Meet John Vandewater – A Man with a Passion for CO Beer

April 27, 2017 by Stephen Adams

Welcome John Vandewater as one of the Colorado Brewery Masters, those of us who have visited every Colorado brewery! I first heard about John a couple months ago when he let me know that he had been to over 300 Colorado breweries and wanted to confirm that he’d been to them all. We checked our lists and found out that he had indeed overlooked one at that point and he quickly rectified that oversight. Recently, I had the great pleasure of meeting John and his lovely wife, Sarita, for dinner and we talked at length about our travels and favorite (and not-so-favorite) Colorado breweries. He later apologized for talking so much but, on the contrary, I very much enjoyed the sharing of his passion for Colorado beer. Similar to other Colorado Brewery Masters I asked him to share his story with me. Instead of my regular Q&A, he sent me the following narrative of his Colorado brewery journey…

John Vandewater

The first brewery I can remember visiting in Colorado was way back in 2001 (Avery Brewing) a little tiny tap room where this super friendly guy named Adam would show me his beers now and then.

Adam Avery – picture courtesy of Facebook

I moved to Boulder after living in Manhattan for a few months after my mother passed away. I am originally from Jax Beach, Florida. My twin brother was living here with his wife one block away from the old Avery tap room.

I never liked beer. It was always Bud or Corona till I visited Avery and was so impressed. I began visiting others like Boulder Beer, Walnut Brewing, and Oasis Brewing then occasionally visiting Wynkoop, Golden City, and others between Boulder and Denver. It wasn’t a hobby or anything at that point, just a way to see Denver and Boulder.

I ran my own web hosting proxy server company from 2001 to 2010. I ran it from a home office that I realized I could do it remotely and so one day in the Spring of 2002 I decided to hop on a plane to Ireland, where I spent about 2 weeks. While I was there people would constantly want to buy me beers to listen to my accent, it was a good time and I began to really like beer.

I decided to stay and backpack through Europe for almost 4 months visiting Ireland, England, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy but it wasn’t until I decided to go to Brussels that really began to enjoy beer.

After seeing the pissing boy and Smurf museum, I was like “damn this sucks”. I asked someone at my hotel “What’s something fun to do?” They told me about an old tavern down the street called La Fleur En Papier Dore, a 15th century tap house. I went to check it out and I had my first Kuwak and Duvel. There, the bartender Micheal was so excited for me to try all of these Belgium beers that the next morning he met me at my hotel and took me all over Belgium to all these old monastery places. I had no idea where we were going but we end up at Westvleteren, Westmalle, and Achel. These monks at Westmalle just gave me free beers they kept saying “this is Trappist beer” and I was like “uh, ok… Just bring me more!”.

La Fleur En Papier Dore

I came back and began to visit more and breweries: New Belgium, Odell’s, Bristol, Ska, Left Hand, Oskar Blues, so many…

Not a lot of places where opening back in 2003-2005 not until Dry Dock came along and we began to see more places open just after this thing called GABF started getting popular. By about 2007 the amount of breweries opening began to just take off that I was unable to keep up so I was like I’ll go if I can make it.

I would visit as many as I could but it was really only like three to four a month but my favorite since it was walking distance from me in Boulder was always Avery or Strange Brew in Denver when they opened in 2010. By then I’d probably been to well over 100 in Colorado.

Strange Craft Brewing – Picture by Brewtography Project

In 2012 I began freelance network and IT support for retail, banks, and hotels all over Colorado. It takes me all over, if they pay me for the trip I’ll do it most of the time. So after work I’d stop in do a couple of tasters and grab a growler or bottles to go before heading to my hotel or whatever. Sometime around this point I had realized I’d been to a lot of breweries and they just keep opening. This is when I began to really make it a mission or hobby to visit them all and find out as much as I could about new places opening. Even back in 2012 it was still mostly word of mouth. No one was really taking count or making a list, at least that I knew about.

I began volunteering with the guys at Avery doing charity work and pouring at events. You network a lot when you do these events and it fueled the Quest.

What’s been great in the last few years is that I’ve been able to apply my skills to help out breweries. I’ve worked on networks and point of sale for BJ’s, Denver Beer, Gordon Biesch, Wynkoop, Breck Farm House, Call To Arms, Walnut Brewery, Boulder Beer, Strange Craft, and a few others.

Little Machine Beer Call To Arms Brewing

Pictures by Brewtography Project

My absolute favorite breweries are more less in Denver now that I moved out of the Boulder bubble: Call To Arms, Ratio, Strange Craft, Little Machine, Station 26, Odd13, and Cerebral. It’s so hard to pick just a few. I love Casey Brewing but it’s so far and I don’t often do work in Glenwood.

John with his wife Sarita

[Back to Colorado Beer Geek] I very much enjoyed sharing a beer with John & Sarita and look forward to many more long passionate talks about Colorado beer and breweries in the future.

Have you been to every Colorado brewery or know someone who has (or is getting close)? Let me know and I will be delighted to meet up, share a beer or three, and capture their story here.

Meet Ruth Malone – First Lady of Colorado Breweries

April 20, 2017 by Stephen Adams

Congratulations to Ruth Malone for becoming the first woman in the state of Colorado to visit all its currently open breweries! I met Ruth and her husband, Patrick, at the closing of the original Caution East location where we were also welcoming the new tenants of that location, Brewability Lab. Later that year, I would write about Patrick as one of the “Colorado Brewery Masters” and dubbed him The Godfather of Colorado Beer Geeks. Since then we have visited lots of new breweries and shared many tasty beers together. It is hard to believe that it has been less than a year because both Patrick and Ruth have become such fabulous friends.

Who is Ruth Malone?

I was raised in Bitburg Germany, not far from the borders of Luxembourg and Belgium, so I grew up drinking amazing beers. I moved to Colorado in 1985 and fell in love with my new home, except there was very little beer here then. My husband and I love to explore the state, see the sights, camp, bike ride and drink good beer 🙂

When and what was the first Colorado brewery that you remember visiting?

1988 – Wynkoop Brewing [the year they opened]

When and where did you accomplish the status of having visited every Colorado brewery?

I think I have accomplished it many times over the years. As Patrick and I would bum around the state and hear of new breweries, we would make it a point to hit all that we knew of. This was pre-internet and pre-Colorado Brewery List, so it was hard to know what was out there. Thanks to CBL, I recently had a firm count and set a goal. My official date of accomplishment was April 15, 2017 at WildEdge Brewing Collective in Cortez.

What are some of your favorite memories of your quest?

Meeting families and listening to their dreams and challenges. Seeing all the cool ideas and buildings , recycling and repurposing, communities coming together and sourcing locally.

Has anyone influenced you in visiting all the breweries in the state?

My husband, Patrick, has visited every brewery in Colorado and I was with him for most of those. Then the lovely Nikki Minette introduced us to Stephen Adams (Colorado Beer Geek) and he encouraged me to finish the list as well. I had 38 left to go and Patrick has spent countless hours driving me all over the state in the last few months to complete my goal. Stephen Adams has also been my “DD” on occasion, and a constant source of encouragement.

What are your favorite styles of beer and your top breweries in the state of Colorado in terms of your beer taste?

I like all beer but generally stick to Belgian beers and LOVE barrel aged beers. Part 2 of your question is a tough one, as the talent in this state is over the top! My top breweries are Beryl’s Beer Co., Black Shirt Brewing, De Steeg Brewing, Diebolt Brewing, Elevation Beer, Funkwerks, River North Brewery, Strange Craft Beer, and 12Degree Brewing.

What are you favorite tap rooms in terms of aesthetics and atmosphere?

Black Shirt Brewing, Brues Alehouse, High Hops Brewery, and Jessup Farm Barrel House.

What are some of your favorite destination breweries?

Cerberus Brewing and Local Relic in Colorado Springs, Elevation Beer in Poncha Springs (near Salida), High Hops in Windsor, and Jessup Farm in Fort Collins.

What is your go-to brewery on a day-to-day basis?

A very hard question to answer: Diebolt Brewing, River North, and Strange Craft.

I am very happy to welcome Ruth as a fellow Colorado Brewery Master and even happier to call Patrick and Ruth friends.

Doors Are Open at Open Door Brew Co.

April 6, 2017 by Tara Cilke

With big-named neighbors, such as Oskar Blues and Left Hand, it is nice to have a small brewery open in Longmont with a true welcoming vibe. Nestled in a residential neighborhood, Open Door Brew Co. really embodies its name. Large windows flood the space with natural light, twin garage doors open up to the front patio, and the lawn chairs on the expansive rooftop deck all do their part to entice the Longmont community to come inside and share a beer with friends.

Where everybody knows your name…

A rotational food truck, two patios, and open garage doors welcome you at first sight

Open Door’s door decor!

The taproom has an aesthetically charming décor with a prominent door theme. Doors of different colors line one wall and a door hangs above the beer taps giving the impression of a fun, playful and welcoming atmosphere. Several patrons commented it reminded them of a “Cheers-like neighborhood bar.” Other beer lovers exclaimed that they would, “Come to Longmont more often just for this place.” There is a family friendly appeal mixed with a modern and fresh approach. The space gives the impression that everyone is invited and all are considered to be part of the family.

Billy McDivitt and Andy Riedel hard at work

Open Door started off with two roommates, Andy Riedel and Mike Badaracca, at the University of Colorado-Boulder who shared a passion for home brewing. The process expanded and added a third team member, Andy’s cousin, Billy McDivitt, and together they started on the long journey to opening their first tap room.

Open Door’s signature beers, collaboration beers, and guest taps! Something for everyone!

Twelve beers were displayed on mini chalkboards: three year-round beers, collaborations, and guest taps. Open Door’s signature beers include: flagship Libertas-Pre Prohibition Cream Ale, Over The Moon Milk Stout, and Short Arm Cretaceous IPA. The brewery will try to have at least two collaboration beers with local breweries and their guest taps will be beer you can’t get anywhere else around the area to help showcase smaller breweries as well.

As with all new establishments, there were a few growing pains during opening weekend, which included slight issues with long lines and waiting to order the beer. Not a terrible problem to have on your first few days, and can easily be worked out and alleviated. The guys are looking forward to releasing a new wheat beer over the summer, developing their beer hall, and adding new elements to enhance their rooftop area. The guys also want to incorporate live music with locally performing artists.

Awesome rooftop deck to enjoy Colorado’s finest sunshine and beer

During their opening weekend, the brewery had a strong show of support ranging from sporting teammates, to people from the inception of Open Door, to Longmont locals. The Denver Bulldogs Australian Rules Football Club was there to show support for their mate Billy while streaming a match on the big screen. Several people who have been following Open Door at all their beer festivals were thrilled to finally see a permanent home for the brewery. Hugs were shared and the brewers were never too busy to chat up a fellow lover of beer.

The consistent outpouring of friends and family, as well as newcomers just again proved Open Door to be a place to drink beer and be happy. It truly felt like a place where anyone and everyone was welcomed.

So come on in for a beer…the doors are always open!

At Factotum, #itsjustbeer

March 17, 2017 by Donna Fournier

factotum

Walk into Factotum Brewhouse, located at 3845 Lipan Street in Denver’s Sunnyside neighborhood, and you immediately feel at home. That feeling is by design, and co-owner Laura Bruns wouldn’t have it any other way. The importance of the look and feel of a neighborhood establishment is exactly what Laura had in mind when she, along with her brother, Chris Bruns, opened the brewhouse two years ago this February – they wanted it to feel like home and wanted everyone to feel as though they belonged there. Laura and Chris grew up in Marion, Indiana, a working-class community with a small-town feel and wanted to replicate the feeling of a neighborhood place where people come to hang out with friends and have a beer after a long week of work.

The concept of Factotum is a cooperative one. Patrons purchase a brew session at the brewhouse and, once their name comes up in the queue, they work with Chris to craft their recipe to brew on the seven-barrel system housed at Factotum. Whether it is your favorite homebrew recipe updated to a larger-scale creation or a recipe you dreamed up and have been wanting to bring to life, Factotum can help you make it come true. Even if you just want to try your hand at the brewing process but are unsure what you want to create, Factotum can help you bring your creative brewing juices to fruition. Chris, an avid homebrewer and former teacher, will help you every step of the way – from planning your recipe and ingredient selection, to proper sanitation and cleaning, he is your instructor for the day and will aid you in creating your masterpiece.

