Colorado Beer News 051713

Today is National Bike to Work Day. Leave that car at home, tune up that bicycle and pedal to work today. Everyone is encouraged to share the road and get some exercise and cut back on the use of fossil fuels. Riding a bike can be great fun. Consider biking over to your favorite restaurant, pub or brewery for a pint after work. Although consider having someone pick you and your bike up and take you home if you do. Here's what's happening around the Colorado beerosphere today Friday, May 17th, 2013.

Celebrate American Craft Beer Week - May 13-19 - Final 3 Days!

Metro Denver

Arvada Beer Co (Arvada) - ABC now has a Traditional Bock on tap. This is the beer that they brewed up as part of one of their brew classes. It's a 9% ABV 28 IBU Bock. Due to the limited supply, no growler fills of this beer will be made.

Falling Rock Tap House (Denver) - Sour Heads! Tonight, May 17th at 5:30pm, Falling Rock will be hosting "Night of the Sours". They'll pull out some great sour beers for ACBW including: Russian River Supplication, Russian River Sanctification, Russian River Consecration, Bruery Sour in the Rye, Dry Dock Ambassador, Jolly Pumpkin Oro de Calabaza and more. Then on Saturday, May 18th starting at 5:30pm it's "Night of the Barrel"! Barrel aged beers will be the nights focus with tappings like: Bruery White Oak, Deschustes Abyss (2010), Deschutes Black Butte XXIII (2011), Deschutes Stoic (2011), Dogfish Head Palo Santo, Lost Abbey Angel’s Share (2011???), North Coast Old Rasputin XV, Odell Bourbon Barrell Stout (2012), Port Older Viscosity (2011). Hit one or both nights!

Bull & Bush Brewery & Pub (Denver) - It's been 17 years in the making, but Bull & Bush are now in the process of bottling their Man Beer for the first time. They recently installed a new bottling line and are about to put their Colorado Style IPA into bottles with a bright orange label with big black letters. It took several iterations to come up with the right label design. (Picture credit - Carrie Saldo / KUNC)

Great Divide Brewing (Denver) - Today at noon Great Divide will put up a special beer in their tap room. Stop in for a taste of their Peach Grand Cru! And once that limited beer is gone they'll put up another surprise pilot beer, but you'll have to be there to find out what it will be!

Hops & Pie (Denver) - Plan to stop in at Hops & Pie on Friday June 7th for a special Firkin 1st Friday tapping of Stone Brewing Company's Stone Ruination IPA Cask. The cask will be filled with Amarillo & Chinook Hops to boost the IBU rating on this beer to close to a gazillion! It taps at 6pm on June 7th. Don't miss this treat!

Yak & Yeti (Arvada) - Today Yak & Yeti is tapping a Belgian Peach Whiskey Ale. It started out as a Belgian Blonde and was aged for several months in a Leopold Brothers Peach Whiskey barrel. This is one you'll want to try.

Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project (Denver) - Sour fans will want to get to Crooked Stave early for the 12 noon ROY-G-BIV Day celebration. They will debut the new Wild Wild Brett Violet - the last in the "rainbow" color releases in their Wild Wild Brett Series. There will be a limit of 6 375ml bottles per person. Then starting at 1pm they will open up limited pours of each of the other W.W.B. colors - Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Indigo. Other brews like St. Bretta and Hop savant will also be on tap that day. Remember, get there early!

Big Choice Brewing (Broomfield) - Come by today as Big Choice will be tapping one keg of their Rail Slide Extra Pale Ale that's double dry-hopped with Amarillo! It's a hop worth seeking out.

Elk Mountain Brewing (Parker) - Today at 4pm Elk Mountain Brewing will tap their Whiskey Barrel Stout. Then on Saturday, 5/18 everyone is invited to join them in the back of the brewery to help brew a firkin that will be tapped on a later date. RSVP on their Facebook event sign up. Then stick around on Saturday for live music with your beer from Warren Floyd starting at 7pm.

Boulder County

Left Hand Brewing (Longmont) - This Saturday, May 18th from 5pm to 10pm is the first of three scheduled Summer Jam Concert Series performances at Left Hand Brewing. This Saturday, there will be 3 bands: Whitewater Ramble, Bonnie & The Clydes & Grant Farm. The concert starts at 5pm and runs til 10pm. Tickets are $15 and are available at Left Hand Brewing - 1265 Boston Avenue in Longmont, CO.

Avery Brewing (Boulder) - The 15th beer in their Barrel-Aged Series has been announced and this one will remind you of a Mounds candy bar. It's called "Momi Hiwa Barrel-Aged Coconut Porter". It's described as: "No. 15 Much like a certain fabled two-piece candy bar of our youth, rich, dark chocolate notes accented with aromatic toasted coconut. What would ad depth and character to this already delicious combo, we wondered? The answer is time (6 months) well spent in the very best rum barrels available." - This barrel-aged coconut porter was bottled on April 20th, 2013 and had only 362 cases produced. This big beer weighs in at an incredible 16.19% ABV. Stay tuned for a release date and availability. Also, at 5pm today Avery will release their Red Table Saison in the taproom.

Kettle & Stone Brewing Co (Boulder) - Boulder's upcoming brewery is getting very close to brewing their first batch of beer. They just took delivery of their first grain shipment. Brew day won't be too long now. Look for a June 2013 opening at 6880 Winchester Circle in Boulder, CO.

Northern Colorado

Grimm Brothers Brewhouse (Loveland) - There's a new beer tapping at Grimm Brothers today - "Willow Wren" an Erntebier. It's a low alcohol "harvest" beer weighing in at 3.9% ABV and 36 IBU. It's designed as an anytime table beer. Willow Wren has a distinct roast flavor with hints of chocolate and toffee. Also, Grimm Brothers will be pouring their Maiden's Kiss Maibock at West Flanders Brewing in Boulder tonight starting at 5pm. The first 20 pints get prizes - plus they are giving away a set of tickets to the Front Range Rally beer and food truck festival in Loveland that takes place on May 18th. Back at the Grimm Bros taproom tonight - live music from Christopher "Snowball" Smith starts at 6pm.

City Star Brewing (Berthoud) - The beers keep flowing for American Craft Beer Week. Enjoy a pint while listening to live music from Stave Manshel (veteran of Firefall) starting at 6:30pm.

Front Range Rally (Loveland) - One day left to get tickets for tomorrow's Front Range Rally beer & food truck festival at the Loveland Food Bank - 2600 N. Lincoln in Loveland, CO. 110 beers from 34 breweries, food trucks and 2 live bands from 3pm to 7pm. Visit www.frontrangerally.org for tickets.


KUNC Craft Beer Week Series (Greeley) - KUNC Radio (91.5 FM) closes out their week-long series on American Craft Beer Week today with a segment on the Art of Beer Labels. Check out the article and you can also listen to the recorded report via a link on their page. Interviews with members from Crooked Stave, Bull & Bush Brewery & Pub and CAUTION: Brewing Company were featured.

New Belgium (Ft. Collins) - New Belgium has come up with 4 short TV spots promoting their Fat Tire Amber Ale. You can find all four of them on YouTube. We'll preview one of them below. The others can be found at: 1-here, 2-here, 3-here, and 4-here.


Verboten Brewing (Loveland) - A new tapping for American Craft Beer Week! Stop in today for a taste of "Good Day to You" - a salted Caramel Chocolate Porter. It taps promptly at 3:00pm. This one will only be around for a short while and won't be made that often.

City Star Brewing (Berthoud) - Today between 5pm and 9pm, City Star Brewing will be the featured brewery at The Welsh Rabbit Cheese Shop in Ft. Collins during their Beer and Cheese pairing. City Star owners John and Whitney will be attending too.

Southern Front Range

Rocky Mountain Brewery (Colorado Springs) - According to the Boston Globe, Rocky Mountain Brewery will be one of two breweries that will be creating a special beer in honor of the fallen MIT police officer who died allegedly at the hands of the Boston Marathon bombers. This beer will be called "Collier Stout". The beer will cost $5.50 and $1 from each sale will go towards a memorial fund in memory of Sean Collier. This beer will be made in a limited run, around 2,000 pints.

Trinity Brewing (Colorado Springs) - There will be a Barrel room open house tonight at Trinity starting at 5:00pm. Check out their newly built barrel room and barrel tables. They will supply the hors 'doeuvres and some special tastings directly from the barrels.

Mountains and West

Steamworks Brewing (Durango) - The Original Joint Effort and 18th Annual Faceplant Ale Tapping Party is next Friday May 24th. Things kick off with the now infamous Unofficial bike regalia From Ska Brewing to Steamworks Brewing - meet out at Ska at 5pm or join up with the gang at the Durango Cyclery for an in-town "working stiffs" rally point around 5:30pm. Russell will host a skidding contest and Steamworks will tap the Faceplant Ale when the crew works their way to the brewpub. All those that participate will get a free commemorative glass and a free beer as well as a chance to win a ton of goodies including a chance at a sweet cruiser. Dj Ras Daws and Raplhsta will provide the hot licks.

