Denver Beer Co. Opening

The Denver Beer Co, has just announced that they will be opening their doors and tapping their kegs on August 12^th. Seven beers are schedule to be on tap for opening day

• Platte Pils
• Graham Cracker Porter
• Kaffir Wheat
• Gear Up IPA
• Rye Twenty Five
• Confluence Pale Ale
• Summer Stout

In addition to the wonderful beer line-up, they will have snacks of their giant German Pretzles. If that is not enough, there will be guest food trucks to keep your stomach happy. The tap room will be opening at 12:00 and the official ribbon cutting is scheduled for 7:00pm. The owners/brewers Patrick and Charlie will be around to talk with and of course doing a little celebrating. 

Location:

1695 Platte Street
Denver, CO 80202

www.denverbeerco.com

Breckenridge Brewery Celebrates its 21st Birthday

On Saturday, July 9th, Breckenridge Brewery celebrated its 21st birthday in style by throwing a party at their Denver production facility. 

The festivities included everything that someone could possibly want on their 21st birthday, food, friends, live music and most importantly...beer. For only $21, part goers had unlimited access to all the food, beer and entertainment they could handle.

Prior to even pulling up to the brewery, you could smell the BBQ in the air as they had a full spread of food, including a pig roast to ensure that no one got hungry. To keep us all entertained throughout the day and into the evening, there were 3 live bands in the back lot of what is aptly named “The Avalanche Ranch”. As well as the boys from Colorado Craft Beer Radio, who were broadcasting live from the party. In addition, the brewery itself was opened up and made available to allow everyone a chance to wander around and meet the brewers as well as learn about the inner workings of its operation.

As much fun as the party was, the highlight of the afternoon was the opportunity to try some extremely rare Breckenridge brews that were made or tapped just for this special occasion.

The most popular of these beers was a small batch ESB simply called “20”. It was made specifically for their anniversary celebration. The name “20” comes from the fact that it took their entire 20th year to make this beer, as it condition for 6-months and was then aged in Stranahan Whiskey Barrels for an additional 6 months. Some of the other rare beers that were made available included a firkin of Buddha's Hand Ale, a Double Vanilla Porter, as well as some of their more traditional small batch series.

After getting our fill of food and beer, it was back to the party to finish off the evening listening to headlining band, The Colorado Goat Ropers Guild, which is fronted by the Breckenridge Brewery Warehouse Manager. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend the afternoon and am just happy that Breckenridge is now old enough to actually drink some of the wonderful beers that have made them so popular. I am already looking forward to next year.

A Craft Beer Uprising! Hand Over the Bud Light and No One Gets Hurt!

Independents Day has come and gone, and it got me thinking about all of the beer that has been consumed over the past weekend to celebrate the birth of our country. At this point, it is not new information, at least to the educated Craft Beer Drinker, that Budweiser, Coors and Miller are no longer American owned breweries. But still much of the population seems to ignore this fact entirely. Maybe the general population is just so wonderfully enthralled with the tastelessness of these beer knockoffs and their sexist marketing, that they have forgotten to realize the close similarity to these beverages with what has been previously described as ball sweat. 

Now I am no different then most people in the fact that I have friends, and yes, even family who absolutely refuse to drink anything other than these beverages. It saddens me that many of these are good wholesome people who just do not know any better and are suffering without ever realizing it. Personally I would like to grab each one of them by the scruff of the neck and shake them until they succumb. Or even violently kick them in the sack so that I may then pour a flavorful pint down their throat. But I know in my heart that violence is not the answer. (thanks mom!)

So what are we to do as a nation to help our fellow Americans get on the path to righteousness and beer freedom? After spending many restless nights pondering this question. I have come to realize that it is only with diligence and bravery in which we shall prevail. So I call on all of you... the enlightened ones, to reach out to your fellow human beings, to our brothers and sisters. Now is the time to sway the uneducated by providing samples of crossover brews! Initiate beer tastings! Food Pairings! Homebrew Demonstrations! And if necessary utilize gorilla warfare to raid their fridges and replace the unholy piss water with beers of flavor and substance!

We can no longer stand by and allow this behavior to continue! If you won’t do it for yourselves, then for goodness sakes, do it for America!

Green Flash - Le Freak

I was not officially introduced to the beers of Green Flash until last year at the Great American Beer Fest 2010. Let me tell you that it made quite an impact, not just for myself, but for many of the conventioneers. I found myself going back again and again to try these wonderful brews.
Although Le Freak is certainly not a new beer to me as I have been steadily consuming it for the past year. I thought that now was as good a time as any to write an official review.

With Le Freak you are truly getting the best of both worlds as it is a combination of two of my favorite styles of beer, an Imperial IPA and a Belgian Trippel. When you first pour this beer you will see that it is an orange copper color with an absolutely huge off-white, creamy head. The carbonation level is a bit higher than your normal pale ale. The aroma has a nose of fruit, hops and that tang that can only come from Belgian yeast. The first sip can be a confusing one as your pallet picks up citrus hops, Belgian yeast and fruit flavors such as orange and peach. This beer is so well balanced and complex that it can be almost difficult to describe. After the first sip of the beer I can pick up back flavors such as toast and resin from the hops.