This cooperative conceptualization of having a brewery in which most of the beers are brewed by guest brewers was new to the Denver scene, and running a business such as this was new to Laura and Chris. Though the two have several degrees, neither had experience running a business such as Factotum. To gain the much-needed experience, they took advantage of the Denver Metro Small Business Development Center to learn about starting a small business, and also attended Tom Hennessy’s Brewery Immersion Course. The immersion course teaches, among other aspects of running a brewery, the Frankenbrew-style of brewery set-up – where breweries upcycle old dairy equipment, which proves a much cheaper alternative to the often pricey brewhouse equipment seen at many other breweries.

Once the guest brewer’s beer – brewed on the Frankenbrew system – has completed, and the beer has fermented and is ready to be served, Factotum offers a “meet the brewer” night where the guest brewer can host a party at the brewery and invite friends and family out to try their beer creation. Even if the guest brewer opts out of having a big to-do about their brew, however, all the beers that are created in the brewhouse by avid homebrewers and amateurs alike are served to beer lovers in the taproom. The large chalkboard in the taproom shows what is on tap, along with the name of the guest brewer, instilling more sense of community. While you enjoy the guest brewer beers, you can look through the book of biographies containing the stories of all of the people who have brewed at Factotum and learn about why they brewed what they did, why they love beer, where they are from in the community – you might even see some of the people you read about next to you at the bar.

Factotum offers many recurring events, including trivia and run club on Tuesdays and yoga in the tasting room on most Sundays. And, although they are closed most Mondays, on the last Monday of each month they are open from 4-10 and offer buy-one-get-one beers all night long. Currently at Factotum, they are having a March Madness where each weekend, two beers will face off against each other. For $5.00 for two 3-ounce pours, people can score the two beers based on appearance, aroma, flavor, and finish and add tasting notes. The ultimate winner of the March Madness competition will have their beer poured at Great American Beer Festival in October 2017 – which would be a dream come true for many homebrewers.

Laura and Chris always felt that a brewery was about much more than the brews served behind the bar. They felt it is the culture of a brewery that keeps people coming back for more. It is the good vibes you get when you walk in the door and someone remembers you and knows what your usual style of beer is. Factotum isn’t about pretension or egos or winning awards. Rather, it is about a sense of community and an atmosphere of learning – and about the beer. Because, often, beer should be just that – a feeling of community and the ease of belonging, because, as Laura states, #itsjustbeer.

Meet Scott Young – The Buckeye Brewer

March 10, 2017 by Stephen Adams

The “Colorado Brewery Masters”, those who have been to every brewery currently in Colorado, is a small group of people. In order of accomplishment they are Patrick Malone, Stephen Adams (The Colorado Beer Geek), Kevin Harris, and the three Colorado Beer Barons. Earlier this year a seventh person, Scott Young, joined our elite group.

I was happy to finally meet Scott at the Spice Trade Brewing Company celebration. It was a pleasure to hang out with him and hope to enjoy many beers together in the future. As with the other Colorado Brewery Masters, I asked him some questions about his quest to visit all the breweries and his favorites that he found on the way…

Who is Scott Young?

I moved to Denver, CO from Columbus, OH in the fall of 2011. I quickly discovered and embraced the craft beer scene. I started homebrewing and later earned my Certificate in Applied Craft Brewing from Regis University in 2015. I completed my internship at Declaration. Since then I have become a Certified BJCP and am sitting for my Certified Cicerone this April. I am currently a pharmacist by profession, but would love to open my own brewery at some point.

Declaration Brewing (picture courtesy of Facebook)

When and what was the first Colorado brewery that you remember visiting?

The first CO brewery I remember visiting/touring was Great Divide in the summer of 2012.

Great Divide Ballpark taproom (picture courtesy of Facebook)

When and where did you accomplish the status of having visited every Colorado brewery?

I initially finished my quest on 2/10/17 by visiting both UTurn BBQ and finally Gilded Goat, but I recently “re-upped” at Zuni Street on 3/4/17.

Gilded Goat Brewing (picture courtesy of Facebook)

What are some of your favorite memories of your quest?

In October of 2012 a small group of friends and I had a Fort Collins birthday weekend extravaganza that included 4 breweries as well as some great restaurants and beer bars.

In August of 2016 I took a week-long southwest Colorado vacation to relax, sightsee, but most importantly to visit 25 breweries in a five day span!

In general, I enjoy planning weekend running, biking, hiking or sightseeing trips to specific regions in order to check breweries off my list. It’s a great way to see and enjoy the entire state of CO!

Other highlights include using the Denver/Boulder/Colorado Springs Passports as a catalyst to visit breweries; planning my ski resort pass choices in order to visit breweries; and exploring random Colorado festivals (like Frozen Dead Guy Days in Nederland or Mike the Headless Chicken Festival in Fruita) to visit breweries.

What are your favorite styles of beer and what are your top breweries in the state of Colorado in terms of your beer taste?

My current preferred styles (also always in flux) are IPA’s and various Belgian styles

My current top 5 (in no specific order):
Avery – Solid flagship beers and their Barrel-Aged series are almost always amazing.
New Belgium – Solid flagship beers and their Lips of Faith series is an obsession of mine.
Odd 13 – IPAs are top-notch and their other series are always experimental and enjoyable.
Casey – Saison, sours, and fruit beers are all blended perfectly and very approachable.
Dry Dock – Solid flagship beers and exemplary seasonal styles and flavored porters.

What are you favorite tap rooms in terms of aesthetics and atmosphere?

My current top 5 (in no specific order):
Odell – It’s simply a gorgeous taproom and patio with plenty of room to visit with friends.
Black Shirt – It has a great intimate/personal vibe with solid music and live bands regularly.
Denver Beer – It’s just a fun hangout space and patio, especially for their various special events.
Jessup Farm – I love the main entrance through all the barrels and the chill upstairs taproom.
Fiction – A very homey, warm and unique space filled with bookshelves to just sit and relax.

What are some of your favorite destination breweries?

My current top 5 (in no specific order):
WeldWorks – Some of the most flavorful and juicy IPA variants are well worth the drive.
Three Barrel – A long trek will be rewarded with wood fired pizza/calzones and tasty beers.
Telluride – It’s all about being in the taproom, enjoying a high ABV beer while snow gently falls.
Manitou – The perfect place to refuel on good food and beer after attempting the famous Incline.
Grimm Brothers – THE best theme for a brewery in CO paired with some great German beers.

Honorable mentions to: Outer Range, Bonfire, Pike’s Peak, Lariat Lodge, Mountain Tap, Tommyknocker

What is your go-to brewery on a day-to-day basis?

Jagged Mountain – They are across the street so very convenient; the beer has gotten consistently better; the staff is always very friendly and remembers me; and I enjoy their run club, trivia night, live music, and food truck schedule 🙂

Jagged Mountain Craft Brewing (photo by The Brewtography Project)

In the first draft of this article I closed with asking “Who will be the next Colorado Brewery Master?”. However, just this week while I was putting together this article another has joined our exclusive company. Next week I will be introducing you to John Vandewater.

CO-Brew: Denver’s Unique Homebrewing Store

March 9, 2017 by Ryan Millar

Brewing your first beer takes time and money. Many hours of research goes into recipe formulation and you must purchase the proper equipment and ingredients. It’s a daunting task, to say the least. That’s where CO-Brew comes in. Perfectly situated in the heart of Denver, CO-Brew is Denver’s first and only homebrewing store, brew-on-premises and brewery, all in one location. Whether it’s your first homebrew beer or your hundredth, CO-Brew is the place for you.

Husband and wife duo Jamie and Janna Williams opened the store in May 2015 and it’s been a whirlwind ever since. Jamie, a former Audi mechanic, has been an avid homebrewer for many years. Due to the lack of homebrewing stores within easy access of their Capitol Hill home, the Williams were determined to open a store where you could purchase supplies, brew a batch of beer, and enjoy a pint. While it took longer than expected to get up and running (mainly due to the extra steps for licensing and regulation), that hard work paid off in the end as you can now enjoy one of CO-Brew’s eight rotating taps as well as brew on one of their Blichmann BrewEasy systems.

CO-Brew provides only the highest quality ingredients, equipment, and local products for their customers. You’ll find the likes of Briess Malts, YCH Hops, Blichmann Engineering, Inland Island, Root Shoot, Voss Farms and Bootleg Biology on their shelves. They’re also keen to carry new and unique products, like Hop Hash (a high Alpha Acid hop resin that’s left over from the pelletizing process), as well as parts for kegging systems, all-in-one homebrewing kits, cleaning supplies, and much more. They even allow customers to be fully hands-on with weighing and milling their own grains. In fact, Jamie is proud to say that they not only serve the local homebrewing community, but they are often a source for last minute ingredients and parts for local breweries.

The Williams stressed the importance of sharing the combined knowledge of CO-Brew’s staff with the public. You’ll find a number of classes hosted by CO-Brew, with brewing boot camp, sensory panels and BJCP training to name a few. CO-Brew is also home to one of Denver’s homebrewing clubs, The Grist Busters, which meets the second Tuesday of every month. Jamie and Janna actively participate in the club and recently collaborated with them on a brewing session to create a Hawaiian Stout, which is now on tap for Stout Month at Denver Bicycle Café.

Knowing that the population within the Capitol Hill neighborhood predominantly reside within apartments and condos, the Williams felt that the brew-on-premises side of their business was crucial. From recipe selection to packaging the final product, they’re able to facilitate the whole process in-house. With the different price points for ten and twenty gallon batches being all-inclusive, CO-Brew makes the process of brewing easy and affordable, which is perfect for individual homebrewers, company outings and birthday parties alike.

Currently the Williamses do not have plans for expanding the brewery or distributing outside of the occasional guest tap, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t busy with professionally brewing. Besides keeping their ever rotating taps fully stocked, they plan on participating in several local beer festivals, such as the Great American Beer Festival and Collaboration Fest – where they’ll be collaborating with Southern Homebrew and Grandma’s House. Jamie also noted that they’re planning a limited bottle release for at least one of their barrel aged beers this year.

Needless to say, if you’re in need of anything remotely related to beer, whether it be a homebrewing class, ingredients for your next batch or just a pint on your way home from work, you should give CO-Brew a try. They’re ready and eager to assist you Monday through Saturday, 10am to 7pm and Sunday, 11am – 5pm.

There’s Quite a Hubbub in Salida

March 2, 2017 by Dev Adams

The Arkansas River Valley is a magical spot in the heart of the Rockies. The area is home to Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area for rafting, biking, kayaking, hiking, fishing, and camping; Monarch Ski Area for skiing and snowboarding some natural snow; and now, Hubbub Brewing.

Salida is the antithesis of the mountain towns depicted in films and on television. It is a classic, unpretentious town nestled in the Arkansas River Valley populated with a mix of outdoor enthusiasts chasing their favorite adrenaline high, artists, and ranchers. With a charming downtown full of local businesses and local character, it has a slew of activities and attractions to offer residents and visitors alike. This has been a year of changes for one long-standing Salida business, Amicas Pizza and Brewery, who has dropped the “brewery” side of things and moved to a larger location around the corner from their original storefront. But Amicas devotees (count me amongst them – vegetarian lasagna sans sauce is just pure heaven) shouldn’t worry, as Amicas beers are still on tap and being brewed by 14-year head brewer Mike LaCroix, if just a little farther away from the pizza oven than before.

Mike, now head brewer and part owner at Hubbub Brewing, has 24 years of experience as a professional brewer working at different breweries across the US. Hubbub and Amicas have maintained a very close relationship as, in addition to Hubbub brewing all of Amicas’ beers, Amicas has set up a food truck, the Munch Box, in Hubbub’s parking lot. I met Mike years ago while watching him try to squeeze around and behind some very tightly-packed fermenters at Amicas and, through visits to Salida for The Colorado Brewers Guild Brewers Rendezvous as well as ski and rockhounding trips to the area, we have grown to be friends. His stories of brewing at a variety of breweries – 11 in total – and his mellow, welcoming personality truly shines through at Hubbub, both in the atmosphere and in the beer.

Mike has apparently taken photos before… we have clearly not…

Hubbub is located off The Rainbow Highway (US Highway 50) and is hard to miss with a giant “BREWERY” sign along the road and their bright green sign contrasting with their large, black building. It is conveniently located in the midst of the majority of the hotels in town and just a short drive (or 20 minute walk) from downtown Salida.

If this sign doesn’t make you thirsty, you need to check yourself.

Bonus of Salida: easy parking!

