We finish our month of Colorado brewery tours with Asher Brewing.
Asher is all organic but you could probably tell that from the names of their beers.
Hippie Nectar Organic Wheat
Tree Hugger Organic Amber
Green Monstah Organic Strong Ale
Hess Brewing
One thing that amazes me about the recent spate of brewery openings is that seemingly mature markets seems to bear new entries. Portland keeps growing as does San Diego. Which is the location of a new-ish brewery I would like to spotlight.
Hess Brewing is according to their website, “San Diego’s first licensed nano-brewery. Nano, as in small, hand-crafted batches, one point six barrels at a time (that’s just 51 gallons each batch).”.
They have five uniquely named beers in their roster:
Claritas – kolsch
Grazias – Vienna cream ale
Intrepidus – IPA
Amplus – San Diego pale ale
Ex Umbris – stout
Let’s Tour…Upslope Brewing
Are you ready for another Colorado beer tour? Let’s go to Upslope then!
Here are their specs and their signature beers…”Brewed with Patagonian hops, high quality Rahr malts, snowmelt and yeast, Upslope’s ales satisfy a wide range of beer drinkers. We have chosen to package our beer in cans because they are portable, light, crushable and the most recyclable container on the planet.”
Upslope Pale Ale
“This clear, crisp, dry pale ale is our signature beer. It’s refreshing characteristics, and signature dry finish, blends smooth malt flavors with a unique spicy hop bitterness. This will be the “go to” beer on any camping trip, fishing excursion or music festival.”
Upslope India Pale Ale
“Our IPA will appeal to the beer enthusiast who desires a bold, deep and bitter ale. With a coppery color indicative of a traditional IPA, Upslope India Pale Ale has a complex malty character and is more well-balanced than most IPA’s, but still offers that bitterness that IPA lovers seek.”
UPDATE:
I was lucky enough to sample the pale ale from Upslope in Boulder. The cans logo and design is striking and simple and that carries through to the beer. It is hoppy but it does not coat the mouth. A great beer for the beach on a summer day. I made room to bring two back home to LA if that tells you anything.
Let’s Tour…Strange Brewing
Now for a strange tour, brewing that is. Strange Brewing is another new entry to the high flyin’ Denver beer scene.
They have a selection of 9 beers according to their website. Including these 2 that I would like a sample of…
Cherry Kriek
We named this Strange Brew ‘Cherry Cherry’ because that’s what it is. There’s so much cherry in this beer even its foamy head is red! We start with a Dark Belgian Wheat recipe, cram it full of Montmorency Tart Cherry goodness, then age it with oak. The result is a cherry cherry lovers dream come true. Goes great with dark chocolate, with fudge brownies, with chocolate gateau, with cacao nibs, with…well you get the picture. And did we mention cherries?
4.7% ABV 15 IBUs
Le Bruit Du Diable
Our spin on a classic Belgian farmhouse ale. We start with high quality Belgian Pilsner malt and add some Belgian Caramel Vienne and Caramel Munich for color and complexity. Bring it back down to earth with just the right amount of Czech Saaz hops to provide refreshing balance. Fermented hot with a very special yeast strain from the Wallonia region of Belgium, this unique yeast gives our Diable its earthy, fruity, spiciness and dry malt character.
7.5% ABV 42 IBUs
Let’s tour…Elk Mountain
Let’s tour around this extremely new brewery in Colorado. According to their website “Elk Mountain Brewing, Inc., was established in April of 2009, is owned and operated by Tom and Marcia Bell.”
As many breweries do (I assume due to cheap rent and easy highway access) Elk Mountain Brewing is located in an industrial area of Parker, Colorado. They are starting small and “serving truly unique handcrafted microbrews with award winning recipes.”
The spin is German style with an American twist. As is evidenced by their line-up
Rock Slide Amber Ale
A spin off from our Oktoberfest; this full flavored Amber Ale is well balanced with a hint of toasted malt; making it a smooth brew to enjoy.
