Saturday, December 14, 2019
Three Denver Breweries Plow New Ground with Barrel Aging
Brian Grace said that he hears the sour and barrel-aging phase of craft beer may have reached its apex several years ago. Yet what Grace is doing now - and what several other brewers in the Denver area are undertaking in their study of barrels - may just prove that theorem wrong.
In fact, at least three brewers operating in the Mile High City are now taking their breweries' barrel-aging programs to new heights. And while this certainly does not encompass the whole of the experiments that are evolving in aging in the city, it gives a snapshot of what kind of ground still can be gained in an art that has been practiced for two decades but certainly has not jumped the shark.
Grace is the head brewer for Thirsty Monk's expanding national scope and is based in Denver. An alumnus of both Jolly Pumpkin and Crooked Stave, Grace started at Thirsty Monk about 14 months ago with a charge to develop a barrel-aged, sour-focused program for a three-state brewery that largely has been focused on traditional, non-biting Belgian recipes.
To launch the effort in Thirsty Monk's East 17th Avenue location, Grace brewed a Belgian dark strong ale with pluot and blackberry, aging it eight months in barrels and then five months in foeders tucked away in a south Denver warehouse. The resulting product is ready for public consumption, but it is being held back until early 2020 as the brewery figures out packaging and plans to get it to its Oregon and North Carolina locations. But Grace is satisfied with initial taste tests and believes he's onto a way to create new kinds of flavors for his traditional brewery.
"It's exciting. It's not intimidating as much as it is nerve-wracking," said Grace, who's already crafted sour mash beers for Thirsty Monk but has yet to do a classic Belgian sour like this. "You never know what you'll get with wild beers."
Kent and Greg Dawson of Briar Common Brewery + Eatery in Denver's Jefferson Park neighborhood had similar thoughts when they decided to dive into barrels. But the brothers made an even bolder move, putting aside one of the brewery's seven tanks shortly after it opened to age saison on Brettanomyces for 18 months then transfer it to French oak for another nine months to create Joyce and Brett, a beer that sparkles and works both as a smooth beer and as one that intensifies from its base style, becoming simultaneously drinkable and exquisite.
Those who head by the brewery now will find three barrel-aged beers on tap, including a porter and a Belgian dubbel in whiskey barrels. All three offer different perspectives on the barrel-aging process, but the Rochus porter aged 10 months in Wood's Whiskey barrels is a particularly pleasant sensation while still being boozy, contrasting well with Joyce on Brett and showing the many characteristics of the barrel.
"This is our first foray into barrels, and I had zero expectations," Kent Dawson said. "I just feel fortunate that they did turn out like they did."
Then there is Ratio Beerworks of RiNo, which is a relative barrel expert by now. The nearly-five-year-old brewery held its annual Genius Wizard Experience on Friday night, pairing food and art installations and, most importantly, six variants of its Genius Wizard Bourbon-Barrel-Aged Russian Imperial Stout, each one of them combining the smoothness of barrels with added ingredients that brought a solid (and shockingly booze-light) big beer to new heights.
The boldest of the bunch was the Aged Maple Pecan variant, which was the most daring in terms of its big sweetness but also the most rewarding because it took the flavor furthest from the base beer and made you consider the additive values of heavy sugar. But the Aged Mayan Chocolate (pictured above), which was served without carbonation, and the Aged Chai, which sparkled with a ginger back taste, also ranked among the more interesting beers produced not just by Ratio but by any Denver brewery this year.
Ratio, frankly, shows what a brewery can do when it commands mastery of barrels - add in bold flavors and take a beer that might be perceived as heavy to drink and make it exceedingly easy to enjoy. The variants will be sold in multi-packs at the brewery until they run out, and it's highly advised you get there to buy some.
But all three of the explorer breweries should be lauded for trying to add a new flavor into a brewing scene that is becoming increasingly crowded. Each effort gives a reason for customers to stop in and a window into what bold experimentation can do, and they remind drinkers why the Denver craft beer scene may be an old dog, but it's still learning new tricks.
In fact, at least three brewers operating in the Mile High City are now taking their breweries' barrel-aging programs to new heights. And while this certainly does not encompass the whole of the experiments that are evolving in aging in the city, it gives a snapshot of what kind of ground still can be gained in an art that has been practiced for two decades but certainly has not jumped the shark.