Ska Brewing (Durango) - Celebrating American Craft Beer Week at Right Coast Pizza in Wheat Ridge, CO with a special beer tapping today at 6:00pm! A cask-conditioned lager- Mexican Logger with Mangos, Lemongrass, Habaneros & El Dorado Hops.
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Catch up on Colorado Beer News from earlier this week:
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday

View Colorado Brewery Maps
[ Boulder-Longmont Map ] [ Denver Area Map ] [ Northern Colorado Map ]
[ Southeast Colorado Map ] [ Northwest Brewery Map ] [ Southwest Colorado Map ]

CO Beer Dinners - Expand your palate! How about a beer dinner or pairing event? Lots of events are taking reservations now. Check out the Colorado Beer Dinner & Pairing Events listing.

Live Music - Beer and music go great together and many Colorado breweries and top watering holes offer live entertainment every day. Check out the Colorado Brewery Music Listings and find out who's playing at your favorite brewery or beer bar. Updated daily.

CO Beer Festivals - Looking for info on upcoming beer festivals or related events in Colorado? Check out the listings on the 2013 Colorado Beer Festivals & Events Calendar. Updated daily.

Like us on Facebook - There's even more Colorado beer happenings and discussions on the Fermentedly Challenged Facebook Page. Find recaps, special offers, and tips that you won't find on the blog.

Colorado Beer News is published daily (Monday through Friday) with craft beer stories as they break from newsletters, emails and social media sites. This news is intended for audiences of legal drinking age (21+). If you'd like to subscribe to this daily by email, sign-up here. Please, always drink responsibly and use a designated driver.

This article came from FermentedlyChallenged.com - a Colorado beer blog. Don't miss another article. Subscribe to Fermentedly Challenged by RSS today.

Read the full article here...

Goose Island India Pale Ale review

Yes, this is actually a beer review of a beer owned by AB InBev, well sorta. Back in 2011, Goose Island Beer Company of Chicago, Illinois had 58% of their company bought out by Anheuser-Busch InBev. Since that time, several Goose Island beers have been brewed at various AB-InBev plants across the USA. Fort Collins Colorado is one of them and also another in Baldwinsville, New York. I spied a single bottle of Goose Island India Pale Ale at my local beer store in Northern Colorado and was surprised to learn that this bottle wasn't brewed in Fort Collins, but actually from New York.

I looked it up, and the Fort Collins AB plant does indeed brew the Goose Island India Pale Ale and so does the Baldwinsville, NY plant. So then why would a New York bottle be located on a store shelf in Colorado? Hmm curious indeed. I noticed that this bottle had a "Bottled On Date" of November 18, 2012 and it says to enjoy within 180 days. This beer is being reviewed on the 178th day of that 180 day freshness period. So naturally, I wanted to see if this beer held its freshness for the last 6 months.

Goose Island India Pale Ale weighs in at 5.9% ABV and 55 IBU. Would a bottle that traveled all the way from New York and sitting in a beer cooler still be good? OK, call me a sucker for IPA's, but I had to find out. I'll solve the New York mystery later. For reporting purposes however, I have to call this a New York beer since it was bottled there. I grew up in Michigan and I've seen Goose Island beer around there for years, but has corporate life changed this beer? Well, one thing about this beer - it won a gold medal at the 2012 Great American Beer Festival in the English Style IPA category, so it must still be doing fairly well.

Appearance: Goose Island India Pale Ale (IPA) poured a medium copper gold color with a near white billowy head. The beer itself was modestly carbonated and poured with near perfect clarity into the glass. No sediment was visible. The foam created a nice white lacing that seemed to stick around well on the glass.

Aroma: Goose Island's IPA still had a some citrus (almost like lemons) and an earth and pine aroma, somewhat grass-like even after nearly 6 full months in the bottle. I've smelled bigger bouquets of hops in IPAs before, so perhaps age had dulled the hop nose a bit. Also in the background I could pick up some bready malts with a hint of sweetness. Had I been blindfolded, I might have had difficulty picking this out as an IPA, but perhaps a regular Pale Ale. Still, it was pleasant enough to warrant wanting to try it.

Taste: This IPA didn't have a sharp bitter beginning, rather a bitter sweet start followed by a slightly bigger bitter ending. This seemed like a chewy, resiny brew, yet I could tell that the hops had diminished in bitterness. It was still a clean tasting beer with no lingering after taste. I could pick up a hint of caramelized malts in this brew as well. The beer was easy enough to drink and I had no problem finishing the entire 12oz bottle in less than 15 minutes.

Overall: It's always a good idea to check for an expiration date or bottled on date when you select a hoppy beer. Hops aren't meant to be cellared very long, if at all. IPA's are best tasted fresh. While I could see some quality in this beer, I think I would have liked it better if it had been just a month or less old. I can't help but wonder why a bottle from New York was shipped all the way out to Colorado when the Bud plant here in Fort Collins makes the very same beer. Hmmm, is a puzzlement. Perhaps the Fort Collins plant is mis-labeling their beer with label stock from New York.

As for recommending this beer, yes, it was still decent, just not as fresh. I'll have to try a fresher bottle next time. I need to speak with my liquor store owner about the source of this beer. No wonder it was in the singles section - the 6 month old 6-pack wasn't selling fast enough apparently. I think in the future, I'll stick to drinking Goose Island's Bourbon County Stouts instead - I absolutely love those.

Disclosure: I paid full retail price for this beer at my local liquor store. I got this beer as a single in a build-your-own 6-pack section.

Related articles:
- Goose Island Christmas Ale 2009 review.
- Goose Island 2008 Bourbon County Stout review. (2009 review)
- Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA review.

This article came from FermentedlyChallenged.com - a Colorado beer blog. Don't miss another article. Subscribe to Fermentedly Challenged by RSS today.

Read the full article here...

Colorado Beer News 051613

Today is Love a Tree Day. Yes, it's the original tree hugger holiday where people should remember to take care of the trees in their community and protect them. Some go as far as hugging their trees, but we'll leave that decision up to you. Celebrate trees and nature today and take some time today to maintain the trees around your neighborhood. Here's what's happening around the Colorado beerosphere today Thursday, May 16th, 2013.

American Craft Beer Week Continues! #ACBW - May 13-19, 2013
Nationwide toast at 6:00pm Mountain Time - many locations.

Metro Denver

Lone Tree Brewing (Lone Tree) - It's Terrific Thursday! 5776' English IPA is their tap of the day, plus Wingin' It will be there later on. Come down and test your skills with Trivia night. Two rounds, one at 6pm and 7pm , winner of each round will get a growler of their choice! The Josh's will be here to serve you beer and entertainment!

Mountain Toad Brewing (Golden) - It's official! On Saturday May 25th at noon - Mountain Toad Brewing will have their official Grand Opening in Golden, Colorado. The construction is finally done, the permits are all in and it's time to open their doors. The brewery is located at 900 Washington Avenue in Golden (corner of 9th Street and Washington). After the opening, their official business hours will be: 2pm-9pm Tuesday - Thursday, 12pm - 10pm Friday - Saturday, and 12pm - 8pm on Sunday. Beers they have planned are: Apex Amber (6.6% ABV), White Ranch Wit (6.5% ABV), Mt Zion IPA (6.9% ABV 75 IBU), and Ryrish Stout (5.9% ABV). Mountain Toad brews off a 10 BBV brewhouse and a 1 BBL pilot system. Expect up to 8 beers on tap including some rotating seasonal / experimental brews soon. Visit them on the web: mountaintoadbrewing.com.

Strange Brewing Co (Denver) - Tomorrow, May 17th marks the first ever bottle release for Strange Brewing. They've bottled up 1,000 22oz bottles of their Dr. Strangelove barleywine-style ale. This beer won a bronze medal at the 2012 Great American Beer Festival. Stop by the taproom to buy a bottle or two. At 11.5% ABV it should cellar well also. But why wait?

CAUTION: Brewing Company (Denver) - It's their first anniversary of their taproom this Saturday. Stop in starting at 11:00am for a CAUTION 1st Anniversary Party. There will be plenty of great beer, food, events (big wheel races) and even a band. American Craft Beer Radio will be doing a remote from 12pm to 1pm - stop in and say hi to Gary V and his radio gang. The party will run until 8:00pm(ish). "It's gonna be epic".

Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project (Denver) - This Sunday is ROY-G-BIV Day at Crooked Stave. Crooked Stave is hosting a bottle release for their Wild Wild Brett Violet on May 19th. In order to celebrate the completion of their Wild Wild Brett Series and bottle release for Wild Wild Brett Violet, Crooked Stave will be hosting a ROY-G-BIV Day. (aka Rainbow Day) The bottle release of Wild Wild Brett Violet will START at 12:00pm and last until the bottles are sold out. Also, there will be a 6 BOTTLE LIMIT for Wild Wild Brett Violet. Beginning at 1:00pm they will tap limited offerings of ALL the colors of the Wild Wild Brett Series every half hour: Rouge, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue & Indigo. Violet, St. Bretta and Hop Savant will be on tap all day. 21+ only event. Event is rain or shine. More info & tickets on the website.