There is nothing better then a well made beer and this is one of them. Green Flash was able to take two very distinct beer styles and combined them so perfectly that you would never even consider that it hasn't been made this way for hundreds of years. The only bad comment I can make is that I am now out of Le Freak and will have to find some more.

Odell Brewing Co - Myrcenary Double IPA

I have always been a big fan of Odell Brewing Co, and likewise a big fan of India Pale Ales. So I was extremely anxious to try Myrcenary. What better place, then to go to the source and have a pint at the Odell taproom.

Myrcernary is a 9.3% ABV Double IPA that was named after Myrcene, which is a component of the essential oil found within the hops plant. The idea being that Odell Brewing wanted to created a Double IPA utilizing the hop varieties that have the largest amount of Myrcene in them.

As it is first poured, Myrcenary is a clear golden color with a tint of orange. It has a thick creamy white head that when dissipates, leaves a beautiful lace. The aroma is of resiny hops and pine mixed with tropical fruits. The flavor has very strong American hops characteristics full of floral and citrus flavors such as grapefruit and orange. I would take a guess that it has some Amarillo and Cascade hops in the recipe. It is very bitter and yet well balanced. Although this is a high alcohol beer, the hops and malt mask any hint of alcohol warmth, making it a dangerously drinkable and refreshing beer.

Overall, this is a wonderful IPA that easily captures the citrus and floral flavors that I love. I enjoyed this so much that I would go as far to say that it is right up there as one of my favorite Double IPA's and has earned a place of honor in my fridge.

Fort Collins Collusion 2011

In honor of American Craft Beer Week, Nine breweries from Ft Collins, CO joined together in what may very well be the largest collaboration of beer ever made. OK, I actually don't know if this is even remotely true, but nine seems like a lot of breweries to work together and create a beer.

In April, brewers from C.B. & Potts, Coopersmith, Crooked Stave, Equinox Brewery, Fort Collins Brewery, Funkwerks, New Belgium Brewing Co., Odell Brewing and Pateros Creek Brewing got together and created what has been named Collusion 2011. They used ingredients that were sourced locally such as Schezwan peppercorns from the Old Town Spice Shop, as well as Elderflower and Chrysanthemum  from the Happy Lucky’s Teahouse. The ingredients were then brewed at both the Coopersmith and Equinox Breweries.

In a town that prides itself on its exceptional breweries, this has created quite a stir in Ft. Collins. I had the opportunity to sit down at Funkwerks to try the Collusion 2011. It is a Pale Ale with strong herbal aroma, the appearance is a hazy golden color with a creamy white head. When I first tasted the beer, I was taken back by the strong peppercorn flavor. It also seemed to have a back flavor of ginger, even though I do not believe there is any ginger in the beer. The floral and herbal flavors were reminiscent of a tea as they overpowered any hint of malt.

Although the Collusion 2011 has received some wonderful reviews and is obviously a creative and well brewed beer, It was not really my cup of tea, (pun intended). This may be because peppercorns and ginger are two flavors that I have never been overly fond of, especially in my beer. Regardless, The people of Ft Collins and the brewers should be very proud of what they have created and the example they are setting for the rest of the country. Keep it up, I can't wait to try Collusion 2012 in the next year.

Freshcraft - Fresh Food, Craft Beer

 Over the last week, I did what many overly obsessed beer drinkers did, I used American Craft Beer Week as an excuse to go out and drink some great beer. One of the places I was lucky enough to visit was Freshcraft in Downtown Denver. When I say lucky, I mean it, as I just happen to drive by and see it after I had left the Great Divide Brewery. Since I was getting pretty hungry, it seemed like the perfect place to stop.

The idea behind Freshcraft is a simple one, yet very rare. The idea is to have great food and great beer in one place (shocking, I know). When I first sat down at the bar area, I was greeted by Ariana who was extremely pleasant and kind enough to recommend some favorites from both the food and beer menus. I ordered a sandwich called the Fresh Pretzel Turkey Baja, as I didn't want a huge meal. Let me tell you that it hit the spot. This is not just a sandwich but a soft pretzel bun stuffed with slow roasted turkey, cheese and tomato, oh yeah.

Now I just need to wash it down with something. A beer perhaps? Freshcraft has 20 craft beers on tap plus somewhere along the lines of 100 or so bottles to choose from. I decided that a nice Myrcenary Double IPA from Odell Brewery was the way to go and was not disappointed. As I sat there eating and drinking my beer, I was silently reprimanding myself for not coming to Freshcraft sooner. I assure you, I will be going back very soon.

Freshcraft is located at:

1530 Blake, Suite A
Denver, CO 80202