Colorado Beer
I just returned from a 5 day trip to the Denver, CO area. It’s a great beer scene that deserves so much more than this crappy post that simply lists beers I sampled (or chugged) over the last few days:
- MOJO IPA, Boulder Beer
- Buffalo Gold, Boulder Beer
- FAT TIRE, New Belgium (on draft, which is special only if you live in a state like NC that is just getting New Belgium)
- Patty’s Chili Beer, Wynkoop
- B3K Schwartzbier, Wynkoop
- Monkey Fist IPA, Wynkoop
- Mary Jane (couldn’t find info on the brewery, but it is a beer brewed for Winter Park ski resort)
- Titan IPA, Great Divide
- Denver Pale Ale (DPA), Great Divide
- Avalanche Amber, Breckenridge
- Agave Wheat, Breckenridge
- Oatmeal Stout, Breckenridge
- Red Ale, Breckenridge
- Brown Ale, Breckenridge
- Pandora’s Bock, Breckenridge
- Bottoms Up Kolsch, Rock Bottom
- 16th Street Wheat, Rock Bottom
- Falcon Pale Ale, Rock Bottom
- Red Rocks Red, Rock Bottom
- Molly’s Titanic Brown, Rock Bottom
- Baltic Porter, Rock Bottom
I probably missed a few.
Hands down Wynkoop was my favorite brewery… so if you are in the Denver area and only have time for one brewery, I absolutely recommend stopping by.
I also discovered (and stocked up on) the rocky mountain mead scene. I’ll post on that later.
March 5th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
I’ve mentioned before, but New Belgium is one of my favs. They make a pretty decent selection and continually switch things up. Their 1554, which is a Belgian style dark beer that sort of tastes like a porter with a kick is an excellent cold weather beer. I had another one from them at a local bar on tap called ” Mighty Arrow” which is an IPA of theirs. Don’t usually like IPA’s at all, but this one is very smooth. I’m still a big fan of their flagship bear, Fat Tire.
I’d say NB is going to be right up there with Sierra Nevada with distribution because they’ve become a fixture out west.
March 7th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Not so sure about the New Belgium distribution, Seth. They have a little bit of an “I don’t care” attitude about people outside their reach. I am in Florida and have been trying to get some Fat Tire and 1554 for a while.
Here is an excerpt from an email directly from New Belgium…
“We are doing our best to expand at a rate that does not exceed our brewing capacity, and maintains our high quality standards. It is less important for us as employee-owners to sell tons of beer, and most important to make consistently great beer.”
“If you ever find yourself flying to any of the territories that we distribute to, keep in mind that you can always haul our beer back – just make sure and properly secure it because it must be checked. ”
You can find a little more about it here http://www.dailybeerreview.com/2009/02/difficult-beers-to-get-and-my-hit-list.html or make a comment and I’ll email you the whole email they sent.
March 9th, 2009 at 11:45 am
Howdy Beer Drinker,
Well I suppose its true with any producer in terms of gradual distribution. For example, 5 years ago I went to visit my parents in Knoxville, TN. There is an enormous tavern/pub there called Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria. They have like 100 beers on tap. One was called Dogfish Head raisin ale. Pretty damned good stuff. My then future wife thought it was good too. We live in California and they only recently began selling it out here- at $12 a 4 pack! It’s interesting because for years people in Cali would talk about Dogfish as if it were some sort of magic elixir that was highly coveted. Then it finally came out here. But they are kind of shooting themselves in the foot for pricing it so high.
It kind of reminds me of Coors before it became available nation-wide. When I was growing up, we had an old BBQ grill. The grease catcher was a pull tab Coors can. I remember Dad telling me that it used to not be available east of the Rockies and was thus highly prized. Of course then it came out across the country and everyone recognized that it was basically the same swill Budweiser cranked out. Not saying that Dogfish is the same, but it too had that same level of desirability from lack of availability.
But its interesting to hear people talk about Fat Tire where it isn’t yet available. I’ve read about people paying large sums of money to ship cases to their houses. One guy I read on a blog jokingly said he would: ” give his first-born for a 12 pack of Fat Tire”. The stuff is good…. but not THAT good. But I suppose its not a big deal to me since you can now buy 12 pack cans of the stuff at Safeway.
So I imagine that New Belgium will eventually be nation-wide. But who knows how long that will take, and especially given the economy and probable cutbacks families are doing with gourmet food items.
March 9th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
I was out of milk so I walked to the store so I could have my cereal tomorrow.
We now officially have New Belgium beers here in NC. My local ghetto Harris Teeter just got 3 beers: Fat Tire, 1554, and Mothership Wheat. Since I had had fat tire and certainly was not in the mood for a wheat, I broke NC law and brown bagged a 1554 on the way home. Very nice. I’m a fan.
March 10th, 2009 at 10:33 am
You brown bagged a beer on the way home? You didn’t tell me that. (caught)
March 10th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Yup, 1554 is pretty nice. Kind of funny that you mention Harris Teeter. I went to one in Charleston and though I was kind of drunk, it seemed like a hoity-toity grocery store.