Boulder County

Left Hand Brewing (Longmont) - It's back! Left Hand Brewing is reviving their old recipe from 4 years ago. St. Vrain Tripel Ale is back for the summer in 22oz bottles and in kegs. It's been since 2009 that they last released this beer. Look for it soon on tap and at your favorite store.

Avery Brewing (Boulder) - Today at 5:00pm is the official release of Avery Twenty XX India Pale Ale. It's their official 20th anniversary beer. Meet up at 5pm at their tap room for the 20th anniversary celebration. There will be live music playing there as well. This is billed to be one of their hoppiest beers to date! Grats on 20 years Avery! Looking forward to the next 20.

Boulder Beer Co (Boulder) - This Saturday, May 18th is the 2nd annual Innovation Celebration at Boulder Beer Co. It's the cap off of their American Craft Beer Week festivities. They're taking over their own bar and putting up a selection of rare Boulder beers that include some one-of-a-kind small batch brews from their pilot system. Love music on the patio from 5-8pm from Pro-Leisure. VIP admission at 11am ($30) and include breakfast, tasting glass and 16 4oz tasters, otherwise everyone else starts up at 12 noon. Come see what rare selections Boulder Beer has on tap.

J Wells Brewery (Boulder) - It's Thursday and they are open early with lots of beer. Today they've got several beers on tap including: Jamie's Pale, Hop Haze, Jamie's Best (best bitter), J Wells' Chocolate Milk Stout, Gitana Brown Ale, and Lights Out Stout.

Northern Colorado

Equinox Brewing (Ft. Collins) - Do you love Snickerdoodles? Then perhaps you'll be interested in trying a special firkin beer called Snickerdoodle O'rion Irish Red Ale at Equinox Brewing today. They're tapping it at noon just for you.

Black Bottle Brewery (Ft. Collins) - Tonight at 6:00pm, Black Bottle will be hosting a special Collaborative Beer Dinner with 4 other breweries. Enjoy 5 courses and 5 beers. You'll get 1 beer from each of the following breweries: Stone Brewing, Left Hand Brewing, Clown Shoes Brewing, Boulevard Brewing and Black Bottle. The cost is $35 plus tax and tip. Call or stop by the brewery to reserve your seat. View the official event on Facebook for menu and details.

Front Range Rally (Loveland) - 34 confirmed breweries, over 110 beers and lots of food and live music. Loveland is ready to party outside at the Loveland Food Bank on North Lincoln. Get tickets online at www.frontrangerally.org or at the gate. Tickets with or without food are available as well as designated driver tickets. 21+ only event (exception 18+ designated driver and kids under 5 with parent). The fest runs from 3pm to 7pm rain or shine.


Pateros Creek Brewing (Ft. Collins) - Today's Outlaw tap is a unique one - Lazy Lavender Lounger - a porter with lavender and orange. A good one for sipping out on the patio.

Southern Front Range

Phantom Canyon Brewing (Colorado Springs) - New beer alert! Stop in and try their Kakapo - New Zealand Pale Ale. It's a hop-forward pale ale with peppery and light citrus aromatic notes from New Zealand grown Pacific Jade hops. Light malt flavors and substantial bitterness blend with mineral dryness leaving a crisp dry finish. 4.8% ABV. Named after a ground-dwelling parrot that lived on the isolated landmass of New Zealand for thousands of years, the kakapo evolved into one of the world's most remarkable birds.

Mountains and West

Elevation Beer Co (Poncha Springs) - This weekend during May 18th - 19th, Elevation Beer Company is hosting their First Anniversary Party at their taproom. They've put out a big beer list just for the occasion. In the tasting room they'll be pouring: 8 Second Kolsch, First Cast IPA, Little Mo' Nitro Porter, 7437 Double IPA, Quadrupel, Third Base Trippel and False Summit Quadrupel aged in Bourbon Barrels. Plus 2 rotating taps including Brown's Canyon India Brown Ale, and Prostator Smoked Doppelbock. But that's not all, outside on the Draught Truck they'll also pouring Senorita Horchata Imperial Porter, Apis IV Quadrupel, APis IV aged in Cabernet Barrels, and Oil Man Imperial Stout along with some beers from inside. Green & Blue series beers are just $3 and Black and Double Black Diamond series beers are $6. Plus they'll have some limited edition stainless steel pint glasses available for $5. Stop in and join the celebration!

Grand Valley Beer Festival (Grand Junction) - This Saturday in the University Center Ballroom on the Colorado Mesa University campus will be the 3rd Annual Grand Valley Beer Festival. 150 different beers from 31+ breweries all in one place. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. Come thirsty! The fest runs from 1pm to 5pm. Live music from Zolopht and the Destroyers. Get tickets at Fisher's Liquor Barn or Kannah Creek Brewing Company. Info: www.grandvalleybeerfestival.com.

Snowmass Mammoth Festival (Snowmass Village) - Remember the Chili Brew Fest? Well this year's it's become something much bigger - the Snowmass Mammoth Festival. Even more breweries and more music and of course lots of Chili! It's happening the weekend of June 7-8, 2013. Tickets and info at: www.snowmassmammothfest.com.
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Catch up on Colorado Beer News from earlier this week:
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday

View Colorado Brewery Maps
[ Boulder-Longmont Map ] [ Denver Area Map ] [ Northern Colorado Map ]
[ Southeast Colorado Map ] [ Northwest Brewery Map ] [ Southwest Colorado Map ]

CO Beer Dinners - Expand your palate! How about a beer dinner or pairing event? Lots of events are taking reservations now. Check out the Colorado Beer Dinner & Pairing Events listing.

Live Music - Beer and music go great together and many Colorado breweries and top watering holes offer live entertainment every day. Check out the Colorado Brewery Music Listings and find out who's playing at your favorite brewery or beer bar. Updated daily.

CO Beer Festivals - Looking for info on upcoming beer festivals or related events in Colorado? Check out the listings on the 2013 Colorado Beer Festivals & Events Calendar. Updated daily.

Like us on Facebook - There's even more Colorado beer happenings and discussions on the Fermentedly Challenged Facebook Page. Find recaps, special offers, and tips that you won't find on the blog.

Colorado Beer News is published daily (Monday through Friday) with craft beer stories as they break from newsletters, emails and social media sites. This news is intended for audiences of legal drinking age (21+). If you'd like to subscribe to this daily by email, sign-up here. Please, always drink responsibly and use a designated driver.

This article came from FermentedlyChallenged.com - a Colorado beer blog. Don't miss another article. Subscribe to Fermentedly Challenged by RSS today.

Read the full article here...

Left Hand revives St. Vrain Tripel for summer

It's like an old friend returning from a very long trip. Left Hand Brewing of Longmont, Colorado announced today that they are bringing back their St. Vrain Tripel after a long hiatus. Read their press release below for all the details of this summertime release.

[PRESS RELEASE] (LONGMONT, CO) – The revival of St. Vrain has come! For the first time in over 4 years, Left Hand’s Belgian Tripel is back for summer 2013! Named for the local river running alongside the brewery, St. Vrain is a true to style Belgian Tripel, light in color with a touch of Celelia hops and malt sweetness. But don’t be fooled… what at first appears benevolent can manifest into a mighty serpent in waiting. Further sips, reveal the warm spiciness and intoxicating nature hidden within. Things are not always what they seem.

The beer pours a brilliant gold with aromas of tropical fruit, spicy pepper, and bubble gum. Bottle conditioned for a truly monastic feel, St. Vrain bubbles effervescently with a fluffy white head. First sips open with light malt and a honey-like sweetness tempered by mint and peppery flavors, transitioning to herbal hoppy notes and a slightly nutty finish redolent of chestnuts. The finish is warming and dry, with a slight lingering bitterness.

Since the beer’s last release in 2009, the 2013 edition of St. Vrain features a label redesign in line with the rest of Left Hand portfolio. Playing off the drinkable yet deceitful high alcohol nature of the Belgian Tripel, the label brings to life the classic theme of good vs. evil. The St. Vrain river alongside the brewery is illustrated, as well as the face of Ceran St. Vrain himself – a regional 17th Century fur trader. Available in of Left Hand’s 27 state distribution, St. Vrain will be packaged in 22 oz bottles and kegs.

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Related articles:
- Left Hand brewing continues tremendous growth spurt.
- Left Hand Twin Sisters Double IPA review.
- Left Hand Fade to Black Volume 4 review. (2012)

This article came from FermentedlyChallenged.com - a Colorado beer blog. Don't miss another article. Subscribe to Fermentedly Challenged by RSS today.

Read the full article here...

Telluride Face Down Brown Ale review

Brown ales are supposed to be non-exciting, at least that's what most people are led to believe. Not so when you consider today's beer review. Telluride Brewing Company recently won multiple awards for one of its beers - Telluride Face Down Brown Ale. This beer took home gold in both the 2012 World Beer Cup and at the 2012 Great American Beer Festival in the American Style Brown Ale category.

