over it, there was no more rewarding beer made in Colorado this year. This beer changed from the first sip to the fourth to the 10th, revealing a different flavor each time - but one that continuously was unlike anything one has ever had in a beer. Fortune favors the bold, and there may be no brewery in Colorado taking chances like this Teller County artist today.
1) Oskar Blues Can-O-Bliss Tropical IPA
Oskar Blues did not make the most earth-shattering beer of 2019. What it made, simply, was the most drinkable, most mesmerizing offering of the year, daring to take the hazy IPA style in a new direction by ditching the traditional hops and going all in on the tropical flavors imparted by Mosaic, Azaca, Galaxy, Eldorado and Idaho 7. Rather than redefining the style, it simply did it better and fuller and juicier and yet somehow produced a brew you want to drink both in the cold of winter and the heat of summer. The Longmont beer pioneer has never been better. And after years of producing in-your-face beers that left you impressed but wanting just one or two of them, it excelled with an IPA you feel you can drink all day and never tire of what could be best described as the feel of Hawaiian fruit salad in beer form.
As Colorado exceeded 400 breweries in 2019, the need for beer makers to stand out to attract customers was never more acute. Some developed all new flavors, some put new spins on traditional styles and some doubled down on what they do best.
The result was akin to a dream scenario for fans of experimental creations, offering a wide variety of efforts that sometimes landed with a thud but often seemed to produce stunning tastes, both in one-offs and in packaged or regular-rotation beers. As such, the 10 best Colorado beers of 2019 - beers that either were introduced this year or took on a special significance over the past 12 months - are heavy on envelope-pushing but still are wildly satisfying. Enjoy.
10) Storm Peak Brewing Hoochie Mama
9) Briar Common Joyce + Brett
The first barrel-aged experiment from this too-often-overlooked Denver brewery was a saison that sat in one of its seven tanks for 18 months with Brettanomyces and then another nine months on French oak. But the immense outlay of facility space was more than worth it, as what came of it was a sharp beer (second from right in the lead photo in this blog) that crackles with the feel of its yeast and its barrel and at the same time is wildly smooth. If Briar Common had doubts about jumping into barrel aging, this should end them.
8) Weldwerks Peanut Butter Cup Medianoche
This beer is Weldwerks in a nutshell: An imperial stout that uses an unusual and easily flubbable ingredient coming in at an ABV (around 15%) that seemingly is too high to enjoy. Yet, the Greeley brewery nailed it, offering a thick and peanut-butter-laden creation that fills you up but also leaves you wanting more of the well-blended flavors it presents. It's another reminder that no matter what Weldwerks and founder/brewer Neil Fisher (pictured at left) is doing, it is worth trying.7) Dueces Wild/Brass Brewing/Cerberus Imperial IPL
The most surprising find of the year was a rarely tried style from three Colorado Springs breweries that stole the show at Collaboration Beer Fest in March with a huge Polynesian hop taste that hasn't been seen before in an India pale lager. And it served as a reminder that at a time when visiting every brewery in the state is impossible, gems will continue to pop up outside the Denver/Boulder/Fort Collins area that deserve the beer community's attention.
6) Black Project Stargate Peach Rye: Nectarine Bourbon
Black Project isn't a brewery that tends to fly under the radar. But the hugely tart and complex spontaneously fermented sour ale it was pouring at January's Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywines Festival should have gotten even more attention than it did, for it ranked among the best creations ever from the Denver sour master. And it showed that no combination of barrels, yeast and fruit is too much to handle - either for Black Project or for a drinker's taste buds.
5) Great Divide Mexican Chocolate Yeti
Sixteen years into its brewery-defining Yeti imperial stout series, Great Divide continues to experiment with flavors and, in doing so, has produced its best creation yet. Vanilla, coffee and traditional Mexican spices combine to create a flavor profile that many other breweries have tried but that arguably none has pulled off so well before now - with a 9.5% ABV body that drinks like non-alcoholic coffee. Mexican Yeti proves once again that though Great Divide is a seemingly ancient 25 years of age, it's churning out experiments as well or better than its much younger competitors.4) Spangalang Brewery Nonesuch
Once a year, like clockwork it happens: I drop into Spangalang, try a few new offerings and hit the floor with awe at how at least one experiment turns out. This year it was Nonesuch, a lighter-hued ale that was aged first in Chardonnay barrels and then in whiskey barrels and came out with a mouth-filling wallop of grape skins, woody overtones and a Brettanomyces zing that somehow blends into one artful and lasting sweet and sour taste. The Five Points brewery has become an absolute must-stop on any Denver beer tour.
3) Purpose Brewing Smoeltrekker # 13
What former New Belgium brewmaster Peter Bouckaert is doing at his small Fort Collins brewery is like rebellious, avant-garde art. There's an undefinable hoppy brew here, a taco-flavored brew there. But the piece de resistance of Purpose Brewing's portfolio in 2019 was a beer that approximated Bouckaert's celebrated La Folie creation - and than exceeded it with a flavor profile that hit your tart taste buds right away but then led you down a rabbit hole that embraced the well-used barrel it inhabited and let you feel an almost apple-and-cherry-like underbelly that soothed its wild overtones. This is a seasoned veteran at the height of his abilities.2) Paradox Beer Smoked Maple Manhattan
There understandably will be people who say that the combined tastes of pancake syrup, an Italian amarena cherry made for cocktails and the base of a tart golden ale are just too much to handle in one drink. But for those who like their beers daring and dancing precariously on the edge of an overshot without stepping over it, there was no more rewarding beer made in Colorado this year. This beer changed from the first sip to the fourth to the 10th, revealing a different flavor each time - but one that continuously was unlike anything one has ever had in a beer. Fortune favors the bold, and there may be no brewery in Colorado taking chances like this Teller County artist today.
1) Oskar Blues Can-O-Bliss Tropical IPA
Labels: Black Project, Briar Common Brewery + Eatery, Cerberus Brewing, Great Divide, Oskar Blues, Paradox Brewing, Purpose Brewing, Spangalang Brewery, Storm Peak Brewing, Top Beers of Year, Weldwerks Brewing