In contrast to Amicas’ small brewpub set up, Hubbub has a respectable 15 BBL system with room to add more fermenters and brite tanks as needed. Instead of focusing on one brewing region or group of styles, Hubbub is taking a cue from the environment around them and offering their patrons a wide variety of flavors to explore. Their beers range from pale ales and IPAs to a coconut milk stout and two chili beers. One the day we visited, we enjoyed a flight of all ten beers they had on tap, with the Moon-Itcher Helles, Fresco y Seco, X-Ray IPA, and their flagship Type 2 Pale Ale all standing out. I even enjoyed the Coconut Milk Stout, not a style I usually like as they tend to smell (and sometimes taste) like sunscreen. Needless to say, Hubbub’s was not in that camp.

That’s one sexy brewhouse

There’s a fine balance breweries must walk in designing a mountain-town taproom. On the one end they can feel a little too “on-the-nose” log-cabinesque; on the other end, there is big-city sterile minimalism full of white tile and white counters and uncomfortable white chairs. While I’m a huge fan of log cabins with patched carpet, plaid sofas, and that distinct Cabin Funk™, it’s not necessarily to everyone’s taste. And the hospital-level sterility doesn’t exactly encourage relaxation après outdoor activities. Hubbub strikes a good balance. An attractive, long wood bar complements the decidedly modern wood-and-steel chairs. A bright orange wall behind the bar makes the large space feel much cozier without the need to have beetle-kill pine dripping from every corner. Hubbub’s tasting room invites you to stay a while, but not in the “I think the couch is eating me” kind of way.

Would you like a beer?

Besides the décor, the tasting room is large and bright, thanks to large windows lining the south side of the building. This also provides excellent passive solar heating, which allows for a warm escape from the freezing winter winds. The large bar provides plenty of seating for those who want to make new friends and ample table space allows for you to gather with old friends comfortably. In the summer (or winter, if you’re bold) you can enjoy their outdoor patio which is pup-friendly.

Cozy up

While we were sitting at the bar chatting with Mike, an older gentleman in a cowboy hat sauntered in to pick up a couple of growlers for watching the Broncos game (which I’m glad we missed due to the lack of TVs – it sounded like a travesty). Having lived in Salida for some time, Mike seems to know everyone who crosses the threshold and this customer was no different. When he asked Mike for beer suggestions, he added that he needed something that women would like. Mike, smiling, responded that he doesn’t know how to put beers in categories like “for men” or “for women”, but if the gentleman knew what the ladies usually drank, he could make suggestions. I enjoyed that response immensely as I sipped my X-Ray IPA. Tasters were poured, laughs exchanged, and the man left with two growlers: an IPA and a pale ale. I have no doubt he, and his lady friends, enjoyed them more than they did the game.

After so many breweries behind him, and so many years at a well-established brewpub, I was curious about why Mike had decided to take the risk and strike out on his own, so I asked Mike what was different about owning his own place (besides the long hours, the stress, etc). He responded that what made him the most excited about Hubbub is “the four guys who built this place.” The “three guys” in addition to Mike are: Tom Price, Eric Ramsey, and Scott Boulton, who, between the four of them, have experience in brewing, marketing, ranching, restaurant management, and even bull riding. Opening a new brewery is always a risk, but in Colorado, with its plethora of breweries, and in the middle of the mountains, some might call the venture crazy. When asked, in the face of all of the obstacles to success, why he wanted to open a brewery, Mike’s response was simple: “I wanted to get behind something absurd.”

Hubbub has joined Elevation Brewing, Eddyline Brewing, Moonlight Pizza & Brewery, Deerhammer Distillery, Woods Distillery, and Jailhouse Craft Beer Bar in one of the best craft libations scenes in Colorado, and being that it’s just 2 ½ hours from Denver, it’s the perfect place to visit while avoiding the World’s Most Scenic Parking Lot (I-70).

Hubbub Brewing is everything a mountain brewery should be: unique, welcoming, warm, and, above all, putting out good beer for everyone to enjoy. It’s a place for the locals to belly-up and share a pint after work (or before – no judgement) and a place for a traveler to find a friendly face and full pint.

There’s a Hubbub Brewing – I recommend you check it out.

Brewing a Craft Marriage

February 13, 2017 by Ale Treks

Like a good ale, a good marriage is hard work. Both take commitment. Both take the right ingredients working together over time. Both provide a one-of-a-kind experience.

I have been married a long time and know that there are some days my spouse does not like me. She still loves me, of course, but we have to work things out. When you are in business together, that can often stretch a relationship.

Ale Treks took the time to interview a few of the many couples in our area who are in the craft beer business together. I believe their shared experiences may be helpful to other couples, as well as those working together in any business.

Jeremy Gobien and Kristen Kozik

Jeremy + Kristen
Meet Jeremy Gobien and Kristen Kozik of Copper Kettle Brewing. They met through a dating service in 2007. After their first date, Kristen really wanted to know more about this shy, quiet man she met. He was interested in why she would be interested in him. Jeremy was working on his degree in material science engineering and she was a pediatric nurse. The two continued dating and on a trip to Germany, he proposed. Jeremy says that Kristen is like a Czech Pilsner with a hoppy bite at times and Kristen describes Jeremy as a Milk Stout: smooth and mellow.

Daryl and Jules Hoekstra

Daryl + Jules
Daryl and Jules Hoekstra met while Jules was on a camping vacation with her family. Although she was still in high school, Daryl was captivated by this beautiful girl in a white bikini. They began a long distance relationship that flourished — not that easy in the pre-cell phone era! Daryl worked his way to becoming a chef while Jules graduated and studied occupational therapy. The two eventually made it official and have been married for 23 years. According to Jules, Daryl is like a good Pilsner, smooth and balanced, while Daryl describes Jules as a spicy IPA.

James and Sarah Howat

James + Sarah
James and Sarah Howat are the owners of Black Project Spontaneous & Wild Ales. James was a science teacher for Adams County School District and Sarah worked as a behavioral specialist. They met at a nightclub after Sarah won a ‘rock, paper, scissors’ contest with a friend to determine who was going to talk to James. They found they had many things in common, especially their thirst for adventure. James said he knew early on that Sarah was the one and they married after dating for two years. Currently, they have been married for five years. James describes Sarah as a Complex Saison, fruity, herby and spicy. Sarah says that James is a Gueuze, a Belgian Lambic style that is complex with many layers.

These couples shared some of their secrets to a long-lasting relationship:

Communication
This was a big one with all three couples, each suggesting that partners learn to keep their communication lines open and genuine. Daryl and Jules advised not letting anger simmer or hold. Holding a grudge over something is just silly and destructive, Daryl said. Some challenges need to be dealt with right away and then let go, not letting it carry over to the next day. Sarah and James said sometimes you need to give a little time and space, but it’s best to take care of conflict as soon as you can. According to Kristen, communication is difficult in a professional relationship, especially when all there is to talk about is work. Being open and valuing each other’s contribution becomes key.

Time
Find and make time for each other. Ask yourselves: Are you married to the business or to each other? Whether going to a festival, going on a date night, or just seeing a movie together, it is important to carve out that time in your schedules. Sarah says that they have learned to sometimes just go, even leaving for two weeks after the brewery was open for one year and James was the head and only brewer. Taking the time to get away helps knit a stronger relationship.

Roles
Clearly defined and respected roles in relationships and businesses help bring order to life. A friend once told me, “You won’t be king of your castle unless you treat your spouse like a queen.” I noticed that within each couple, there were clear functions of each individual that brought value to the relationship. Marriage is a union where each member is equally important to one other.

Love
Love is a verb. Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the feeling and passion of love but the real test of time is to act on the love that you have for each other. Sometimes it is little things like James making coffee for Sarah as he heads out early on the day and Sarah keeping James well fed. Simple sacrificial acts of service toward one another help say ‘I love you.’ Jeremy and Kristen verbally encourage and listen as a way to show love to each other. Kristen sometimes will bring Jeremy a gift of a warm cookie to surprise him. Gift giving is a great way to show you care. Each of us receive and communicate love in different ways, and it’s important to find what way says ‘I love you’ the most to our significant other.

‘Enjoying the experience’
Sarah and James both said enjoying the business was important. Through the craft industry they get to meet many different people. “Our customers are like family” Jules said. Sarah said she loves the idea of a place where people can go and feel safe, share and be known. That is a large part of the whole craft industry experience. When the work that is done alongside a spouse is enjoyed, it helps brew love in marriage.

Cheluna Brewing

January 12, 2017 by Elvira Masinovic

My first trip to Cheluna Brewing was just a tiny bit confusing. I was met by Javier Perez (Javi) outside of the building with an orange vest and a hardhat in order to enter the building. The Stanley Marketplace was buzzing with construction workers, tools, and an unmistakable “Javi energy” overshadowing all of it.

I quickly felt like I had belonged there. Javi and his wife Jennifer were incredibly friendly and welcoming. I mean, they fed me beer and a bagel for breakfast. What’s not to love?

The lovely Jennifer and I getting to know each other over bagels and beer. Photo by Elvira Masinovic.

The culture of Cheluna is what you’ll notice right away. The Oaxacan-style tile behind the bar and the beautiful rich colors of Mexico are immediately inviting, creating a homey and comforting feel that you might find in an eclectic cantina. This welcoming culture is probably what caused Austin Wiley and Darren Boyd from Spangalang Brewery to join Javi and Jennifer on this adventure. Austin and Darren are providing support and advice when it comes to aspects of the professional side of brewing. It’s quite admirable that Javi reached out for an extra hand or two and checked his ego at the door. Javi’s homebrewing experience of 20+ years combined with Austin and Darren’s professional success has certainly resulted in excellent beer.

In his “spare” time, Javi is an emergency room doctor. Somehow his crazy and eccentric personality can transform into a soothing soul with a stethoscope. His professional and warm bedside manner definitely follows him into the brewery. His face lights up when he talks about his two children and the love of his life, Jennifer. If you have the pleasure of speaking to either of them you will leave with a fuller heart, a warmed soul and a smile on your face. You’ll probably be looking at your calendar planning out your next trip as well.

Javi & Jennifer. Photo source Cheluna Website.

The beer reflects Javi’s heritage of Mexico and Germany. You’ll find the Coco-Xoco, a medium bodied Porter infused with cacao, vanilla, and toasted coconut as well as La Rubia, a German Doppelweizen on tap. Two very different styles are a great reflection of the beer that you can expect to drink currently and in the future. Recently tapped were the Low Rider Lager and Hibiscus Flower Lager. If you’re hungry both Comida and the Stanley Beer Hall are open and will deliver to Cheluna at no extra charge.

Opening Day. Photo by Elvira Masinovic.

You can expect great things from Cheluna. They have full support from their community and it’s obvious that the combination of passion and beer go hand in hand. They are moving quickly and have an action plan that you’re going to want to be a part of. Stop by for a pint or two, some great conversation, and take a crowler to go.

Bonus: Cheluna has a 10 foot TV screen, Wi-Fi, foosball table, large party reservations, tons of parking space, and Sweet Cow Ice Cream next door!

2016 Colorado Brewers’ Favorite Breweries

December 31, 2016 by Stephen Adams

With 304 breweries in the state of Colorado, it can be a daunting task determining which ones stand out from the crowd. But who better to help choose than Colorado’s own professional brewers and brewery staff? We emailed all of the breweries in Colorado with a list of questions about their favorite breweries, beers, and what trends they anticipate for the coming year. Over 100 breweries responded. In the first of three articles, we’ll go over what they had to say about their favorite breweries.

Favorite New Brewery
Forty brand new breweries opened in Colorado in 2016, along with two new additional locations for Crazy Mountain and Blue Moon. Tallying the top choice for new breweries resulted in a tie: Bierstadt Lagerhaus and Resolute Brewing Company.

Bierstadt Lagerhaus in Denver was one of the most anticipated Colorado breweries coming into 2016. Bill Eye and Ashleigh Carter resurrected an 84-year-old brew kettle from Germany and follow a strict Reinheitsgebot process in making their lagers. The Reinheitsgebot is a German beer purity law which only allows four ingredients in brewing beer: water, yeast, malted grains and hops. While opening the brewery was a long time coming, they have impressed everyone with the quality of their beers. Grayson Heller, owner at Resolute Brewing Company named them as his favorite new brewery (helping to create the tie with their own brewery) “because of the masterminds behind the build, and their attention to detail.”