What also makes this brown ale special is that it was brewed in a tiny mountain town of Telluride, Colorado and distributed in cans. Just last January (2013), Telluride Brewing struck a distribution deal that now brings Face Down Brown Ale and others of its label to the Front Range area of Colorado. Previously, folks along the Eastern Slope could only get a taste of this beer at beer festivals or in Western Colorado. I was pleased to find a single can of this in a singles section at my local beer store.

Telluride Brewing has only been around for less than two years. They opened in October of 2011. Now they make around 12 different beers, but only a couple of which are now in cans. Face Down Brown is a year round beer that weighs in at 5.7%. it's described as a hybrid of an English and American style Brown that has tones of chocolate, toffee and nut flavors. It's bittered with Magnum, Tettanger CTZ and Cascade hops. For far, it's their only gold medal winning beer and it's won two of them.

Appearance: Face Down Brown came out of the can ready for business. The color reminded me of a cola, brown with mahogany highlights. This beer easily built up a big tall tan head with just a bit of an aggressive pour. The foam stuck well to the sides of the glass - just a wonderful lacing. The beer was nearly dark enough to hide the other side of the glass, but around the bottom and sides of the glass I could almost see through it. It turned out a bit darker than most brown ales.

Aroma: A ha! The aroma, right off the bat, told me why this beer won medals. It's the best brown ale aroma I've known. There was a rich chocolate and toffee aroma here. It certainly lived up to the brewer's description there. This is an aroma I look for in a chocolate stout as well. It's bold, with a sweet roasted malt scent and with a nutty character as well. Most browns I've had are pretty bland in this department, but Telluride spent some extra time with the aroma here. Simply wonderful and inviting. I got a hint of citrus and spice from the hops as well.

Taste: Face Down Brown had a medium body rich with bit of a bite from the bitterness at the end of the sip. This beer had a heavier feel than other brown ales, and that's a good thing. There was plenty of roasted malts here that reminded me of coffee, bitter chocolate and a big malt flavor. The malts were not sweet as the aroma might have indicated, at least not at first. The beer does change a bit as it warms and more of the sweetness came through later on. This was a roasty and bitter brew with lots of flavor. I could almost taste the Cascade hops in the flavor here too. The Cascade hops really come out of hiding after the first several sips and as the beer warmed up a bit.

This beer may well be a Brown ale through and through, but what I found funny was when I exhaled through my nose after a big sip, it reminded me of an IPA. One might even call this a Brown IPA although it falls short of the bitterness and hop nose of an IPA. The malts definitely still shined brightly here, but the hops manage to dig their way to the top on the back side.

Overall: Telluride's Face Down Brown Ale was quite the surprise. The aroma really sold me on this beer and the taste surprised me due to its complexity, bitter taste and quality. If you aren't a big fan of brown ales then you may not have tried the right one. Get this and compare it to other browns you've had and this one will sell you on what a Brown ale should taste like. I would definitely agree with the Gold medals. This beer is one of the better Brown ales.

Disclosure: I paid full retail price for this beer at my local liquor store as part of a build your own six pack deal.

Related articles:
- Telluride Brewing bringing its beers to Denver.
- Telluride Brewing Company opens for business. (Oct. 2011)
- Upslope Brown Ale review.

This article came from FermentedlyChallenged.com - a Colorado beer blog. Don't miss another article. Subscribe to Fermentedly Challenged by RSS today.

Read the full article here...

Colorado Beer News 051513

Today is National Chocolate Chip Day. Want to spice up your life today? Why not add some chocolate chips to your day! Add some to your favorite dessert, over ice cream or perhaps simply pair some with a pint of rich creamy stout. A bit of chocolate today will help you get over the hump. Here's what's happening around the Colorado beerosphere today Wednesday, May 15th, 2013.

Happy American Craft Beer Week! #ACBW (May 13-19)

Metro Denver

Hops & Pie (Denver) - How do you celebrate American Craft Beer Week today? With $2 Craft Cans tonight from 5pm to close.

Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project (Denver) - Crooked Stave fans in Fort Collins! Go join Kyle at Tap n Handle in FoCo tonight at 6pm for a Crooked Stave mini tap-takeover. He will be pouring St. Bretta - Spring, Vieille Artisanal Saison, and their recently packaged Hop Savant dry hopped with experimental hop 344! The first 6 people to order all three receive a Crooked Stave logo tulip glass! He'll also be giving out stickers, smiles and high fives all night!

Denver Beer Co (Denver) - Don't Forget! Join Denver Beer Company this Friday, May 17th for their Spring Beer Dinner in their Barrel Room. Details and tickets at the taproom!

The Brew on Broadway (Englewood) - Englewood's newest brewery is opening very soon! They plan to start brewing their first batches any day now. They will announce their official opening day at that time. Their beautiful wood floors are just waiting for you!

Boulder County

Burning Can (Lyons) - This year's Burning Can festival takes place on Saturday, June 1st at Bohn Park in Lyons, CO and featured ONLY canned craft beer. Festival hours are 4-7pm for General admission and 3-7pm for VIP. Tickets are available now at: www.burningcan.com. Burning Can takes place during the Lyons Outdoor Games which run from May 31st through June 2nd. Over 3 dozen canning breweries are expected to participate.

Twisted Pine (Boulder) - Tomorrow, Thursday, May 16th - Twisted Pine will be hosting a Nationwide Toast for American Craft Beer Week at 6pm Mountain time. Join in for a FREE sampler toast.

Upslope Brewing (Boulder) - This Friday evening (May 17th) at 7pm, Upslope will be host to the Boulder Premiere of the documentary film "Crafting A Nation" at their new Flatiron Park location (not the Lee Hill one). This is a follow up film to "Beer Culture" and takes a look at the national craft beer scene. Tickets are available on Eventbrite for this 95 minute film. Tickets are also available in the tap room. Have a brew and watch a great craft beer movie.

FATE Brewing (Boulder) - FATE Brewing Company will release eleven of its twelve collaboration beers on Sunday, May 19th, 2013, just in time to toast American Craft Beer Week. Head brewer, Jeff Griffith, teamed up with many Boulder County breweries to stack hands on a variety of unique recipes. FATE will be offering the following collaboration brews: Echo Brewing Company (Eisbock), Crystal Springs Brewing Company (Wee Heavy Scotch Ale), Asher Brewing Company (100% Organic Cocoa Punk'n Porter), Wild Woods Brewing Company (Eastside Extra Pale Ale), Shine Restaurant and Gathering Place (Let Your Fate Shine Imperial IPA), Boulder Beer (English Brown Mild), Twisted Pine Brewing Company (Twist of FATE Rye Brown Ale), Mountain Sun/Southern Sun Pub & Brewery (Cherry FATE, Chocolate Cherry Foreign Stout), Big Choice Brewing Company (Biere de Garde), Lone Tree Brewing Company (Schwarzbier), Bru Handbuilt Ales and Eats (Trippel), and Twelve Degree Brewing (Hommelbier).

Northern Colorado

Patrick's Irish Pub (Greeley) - Starting tonight you can get some wood fired pizzas from Peach Pit Pizza right outside of Patrick's Irish Pub. Every Wednesday at 5pm the Peace Pit truck will be parked out front with food to pair with the 31+ taps at Patrick's. Plus, tonight is Open Mic night starting at 9:30pm. Come share your talent.

High Hops Brewery (Windsor) - Today's Wednesday (Humpday) Firkin is a Lemon Ginger Honey ale. It's the perfect drink for sitting on the patio and watching the Spring sunset. it taps at 5pm.

Black Bottle Brewery (Ft. Collins) - Just tapped today! Stop in for taste of their Sour Diesel - it's a sour porter that was brewed with Black Berries and aged in Maker's Mark barrels. It's a 6.3% sour wonder just for American Craft Beer Week!

Mayor of Old Town (Ft. Collins) - Join Funkwerks co-founder Brad Lincoln at The Mayor of Old Town tonight (May 15th) from 6pm-9pm for their Keeping it Classy cigar and pipe smoking night featuring our collaboration Belgian-style Dubbel, Son of Nothing! Remember, it's American Craft Beer Week-- so go enjoy some craft beer!

Front Range Rally (Loveland) In 3 days (May 18th 3-7pm) over 32 breweries and nearly 15 food truck will gather outside at the Loveland Food Bank for a festival benefiting Food Bank of Larimer County. Tickets are still available at www.frontrangerally.org. The beer list has been released and there will be some special beers included in the line-up that you won't want to miss. Come hungry as there will be plenty of food available to fill you up. Click the image to get the full beer menu. Also expecting beers from Crabtree, Boulder Beer and Wynkoop to be added soon. Attendees will be given a beer list at the gate.

Loveland Aleworks (Loveland) - What's coming down the pipelines at Loveland Aleworks? Just today they brewed up some Zach's Imperial IPA and are starting on a Black IPA. Look for these batches soon to be on tap!