Mine Shaft Kolsch
Brewed with our house yeast; our Kolch is a clean crisp light colored Ale. Made with a variety of 3 different German hops, this brew leaves you with a prominent but not extreme hoppiness flavor. Not one to abandon so tap into this brew and take pleasure.
Wild Wapiti Wheat
Our German Hefeweizen beer made with Wheat & Barley has a malty sweetness with a big banana and clove essences that comes from our special Hefeweizen yeast; making it heavenly on your palate.
Ghost Town Brown
Our American Brown Ale is crisp and clean. With a hint of roasted nuts and chocolate flavors this is a well balanced brew that will leave you begging for more. So don’t get left behind let the flavors lure you in!
Elk Horn Stout
Medium in body, dark in color; our Oatmeal Stout is brewed with flaked oats and barley along with 5 specialty malts; making it a very big beer that is smooth going down.
Ute Bill Pale Ale
Our American Pale Ale has big hints of hop flavor due to the variety of 3 different hops used in combination with the malted grains leaving a well balanced moderate floral flavor; not overwhelming but just right for the adventurous beer drinker in you.
Puma IPA
For the Hop head – Our India Pale Ale has 3 varieties of hops, complimented with caramel and honey specialty malts. Rich in flavor, Puma IPA is a big beer with a big hop finish.
Alaska Brewery # 5
Our last stop in the Alaskan brewing world is Homer Alaska and Kodiak Island Brewing. It is another small place but it is passionate place for sure.
I was most intrigued by their apple range of beers. Including cider ale, raspberry ale and blueberry ale.
Blue and Red
I heard about this brewery and specifically the beer in the first Pete Brown video and thought I would delve in a little deeper.
Here are the specs on the luft-baboons
“An unusual combination of fruity hoppyness with a dark, malty side. This beer is distinctly difficult to categorise – is it sort of a porter or maybe a mild? You decide!”
ABV: 4.2%
Colour: Dark Ruby
Hops: Pilgrim, Celeia, Others
Some of the other beers in their range are the just as aptly named Guerilla and Evolution.
Follow this link to read why the monkey is blue…
Alaska Brewery # 4
One of the new terms craft beer terms of 2010 is Nano-Brewery. And Baranof Island, fits that bill in my mind.
Here is their main list:
Silver Bay IPA
Lord Baranov’s Dark Ale
Baranof Brown Ale
Halibut Point Hefeweizen
Redoubt Red Ale
Peril Strait Pale Ale
They are based in Sitka and they brew with a 1 3/4 barrel system and handcraft their beer in 45 gallon batches. They sell growlers to go too!
Rockmill Brewery
I would love to take a year and just visit brewery grand openings. Maybe somebody out there will pay me to do that.
In the meantime, how about organic and Ohio in the form of the recently opened Rockmill Brewery.
Along with a cool logo the brewers at Rockmill will be creating a witbier, saison, dubbel and tripel. Enjoy Ohio!
Furthermore brewing
I am always surprised and delighted by brewery and beer names. And this Wisconsin brewery has both, Furthermore and a quirky attitude to boot. Of the beers listed on the website the triple play struck a chord with me.
Make Weight: “Our triple pale is a bastardization of three regionally distinctive recipes that were stacked in unequal measure in order to make a beefy beer which highlights each recipe’s finer points: Esters from a dominant Flanders yeast are reigned-in by cleaner American and London strains; Kent Golding hops provide mild bitterness, giving English and Belgian specialty malts room to breath; Oregonian hops offer a fragrant nose; Belgian candy sugar boosts the strength of this mash-up to 8.5% ABV.”
Furthermore is known to those in the know for being the house beer at concerts called Shitty Barn Parties. Which are described as…“Audience and performer coexist in an intimate and integrated space with as little separating instruments and ears as possible. No stage. Stripped down. Pure music love. Like having the performance in your living room (except, in this case, a sh*tty barn). “