Bierstadt’s kettle (photo courtesy of Facebook)

Coming in alongside Bierstadt is Resolute Brewing Company in Centennial. Opening their doors in August, they came out swinging and have become one of the most popular breweries in the Denver-area with a large modern taproom and lots of tasty beers. Resolute’s motto is “community, craft, culture” and they have quickly established themselves as a neighborhood favorite by putting a strong emphasis on the local community. “Great beer, great owners, sexy tasting room, focus on community and philanthropy. These turkeys did everything right,” said Davin Helden, owner of Liquid Mechanics Brewing Co.

Resolute Brewing Company. Photo courtesy Dustin Hall of The Brewtography Project.

Road Trip!
Knowing that we would get a lot of responses focused on the Front Range, we wanted to make sure that all of the incredible breweries from across the state weren’t forgotten. In my travels I’ve discovered some really wonderful breweries all over Colorado, so we asked what breweries they would recommend for people traveling to other parts of the state. The standout in this category was Elevation Beer Company located in the middle of our great state in Poncha Springs (next to Salida). “Not only is the landscape and drive breathtaking, but their tap room consistently offers a wide range of beers. There is a beer there for every craft beer fan,” said Beth Murray, owner at Beryl’s Beer Co. The other highly recommended breweries in this category were Ska Brewing in Durango, Broken Compass Brewing in Breckenridge, and Casey Brewing & Blending in Glenwood Springs.

Elevation Beer Company. Photo courtesy Dustin Hall of The Brewtography Project.

Most Anticipated Brewery
We also asked that the breweries check out our Upcoming Breweries page and name which Colorado brewery slated to open in 2017 they are most excited about. The overwhelming response was for The Grateful Gnome Sandwich Shoppe & Brewery. Dev Adams, Senior Writer for Colorado Brewery List provided this insight as to why they topped her list for 2017 openings: “Bess is an incredibly talented brewer who deserves to shine and I can’t wait to grab some brews and sandwiches and catch up with some old friends who are helping open the place.”

Grateful Gnome’s Brewer, Bess Dougherty, and owner, Daniel Appell (photo courtesy of Facebook)

Favorite Brewery
To finish our brewery round-up is the favorite Colorado brewery chosen by other Colorado breweries. We asked brewers to give us their top three choices. Many of them expressed great difficulty in choosing as they truly admire the great work being done by their friends and colleagues across the state. Regardless, among the 320 votes cast there were 120 breweries nominated as a favorite brewery in 2016.

It was virtually a tie for the third place between Cannonball Creek Brewing and Odd13 Brewing.

Cannonball Creek Brewing opened in Golden in January of 2013. “We brew the beer that we like to drink,” say owners Brian Hutchinson & Jason Stengl. Luckily, they are also brewing beers that other people like to drink as well. They make a solid assortment of beers and at Great American Beer Fest this year they walked away with two Gold medals one for their aptly-named “Solid Gold” Belgian Golden and one for their timely-named “Trump Hands” Session IPA.

Cannonball Creek Brewing Company. Photo courtesy Dustin Hall of The Brewtography Project.

Odd13 Brewing opened in August of 2013 in Lafayette founded by Kristin and Ryan Scott. Odd13 has had an amazing year: between their collaboration with Fiction Beer Company and Cerebral Brewing, Robot Librarian, being one of the most sought-after “New England-Style” IPAs in Colorado and boasting lines down the block for virtually every beer release, they are bringing great beer – and beer geeks – to Lafayette. Their comic-book-style branding and artwork helps them stand out on the shelf, and their delicious beers, which include a large rotating selection of IPAs alongside sours barrel-aged beers, make them stand out from the crowd.

Odd13 Brewing (photo courtesy of Facebook)

It came as no surprise to us at Colorado Brewery List that Avery Brewing Company would find a spot in the top three Colorado breweries. Avery Brewing first opened their doors in Boulder in 1993 and have long shown greatness in making amazing beers such as White Rascal, Tweak and Uncle Jacob’s. After many years of serving their beers from their small Boulder taproom, in 2015 they opened the doors to a spectacular 67,000-square-foot, $27 million facility in Gunbarrel with an eventual brewing capacity of 150,000 barrels a year. Besides the huge brewery that you can see from a catwalk, there is a full-service restaurant and an additional taproom with a patio and 30 taps of Avery beers.

“Avery Brewing continues to impress with their impeccable beers. They continue to push the envelope with their sour and barrel aging series. The Reverend, now available in cans, is still one of the best value Belgian quads on the market. Their birds eye view production area self guided tour is nice. It’s great to see one of the owners, Adam Avery, still pouring beers and talking with customers at local beer festivals. ” said Ryan Evans, Owner of Bruz Beers.

Avery Brewing Company. Photo courtesy Dustin Hall of The Brewtography Project.

A long-time staple of the Colorado brewing scene, Odell Brewing Company was chosen by other Colorado breweries as their favorite, pulling in more votes than the second place brewery by over 2-1.

Odell Brewing opened in 1989 in Fort Collins and was the sixth Colorado craft brewery. They have grown to be the 34^th largest craft brewery in the US. Odell offers a wide selection of beers including the iconic 90 Shilling Amber Ale, the Woodcut Series of beers, a slew of experimental and one-off beers available on tap at the brewery only, and seasonal favorites like St Lupulin and Runoff Red IPA. Odell Brewing is able to offer such a wide array of excellent beers partly due to their rigorous quality control and sensory programs and partially because staff is actively encouraged to try out their beer ideas on the in-house pilot system. Odell Brewing has come a long way from being a draft-and-growler-only brewery in an old grain elevator to the craft beer powerhouse in Colorado and beyond that we have come to know and love so well.

According to Davin Helden, Owner of Liquid Mechanics Brewing Co: “Odell Brewing doesn’t make a single average beer, they are all superb. Best yet, they have proven they are still nimble enough to keep up with the ever changing beer consumer’s palate and desires. They are canning beer to provide a packaging format that is now preferred by consumers, and they create new offerings such as Drumroll which is a super juicy, hoppy beer. I think most brewers would agree that Odell’s IPA is one of the best examples of a Colorado IPA. Their beer is perpetually in my refrigerator at home.”

Odell Brewing Company. Photo courtesy Dustin Hall of The Brewtography Project.

Obviously, this is just a small taste of all of the incredible breweries Colorado has to offer. The diversity in the responses we received shows just how many great breweries there are to visit in our state. Start the journey to find your favorite brewery by checking out our brewery map and list and come back for our articles on the best beers and trends from Colorado Breweries in the coming weeks.

(Author’s note: It was a lot of fun putting together this survey and seeing the answers come in from across Colorado. It must be noted however that while my name is on the byline this was a team effort. I wish to thank Dev Adams for her great contributions in putting this article together and to Ryan Steadman & Joseph Garcia for their support. – Stephen)

Baere With Me

December 23, 2016 by Dev Adams

baere

America has a drinking establishment identity problem. Where in other countries the bar, the pub, the brewery is the gathering place of the community, here in America it is not so. Blame it on the suburbs. Blame it on the internet. Blame it on puritanism. Blame it on prohibition. Whatever may be the cause, a call back to the farmhouse-style pubs of Europe is the answer offered up by Denver’s Baere Brewing Company.

Baere is the brainchild of owners and brewers Kevin Greer and Ryan Skeels. The two met through Ryan’s wife Ryan (not a typo), a high school classmate of Kevin’s. Kevin and (boy) Ryan began hanging out and found a mutual interest in homebrewing. The story of how they decided to take their hobby and mold it into their business is slightly different. Kevin’s version lays out a long journey of throwing around the idea, testing the waters a bit, and finally deciding on a plan. Ryan’s is, shall we say, more dramatic: the two friends were hanging out when Ryan went to the bathroom and read an article about nanobreweries in a brewing magazine. Although the image of him shouting “eureka!” through the bathroom door is both hilarious and charming, he did wait until he exited the restroom before pitching the idea of a brewery to Kevin, who readily agreed. Regardless of the origin story, Kevin and Ryan opened their brewery in a strip mall on 3rd and Broadway in 2014.

The modern strip mall farmhouse brewery. (Photo by Dev Adams)

Their location on Broadway was the first place Kevin and Ryan looked at once they decided that their dream was a viable reality. They did explore other locations, including some in RiNo, but the strip mall on Broadway kept calling them back. They liked the space, they liked that it was not as saturated as other locations in Denver, and they liked the more relaxed vibe of the Baker neighborhood. When you enter the brewery, a sign on the door proclaims, “This is a black-belt school!” a reminder of the space’s former life as a Jiu-Jitsu studio. The name Baere comes from the old English word for barley – thought to be the root (pun intended) – of the word beer.

This saying is also written in the basement of another, slightly more well-known brewery, Guinness. (Photo by Dev Adams)

The brewery’s art-room-style seating and wood pallet-covered walls adorned with hand-designed music posters (courtesy of Baere label designer John Vogel) are a comforting mix of modern and familiar. The atmosphere is hip without the hipster. Their brewhouse and cellar, once neatly contained in 600 of their 2400 square feet, has begun to spill out into the tasting room with fermenters and many, many wood barrels sitting happily amongst the customers. When Baere first opened, they chose to restrict their hours instead of restricting their selection. This was mostly due to their small brewing capacity: only 3 BBLs. Luckily, the expansion of fermentation space has allowed for a complementary expansion in both their tap list and hours, so thirsty beer (Baere) drinkers don’t have to be without for long.

Enjoying a sunny day in the tasting room. (Photo by Dev Adams)

Baere presents a line-up of palate-pleasing beers that align with their modern farmhouse feel: saison/farmhouse ales, sour/barrel-aged beers, and hop-forward beers being the emphasis. Ryan claims that, initially, they only did pale ales and IPAs because of customer demand, but the flavor profiles and care that go into their versions belies his casual attitude. Amongst an overall strong portfolio, some beers that stick out are the Strip Mall Pale Ale, Boom Town Double IPA, Saison, Baere-liner Weisse, and any number of one-off barrel-aged and sour specialties. Unique to the Denver scene, they make their own syrups for the Baere-liner weiss if someone wishes to sweeten up the tart wheat beer. The traditional woodruff syrup is made by Kevin’s wife Cheyenne from woodruff grown in the backyards of the owners as well as friends and family around the Denver area.

In one of the most memorable moments of the 2016 Great American Beer Festival (GABF), Baere took home a bronze metal for their Saison, a huge accomplishment considering the 80 entries in the category and the increasing popularity of the style nationwide. Kevin, Cheyenne, Ryan, and Ryan were joined on stage by the Ryans’ infant son, Natas, who received the coveted Charlie Papasian fist-bump.

Meeting Uncle Charlie. (Photo courtesy of The Brewtography Project)

Even as they grow and increase their prestige, Baere continues to keep their tasting room as their first priority with a short list of bottled sours available at select liquor stores in the Denver area. As Kevin says, “a brewery like us can exist because we don’t have to package.” Another concern for Ryan and Kevin about packaging is that they can’t guarantee that what they intended the customer to taste is actually what ends up in their glass with beer sold off-premise. With beer poured at their bar, it was kept cold, served in the correct glassware which is beer clean, and isn’t past date or otherwise adulterated. Packaged beer, once it is with a distributor or at a liquor store, may face conditions that would compromise its quality. With such a small brewing capacity and a dedication to only providing top-quality beers, tasting room sales are the only way to survive. But Baere is proving that, even with a small system, survival isn’t the only option: you can also thrive. In addition to the new fermenters, Baere continues to foster relationships with local distillery Laws Whiskey House to expand their barrel-aged selection and have recently added Matt Schenck into their brewing team.

Baere bottles. (Photo by Dev Adams)

For Baere, beer creation is an evolutionary process. It’s a matter of tasting and tweaking. When changing a beer, they compare their ideas to things they’ve had in the past and they speak with other brewers. Beer brewing is a constant dialogue between the brewers, staff, and customers picking little bits and pieces from everyone’s knowledge base. It is one of the aspects of the brewing industry Kevin enjoys the most, and part of what made him want to start a business in it: the breadth of experience from all different ages, lifestyles, and professions. In the end, Kevin says, if you end up with a beer you like, stick with it, regardless of if it was what you intended to make when you started or if it conforms to some sort of style. Style is a guideline, not biblical truth. Kevin posits that so many engineers get into brewing because it is a mixture of science and art. To create great beer, you must strike the right balance between the two. You can certainly taste this enthusiasm for the art and science, for flavor and enjoyment, for history and progress, and rejection of conformity in every beer they offer.

