Wednesday, November 01, 2017
Surly Leaves Us Temporarily Sated ... And Definitely Wanting More
Each time a new brewery enters the Colorado market, one must ask: "What are it bringing to the local beer party, and how does it change the beer scene here?"
But with Zymurgy Magazine's 24th-ranked brewery in America making its full-time distribution debut in the state just this week, the more appropriate question seems to be: "What more is there to come?"
Surly Brewing of Minnesota has earned its national reputation for pushing taste boundaries and disregarding traditional style definitions. It's the most well-regarded brewery to emerge from the Gopher State, and it draws crowds at events like the Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines festival, where its experimental beers are on offering here for at least one day a year.
What's intriguing about Surly's entrance into Colorado, then, is that it's coming in with one of its best-known beers (Furious, an IPA) and two drinkable others (Xtra-Citra pale ale and Hell pilsner) that may surprise people who are looking for its Pentagram sour dark ale or its Darkness, a Russian imperial stout. And it seems at first like the strategy may be to whet Coloradans' appetites enough to get us asking for more.
Just to be clear, the trio of Surly offerings now available at bars and liquor stores are quality beers. Furious greets you with a piny bite but leaves without residual bitterness. Hell is classic German lager, with just enough sweetness from its Carahell malts to make it stand out. And Xtra-Citra is arguably the jewel of the bunch, a melon-forward, full-mouthed pale that bounces between citrus and tropical flavors and leaves you wanting another — which is appropriate, since it's only 4.5% ABV.
But anyone who has tasted a creation like Surly's Five — its fifth-anniversary Brett dark ale that was aged in red wine barrels and was bursting with the flavor of tart cherries — knows the brewery is more than crushable post-hike beers and top-notch IPAs. This is a brewery, named for owner Omar Ansari's angst at not finding good beer options in his state before he decided to open his own place in 2004, that can present flavors that only a minimal number of Colorado beer makers are creating. And you just want the chance to pick those up locally.
So, welcome to the state, Surly and your tasty creations. And please don't leave us surly about what Minnesotans have that your new friends in Colorado can't yet get.
Each time a new brewery enters the Colorado market, one must ask: "What are it bringing to the local beer party, and how does it change the beer scene here?"
But with Zymurgy Magazine's 24th-ranked brewery in America making its full-time distribution debut in the state just this week, the more appropriate question seems to be: "What more is there to come?"
Surly Brewing of Minnesota has earned its national reputation for pushing taste boundaries and disregarding traditional style definitions. It's the most well-regarded brewery to emerge from the Gopher State, and it draws crowds at events like the Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines festival, where its experimental beers are on offering here for at least one day a year.
Just to be clear, the trio of Surly offerings now available at bars and liquor stores are quality beers. Furious greets you with a piny bite but leaves without residual bitterness. Hell is classic German lager, with just enough sweetness from its Carahell malts to make it stand out. And Xtra-Citra is arguably the jewel of the bunch, a melon-forward, full-mouthed pale that bounces between citrus and tropical flavors and leaves you wanting another — which is appropriate, since it's only 4.5% ABV.
But anyone who has tasted a creation like Surly's Five — its fifth-anniversary Brett dark ale that was aged in red wine barrels and was bursting with the flavor of tart cherries — knows the brewery is more than crushable post-hike beers and top-notch IPAs. This is a brewery, named for owner Omar Ansari's angst at not finding good beer options in his state before he decided to open his own place in 2004, that can present flavors that only a minimal number of Colorado beer makers are creating. And you just want the chance to pick those up locally.
So, welcome to the state, Surly and your tasty creations. And please don't leave us surly about what Minnesotans have that your new friends in Colorado can't yet get.
Labels: Barrel aging, Big Beers, IPA, lager, Pale Ale, Surly Brewing, Zymurgy
Wednesday, January 04, 2017
Big Beers Has Some Big Changes
For 16 years the Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines Festival was synonymous with drinking in Vail. And now, for its 17th edition, it's being almost completely reborn - in a new city, in a new format, in a changing craft beer universe.
That kind of massive change would be enough to ruin some other festivals, or at least leave them caught in an identity crisis. But for Big Beers, whose festivities officially kick off Thursday evening (and whose tasting and seminar tickets are, shockingly, still available), it appears at first glance to be giving what already is one of America's best beer festivals a shot in the arm that allows organizers Laura and Bill Lodge to re-imagine the gathering in a whole new way.
Moving 38 miles down the road, the three-day celebration of the finest envelope-pushing beers in the state and the country lands this year at Beaver Run Resort in Breckenridge. There the main tasting event on Saturday will be split between two ballrooms in order to accommodate all of the breweries clamoring to pour their wares at the event - more than 150 will be in attendance, even as roughly 40 more beer makers had to be put onto a waiting list this year/
But, much like with the Great American Beer Festival, not all of the action will be on the floor of the event anymore. When Laura Lodge went searching for a city to replace Vail because the former host hotel is in the midst of massive renovations, one of the things she found was a willingness on the part of Breckenridge restaurants and bars not just to embrace the beer geeks coming into town but to line up a whole series of special events on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings to give visitors a chance to experience great beers outside of just the grand tasting.
From rare tappings by the likes of Odell and Avery to tap takeovers of luminaries like Melvin and Casey to beer dinners themed around everything from burgers to exotic small plates, Big Beers attendees almost could skip the festival and still have their palates sated. Then again, no one really would want to do that.
