Beer Me: October 11, 2016 – October 17, 2016
Well Bred Tap and Bottle Release at Copper Kettle
Congrats, Denver. You survived another GABF (hopefully). The fest wrapped up on Saturday, with 286 medals being awarded to 254 breweries, spread across 96 categories. Winning beers were selected from 7,227 competition entries attributed to 1,752 breweries.
While California received the most medals (68), Colorado came in second with a healthy 38 awards (13 gold, 16 silver, and 9 bronze). Bootstrap Brewing Co., Coors Brewing Co., Echo Brewing Co. and Steamworks Brewing Co. all received two medals. 30 Colorado breweries received one medal. The state won two more medals this year than in 2015 but one less than in 2014.
It was the first GABF medal for 12Degree Brewing (Treachery, Belgian-Style Strong Specialty Ale, Bronze), Cerebral Brewing (Dreamy Thing, Brett Beer, Silver), Baere Brewing Co. (Saison, Classic Saison, Bronze), 14er Brewing Co. (Rocky Mountain Saison, Chili Beer, Gold), Front Range Brewing Co. (Piney Ridge Dunkel, European-Style Dark Lager/Munich-Style Dunkel, Silver), Fiction Beer Co. (Alternate Present, German-Style Schwarzbier, Silver) El Rancho Brewing (Valhalla, Historical Beer, Gold), 4 Noses Brewing Co. (Pump Action Imperial Pumpkin Ale, Pumpkin Spice Beer, Gold), and Verboten Brewing (Little Nonsense, Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout, Bronze).
Colorado breweries took two out of three medals in the following categories: American-Style Brown Ale (Upslope Brown Ale, Telluride Face Down Brown), American-Style Light Lager or German-Style Light Lager (Coors Banquet, Carver Lightner Creek Lager), English-Style Brown Ale (Echo Tri-Town Brown, Coopersmith Not Brown), and Historical Beer (El Rancho Valhalla, BJ’s Wild & Crazy Rye).
Kudos to all the winners. Now for events…
Tuesday, October 11, 2016 @ 11am – 10pm: $2 Tuesdays at Black Shirt Brewing Co.
Black Shirt recently released a new can design and to celebrate, they’re selling them for $2 on Tuesdays. Choose from Frontman IPA, Stringbender Saison, or Timekeeper Rye Pale Ale.
Wednesday, October 12, 2016 @ 7 – 9pm: NeuroNight at Cerebral Brewing
Neuroscience graduate students will be gathering at Cerebral Brewing every month to talk science with anyone who needs a little more nerd talk in their lives. They will also have an interactive experiment for those that want to do some real-life science!
Thursday, October 13, 2016 @ 5 – 9pm: Whiskey Flight Night at Laws Whiskey House
$10 will get you a flight of three half-ounce pours of rotating offerings from Laws. This week, they’ll also be streaming the Broncos game.
Friday, October 14, 2016 @ 1 – 11pm: Fresh Hop Lager Release at Grist Brewing Co.
Grist teamed up with High Altitude Hops to get some whole-cone Chinook fresh hops but then decided to add them to a lager as opposed to the traditional IPA. “What we did was brewed our American Barley Wine and used the second runnings from that high gravity beer to create the wort for our lager. This was a traditional method that does not get used very often anymore so we were excited to bring it back.”
Friday, October 14, 2016 @ 6 – 9pm: WinterWonderGrass All-Star Show at Great Divide Barrel Bar
The big reveal for the WinterWonderGrass lineup goes down at the Great Divide Barrel Room with a FREE pre-festival concert. “The WinterWonderGrass vision is grounded in the commitment to deliver the best and most authentic grassroots bluegrass and Colorado craft beer festival imaginable. Paramount to that vision is establishing roots in a setting that incorporates on mountain activities and offers an assortment of affordable lodging within walking distance to the event and the ski mountain.” The festival moves to Steamboat this year and tickets will be available for purchase at this event.
Saturday, October 15, 2016 @ 11am – 8pm: 1st Annual Zwickel Fest at Denver Beer Co.
DBC is celebrating the release of their newest canned beer, Pretzel Assassin, which is an Amber Lager. The party is FREE to attend, but tickets are available at various prices that include German beer mugs, hog roast dinners, plus pours directly off the zwickel. There will be live music starting at noon and a giant pretzel-eating contest at 5pm.
Saturday, October 15, 2016 @ 1 – 8pm: Death by Coconut Release Party at The Tasty Weasel
It’s back. Oskar Blues’ Irish Porter, with loads of dark chocolate and extra dark caramel malt and tantalizing coconut aromas, will be released at The Tasty Weasel in Longmont. Four-packs will be available for purchase and there will be a pig roast, chocolate samples, and live music.
Saturday, October 15, 2016 @ 2 – 10pm: Well Bred Tap and Bottle Release at Copper Kettle Brewing Co.
Copper Kettle releases Well Bred, an English Strong Ale aged in Woodford Reserve barrels for four months. The result is a 10.3% ABV beer with “faint hints of vanilla and sugary, caramel notes from the bourbon and some malty notes of fruit, slightly nutty, with a touch of molasses.”
Sunday, October 16, 2016 @ 1 – 9pm: Galaxy Double Dry Hopped Hop Wizard Release at Odd13 Brewing
Odd13 continues their taproom-only can release series with Galaxy Double Dry-Hopped Hop Wizard. The beer will also be available on tap but no growler fills.
Still thirsty? Use this handy map of Colorado breweries and other drinking establishments to plan your next adventure. Cheers.
—
Matt Sandy, a self-proclaimed “Beer Gadabout” and Certified Beer Server, has been enjoying beer since he was of legal drinking age. Having been born across the pond where “legal drinking age” is a relative term, let’s just say he washed down a shandy or two while still in short pants. He moved to Denver in 2007 and immediately took up residency at the Great Divide taproom. Since then, he’s enjoyed exploring all of the craft corners of this great town and in this column will highlight weekly beer-related events that you should consider drinking in.