I am always interested in what, besides wanting to make great beer (a somewhat common theme in the craft brewing industry) makes a brewery tick. Makes them unique. Gives them their soul. For Baere, that soul is community. While “community” may sound amorphous and like a marketing buzzword, Baere’s focus on community is not just lip-service as they support a variety of local artists and causes. Each month the brewery donates 1% of their total sales to a different community charity with an additional 25% going to that cause on a special charity night during the month. The charities they support are all small, local outfits that have direct effects on the community, rather than larger organizations where the impact may be more abstract. Kevin’s favorite part of the charity program is that it introduces them to causes that they might otherwise have been unaware of and encourages active support of those causes by the community at large. Baere also hosts art fairs throughout the year to support local artisans and hosted several parties for The Brewtography Project, a local photographer documenting Colorado craft breweries and beer festivals.

The quilt behind the bar was created by Ryan’s mother. (Photo by Dev Adams)

Baere is the kind of place other breweries wish they could be: effortlessly cool and laid back with a respectable list of superb beers fit for almost any palate. While opening a brewery in Denver has moved from a risky proposition due to questions of demand to a sure thing back to a risky proposition due to questions of saturation, Baere has managed to carve out a niche without being gimmicky. If you do have a chance to visit Baere, you are likely to find the bar populated by other professional brewers from near-and-far, beer geeks, and loyal locals enjoying themselves. Baere really is a return to the idea of the brewery being a gathering place, so stop by, grab a tulip glass, and join the community.

Cheers. (Photo by Dev Adams)

Brewing with ABILITY at Brewability Lab

December 2, 2016 by Blayre Stevens

Brewability Lab

What will you find when you walk through the doors of Brewability Lab? Lots of welcoming, smiling faces! I stumbled upon this newly-opened gem tucked away in an industrial lot that used to be CAUTION: Brewing’s Denver location. Located just 12 minutes west of Denver International Airport, Brewability Lab offers the perfect pit stop before heading out of town.

Assistant brewer Devon Agan and owner Tiffany Fixter

I was able to sit down with owner Tiffany Fixter just days after the brewery’s grand opening in late October and we talked not just about her beer, but about her passion and her cause. While volunteering at a day program for adults with developmental disabilities, Fixter saw an opportunity to provide them with a different sort of art and craft. She recognized their potential and desire to accomplish more, and so her journey began to create Brewability Lab.

Brewability Lab is Colorado’s first and only brewery to provide employment for adults with developmental disabilities. Fixter provides her staff with all the training, support and assistance to bring out the best of their abilities. She developed an ordering system that coordinates a color with the type of beer, asking patrons to “please order by color.” She’s worked with the payment service company Square to change the interface of their app to provide her employees with pictures associated with what the guests order. The brewery’s “Ability Wall” displays photos of her employees and visitors, capturing their happiness and achievements while at Brewability Lab.

Part of Brewability Lab’s mission is teaching developmentally disabled adults how to brew, providing them with a rewarding job that shows the world their talents. Fixter described it as a social enterprise, one that helps those who otherwise would not get an opportunity to have normal or fair employment. This was beautifully embodied when I met Devon Agan, Brewability’s assistant brewer. Agan dazzled me with his witty personality while showing me around his work area, the kettle room, where he developed and brewed the Amber beer; which is now known as “Devon’s Girlfriend.”

Beers are served in beakers and can be ordered by size, from tasters to full pints. Fixter hopes to build on her brewery’s chemistry theme by offering test tube shots of floral, fruit and other flavors that visitors can pour into their beer. Given the schedule that Fixter’s primary teaching career allows, the brewery has limited business hours from 4 PM to 8 PM Tuesday through Thursday, 4 PM to 9 PM on Fridays, 2 PM to 9 PM on Saturdays, and 2 PM to 6 PM on Sundays. But don’t let that small window of opportunity to visit prevent you from stopping in.

Whether you’re meeting friends, family, co-workers for an event or celebration, Brewability Lab provides an intimate and friendly environment to get together. Fixter plans on coordinating more events such as trivia, bingo and various community and charity events. Equipped with chalk board tabletops, lockers full of games and a projector screen to watch your favorite sports team, Brewability Lab has plenty to entertain you while you you enjoy a brew that was crafted with an abundance of heart.

Cellar West Artisan Ales Bringing Out the Wild Nature of Beer

November 24, 2016 by Joseph Williamson

cellar-west

Zach Nichols got his start in brewing in his home state of Wisconsin, but he entered the Colorado brewing scene with Sanitas Brewing in Boulder, CO. During his time with Sanitas he became involved with their in-house barrel aging program experimenting with the process of barrel aging and the effects wood has on the fermentation of beer. This experimentation led him to sell his shares in Sanitas, venture on his own and found Cellar West Artisan Ales in Boulder, CO.

Inside Cellar West

Cellar West is a small family-owned brewery with a simple goal: to focus on the basic elements of beer. They’re using a private yeast blend, a combination of various unfiltered beers from around the world as well as wild yeast strains collected from around Colorado by head brewer Zach Nichols. This will allow Cellar West to focus on the wild effects the yeast and barrel aging can have on the brewing process.

Cellar West brewing

Wild yeast, as well as any yeast living in the porous walls of the wooden barrels, can have an unpredictable effect on the beers, something that Nichols is hoping for. Due to its unpredictable nature, every batch of beer produced at Cellar West will have a slightly different taste, even between the same styles. This provides ample reason to visit the brewery repeatedly and see how the flavors have changed over time.

Cellar West Barrels

Due to space constraints and to help produce a more consistent beer, the brewing will take place off-site at Wild Woods Brewing in Boulder and the brewed wort will then be transported back to Cellar West to age in wooden barrels until it is ready to be bottled. Each beer will be manually bottled by the brewery and bottle-aged to carbonate and finish developing its flavor.

Planning to open in the next few weeks, Cellar West will feature a small bottle-room tucked in the north-side of Boulder – just before US-36 opens up to the foothills and Rocky Mountain National Park. The small space will have indoor seating with an up-close view of barrel aging room, giving guests a chance to see the process first-hand. Initially, they will only be selling bottles of their beer on Saturdays, either to take with you or to enjoy in their bottle-room, but there are hopes to expand to kegged beer in the future. They also hope to expand which days they’ll be open throughout the week.

Cellar West parking sign

I had the opportunity to try a few of beers that Nichols plans to have ready for the grand opening. Westfield is a barrel-aged interpretation of a Saison aged in white-wine barrels. New Life is a Blonde/Pale ale, not barrel aged, but one of the first batches used to test their in-house yeast culture. It has a subtle spiciness and hoppy burst of flavor that makes it very easy to enjoy. There was also a porter aged in red wine barrels with blackberries in the works that will be a very welcome addition to the cold winter months in Colorado.

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Although it is an important part of the process, the wood-aged flavor is never the most prominent flavor – instead you taste a clean, well rounded beer with no sharp notes that prevent it from being easily enjoyable. The in-house yeast blend brings a variety of spice and fruit flavors that work well with the subtle wine-flavors absorbed from the barrels. Cellar West is a welcome addition to the evolving beer culture in Colorado. Its refreshing focus on simple techniques and innovative materials provides simple, elegant and very satisfying beer.

Green Mountain Beer Company: A Not-So-Soft Opening Night

November 24, 2016 by Ryan Millar

Filled with laughter, live music, and a chorus of cheers and felicitation, the taproom of Green Mountain Beer Company was a stark contrast to the remnants of Colorado’s first snowstorm of the year. With friends and family filling the taproom, their first official evening of dispensing delicious suds was anything but “soft” and they couldn’t be happier about that.

Located in Lakewood, a mere six and a half miles from Red Rocks Amphitheater, Green Mountain Beer Company can be found in the shopping center located on the corner of South Kipling and West Morrison Road. Owner and Brewer, Brian Milhaupt, expects to have six beers on tap for the brewery’s official Grand Opening Weekend starting on Friday, November 25th. He also plans to have a constant rotation of six to ten beers on tap at any given time with no specific style in mind, but his preferences range from Belgians to sessionable ales with anything hoppy in between. What you can expect, though, is “quality product and quality service” says Brian who has over 16 years of professional brewing experience at one of the industry’s giants.

Brian also stressed the importance of their family friendly environment. “Having children of our own” he said, “my wife and I want to make sure the brewery is a place for the whole family”. They plan on having a number of outdoor games and ample, dog-friendly-patio space, food trucks, local bands, and more. They also want to promote and be good neighbors to local businesses, like nearby Moe’s BBQ and Thirsty Bear Bar and Grill, as well as be involved in the local community. Brian also hopes to involve local homebrewers in the future by hosting homebrewing competitions, where the winner will brew with him on his 15-barrel system. A system, Brian is proud to say, “is all American-made in Rock Port, Illinois”.

With views of the mountains through their large, floor-to-ceiling windows and garage doors, Green Mountain Beer Company will be a wonderful place to relax and enjoy a cold pint year round. In addition to their scenic views, the taproom’s spacious, modern-interior is furnished with tables, benches, and a bar top made from the lanes of a former bowling alley, Golden Bowl, which will provide enough seating for a hundred patrons inside with additional seating on the patio. They will be open seven days a week, 2pm – 10pm (possibly later on Friday and Saturday nights), so whether you’re on your way to a show at Red Rocks, throwing a round at Fehringer Ranch Disc Golf Course, or just passing by, Green Mountain Beer Company should be your next stop.

Mission Explore Launch Pad

November 24, 2016 by Donna Fournier

When I sat down with David Levesque from Launch Pad Brewery, he said the two things that he wanted people to know about the brewery were that it is veteran-owned and that they want patrons to feel like family. You cannot walk into this brewery without getting a feeling for both of these virtues, and the beer-drinking community in the metro area is certainly taking notice.

Source: Facebook

David opened Launch Pad, located at 884 South Buckley Road in Aurora, along with his veteran friend, Henry Rusch, after a successful run at home brewing. Before craft beer, David enjoyed PBR while stationed in the Air Force in South Dakota. Once transferred to Colorado, he experienced beers from Dry Dock and was hooked into the craft beer culture and wanted to try his hand at making his own brews. He made a pumpkin beer for his friends as part of a fall festival he hosted at his house with his wife, Erin. The beer was a huge success, and his friends encouraged him to open his own brewery – words all home brewers want to hear from their friends! David took the leap and opened Launch Pad in 2015, taking on the job of brewer, while Henry took care of many of the business aspects for the brewery.

launch-pad-henry David Levesque & Henry Rusch

Once you walk in the door at Launch Pad – past the beautiful new, freshly-poured patio, you get a sense that this brewery is heavily committed to honoring military vets. The Gadsden flag – the first American flag – hangs front and center, and there is an entire wall dedicated to displaying patches donated by members of the military. I have sat at the bar many times, looking at those patches and thinking about the women and men who brought them here and how proud they must be to have them on display. On a recent trip to Launch Pad, Brian Levesque, David’s brother and beertender extraordinaire, stated that they had given away more than $400 in beer on Veteran’s Day this year when they offered their Patriot Pale Ale to veterans for free.

launch-pad-2

Playing on the brewery’s name, the beer names at Launch Pad pay homage to air and space, and you can often sit and watch clips of rocket and missile launches on the screen above the bar while you enjoy your air-and-space-themed brew. Their lineup includes the Interstellar IPA, Trinity Belgian Tripel, Peacekeeper Porter, and my favorite – the Soyuz Stout, which is full of rich, chocolate and roasty notes and is perfect for an autumn evening. Cape Canaveral Key Lime Saison, made with key lime juice and fresh vanilla beans, has become one of Launch Pad’s most sought-after beers, the recipe and creation courtesy of Launch Pad’s head brewer, Paul Mahony. Paul came to Launch Pad from Copper Kettle, another prominent brewery in Aurora, where he spent much of his time behind the bar. Erin, David’s wife, spoke with Paul one evening and learned of his desire to focus on the brewing side of the business, and the rest is history. His creativity has become a welcome addition to the Launch Pad lineup, and his Wednesday firkins – brews such as Maple Bacon Brown and Sour Cherry – have become favorites of Launch Pad regulars. The weekly offerings always tap out quickly, making room for the next week’s work of genius.

launch-pad-3 launch-pad-paul

Launch Pad participated in this year’s A Night to Remember, an annual event held in July that benefits the ACT Foundation which was founded in memory of Alex Teves, a man who was killed in the Aurora theater shooting and who was an avid craft beer drinker. The ACT Foundation helps students with differing behavioral and emotional needs by providing educational opportunities. The brewery also participated, along with other breweries in Aurora, in releasing their edition of the Aurora Strong Ale which was served at A Night to Remember in honor of those killed in the Aurora theater shooting in July 2012. Launch Pad has been at many beer festivals around the state showing support for the community and routinely has events at the brewery to bring people together. They even give their spent grains to farmers in the rural areas of Aurora. They are proud to be in the city they call home, and strive to make Aurora a better place.

launch-pad-david-act

Launch Pad’s website states that “they believe that good beer should be shared amongst good friends” and you will get both at Launch Pad – good beer and good friends. From a Bon Jovi “Livin’ on a Prayer” sing along with people who, moments before were random strangers, to Brian regaling us with sayings his grandmother used, there’s never been a time I have visited Launch Pad and not felt the good friends vibe. The craft aesthetic is in everything about Launch Pad – the community involvement, the friendly atmosphere, and the exceptional beer. Visiting Launch Pad is always good beer with good friends.

launch-pad-4

Meet Patrick Malone – The Godfather of Colorado Beer Geeks

October 26, 2016 by Stephen Adams

Last week I introduced you to my fellow Colorado Beer Geeks who have visited every brewery in Colorado, Kevin (“The Other Guy”) Harris and The Colorado Beer Barons. Today I am happy to tell you about The Godfather of all Colorado Beer Geeks, Patrick Malone. I refer to him as The Godfather since he gained the status of visiting every Colorado brewery when there were only THREE (starting with Wynkoop and working his way back to Carver, and then Boulder Beer) and he has kept up ever since! I had the great pleasure in meeting Patrick and his lovely wife, Ruth, at the closing of Caution: East when it made way for Brewability Lab. Since then, I’ve enjoyed every time that we have met and we have struck up a good friendship. I’m looking forward to enjoying many more beers with Patrick & Ruth.