Grace is the head brewer for Thirsty Monk's expanding national scope and is based in Denver. An alumnus of both Jolly Pumpkin and Crooked Stave, Grace started at Thirsty Monk about 14 months ago with a charge to develop a barrel-aged, sour-focused program for a three-state brewery that largely has been focused on traditional, non-biting Belgian recipes.
To launch the effort in Thirsty Monk's East 17th Avenue location, Grace brewed a Belgian dark strong ale with pluot and blackberry, aging it eight months in barrels and then five months in foeders tucked away in a south Denver warehouse. The resulting product is ready for public consumption, but it is being held back until early 2020 as the brewery figures out packaging and plans to get it to its Oregon and North Carolina locations. But Grace is satisfied with initial taste tests and believes he's onto a way to create new kinds of flavors for his traditional brewery.
"It's exciting. It's not intimidating as much as it is nerve-wracking," said Grace, who's already crafted sour mash beers for Thirsty Monk but has yet to do a classic Belgian sour like this. "You never know what you'll get with wild beers."
Kent and Greg Dawson of Briar Common Brewery + Eatery in Denver's Jefferson Park neighborhood had similar thoughts when they decided to dive into barrels. But the brothers made an even bolder move, putting aside one of the brewery's seven tanks shortly after it opened to age saison on Brettanomyces for 18 months then transfer it to French oak for another nine months to create Joyce and Brett, a beer that sparkles and works both as a smooth beer and as one that intensifies from its base style, becoming simultaneously drinkable and exquisite.
Those who head by the brewery now will find three barrel-aged beers on tap, including a porter and a Belgian dubbel in whiskey barrels. All three offer different perspectives on the barrel-aging process, but the Rochus porter aged 10 months in Wood's Whiskey barrels is a particularly pleasant sensation while still being boozy, contrasting well with Joyce on Brett and showing the many characteristics of the barrel.
"This is our first foray into barrels, and I had zero expectations," Kent Dawson said. "I just feel fortunate that they did turn out like they did."
Then there is Ratio Beerworks of RiNo, which is a relative barrel expert by now. The nearly-five-year-old brewery held its annual Genius Wizard Experience on Friday night, pairing food and art installations and, most importantly, six variants of its Genius Wizard Bourbon-Barrel-Aged Russian Imperial Stout, each one of them combining the smoothness of barrels with added ingredients that brought a solid (and shockingly booze-light) big beer to new heights.
The boldest of the bunch was the Aged Maple Pecan variant, which was the most daring in terms of its big sweetness but also the most rewarding because it took the flavor furthest from the base beer and made you consider the additive values of heavy sugar. But the Aged Mayan Chocolate (pictured above), which was served without carbonation, and the Aged Chai, which sparkled with a ginger back taste, also ranked among the more interesting beers produced not just by Ratio but by any Denver brewery this year.
Ratio, frankly, shows what a brewery can do when it commands mastery of barrels - add in bold flavors and take a beer that might be perceived as heavy to drink and make it exceedingly easy to enjoy. The variants will be sold in multi-packs at the brewery until they run out, and it's highly advised you get there to buy some.
But all three of the explorer breweries should be lauded for trying to add a new flavor into a brewing scene that is becoming increasingly crowded. Each effort gives a reason for customers to stop in and a window into what bold experimentation can do, and they remind drinkers why the Denver craft beer scene may be an old dog, but it's still learning new tricks.
Labels: Barrel aging, Briar Common Brewery + Eatery, Crooked Stave, imperial stouts, Jolly Pumpkin, Ratio Beerworks, Saisons, sour ale, Thirsty Monk, whiskey barrels
Saturday, March 24, 2018
Thirsty Monk Is Not What You're Expecting
A part of me didn't want to like Thirsty Monk. It is, after all, an out-of-state brewery that took over an (albeit closing) local beer maker and brought its North Carolina wares to a town whose brewing scene is beginning to feel oversaturated.
But my outlook - and the likely attitude of any other hard-care Colorado craft-beer folk - changed not long after seeing the welcome mat that Denver's newest brewery threw down this week for others in the industry at its Uptown space that used to belong to Deep Draft Brewing. Like most of us who call the area home, Thirsty Monk may not have been Colorado-born, but it's trying to become a part of the community as quickly as possible.
That starts with the approach of owner Barry Bialik (pictured at right), who operated as a craft-beer bar when Thirsty Monk opened its first location in Asheville 11 years ago and tried to bring in beers not just from around his state but from throughout the country. He keeps a list of everything he's ever tapped there, and a quick look at the 30 offerings he's put up from Great Divide Brewing alone shows that Barry has likely tried and promoted some rarities that even most Denver beer aficionados haven't sipped.