Grimm Brothers Brewhouse (Loveland) - If today is Wednesday, then it must be Open Mic Night! Bring your talent to the taproom and earn a free pint. The show starts at 6:00pm, but the beers will be flowing all night til close. Also, tonight at the new Alama Drafthouse Cinema in Littleton, join Grimm Brothers for brewers night followed by a Star Trek Double Feature that ends with a showing of the new film "Star Trek Into Darkness". Get there by 5:30pm!

Odell Brewing and New Belgium (Ft. Collins) - This Sunday May 19th, test drive an electric vehicle at New Belgium Brewing with Drive Electric Northern Colorado from 12n-4p and you will receive a free pint of "Plug In Pale Ale" at Odell Brewing Co! Those who test drive will also get a chance to win a New Belgium Cruiser Bike. The 1st 100 test drivers will receive a New Belgium gift card. Test drivers will get to drive from New Belgium over to Odell Brewing. Just be sure not to drink then drive. Test drive first! More info at: driveelectricnoco.org
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Catch up on Colorado Beer News from earlier this week:
Monday | Tuesday

CO Beer Festivals - Looking for info on upcoming beer festivals or related events in Colorado? Check out the listings on the 2013 Colorado Beer Festivals & Events Calendar. Updated daily.

View Colorado Brewery Maps
[ Boulder-Longmont Map ] [ Denver Area Map ] [ Northern Colorado Map ]
[ Southeast Colorado Map ] [ Northwest Brewery Map ] [ Southwest Colorado Map ]

CO Beer Dinners - Expand your palate! How about a beer dinner or pairing event? Lots of events are taking reservations now. Check out the Colorado Beer Dinner & Pairing Events listing.

Live Music - Beer and music go great together and many Colorado breweries and watering holes offer live entertainment every day. Check out the Colorado Brewery Music Listings and find who's playing at your favorite brewery or beer bar. Updated daily.

Like us on Facebook - There's even more Colorado beer happenings and discussions on the Fermentedly Challenged Facebook Page. Find recaps, special offers, and tips that you won't find on the blog. "Like" us and get even more soon after it happens. Thanks for helping us grow to over 1700+ "Likes" in 2013!

Colorado Beer News is published daily (Monday through Friday) with craft beer stories as they break from newsletters, emails and social media sites. Stop back here often for all the latest. This news is intended for audiences of legal drinking age (21+). If you'd like to subscribe to this daily by email, sign-up here. Please, always drink responsibly and use a designated driver.

This article came from FermentedlyChallenged.com - a Colorado beer blog. Don't miss another article. Subscribe to Fermentedly Challenged by RSS today.

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Crooked Stave L'Brett d'Or 2012 review

There's nothing to compare to trying a limited release oak aged sour ale after stashing it away for many months. Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project put out a series of Cellar Reserve Membership beers in 2012. One such beer is their Crooked Stave L'Brett d'Or - a dry hopped surreal golden sour ale aged in oak barrels. The beer saw limited tap time in 2012 and was also put into several hundred 375 green wax topped bottles for the Cellar Reserve membership.

I had jumped on the opportunity to get into the 2012 Cellar Reserve Membership and waited until 2013 to pick up the bulk of my purchase. So here in 2013, this beer has had a chance to age a bit further and was to be a treat for this evening. I haven't previously tried this beer before, but seeing how I am a huge fan of beers made with Brettanomyces I was eager to open this bottle up.

L'Brett d'Or weighs in at a respectable 7.0% ABV. Each year, Crooked Stave plans to release another version of L'Brett d'Or only do something a bit differently with it each year. This brew falls into the Sour Ale / Wild Ale category. I expect to get some funky sourness out of this beer. What I don't know is, how the extra time will affect the overall taste. I expect the dry hopped bitterness to be calmed a bit after an additional 6 months in the bottle. Let's find out.

Appearance: L'Brett d'Or poured a very cloudy medium golden orange color with a modest 1-finger tall foamy white head. While I didn't see any chunky particles in this beer, there was some noticeable murky yeast that came out of the bottle. The head left a slight lacing, but what little there was of it slid off very quickly and did not stick to the glass. The beer opened with a slight hiss and seemed to be slightly carbonated.

Aroma: Brett and oak! Oh my yes! There is an unmistakable aroma of Brettanomyces. That and the tell tale traces of oak barrel in the nose. This funky beer had a slightly sweet scent about it, but I couldn't really pick up much of the dry hops. The months had mellowed the hops and a bit of fruit came out from underneath. The brew had an acidic tinge that I've come to enjoy.

Taste: At last my love I have found you! This beer is on the sweet yet highly tart side. The funk and the oak tones come through along with some sweet fruits. There is an acidic bite on the back end with a hint of vinegar and with a clean, yet tart finish. While there was some bitterness about this beer, the sweet tangy malt taste dominated.

On the sour pucker scale: 1 being tame and 10 being ultimate pucker power - I'd give this beer an 8.5. This is one sour treat that I wish I had a whole keg of. Don't let the cloudiness fool you. This is a clean tasting sour with plenty of taste. The oak barrel gave this beer some earthy character with a hint of herb (probably from the hops).

Overall: For me, this beer is close to perfection for this sour head. It's got all the major sour tartness and a sharp bite on the end. Just right for a special night of bottle sharing. Since there was only a bit over 12oz of this I recommend you savor this one slowly as it will all too quickly want to disappear. If you get a chance to trade for a bottle of this DO IT! Give up one of your good bottles for this beer. It's worth it.

A big thumbs up to Chad Yakobson and his staff for creating one excellent sour. So far, it's one of my all-time favorite sour beers. I'm going to have to re-join the Cellar Membership in 2014 to try to get more of this one. Worth every dollar I spent on this beer.

Disclosure: I got this bottle as part of a paid annual Cellar Reserve Membership package. I paid for the membership myself.

Related articles:
- Crooked Stave to host ROY-G-BIV Day May 19th. (2013)
- Crooked Stave Sentience Wild Quadrupel Cognac Barrel review.
- A visual tour of Crooked Stave Barrel Cellar. (2013)

This article came from FermentedlyChallenged.com - a Colorado beer blog. Don't miss another article. Subscribe to Fermentedly Challenged by RSS today.

Read the full article here...

Twisted Pine Cultivates Cucumber Cream Ale

How do you make a truly unique Colorado craft beer? Put a bunch of cucumber in it! Twisted Pine today releases a new Cucumber Cream Ale that's bound to get some interesting looks from fans. This beer comes on the heals of last year's Carrot IPA. There's fresh Colorado ingredients being used here. Check out their press release below for the scoop on this unusual beer release.

Newest installment in Farm to Foam® series released May 14th

[PRESS RELEASE] Boulder, Colorado – May 14th 2013 – Fans of Twisted Pine Brewing Company will soon find a super-refreshing new way to cool off in the early summer sun as the brewery releases their Cucumber Cream Ale, the second offering from its popular Farm to Foam series. The beer, made with over 300 lbs of Colorado cucumbers, will be available May 14th.

Twisted Pine began the Farm to Foam series last year as “a tribute to the sustainable spirit of Colorado.” With that goal in mind, the brewers source all ingredients for each beer in-state. The latest recipe utilizes malted barley and wheat from Colorado Malting Company in Alamosa, Crystal hops from Misty Mountain Hop Farm in Olathe, and English cucumbers (clipped from their vines just a day or two prior to use) from 2 R’s Farm in Platteville.

Lead brewer Henry Jager explains that the decision to use only Colorado-grown ingredients, while restrictive in a sense, opens the door to new avenues of creativity in recipe-writing. “Our options for local grain and hop varieties are certainly limited, but there are so many other plants that grow well here and, if you open your mind a little and are willing to get a little weird, the possibilities for great beers are pretty vast.”

Cucumber Cream Ale sits in the glass a slightly hazed, sunglow yellow topped with a head the color and consistency of freshly whipped cream. The beer breathes out the aroma of garden-fresh cucumbers fringed with subtle esters from the yeast just before the fruit (yes, cucumber is a fruit, Look it up!) pops on the tongue with a soft, cooling effect. Malt and hop flavors are intentionally subdued, making Twisted Pine’s newest Farm to Foam beer the perfect type of light and refreshing beverage to quench one’s thirst after a long day spent in the sun… perhaps gardening.

Cucumber Cream Ale will be available in limited amounts on draft and in wax-dipped 750ml bottles throughout Colorado and a select few other states. More details can be found at twistedpinebrewing.com. And keep an eye out later this summer as Twisted Pine plans to reprise last year’s Roots Revival, the carrot IPA that kicked off the Farm to Foam series.



About Twisted Pine Brewing Company
Based in Boulder, Colorado, Twisted Pine Brewing Company has been hand-crafting quality ales since 1995. In addition to such favorites as Hoppy Boy IPA, Raspberry Wheat Ale and Billy’s Chilies, the brewery has repeatedly pushed the boundaries of style guidelines with such creations as Big Shot Espresso Stout, Northstar Imperial Porter and Ghost Face Killah. Twisted Pine is actively involved with local charitable organizations and is a staunch advocate of sustainable business practices. For more information, visit www.twistedpinebrewing.com.