CBG: Who is Patrick Malone?

I’m from Arvada. Joined the Air Force and was stationed in West Germany, right on the border with Luxemburg and Belgium, so I was exposed to a whole different beer universe from what I had known. Met my wife Ruth in Germany and we relocated back to Arvada. We had a definite let down with the available beer (this was 1985).

CBG: What was the first Colorado brewery that you remember visiting?

The first Colorado brewery we visited was the Wynkoop, went the first couple days that it was open. Literally, we went a couple days in a row.

CBG: How do you keep up with the status of having visited every Colorado brewery?

I cover the state of Colorado for business, so I’ve had the advantage of incorporating my travels with brewery visits. Over the years I’ve pretty much hit new locations as they open. The number of breweries was fairly static up until the last 4-5 years so it was fairly easy to stay up to date.

CBG: Besides beer, what else do you seek at all the Colorado breweries?

Other than the beer (of course) I think the thing we most enjoy experiencing are all the different visions and dreams of the brewery owners. There are some very clever/artistic folks out there and the taprooms reflect this. Ruth always remarks that this is the perfect example of Americana. Families trying to create something out of nothing. Making it happen. Also, along the way I’ve picked up a nasty brewery sticker habit.

CBG: What are some of your favorite memories of your quest?

Our most memorable beer tours have always been our swings through the Four Corners region. Another hobby of ours is visiting Anasazi ruins so we try to incorporate both while on beer tour. We also have friends that live in that part of the state so we always use these opportunities to catch up, camp out and drink beer. Beer festivals are also another great excuse to get out there and see the state.

CBG: What are your top breweries in the state of Colorado in terms of your beer taste?

Our tastes tend to run to the Belgium styles, so our favorite breweries reflect that. Some of our favorites are FunkWerks, 12 Degree, Jessup Farm Barrel House, River North, Beryl’s, and Trinity. And Elevation!!!

CBG: What are you favorite tap rooms in terms of aesthetics and atmosphere?

Some favorite tap rooms are, in no particular order, High Hops in Windsor. Drinking beer in a green house in the dead of Winter, surrounded by large flowering plants, is always welcome. Then in warmer weather, they have an awesome outside area with lawn and stage. Great views of the mountains and their own hop farm. It really doesn’t get any better.

Jessup Farm Barrel House, drinking in a 130 year old barn. Nuff said.

Strange Craft, after walking directly through the brew house you arrive at a huge back yard/ beer garden. Fire pit, horse shoes, corn hole, live music.

Palisade Brewing, sitting on their porch in late Summer, surrounded by the Book Cliffs on side and orchard’s on the other. Wow. A new brewery we were impressed with is New Terrain, the view from their porch is awesome.

CBG: What is your go-to breweries on a day-to-day basis?

Our local favorite “go to” breweries are Diebolt and De Steeg (both in north Denver), River North, Beryl’s, and Spangalang. We normally try to stay in the Northwest part of town when on beer tour and feel very lucky to have these as our locals.

In closing I would say that even though I’m from Colorado, our beer tours around the state have let us visit places that we might not have gone to otherwise, and it has been a beautiful trip. From the scenery, to the folks met along the way,

To the awesome beer. Sure, we have kissed a few frogs along the way, especially when hitting them on opening day (that’s a whole different story) , but it has all been totally worth the effort.

You will meet the nicest people (and their dogs) at your local and it only gets better when you travel.

Meet The Colorado Beer Barons

October 19, 2016 by Stephen Adams

Meet The Colorado Beer Barons! Not only have these three guys visited every Colorado brewery but they did it together in under two years! I had the great pleasure of meeting them just before they finished their quest and asked them a few questions.

plane2 Photo Credit: Thomas King

CBG: Who are the guys that make up the Colorado Beer Barons?

Dan Hess is a native of Inverness Florida. He fell in love with Colorado and Colorado beer as soon as the USAF stationed him here. We call Dan the Muscle as he keeps George and Gary on their tasks.

Gary is a native Coloradan from Brighton. He has always been a beer festival fan and has always wanted to tour the entire State of Colorado to drink beer. We secretly believe he set this whole thing up. Aka Face. He’s the social media guy of the group.

George is a native Philadelphian. He originally came to Colorado when he was stationed here in 2002. After a short stint outside of Colorado he came back to stay for good. Aka the nerd. I do the website and database management along with researching the upcoming breweries.

CBG: Who are the Colorado Beer Barons?

We set out on 16 Jan 2015 to drink a beer at every Colorado brewery that had a taproom. The mission was thought up after Dan and I (George) thought we had a beer at every Colorado Springs brewery. The bartender quickly let us know that Storybook Brewery opened and we were in fact not done. Right at that moment Dan and I decided to complete the entire state. So Dan fired off a text to Gary who was immediately in for the tour; we bought a beer map and started our quest at Bristol Brewery.

Together we call ourselves the Colorado Beer Barons. Our website is http://coloradobeerbarons.com. We run the site with the idea that anyone can steal our list and use it to do exactly what we did, tour Colorado. The website was actually born as a side effect of needing a way to track all the breweries opening in Colorado and all the breweries we visited. We originally started out as we believe many people did, with a Spreadsheet and paper and pencil. When we finish on Wednesday the 19th of October, we will have visited 298 breweries over 642 day for an average of 0.4642 breweries per day. To celebrate our accomplishment, Dan’s uncle is baking us a custom Baron cake. [CBG Note: Their number of 298 also includes Coors & Budweiser which are not included in my personal current count of 296.]

CBG: What are some of your favorite memories of your quest?

It starts with three friends making time to visit all of these far-flung locations in Colorado to drink a beer together. There are so many other memories, but that’s what will stick with us long into old age. As for actual places and things that happened, camping in Ridgeway outside of Ouray is hard to beat. So is driving the Million Dollar Highway and Red Mnt Pass. But we all think getting to take a private plane, a Beechcraft Baron, to Durango, Grand Junction and Telluride is the thing that sets our tour apart. As a matter of fact, we should call out Bill Adams, our pilot, as the one that made the possible. He gave up three weekends to drive and fly a couple of beer tourists around this great state of Colorado.

On one trip, my Girlfriend’s car blew the number three spark plug. Instead of turning around, we limped off of I-25 and drove at 14 MPH until we got to an Autozone to change all the plugs and then we pressed on.

Another great memory was our trip to Florence Brewery. The owner, Hans, was there that night as we expect he is every night, and we ended up drinking with him all night. We traded a ton of beer stories until Hans challenged us to sleep upstairs in the abandoned hotel that the brewery was built into. We accepted immediately. Hans grabbed a bunch of camping gear and we headed upstairs to stay the night. Again it was fantastic! Although, I did drive me topless Jeep Wrangler down there and the morning drive home was brisk to say the least. Hans is a great brewer, a bartender and a beer fan. Florence is a brewery that you must visit if you haven’t visited them yet!

We did the Four Corners trip. We all grabbed a craft beer and took the requisite picture of us standing outside of Colorado and toasting the state of Colorado with our beers.

Over the tour we’ve ran into several breweries that were closed when we showed up. With one exception, all of them opened their doors to us and had a couple of beers with us. The beer community in Colorado is just leaps and bounds above everywhere else in this country, in our humble opinions.

On another night, Gary convinced us to drive to Parker for a single brewery. He knew a storm was coming in and that I-25 would be closing. That night he ended up getting a hotel in Denver and we walked the RiNO area all night drinking at all of those fantastic breweries. Gary also lost his phone during the walk in about 2 inches of snow. George went on a mission to find it and had to give a homeless person a hug and $20 to get the phone back.

CBG: What are your preferred styles of beer?

We all like pales, stouts and porters. I know what a stretch right? But over the tour we got to see the sours come into style along with the New England IPA, with some smoked beers and just flat out weird beers too. It was a fantastic trip.

CBG: What are your favorite tap rooms in terms of aesthetics and atmosphere?

In our opinion atmosphere always starts behind the bar. 2 Rascals in Montrose was a place that stood out even though it’s just in a brick building. The bartender was so welcoming and knowledgeable that we have a hard time forgetting that trip. Another was Industrial Revolution in Erie and Florence in, well, Florence.

CBG: What are some of your favorite destination breweries?

Dolores River Brewing for sure. They are outside of Cortez and their beer is fantastic. If you ever have an opportunity to get out there, you need to go! We’ve already mentioned 2 Rascals in Montrose. Recently, we just made the trip to Steamboat and found Butcherknife brewing, they are fantastic and again, the atmosphere starts behind the bar and those guys are fun to drink with.

CBG: What is your go-to brewery on a day-to-day basis? We all love Bristol Brewing, but you can also find us at Iron Bird when we stray.

The Colorado Beer Barons Logo

Meet Kevin Harris – “The Other Guy”

October 18, 2016 by Stephen Adams

Editor’s note: This is a reprint of the Facebook post that I did when my friend Kevin Harris completed the quest of visiting every Colorado Brewery earlier this year. Since then, I’ve fondly started calling him “The Other Guy”. 🙂

Heartfelt Congratulations to Kevin Harris! Kevin has joined me in accomplishing the feat of visiting every brewery in Colorado! That is (by my count) 301 breweries (287 unique plus 14 additional locations not counting 8 additional national chain). [Editor’s Note: This was in July 2016] He finished his quest with a tour of the Steamboat Springs breweries followed by visiting the ones that opened in the Denver/Boulder area that opened that same weekend. Very fittingly, the end of his beer quest was at Rails End Beer Company

CBG: How did you first get into beer?
Kevin: I first really started enjoying beer when I transferred to CSU in Fort Collins. My roommates go-to beer then was Fat Tire and 90 Shilling so it was a good town to start with and I found flavorful beer much more enjoyable and delicious than liquor. This was in the late 90’s though so there were not too many breweries there at that time (Spent most of the time going to CooperSmith’s Pub & Brewing for the pool tables).

CBG: How did you first decide to embark on this journey to visit every brewery in Colorado?
I spent several years early on in my career traveling to Buellton, CA and Cocoa Beach FL. It was at those locations that I found Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Figueroa Mountain Brewing, and Cocoa Beach Brewing Company companies and really truly learned to appreciate the joy of visiting the tasting rooms of breweries and the vast variety of beers available. I started out small in Colorado checking out places in and around the South end of Denver spending much of my time at Lone Tree Brewing Company after work. Then a few breweries sprinkled here and there until I ended up with an odd goal of visiting every brewery in Colorado Springs. It’s a fairly short drive from where I live but didn’t take too long to complete as they are still building their portfolio. After that my appetite for visiting microbreweries expanded but I still knew that there were so many breweries to visit and I didn’t know where to start and didn’t really have an expectation of reaching the end as soon as I did. I ended up joining the Facebook group Colorado Let’s Talk Craft Beer and finding out about events and openings and discovered the Colorado Beer Geek. I was able to use the data collected by the Colorado Beer Geek and displayed on the website to see where I had been and had not been and it ended up giving me focus. Earlier this year I was challenged by a friend to complete this journey in 2016. I said no and didn’t think it would happen as I had well over a hundred left and many more breweries were slated to open this year alone but the suggestion stayed with me and tasks are easier to accomplish with goals.