The festival, after all, remains a showcase of barrel-aged rarities (such as a Law’s Rum Barrel-Aged Sour Ale with Pluots and Elephant Heart Plums from Black Project), full experimental lines (the Metallurgy Sour Collection of beers aged in stainless steel barrels from Destihl Brewing), beers that have been cellaring for years and are impossible to find outside this event (2009 Fort from Dogfish Head) and a collection of breweries (Jester King, Surly, Troegs) whose beers can't be found elsewhere in Colorado. (See the program here.)
In fact, there's a good chance that this wholly new Big Beers festival will be its best one yet and lay a foundation for even more innovation to come. And Lodge feels very fortunate that she has this opportunity, even if it means having to leave her hometown for the weekend.
"It's been very gratifying to find out that not only is there a great beer culture here but everyone's very enthusiastic," she said. "We didn't lose any enthusiasm."
For 16 years the Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines Festival was synonymous with drinking in Vail. And now, for its 17th edition, it's being almost completely reborn - in a new city, in a new format, in a changing craft beer universe.
That kind of massive change would be enough to ruin some other festivals, or at least leave them caught in an identity crisis. But for Big Beers, whose festivities officially kick off Thursday evening (and whose tasting and seminar tickets are, shockingly, still available), it appears at first glance to be giving what already is one of America's best beer festivals a shot in the arm that allows organizers Laura and Bill Lodge to re-imagine the gathering in a whole new way.
Moving 38 miles down the road, the three-day celebration of the finest envelope-pushing beers in the state and the country lands this year at Beaver Run Resort in Breckenridge. There the main tasting event on Saturday will be split between two ballrooms in order to accommodate all of the breweries clamoring to pour their wares at the event - more than 150 will be in attendance, even as roughly 40 more beer makers had to be put onto a waiting list this year/
But, much like with the Great American Beer Festival, not all of the action will be on the floor of the event anymore. When Laura Lodge went searching for a city to replace Vail because the former host hotel is in the midst of massive renovations, one of the things she found was a willingness on the part of Breckenridge restaurants and bars not just to embrace the beer geeks coming into town but to line up a whole series of special events on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings to give visitors a chance to experience great beers outside of just the grand tasting.From rare tappings by the likes of Odell and Avery to tap takeovers of luminaries like Melvin and Casey to beer dinners themed around everything from burgers to exotic small plates, Big Beers attendees almost could skip the festival and still have their palates sated. Then again, no one really would want to do that.
The festival, after all, remains a showcase of barrel-aged rarities (such as a Law’s Rum Barrel-Aged Sour Ale with Pluots and Elephant Heart Plums from Black Project), full experimental lines (the Metallurgy Sour Collection of beers aged in stainless steel barrels from Destihl Brewing), beers that have been cellaring for years and are impossible to find outside this event (2009 Fort from Dogfish Head) and a collection of breweries (Jester King, Surly, Troegs) whose beers can't be found elsewhere in Colorado. (See the program here.)
In fact, there's a good chance that this wholly new Big Beers festival will be its best one yet and lay a foundation for even more innovation to come. And Lodge feels very fortunate that she has this opportunity, even if it means having to leave her hometown for the weekend.
"It's been very gratifying to find out that not only is there a great beer culture here but everyone's very enthusiastic," she said. "We didn't lose any enthusiasm."
Labels: Avery Brewing, Big Beers, Black Project, Casey Brewing, Destihl, Dogfish Head, Jester King Brewing, Melvin Brewing, nitro, Odell Brewing, Surly Brewing
Sunday, January 08, 2012
What I Learned from Big Beers 2012All six members of the Fearless Tasting Crew noticed it and agreed: There was a feeling that something was different, and better, about the 2012 Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines festival this weekend.
Maybe dividing the high-alcoholfest over two rooms on separate floors opened the space up enough to make it feel more pleasant. Maybe the educational seminars, which felt directed to brewers and beer geeks rather than casual drinkers, were a little better. Or maybe there was this: The first time I tasted a beer that I didn't like, I looked down at my watch and realized it was 4:07 p.m. - one hour and 37 minutes into the show.
A festival that can bring out the best experiments in the brewing community - but also some concoctions that shouldn't see the light of day again - this year featured things both daring and shockingly drinkable. Even Avery's Coffeestopheles Stout, the 16.4 percent coffee/alcohol bomb formerly known as Meph Addict, felt just a little easier on the palate without losing any of its gusto.
With that said, here's a few things I learned at the festival:
* The Bruery is quickly evolving into one of the top breweries in America. If there was a beer of the fest, it was Partridge in a Pear Tree, the 3-year-old Belgian-style dark strong ale that presented itself as spicy on the nose, black and sweet on the palate and slightly sour with aged dried fruit. The Orange County beermaker also created the best beer of this Christmas season, Four Calling Birds, and continues to dazzle.
* Brettanomyces and hops really do make a great combination. Crooked Stave's Wild Wild Brett Green combined the magical yeast strain with three pounds of hops per barrel of beer and created a layered and unique hop bomb that stood out among a host of grassy beers.
* Brettanomyces and red wine barrels also make a wonderful partnership, as Surly Brewing showed quite ably with Five, a brett-fermented dark ale that walloped you with tart cherries. It jolted your taste bud at every sip. If only it was sold in Colorado ...
* Coffee and big beers are a combination of which we should see more. Between Coffeestopheles Stout (worth a trip to Avery's taproom if you have a designated driver), Ballast Point's Victory at Sea Imperial Porter (the most drinkable 10% porter ever) and Great Divide's Espresso Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout (a known entity, but one that proved its heft against the others in the room), there was a series of tastebud-rocking efforts adding a new twist to the known big and dark beers.
Labels: Avery Brewing, Ballast Point Brewing, Big Beers, Crooked Stave, Great Divide, Surly Brewing, The Bruery