When he moved into making beer, he decided that he wanted to concentrate on selling across the bar, even though he has limited distribution. So, despite opening Thirsty Monk in Denver officially on Monday and in Portland very soon, he will make enough beer at the three locations just to be sold at the three locations - literally shipping N.C-made beers to Denver and vice versa so that drinkers in other places will be able to try the tastes of different regions.
Oh, and he'll ship other kegs from Denver back to North Carolina as well - namely those of the breweries that don't now distribute out of state. In doing so, he'll give his Asheville patrons a chance to sample Denver in a way that most of the country can't - and give local breweries with small budgets the chance to expose national drinkers to their products.
And the beer? Well, Thirsty Monk's Belgian-style and Belgian-inspired offerings are spot on.
The Farmhouse IPA, which uses its yeast to give it just a hint of bubble gum on the front of the palate and its hops to give it a dry but not bitter finish on the back, is a fascinating combination of the old world and the new world. Brother Noah (pictured at left), a Belgian stout named after Barry's son and made with the chocolate made by the family of his son's best friend, is sooty and full of cocoa without being overly sweet. And the Saint Asheville 10th Anniversary Honey Citrus Tripel — which manages to be brimming with honey but not so much that it covers up an herby, complex body, shows what the brewery can do when it really reaches for something more.
Thirsty Monk quickly will become part of the Denver brewing community, and it will be a welcome addition, given how few brewers within the city have a Belgian concentration. And with its 16 original taps, two guest taps and "snack" program pairing its beers with meats and cheeses from local shops, it understands the spirit of the city pretty well for being a transplant.
"I love the camaraderie here. I love this," Bialik said, noting the dozens of breweries who came to an industry reception and slapped stickers from their breweries on the back of his bar to welcome Thirsty Monk to the community. "I love that we threw a party with all the brewers, invited them on short notice and this many came."
A part of me didn't want to like Thirsty Monk. It is, after all, an out-of-state brewery that took over an (albeit closing) local beer maker and brought its North Carolina wares to a town whose brewing scene is beginning to feel oversaturated.
But my outlook - and the likely attitude of any other hard-care Colorado craft-beer folk - changed not long after seeing the welcome mat that Denver's newest brewery threw down this week for others in the industry at its Uptown space that used to belong to Deep Draft Brewing. Like most of us who call the area home, Thirsty Monk may not have been Colorado-born, but it's trying to become a part of the community as quickly as possible.
That starts with the approach of owner Barry Bialik (pictured at right), who operated as a craft-beer bar when Thirsty Monk opened its first location in Asheville 11 years ago and tried to bring in beers not just from around his state but from throughout the country. He keeps a list of everything he's ever tapped there, and a quick look at the 30 offerings he's put up from Great Divide Brewing alone shows that Barry has likely tried and promoted some rarities that even most Denver beer aficionados haven't sipped.
When he moved into making beer, he decided that he wanted to concentrate on selling across the bar, even though he has limited distribution. So, despite opening Thirsty Monk in Denver officially on Monday and in Portland very soon, he will make enough beer at the three locations just to be sold at the three locations - literally shipping N.C-made beers to Denver and vice versa so that drinkers in other places will be able to try the tastes of different regions.
Oh, and he'll ship other kegs from Denver back to North Carolina as well - namely those of the breweries that don't now distribute out of state. In doing so, he'll give his Asheville patrons a chance to sample Denver in a way that most of the country can't - and give local breweries with small budgets the chance to expose national drinkers to their products.
And the beer? Well, Thirsty Monk's Belgian-style and Belgian-inspired offerings are spot on.
Thirsty Monk quickly will become part of the Denver brewing community, and it will be a welcome addition, given how few brewers within the city have a Belgian concentration. And with its 16 original taps, two guest taps and "snack" program pairing its beers with meats and cheeses from local shops, it understands the spirit of the city pretty well for being a transplant.
"I love the camaraderie here. I love this," Bialik said, noting the dozens of breweries who came to an industry reception and slapped stickers from their breweries on the back of his bar to welcome Thirsty Monk to the community. "I love that we threw a party with all the brewers, invited them on short notice and this many came."
Labels: Belgian-style beers, Deep Draft Brewing, Great Divide, IPA, New Colorado breweries, North Carolina breweries, Thirsty Monk