CBG: What are some of the more memorable aspects of your quest?
I was born and raised in Colorado and spent my whole life living in and around the Front Range from Fort Collins down to Colorado Springs. My family didn’t ski and with the exception of camping trips I took growing up didn’t ever take the chance to visit much of the Western slope so it’s been very cool to get out and tour Colorado even though most of it is just driving but still it was a vast wilderness I had never had the chance to enjoy. I really felt part of something when I visit breweries where I am able to actually sit and chat with the people actually involved in them. I’ve met so many great people with much the same passion that I have and it has been a really cool direction that my life has gone in since 3 years ago when I really started visiting the Colorado breweries. The friends I’ve made will hopefully last a long time and it’s given me the opportunity to even brew a 100 gallon batch of Imperial stout at a brewery (Thank you Mu Brewery) as well as participate in some pretty awesome bottle shares, blind tastings and other shenanigans.

CBG: What are your top breweries in the state of Colorado in terms of your beer taste?
My tastes are not as particular as others I have met but here is my top list in Alphabetical Order. It’s a tough list to make as there are so many good places here to go and grab a beer. In general you are more likely to find good beer or at least one you at enjoy in a randomly selected brewery than you are of absolutely finding nothing redeeming about it. The folks in the industry are good-hearted people who care about and love what they do and are very passionate about it so if you find a brewery you don’t like then give them another shot in a year. Animas Brewing Company, Cerebral Brewing, Fossil Craft Beer Company, Great Storm Brewing, Jessup Farm Barrel House, Mockery Brewing, Periodic Brewing, Old Colorado Brewing Company, Spangalang Brewery, Smiling Toad Brewery, Storybook Brewing, Southern Sun Pub & Brewery, Ursula Brewery, Wild Woods Brewery, & Wiley Roots Brewing Company. I could keep adding to the list but I think I’ll stop there.

CBG: What are you favorite tap rooms in terms of aesthetics?
Pagosa Brewing Company in Pagosa springs is a fantastic location just a few hundred yards off the highway yet surrounded by forest. Ouray Brewery has great food, two floors, a patio with mountain views and seats at the bar that are actually swings built from old gondola parts. Bristol Brewing Company is in a 100+ year old school house, The Pumphouse Brewery and Station 26 Brewing Co. are in fire stations, Avalanche Brewing Co. and Revolution Brewing are both in old houses (though the Revolution house spent most of its pre-brewery days as a church). The old grain silo used by Old Colorado Brewing Company is quite the sight and Halfpenny Brewing Company has a nice old English pub feel that I really enjoy.

CBG: What are some of your favorite destination breweries? Perhaps ones that people might not have heard of?
JAKs Brewing Company is small location that seems to act as a community gathering spot; I seemed to be the only stranger when I went. Dolores River Brewery is about as far from home as I could find but not far at all from any trip to Durango. Any time I’m out in Eastern Colorado Springs I always go to Rocky Mountain Brewery.

CBG: What is your advice to others who may embark on a similar quest?
Enjoy it and don’t get discouraged as breweries open in faraway locations you visited along the way. Especially on long trips make sure you know when the breweries are open as some Western slope breweries especially have limited hours and can really cut down on the available hours you have to visit breweries before each day is done. With a DD and a game plan in the Front range you can easily visit 7 or more breweries operating at a somewhat aggressive pace but that’s not the case when a lot of your breweries are hours apart and could require a lot of waiting in construction zones.

CBG: What is your go-to brewery on a day-to-day basis?
As my trek to see all the breweries has taken me farther and farther away from home I’ve really not come up with what it will be. I expect something on the south end of town like Living The Dream Brewing Co., Grist Brewing Company, Lone Tree Brewing Company, 105 West Brewing Company, Halfpenny Brewing Company or Resolute Brewing Company.

So, who will be the next Colorado Beer Geek to take on this quest?

The Colorado Beer Geek goes to GABF 2016

October 11, 2016 by Stephen Adams

I had a fabulous time at the Great American Beer Festival this year! It was my first as a member of the media and I had a tough time separating the advice of visiting breweries that I haven’t been to before and visiting the 152 Colorado breweries as the Colorado Beer Geek (since I’ve been to all of them already). I think I struck a nice balance and focused my Colorado visits on some of the newest and a couple that haven’t opened their own taproom yet.

Having just opened in April, the newest Colorado brewery at GABF this year was Seedstock Brewery. I was there at their opening but I really need to make it back there soon! I was quite impressed by their Dusseldorf Alt, Premium Czech Lager, and Bohemian Dunkel. All styles that I very much enjoy and I was very happy with them.

The second newest Colorado brewery that was there was New Image Brewing. I was thrilled to see them there as they are currently my favorite brewery of the Class of 2016. As such, I timed my (post event) Untappd 5,000^th unique beer check in to be their G-Line which is dry-hopped Belgian pale ale.

Another new brewery that I want to give mention is Holidaily Brewing. They opened in February this year in Golden as a completely Gluten-Free brewery. For those skeptics out there on GF beer, give these guys a try! They make some really great beer that you really can’t tell is GF. That is because instead of the sorghum that other GF breweries use they use millet and buckwheat to make some wonderful beers.

There were even a couple Colorado breweries that opened in the past year that walked away with GABF medals! (See all CO GABF Medal Winners)

Opening last November, El Rancho Brewing walked away with a Gold medal in the Historical Beer category with Valhalla, a Sahti style beer made with Finnish malt, Norwegian yeast, and juniper berries. I am really upset at myself for missing this as I love this category being a history geek who is particularly attracted to Viking history. I’ll need to head up into the hills soon and hope they have it on tap!

Also opening last November, Cerebral Brewing won a Silver medal in the Brett Beer category with Dreamy Thing, a collaboration with their friends at Our Mutual Friend Brewing. It is a Farmhouse Pale Ale brewed with Citra, Centennial, and Sterling hops then fermented with a blend of 12 Brettanomyces strains in stainless for 3 months. I also didn’t get a chance to try this so I’ll plan to drop by Cerebral soon.

In addition to these new breweries, there were two Colorado breweries that are currently in production only but have definite plans to build out a tap room.

14er Brewing certainly impressed the GABF judges by taking the Gold medal in the Chili Beer category with their Rocky Mountain (Jalapeño) Saison. At my first visit to their booth (before the awards) I avoided trying it as chili beers tend to wreck the palate. However, after taking Gold over 111 other entries I had to give it a shot. Wow! What a great beer! Nicely spiced with jalapeño without being overly hot. Even without this win, I was excited to meet the guys behind 14er as they are busily working on securing a location for a tap room. While they asked me to keep the exact location under my hat I will say it is an exciting place to be if/when they get it. Hopefully I will hear good news soon and will share it with you.

The other currently production only brewery there that I was happy to see was Good River Beer. I absolutely love their Gunny Black Lager, an amazing Schwartzbier. You can find Good River Beer at tap rooms all over Denver such as Tap XIV. I was really happy to briefly meet the team and look forward to hearing news about their new tap room very soon.

I visited a number of other good Colorado breweries and really enjoyed trying some new beers that I haven’t tried before. It only makes me want to visit again. Shout outs to Castle Rock Beer, CO-Brew, Factotum Brewhouse, Fiction Beer, Periodic Brewing, Elevation Beer, Weldwerks Brewing, & Wit’s End Brewing (where my journey began). I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to visit more.

As a side note, as far as out of state breweries go my favorites were Funky Buddha Brewery from Florida & Taxman Brewing Company from Indiana. Every single one of their beers were amazingly yummy!!!

Overall, Colorado breweries did an outstanding job in representing our great state. It is good to be The Colorado Beer Geek!

Skål,

Stephen

38 GABF Medals go to Colorado Breweries in 2016!

October 8, 2016 by Stephen Adams

The Colorado Beer Geek attended the Great American Beer Festival® 2016 awards ceremony.

38 medals went to 33 Colorado breweries with 5 breweries getting two medals. Those are Cannonball Creek Brewing (2 Gold), Echo Brewing (2 Gold), Bootstrap Brewing (Gold & Bronze), Steamworks Brewing (2 Silver), and Coors (Silver & Bronze)

There were 13 Colorado Gold Medal Winners!

14er Brewing Co.	Rocky Mtn Saison	Chili Beer
4 Noses Brewing Co.	Pump Action Imperial Pumpkin Ale	Pumpkin Spice Beer
Bootstrap Brewing Co.	Stick’s Pale Ale	American-Style Pale Ale
Cannonball Creek Brewing Co.	Solid Gold	Belgian-Style Blonde Ale or Pale Ale
Cannonball Creek Brewing Co.	Trump Hands	Session India Pale Ale
Copper Kettle Brewing Co.	Blond	Other Belgian-Style Ale
Denver Beer Co. – Canworks	Drama Queen	Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer
Echo Brewing Cask and Barrel	Tri-Town Brown	English-Style Brown Ale
Echo Brewing Co.	Kirby	Golden or Blonde Ale
El Rancho Brewing	Valhalla	Historical Beer
Grimm Brothers Brewhouse	Little Red Cap	German-Style Altbier
Rockyard American Grill & Brewing Co.	Warning Sign	German-Style Doppelbock or Eisbock
The Post Brewing Co.	Achtertuin Seizoen Farmhouse Ale	Classic Saison

There were 16 Colorado Silver Medal Winners!

Black Bottle Brewery	PDA	Belgian-Style Tripel
Blue Moon Brewing Co.	Mango Wheat	Fruit Wheat Beer
Broken Compass Brewing	Ginger American Ale	Herb and Spice Beer
Carver Brewing Co.	Lightner Creek Lager	American-Style Light Lager or German-Style Light Lager
Cerebral Brewing	Dreamy Thing	Brett Beer
Colorado Boy Pub & Brewery	Ridgway Blonde	English-Style Summer Ale
Coors Brewing Co.	Coors Banquet	American-Style Lager or Ice Lager or Malt Liquor
Dry Dock Brewing Co. – South Dock	Helles	Munich-Style Helles
Fiction Beer Co.	Alternate Present	German-Style Schwarzbier
Front Range Brewing Co.	Piney Ridge Dunkel	European-Style Dark Lager/Munich-Style Dunkel
Glenwood Canyon Brewing Co.	St. James Irish Red Ale	Irish-Style Red Ale
Left Hand Brewing Co.	Fade to Black, Volume 1	Export Stout
Prost Brewing	Weißbier	South German-Style Hefeweizen
Steamworks Brewing Co.	Slam Dunkel	German-Style Wheat Ale
Steamworks Brewing Co.	Backside Stout	Oatmeal Stout
Upslope Brewing Co. – Flatiron Park	Upslope Brown Ale	American-Style Brown Ale

There were 9 Colorado Bronze Medal Winners!

12Degree Brewing	Treachery	Belgian-Style Strong Specialty Ale
Baere Brewing Co.	Saison	Classic Saison
BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery – Boulder	Wild & Crazy Rye	Historical Beer
Bootstrap Brewing Co.	Wreak Havoc	Imperial Red Ale
CooperSmith’s Pub & Brewing	Not Brown	English-Style Brown Ale
Coors Brewing Co.	Coors Light	American-Style Light Lager or German-Style Light Lager
SKA Brewing	Mexican Logger	American-Style or International-Style Pilsener
Telluride Brewing Co.	Face Down Brown	American-Style Brown Ale
Verboten Brewing	Little Nonsense	Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout

Congratulations to all of the winners from the Colorado Beer Geek and the Colorado Brewery List team!

Here’s a link to a full list of all GABF Medal winners.

Paired at GABF 2016

October 8, 2016 by Ashley Fowler

The Paired event allowed attendees to experience a combination of unique foods matched with carefully chosen beers. Professional chefs from across the country teamed up with craft breweries to create unique bite-sized pairings. At least two different combinations were offered at each of 22 tables, for a total of almost 50 options. This made for an entertaining culinary adventure.

