Category: Guide to better beer

how to discover new beer to try

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Colorado Report # 3

After walking through Sloan Lake Park, I emerged in the Edgewater District and on the corner was Joyride Brewing. Opened in 2014, this local is kitty corner to the park. I went with two IPAs, a fresh hop and an experimental IPA. Their 35th one. Both tasted super fresh. 

Also near the lake is the pilot brewery of Odell Brewing. Earlier in the trip, I had the flagship IPA and the flagship 90 Shilling and neither were on the menu here. I opted for a flight.  Where I went all over the map from table beer to fruited lager to pumpkin beer.  The five beers got better as I moved along with the pumpkin, double IPA and sweet stout being the best of the bunch.

For the third point in the beer triangle, head to Toast – Wine and Spirits a truly lovely little curated neighborhood shop.  I got a sixer of Lady Justice Sandra Day IPA but man, if money and airport security were no object, I would have bought more.  Leopold Brothers and Laws Whiskey and a whole pumpkin beer section.  

In a week of ticking beer bucket list items, heading to Hops & Pie was a coupe de grace.  A real “peach” of a final hurrah as I got to taste the Peach version of Weldwerks Brewing’s Juicy Bits IPA. I did not order the hoppy fries but the pumpkin soup and roasted pear salad were great.

To conclude, a special shout out to Chip and Erika for shuttle service and helpful tips.

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Best Beers of October 2024

This is going to be the all Pumpkin, all Colorado vacation edition of the Best of the Month.

Here are the contenders:

Bristol Brewing Pumpkin Ale weighing in at 5.9%

Our Mutual Friend Porch Pumpkin at 8.8%

Odyssey Beer Works Fluffy Pumpkin lowest at 5.6%

4 Hands Pumpkin Ale at 6%

Odell Brewing Pumpkin Spice Dottie 6.4%

Fluffy Pumpkin edges out Bristol Brewing because that marshmallow and pumpkin combo just had the Halloween vibe, even though Bristol has the most gourd to it.

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Colorado Report # 2

Took a Lyft from LoDo to Novel Strand Brewing for a first visit to a truly neighborhood spot. Houses on the other three corners. Looks like a typical pub or coffee house, which it also is in the AM. Had the Ninja Shit and Green Showers on the beertenders recommendation. Both were easy drinkers. 

After a Vieux Carre cocktail night, it was time to hit a really good brewery triangle centered on Larimer Street. First point was Our Mutual Friend Brewing where I taster tray-ed a few beers from their selection that held quite a few Belgian and funky choices like their two time GABF winner Biere Ovale. Which was quite a tart burst. I also quite enjoyed the Industry Appreciation IPA. You can’t miss the space as it is brightly colored outside.

Ratio BeerWorks is the punk brewery and again, Denver surprises with an eclectic beer list including a scotch ale and multiple saisons such as the carrot and elderflower that I chose. Bigger footprint than OMF but familiar garage door, indoor-outdoor set-up just one block up from OMF.

A slightly longer walk of three blocks led me to the very large industrial space of Bierstadt Lagerhaus where I had to notch the beer bucket list item of a slow pour pils at the source. The presentation, after the requisite time had elapsed, was spot on with the fancy gold embossed glass and the little paper doily and the parfait of foam is something to see. And of course to taste.

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Fall Into IPA

Institution Ales Fall Seasonal is back with a Black IPA.  It is “brewed with Citra, Simcoe and Amarillo hops. Deceptively dark in appearance, this beer drinks similarly to a piney, citrusy West Coast IPA with only small hints of toasty and chocolate malts.” 

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30 Sips

If there is anything this blog is known for, it is posts about collaborations and / or anniversaries and here is a little of both.  The Rare Beer Club is having its 30-year anniversary this year and they have teamed with the Lost Abbey on The Last Sipper, “an 11.5% blended oak-aged imperial brown ale which was brewed for our members to celebrate our anniversary, and Perennial’s Prodigal, an 11.5% Imperial Milk Stout with chocolate and vanilla.”

And don’t sleep on the other 4 beer clubs either, it is a good way to taste around the country and the world and make excellent holiday gifts.

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Colorado Report # 1

Left Burbank International Airport early in the AM and despite a little turbulence into Denver, everything went smoothly and by early afternoon, I was in Colorado Springs sipping beer at Ivywild an old school converted into food and drink with a brewery (Bristol Brewing) and distillery on site.

Over a bacon and bleu burger, I tasted four beers. A pale ale, a fresh hop IPA, a nitro IPA and for a change a pumpkin ale too. All four were above average which is not bad for a brewery that I had never researched at all. So good that I got a big ol’ bottle of their saison, which also rang true. A good start to the trip.

Next up was a drive south to the Cristo de Sangre mountain range town of Westclifffe, where the beer choices were a tad slim but luckily the stovepipe cans are around and I found a reliable Colorado choice in 90 Shilling Ale and flagship IPA from Odell Brewing and also a not so mini whiskey from Laws Whiskey House.

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54

I have been lucky enough to find some Russian River beers at my local Whole Foods / Amazon and maybe I will see the new R –n- D Series beer coming from the Santa Rosa brewery because Hazy IPA #54 is coming and it is coming with Brewer’s Gold and Citra hops.  

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Walk

The Brew Walk Craft Beer Festival is back for its second year.

It has featured breweries / local favorites that are not the usual suspects such as Norwalk Brew House, La Bodega Brewing Co. from Whittier, Brewjeria Company from Pico Rivera, Cerveza Xteca from San Diego, and Cerveza Cito hailing from Santa Ana. 

And 100% of the proceeds from Brew Walk will directly benefit St. Linus School, that money goes to supporting educational programs and resources for the students.  Maybe one of whom will become a brewer in the future.