Related articles:
- Twisted Pine La Petite Saison review.
- More articles about Saisons.
- Twisted Pine Raspberry Wheat Ale review.

This article came from FermentedlyChallenged.com - a Colorado beer blog. Don't miss another article. Subscribe to Fermentedly Challenged by RSS today.

Read the full article here...

Colorado Beer News 051413

Today is Underground America Day. While the vast majority of Americans live above ground, there are a growing number who live below ground. Today is a day to choose to do something underground like: ride a subway, explore a cave, visit some catacombs, explore an underground crypt. Sound creepy? It can be, however it can be a simple as enjoying some time in a basement man-cave. Being underground doesn't have to be dark or uncomfortable experience. Here's what's happening around the Colorado beerosphere today Tuesday, May 14th, 2013.

Celebrate American Craft Beer Week! May 13-19, 2013. #ACBW

Metro Denver

Rock Bottom Brewery (Denver) - On Wednesday, May 15th at 6pm, Rock Bottom will tap "Snake Spit", a Black India Ale and for the 1st 30 minutes, those of legal drinking age can get a free pint of it up until 6:30pm. Then on Thursday, stop in for Beer & Cheese from 6pm to 7:30pm. They're offering up four 6oz beers paired with a variety of cheeses for $10. Then mark your calendars fro Wednesday, May 29th for the tapping of "Fools Gold, Belgian Ale" at 6pm. Again, a free pint offer for the first 30 minutes until 6:30pm.

Copper Kettle Brewing (Denver) - It's Saison Cask Month! This Wednesday's cask is a tangy Mango Saison. They'll be tapping this cask from 3pm to 9pm. Stop in for a taste of this special creation.

Big Choice Brewing (Broomfield) - For ACBW, Big Choice is on the road up in Longmont tonight at the new CHUBurger restaurant at 6:00pm. There they will be helping to tap a big keg of their Hemlock Double IPA. If you buy a 16oz Big Choice beer you'll get a free 16oz Big Choice pint glass to take home with you. Plus this will be a great chance to experience the food at the new CHUBurger as well.

Freshcraft (Denver) - Freshcraft is hosting a week-long celebration of American's definitive craft beer style - the IPA! Well OK, the British invented it first, but America made it better! They're turning over all their taps to dedicate to IPAs from all over the country. There will also be tappings each evening during #ACBW at 7pm of special IPAs too. The list will be awesome.

Boulder County

Twisted Pine Brewing (Boulder) - Today Twisted Pine releases their new Cucumber Cream Ale as part of their Farm to Foam Colorado program. That beer was made using a boatload of cucumbers. Tagging along with this release is an additional release of their Carrot IPA. Both use locally-sourced ingredients. Also, for Wednesday, if you ride your bike to the taproom and show the staff your bike helmet - you'll be given your first pint on them!

FATE Brewing Company (Boulder) - Hey Denver! For the first time tomorrow, Wednesday May 15th, a FATE Brewing Beer will be on tap in Denver. They've brought over a keg of their newly release Cascadian Dark Ale over to Lucky Pie Pizza in Denver and now Denverites can start enjoying FATE brew without the trek to Boulder. Also for #ACBW, World of Beer in Glendale, CO is hosting a Colorado Nano Tap Takeover and FATE's Kolsch Style Ale, IPA and Cascadian Dark Ale will be featured on tap.

Oskar Blues (Longmont) - Stop down to the Tasty Weasel Taproom for Tasty Tuesday today. They are going to tap a Cherry Chub on draft and you'll want to get some. It's that same great Old Chub infused with cherries!

Northern Colorado

Front Range Rally (Loveland) - This Saturday, May 18th from 3pm to 7pm - don't wait in line for tickets to the Front Range Rally beer & food truck festival - purchase your tickets online today. The festival is just 4 days away. There will be over 100 different beers to sample and a variety of great food trucks on hand to satisfy your noms. This festival is located outside at the Loveland Food Bank at 2600 N. Lincoln in Loveland, just off of Hwy 287. Proceeds from this festival go to Food Bank of Larimer County and will help to feed those in need in Northern Colorado.

High Hops Brewery (Windsor) - Just in time for American Craft Beer Week, High Hops is putting out several new beers on tap just for the occasion. On Wednesday, May 15th at 5pm they'll tap a Lemon Ginger Honey Red. On Thursday, May 16th, stop in for a taste of their Chernobley - a cherry edition of their Noble Belgian quad. And then on Saturday, May 18th feel the sweet heat from their Habanero Honey. Three uniquely different brews! Live music on Friday 6pm and Saturday 5pm. Now open at Noon every day of the week! Play Northern Colorado Brewery Bingo and get your card stamped on select beers.

Echo Brewing (Frederick) is a custom sponsor for a community bike ride that will take place in Frederick this summer. The 1st annual Tour de Flight will take place June 22, 2013 in conjunction with Frederick in Flight. The ride will begin at 4:30 p.m. and will end at Crist Park in Downtown Frederick. Everyone can enjoy the evening Frederick in Flight balloon glow festivities after the ride including kids activities, food, a beer garden (with Echo Brewing beer), chainsaw woodcarving contest, live music and hot air balloons lighting the night sky. The route is a ten-mile primarily off-street loop appropriate for most ages and skill levels, that will utilize the existing trail system through several Frederick neighborhoods. Traffic control and route signage will be provided. Join them for a great ride followed by a fun night! Registration is now available at www.regonline.com/tourdeflight. Individuals and groups that register by May 31st will receive an event t-shirt!

The Fort Collins Brewery (Ft. Collins) - The brewery is putting out three new beers on tap in the Tasting Room this week as part of their American Craft Beer Week celebration. Weizenbock, part of the limited release Tap Club series, combines the rich flavors of a dunkelweizen (dark fruit, wheat, banana, clove, and chocolate, to name a few) with the strength and body of a bock. Happy Pils, another member of the Tap Club series, is a continental Pils that is light and slightly sweet on the tongue and finishes with refreshing dryness without being overly bitter. Perfect for the warm days of early summer. And finally is FCB’s contribution to the Collusion Project in which all breweries in the City of Fort Collins took part to celebrate American Craft Beer Week. All breweries started out with same malt bill and collaborated with two other breweries to select the yeast, hops, and additional malts. FCB’s version, created with the help of Black Bottle Brewery and Coopersmith’s, features Apple wood and Cherry wood smoked malts to add just a hint of smoke and was aged on French Oak chips to add a black tea spice flavor.

Pateros Creek Brewing Co (Ft. Collins) - PCBC is teaming up with PreGame CornHole to bring you a summer bags/cornhole league. They'll be running the league and Pateros Creek will be bringing you drink specials. It's every Wednesday from 6-9pm on summer nights. Contact them as soon as possible because registration ends on May 30th.

Grimm Brothers Brewhouse (Loveland) - Today for all you Facebook and Fermentedly Challenged fans. Head to Grimm Brothers and ask for the Hickory Snow Drop Firkin Special. Mention you saw this on Facebook or Fermentedly Challenged and get $1 off this special firkin brew. It's just one of the specials during #ACBW.

City Star Brewing (Berthoud) - Euchre players! Tonight is Euchre Tuesday at City Star. The games start at 6:30pm. Play brewery bingo while you're at it and get your card stamped on select brews. Starting next week, Euchre Tuesdays start at 7:00pm.

Funkwerks (Ft. Collins) - Tonight in Fort Collins at the Tap and Handle, it's Funkwerks night starting at 5pm. There will be plenty of Funkwerks beer on tap plus you'll get a shot at winning free stuff. Come meet some of the Funkwerks staff!

Verboten Brewing (Loveland) - During their off day, Verboten was busy expanding their tap lines. Expect to see up to 11 beers on tap in the days to come at Verboten Brewing. Today they've got "Mantooth" Imperial IPA, "Thinking of Something Orange" Orange Blossom Wheat, and "Midnight Expresso" Espresso Stout on Nitro. All 3 tap at 3pm. Happy hour runs from 3-6pm.
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Catch up on Colorado Beer News from earlier this week:
Monday

View Colorado Brewery Maps
[ Boulder-Longmont Map ] [ Denver Area Map ] [ Northern Colorado Map ]
[ Southeast Colorado Map ] [ Northwest Brewery Map ] [ Southwest Colorado Map ]

CO Beer Dinners - Expand your palate! How about a beer dinner or pairing event? Lots of events are taking reservations now. Check out the Colorado Beer Dinner & Pairing Events listing.

Live Music - Beer and music go great together and many Colorado breweries and watering holes offer live entertainment every day. Check out the Colorado Brewery Music Listings and find who's playing at your favorite brewery or beer bar. Updated daily.

CO Beer Festivals - Looking for info on upcoming beer festivals or related events in Colorado? Check out the listings on the 2013 Colorado Beer Festivals & Events Calendar. Updated daily.

Like us on Facebook - There's even more Colorado beer happenings and discussions on the Fermentedly Challenged Facebook Page. Find recaps, special offers, and tips that you won't find on the blog. "Like" us and get even more soon after it happens. Thanks for helping us grow to over 1600+ "Likes" in 2013!

Colorado Beer News is published daily (Monday through Friday) with craft beer stories as they break from newsletters, emails and social media sites. Stop back here often for all the latest. This news is intended for audiences of legal drinking age (21+). If you'd like to subscribe to this daily by email, sign-up here. Please, always drink responsibly and use a designated driver.

This article came from FermentedlyChallenged.com - a Colorado beer blog. Don't miss another article. Subscribe to Fermentedly Challenged by RSS today.

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Pluots and Paardebloem - New Belgium's newest Lips of Faith beers

New Belgium is no stranger to experimentation and their Lips of Faith series of beers showcase their creativity in the bottle. This week New Belgium is releasing two beers with odd sounding names, but made with ingredients you may be familiar with. Here is their Press Release dated May 13, 2013 about their two latest creations - Pluot and Paardebloem.

[PRESS RELEASE] Ft. Collins, Colo., May 13, 2013 – New Belgium Brewing, maker of Fat Tire Amber Ale and a wide variety of award-winning beers, has two new quarterly Lips of Faith offerings now available: Paardebloem, which is the newest collaboration with Red Rock Brewing in Salt Lake City, and Pluot.

Paardebloem is the sixth collaboration beer with Red Rock Brewing. The beer brings together a diverse set of ingredients ranging from peach juice to dandelion greens. It blends funky brettanomyces with New Belgium’s house Belgian ale yeast, and includes a touch of wood-aged sour beer and Grains of Paradise. Paardebloem pours a light, hazy gold and is 9 percent ABV.

Pluot is a subtly sweet ale made from pluot juice, which is a hybrid of a plum and an apricot. Pluot is light golden, delivering fruity aromas and distinct esters. It is also created with house Belgian ale yeast and brettanomyces, bringing a hint of spice and a malty backbone. ABV is 10 percent. Both of these Lips of Faith selections will be available through July or until supplies run out.

“All three of these selections are bold statements of Belgian tradition, offering imagination in every pour,” said New Belgium Assistant Brewmaster Grady Hull. “The Lips of Faith series was created for those wanting to push their palate.”

As you begin your annual festival and beer-tasting planning, don’t forget to see if either New Belgium’s Tour de Fat (https://www.facebook.com/TourDeFat/events) or Clips Beer and Film Tour (https://www.facebook.com/ClipsBeerAndFilmTour/events) is coming to your area.

To find New Belgium beers near you, use the New Belgium Libation Location tool: http://www.newbelgium.com/beer.aspx. Pricing varies by location. You can also follow New Belgium on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/newbelgium and Twitter @NewBelgium.

About New Belgium Brewing Company
New Belgium Brewing, makers of Fat Tire Amber Ale and a host of Belgian-inspired beers, is recognized as one of Outside Magazine’s Best Places to Work and one of the Wall Street Journal’s Best Small Businesses. The 100% employee owned brewery is a Platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Business as designated by the League of American Bicyclists, and one of World Blu’s most democratic U.S. businesses. In addition to Fat Tire, New Belgium brews eight year round beers; Ranger IPA, Rampant Imperial IPA, Shift Pale Lager, Sunshine Wheat, 1554 Black Ale, Blue Paddle Pilsener, Abbey Belgian Ale and Trippel. Learn more at www.newbelgium.com.

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Related articles:
- New Belgium expands their Colorado capacity.
- 2013 New Belgium Tour de Fat schedule revealed.
- New Belgium's Clips Beer and Film Tour Announces 2013 Schedule.

This article came from FermentedlyChallenged.com - a Colorado beer blog. Don't miss another article. Subscribe to Fermentedly Challenged by RSS today.

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Grimm Brothers Maiden's Kiss Maibock Lager review

It's the lusty month of May and with it come the Spring seasonals out in force. Grimm Brothers Brewhouse put out a lusty beer of their own this month - Grimm Brothers Maiden's Kiss - a Maibock lager. The classic "Grimm Brothers" bottle artwork once again adorns the bottles of this release and they've put another sultry fairy tale maiden on the label. I believe this not only attracts attention to this beer, but also manages to sell a lot of t-shirts as well.

Maibocks tend to be a very malty brew with a bit of spicy quality at times. Grimm Brothers released this beer around the 1st of May this year and it's already seems to be a popular beer with the locals. Maiden's Kiss weighs in around 7.3% ABV and has a low IBU rating. This beer is a lager and was brewed at lower temperatures than ales and tends to take a bit longer to ferment than other ales.

I was fortunate enough to try this beer initially the day before it was released at the brewery. I liked the sample and was given a full 22oz bottle by the brewery to give it a full review. This beer is available around Northern Colorado and now the Denver and Boulder area thanks to a recent distribution agreement Grimm Brothers made with Tivioli Distributing.

Appearance: Maiden's Kiss poured out a dark golden color. There was a modest sized off-white head that left a clingy lacing along the glass. The head didn't last long. The beer was mostly clear with just the slightest hint of haze. The beer was decently carbonated and opened with a gentle hiss. I could not see any noticeable sediment in the bottle and the beer itself was sediment free in the glass with the first and 2nd pour.

Aroma: This maiden has the aroma of toasted malts with an earthy background. There was a sweet, yet peppery tone to this beer as well. Both the malts and the hops were noticeable in this beer, but the hops were not huge, but rather subtle with a spicy tone. The malts took center stage with each inhale. I couldn't pick up any fruity esters, which is fine in this beer, but there was a slight sweetness detectable overall. Being a lager, I could pick up a slight hint of sulfer, but I really had to let this beer warm up a bit for any of that to start coming out. Luckily, this beer fell short of any "cooked corn" aroma. Later on, I felt I could almost pick up some citrus in the nose as well.

Taste: Maiden's Kiss starts out and finishes with a malty tone. The hops added an earthy sense as well. There was just a hint of tangy-ness in this beer, but it wasn't sour by any means. This beer had a medium to full body feel to it. The malts really dominate in this beer. I found myself having no problem with the 1st half of this bottle. It drinks well on the cool side. Later on, as the beer warmed, the malts begin to really dominate. I could pick up just a hint of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) in this beer, but not much. Lagers tend to pick up a bit of this in some varying levels.

The second half of this bottle, when warmed up, gave a slightly different experience. While still malty while cold or later a bit warmer, this beer became more of a slower sipping beer with the second pouring. I tended to like this beer better when it was cold, fresh out of the fridge.

Overall: Maibocks are either a hit or miss in my book. Grimm Brothers managed to hit this style of beer fairly dead on in my opinion. It's not exactly a beer I'd go for on a hot day, but rather on a cooler Spring day. It was well made, with a very good malt base. It's a style I prefer not to have a lot of, but then again at 7.3% ABV I probably would only want about a glass of this anyway. Grimm Brothers makes some excellent German-style beers and this is one of them. Drink this one cold and you'll definitely enjoy this Springtime beer.

P.S. - Once again, absolutely love the artwork on this label. Grimm Brothers has a great look to their beer brand. I had this beer both on draft and in the bottle. Great both ways, but seems best at the brewery on tap.

Disclosure: This was a complimentary bottle given to me directly by Grimm Brothers Brewhouse. This is not a paid review, but an honest opinion given in return for the free bottle.

Related articles:
- Grimm Brothers The Bleeding Heart Coffee Porter review.
- Grimm Brothers Sooty Brother Grätzer Ale review.
- Grimm Brothers The Farmer's Wild Daughter review. (2013)

This article came from FermentedlyChallenged.com - a Colorado beer blog. Don't miss another article. Subscribe to Fermentedly Challenged by RSS today.

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Colorado Beer News 051313

Today is National Frog Jumping Day. Frog jumping has been a part of American culture since nearly a century ago thanks in part to a short story by Mark Twain - "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County". While we don't advocate the scaring of frogs into jumping as far as they can today, rather we ask that if you see see a frog today to leave it be and know that they help eat those nasty mosquitoes that will soon be biting you. Here's what's happening around the Colorado beerosphere today Monday, May 13th, 2013.

Happy American Craft Beer Week! (ACBW) - May 13-19, 2013.

Metro Denver

Colorado Plus Brew Pub (Wheat Ridge) - Today is the Grand Opening of Colorado Plus Brew Pub (or CPlus). They held soft openings during the last weekend and will open officially today at 4:00pm. They will offer up 56 Colorado-only craft beers on tap. Expect their own brewing operations to be in operation later this month and their own beers on tap by June. They also have a kitchen with a full menu of food available to go with all that great Colorado craft beer. For more information, check out the Grand Opening page with photos. Also, those who show up have a chance to win free tickets to the upcoming Knockin' Rocks Brooms & Brewfest coming up in June in Ft. Collins!

Denver Beer Company (Denver) is hosting their Spring Beer Dinner at the brewery this Friday, May 17th at 7pm. Tickets are $50 per person and are available at the brewery. Call 303.433.2739 to reserve your seats. 3 courses and 4 beers will be served.

Lone Tree Brewing (Lone Tree) - Welcome to ACBW! LTBC will be tapping not 1, but 2 beers today for Craft Beer Week. At noon they'll tap ONE KEG of Queen Vidrevitz, a Russian Imperial Sout aged in Downslope Distilling Whiskey barrels. Then at 5pm they will tap a limited release of a special barrel-aged Zombie!

Hops & Pie (Denver) - Here's what's special pouring at Hops & Pie for American Craft Beer Week. On Tuesday, from Stone Brewing - 2012 Double Bastard on dark toasted oak & Stone Double Dry Hopped Ruination. On Wednesday it's $2 Craft Can Night from 5pm to 10pm. On Thursday, try Avery Brewing's Hand of Buddah, Lilikoi & Out of Sight, plus Avery Twenty at 5pm. On Friday, a special tapping of Firestone Walker Reserve on firkin. Then on Saturday, it's their Littlest Big Beer Fest featuring the beers from The Bruery (5 different beers). Something for every craft beer lover this week.

Black Shirt Brewing (Denver) - Here's the itinerary for activities at Black Shirt Brewing this week for ACBW. Today - BSB Now Playing - the 1st in a live music series featuring 2 bands: Sawmill Joe and Cubby. On Wednesday May 15th - Noble Swine Supper Club will be serving food in the tap room from 5-9pm. BSB will release their Coffee Red Porter beer at 7:30pm. On Friday May 17th Brava Pizzeria will be in the taproom from 5-9pm and BSB will be serving up 6 different Red Ales on tap.

Elk Mountain Brewing (Parker) - This Wednesdays firkin will be an 80 Shilling, a Scottish Export 80/-. The beer taps at 4:00pm.

CAUTION: Brewing Co (Denver) - Don't forget this Saturday's 1st Taproom Anniversary party. They'll have the following beers pouring for the occasion: Oatmeal Cinnamon Stout, Citra single hopped Dark Pale Ale, Juniper Berry Double IPA, Gluten free Lemongrass Saison, .5%ABV Red Ale, Mango Blonde, Chocolate Hefeweizen, and a Honey Basil Amber. Plus a few more surprises.

Vine Street Pub & Brewery (Denver) - For ACBW Vine Street is featuring an IPA heavy tap wall all week. You can get some of these IPA's: Illusion Dweller English-Style IPA, FYI American-Style IPA, Resinous Rye IPA, Vagabond American-Style IPA, High Wire American-Style India Black Ale, Hop Vivant American-Style Imperial IPA, Avery's Maharaja Imperial IPA, and Telluride Brewing's Fishwater Imperial IPA. In addition all three pubs will be releasing the Boulde English '840' Malt Liquor. "It's like 420 times 2, brah!"

Boulder County

Crystal Springs Brewing (Boulder) - Today marks the 3rd anniversary of the Crystal Springs Brewing Company. They have plans to open up their own tap room in the near future in Boulder. Currently, they are a production only brewery and sell beer in bottles and cans in local Boulder-area liquor stores and select restaurants. Today, they are bottling Butch Pale Ale in 22oz bombers. Look for it soon on store shelves. Congrats to Crystal Springs for 3 great years!

Twisted Pine Brewing (Boulder) - For craft beer week they are offering $1 off pints of their flagship Hoppy Boy. You can even get a FREE Tall Hoppy (stash) can in the taproom. There will be twisted trivia with prizes on the hour leading up to Geeks Who Drink trivia tonight at 7pm. Also this week, look for the debut of their new Cucumber Cream Ale. It's made with cucumbers growth on their own 2 R's Farm.

Boulder Beer Co (Boulder) - Today at 4:20pm Boulder Beer will be hosting a nationwide Nitro Rolling Simul-Tap of their Nitro Mojo IPA at dozens of bars throughout the USA. This beer is described as "Herbaceous!". It's being served up on Nitro to give the beer that smooth & creamy mouthfeel. Stop in at the taproom to celebrate Nitro Mojo IPA today.

Northern Colorado

Black Bottle Brewery (Ft. Collins) - Tonight at 5pm, BBB will have all 9 Fort Collins collusion variation beers on tap! This will be the only day you can sample all 9 beers in one location. 9 Fort Collins brewers got into teams and came up with unique variations on the same theme.

Front Range Rally (Loveland) - This Saturday, May 18th from 3pm to 7pm outside at the Loveland Food Share in Loveland, CO is the 1st ever Front Range Rally beer & food truck festival. Over 100 unique craft beers from over 32 breweries will be pouring along with tasty delights from a variety of area food truck vendors. Tickets are still available at www.frontrangerally.org and at the gate. Proceeds from this festival will go directly to Food Bank for Larimer County who helps area families in need of food. Live music will also be playing on stage. The festival is located at 2600 N. Lincoln Ave in Loveland, CO. Designated Driver tickets also available (18+). Children under 5 allowed free with parent. Must be 21+ otherwise. Expect mid-70s weather on Saturday!

Brewery Bingo (Northern Colorado breweries) - Starting today, just in time for American Craft Beer Week! Stop in at most any Northern Colorado brewery in Ft. Collins, Greeley, Loveland, Berthoud, and Windsor and ask for a Bingo card. As you drink beer you'll get a stamp on your bingo card. Get a Bingo and you'll be eligible to win a special shirt! More info at: facebook.com/BreweryBingoNorthernColorado. Participating breweries include: New Belgium, Pateros Creek, Fort Collins Brewery, Funkwerks, City Star, Crabtree Brewing, Rock Bottom Centerra, Big Beaver, Grimm Brothers, Odell Brewing, Verboten Brewing, Black Bottle Brewing, CopperSmith's, Loveland Aleworks, CB & Potts and High Hops Brewing.

New Belgium (Ft. Collins) - The next Lips of Faith beer is now available from New Belgium. Pluot is the name of their new ale brewed with Pluot juice. What's a Pluot? It's a hybrid fruit of Plums and Apricots. The resulting beer is semi-sweet, yet soured by brettanomyces and has a bit of spice along with a malty backbone. It's available for a limited time in 22oz bomber bottles through July.

Mountains and West

Kannah Creek Brewing (Grand Junction) - The next all-female brewer collaboration beer Fleurs de Cerisier finally will be tapped today at 3:00pm. Stop in for a pint and see how well 8 female brewers from all over Colorado can create a unique cherry blossom saison. The beer taps at 11:00am at Kannah Creek and will also be on tap at Boulder Beer in Boulder, Oskar Blues Home Made Liquids & Solids in Longmont, and The Vail Ale House in Vail, CO. Proceeds from this beer benefit The Pink Boots Society. Participating female brewers were from Kannah Creek, Odell, Prost, Great Divide, Ska, Revolution, Boulder Beer, Oskar Blues and Wynkoop.

Elevation Beer Company (Poncha Springs) - For American Craft Beer Week, Elevation Beer is going to be the featured brewery at a beer dinner at Lucky Pie in Louisville this Wednesday. Also, they will be participating in a Belgian tap takeover at Right Coast Pizza in Wheat Ridge on Thursday. Plus it's their 1st year anniversary this weekend at the brewery. Stop in at their taproom in Poncha Springs and see all the great beers available.

Ark Valley Libation Society - Members of the new Ark Valley Libation Society (Amica's, Elevation Beer Co, and Moonlight Pizza & Brewpub) recently got together and brewed up a collaboration beer called Brown's Canyon India Style Brown Ale and released it on Friday, May 10th. Proceeds from this 16oz bottled beer will go to benefit Friends of Browns Canyon - a group dedicated to preserve the iconic local whitewater canyon corridor. This beer is available at Amica's, Elevation Beer, and Moonlight Pizza as well as local area liquor stores and restaurants. This is a limited release and is expected to sell out within a month or so.

Tommyknocker Brewery (Idaho Springs) - Tommyknocker has a few specials going this week for ACBW. Get a Tommyknocker Butt Head Bock Brat, fries and a beer for $5.99. Also, get $2 off any growler purchase when you mention craft beer week. You can get free brewery tours this week - call ahead to schedule or ask when you arrive.
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CO Beer Dinners - Expand your palate! How about a beer dinner or pairing event? Lots of events are taking reservations now. Check out the Colorado Beer Dinner & Pairing Events listing.

Live Music - Beer and music go great together and many Colorado breweries and watering holes offer live entertainment every day. Check out the Colorado Brewery Music Listings and find who's playing at your favorite brewery or beer bar. Updated daily.

CO Beer Festivals - Looking for info on upcoming beer festivals or related events in Colorado? Check out the listings on the 2013 Colorado Beer Festivals & Events Calendar. Updated daily.

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