This event was hosted in an area just off the main hall, which allowed Paired ticket holders freedom to roam between the main festival and this special event; however we noticed many people spent the majority of their session in the Paired hall. There was good reason for that – the number of interesting options were enough to occupy us for the entire session. Our team made it through every table, but not necessarily every pairing; one’s stomach can fit only so many small bites (with beer taking up the prime real estate) in the matter of four hours.

The ingredients, presentation, and quality were all upscale. Some pairing examples include:

Duck liver mousse, pickled peach macaroon paired with Ecliptic Carina peach sour ale
Lava lake lamb empanada, Anson Mills antebellum corn flour, coffee, guajillo, chipotle paired with Dry Dock Barrel Aged Double Coffee Porter
Or our favorite: butterscotch pudding, milk chocolate ganache, caramel & whipped cream paired with Tenaya Creek Old Jackalope Barleywine

Many of the ingredients were uncommon, and we weren’t the only people who had to consult Google and fellow attendees to determine what we were eating. However, that mystery was part of the fun.

The Paired event far exceeded our expectations. The food menu was intimidating at first, but we jumped into it without hesitation and sampled almost every pairing available. The sheer quality of the food and blending of the flavors with the matched beer was far beyond what can be explained in words. To top it all off, the evening was complete with a sighting of Charlie Papazian sampling the offerings himself.

Thursday Session GABF 2016

October 7, 2016 by Ashley Fowler

The Great American Beer Festival is the ultimate convention for brewers, industry professionals, and craft beer fans. Our team was there to witness the beginning of the 35th annual event; the first of four sessions. Below is a glimpse of my experience, and what one attendee may experience.

One of the first things you notice when you arrive at the Denver Convention Center is the vast sea of brewery shirts. Being from Colorado, seeing local brewery shirts are commonplace and Coloradans are proud to support their favorite brewery. It is humbling to be reminded that this is The Great AMERICAN Beer Festival, not only a Colorado festival. For an event that many outsiders might think is just about drinking beer, it is always interesting to see how diverse GABF attendees are. From street clothes, to elaborate costumes, to business suits, the variety of people who are actively involved in the exploding beer culture and industry is astounding. It is also obvious that this event is so successful because of the sheer amount of caring staff and volunteers united for a common goal.

My team’s first stop was the Dogfish Head booth because well, obvious reasons. I am happy to say I was the first to try Alternate Take #2, a Belgian-style brown ale fermented with Shiraz grape must with brettanomyces in Shiraz wine barrels. What a beer! And to make the experience even better, none other than founder Sam Calagione was pouring. Let’s just say that a good half hour was spent there as I tried most of what was on the menu.

The rest of the Thursday session was spent as one would expect. Great beer after great beer. To break up the routine, my good friend and business partner Joseph and I decided to check out the Silent Disco in the new GABF Backyard area. I had never participated before, but from what I remember of previous years, you put on headphones and danced to your own song by yourself. This year the Silent Disco was vastly improved. There was a dance floor full of people, each with their own set of headphones listening to the same song spun by an actual DJ. Hilarity ensued.

I ended the evening with El Toro Brewing’s award winning Cocoa Chocolate Stout, which I thought fitting since it was my favorite beer at the first GABF I ever attended in 2012.

No matter where you look, there is a palpable enthusiasm emanating from the thousands of people around you. Everyone there shares a love of craft beer and you feel like you belong in the community: the same community we at Colorado Brewery List are happy to support.

Colorado Brewery List Joins with Colorado Beer Geek to Offer Extensive Resource on Colorado Craft Breweries

October 2, 2016 by Ryan Steadman

DENVER, Oct. 3, 2016 — As the 2016 Great American Beer Festival approaches, Colorado Brewery List and Colorado Beer Geek announce their partnership to provide local craft beer drinkers with a first-rate resource for information on breweries and beers. ColoradoBreweryList.com is a comprehensive directory on craft breweries in the Denver Metro area and across Colorado – a state which boasts one of the fastest growing craft brewery markets in the U.S. with over 150 new breweries having opened in the past five years, according to the Brewers Association.

“One of our primary goals at ColoradoBreweryList.com is to help local beer-lovers discover new craft breweries,” said CEO and lead site developer Ryan Steadman. “Stephen Adams [Colorado Beer Geek] is known on social media for having some of the most up-to-date and accurate information regarding upcoming breweries, so I’m excited to combine our content and help spread the word.”

The strategic partnership will combine the Colorado Brewery List and Colorado Beer Geek sites and data into a single resource. Stephen Adams will continue providing the most current news on upcoming in-state breweries, and will have dedicated web pages on ColoradoBreweryList.com that make it easier for users to learn about upcoming brewery locations and follow their progress. Beer enthusiasts will be able to see expanded details about a brewery in its development phase up to its opening, and continue following it as the business progresses.

Besides tracking upcoming Colorado breweries, Stephen Adams is also known for having visited every brewery in Colorado (294 by his count at the time of this release). “I’m thrilled to join forces with my good friends at Colorado Brewery List,” said Stephen. “This partnership will allow us to focus on what we both do best without a big duplication of effort. They will continue to provide a great resource with all of the brewery details while I can focus on Colorado breweries in development.”

According to analytics on ColoradoBreweryList.com, the site currently has over 6,200 unique monthly visitors with a healthy traffic surge around the time of the Great American Beer Festival. It boasts visitors from all over the country looking to get information on Colorado’s growing number of craft breweries. Their combined followers on Facebook are over 3,750 strong.

As craft beer drinkers from around the world pour into Denver on October 6-8, Steadman and Adams will provide them with the means to explore the state’s varied craft beer selection outside of the Colorado Convention Center.

Contacts:

Ryan Steadman
Ryan@ColoradoBreweryList.com
303-578-0545

Stephen Adams
CoBeerGeek@gmail.com

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Great American Beer Festival 2014

October 6, 2014 by Ryan Steadman

The Great American Beer Festival is the supreme craft beer festival in the country. The average attendee has access to over 3,500 beers from 700 breweries across the nation, and 49,000 people come to Denver, CO to experience at least one session of the 3 day festival.

Lately the festival is receiving some complaints of becoming too busy, being overrun with “frat boys” just trying to get drunk, and problems with ticketing because the tickets sell out in less than half an hour. Despite some complaints, GABF is still a tremendously well-run festival, especially considering the logistics of bringing so many people and craft beer options to a large convention center in the middle of the country.

The line wraps around the building an hour before the doors open, but you won’t have to wait for more than 20 minutes after people are allowed in. While very popular beers may draw a crowd or run out early, you can still sample many beers from different breweries without waiting in long lines. In fact, except for some prize winning beers that need to be sampled, I highly recommend that you make a point to visit breweries that you have never heard of, in a place of the country that you are unlikely to visit in the near future. One of the main points of GABF is to try beers from places you haven’t been to before, talk with the brewmasters that make them, and learn a little insight from their experience and how their region can influence the beers they make.

Coloradans are very spoiled by the local craft beer scene. We have over 200 breweries in our state, and 39 Colorado beers took home awards this year. Here is the list of 2014 Colorado GABF winners, sorted by medal:

Medal	Beer Name	Brewery Name	Beer Style (GABF Category)
Gold	Colorado Native Amber Lager	AC Golden	American-Style Amber Lager
Gold	Black IPA	Cannonball Creek Brewing Co.	American-Style Black Ale
Gold	The Weasel	CB & Potts Restaurant & Brewery – Highlands Ranch	Dortmunder or German-Style Oktoberfest
Gold	‘Rado’s Red Ale	Crow Hop Brewing Co.	Irish-Style Red Ale
Gold	Laimas Kolsch	FATE Brewing Co.	German-Style Kolsch
Gold	Raspberry Provincial	Funkwerks	Belgian-Style Fruit Beer
Gold	Golden Export	Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant	Munich-Style Helles
Gold	True Blonde Ale	Ska Brewing Co.	English-Style Summer Ale
Gold	Face Down Brown	Telluride Brewing Co.	American-Style Brown Ale
Gold	Jean-Claude Van Blond	Wit’s End Brewing Co.	Belgian-Style Blonde Ale or Pale Ale
Silver	Colorado Native Golden Lager	AC Golden	American-Style Amber Lager
Silver	The Kaiser	Avery Brewing Co.	German-Style Doppelbock or Eisbock
Silver	Glutart	Bonfire Brewing	Gluten-Free Beer
Silver	Loch	BRU Handbuilt Ales & Eats	Scotch Ale
Silver	Sleepyhead Passion Fruit	Coda Brewing Co.	American-Style Fruit Beer
Silver	Fresh Hop Superpower IPA	Comrade Brewing Co.	Fresh or Wet Hop Ale
Silver	Coors Light	Coors Brewing Co.	American-Style Lager or Light Lager
Silver	Braggarts Brown Ale	Diebolt Brewing Co.	American-Style Brown Ale
Silver	Shaft House Stout	Dostal Alley Brewpub & Casino	Classic Irish-Style Dry Stout
Silver	Black Jack Porter	Left Hand Brewing Co.	Brown Porter
Silver	Smokejumper Smoked Imperial Porter	Left Hand Brewing Co.	Smoke Beer
Silver	Milk Stout	Left Hand Brewing Co.	Sweet Stout or Cream Stout
Silver	Patio Pounding Pilz	LowDown Brewery + Kitchen	Bohemian-Style Pilsener
Silver	Death By Coconut	Oskar Blues Brewery	Chocolate Beer
Silver	Peachy Peach	Pagosa Brewing & Grill	Fruit Wheat Beer
Silver	Gumps	Platt Park Brewing Co.	Vienna-Style Lager
Silver	3 Pepper Ale	Rock Bottom Breweries	Field Beer
Silver	Howdy Beer	The Post Brewing Co.	American-Style or International-Style Pilsener
Bronze	Blue Moon Honey Grand Cru	Blue Moon Brewing Co.	Specialty Honey Beer
Bronze	Coors Banquet	Coors Brewing Co.	American-Style Lager or Light Lager
Bronze	Apricot	Dry Dock Brewing Co. – North Dock	American-Style Fruit Beer
Bronze	S.S. Minnow Mild Ale	Dry Dock Brewing Co. – South Dock	English-Style Mild Ale
Bronze	Black Project #1	Former Future Brewing Co.	Experimental Beer
Bronze	Liberation Gluten Free	Shine Brewing Co.	Gluten-Free Beer
Bronze	Colorado Cream Ale	Station 26 Brewing Co.	American-Style Cream Ale
Bronze	Backside Stout	Steamworks Brewing Co.	Oatmeal Stout
Bronze	Move Back	The Sandlot	Dortmunder or German-Style Oktoberfest
Bronze	Elektrick Cukumbahh	Trinity Brewing Co.	Field Beer
Bronze	Upslope Brown Ale	Upslope Brewing Co.	American-Style Brown Ale

If you haven’t been to GABF, you must go at least once in your lifetime. The 2015 GABF is scheduled for September 24-26, 2015 and they are reportedly adding 90,000 square feet (another hall) worth of space. Whether or not this will also open up more tickets is yet to be seen. However, until you are fortunate enough to get tickets, there are so many breweries and festivals in our state to visit. The festival season may be over, but there are always new beers to try and new breweries opening every month. We will continue in our mission to provide accurate information about all of Colorado’s breweries, to help you explore the immense diversity of beers our state has to offer.

Beer and Brewery Events For Memorial Weekend 2014

May 23, 2014 by Ryan Steadman

Memorial Day weekend is celebrated as a day of remembrance for all of the soldiers that have lost their lives protecting our great country. Many of us show our respects in various ways, but ultimately we also like to celebrate our freedom by taking a three day weekend. There are many events occurring this weekend, especially in the brewery world.

The weather should be nice for barbecuing and enjoying the outdoors. It is a great time to raise a glass in honor of all American heroes this weekend. Here are some noteworthy events happening this weekend. Even if you don’t attend one of these events, it is a great time to visit a local brewery or find someplace new.

Friday, May 23rd, 2014:
Coda Brewing Company (view brewery profile)

Friday the 23rd is their official opening day! Visit this new brewery in Aurora. They will have 10 beers on tap, food, and other events to celebrate the grand opening.

Saturday, May 24th – Sunday, May 25th, 2014:
Blues, Brews & BBQ Festival

Saturday through Monday, Beaver Creek Resort will host this festival to celebrate the unofficial launch of summer in the mountains. Come try a variety of barbecue food, listen to live music, and try beers from a large selection of Colorado breweries. Featured breweries include Bonfire Brewing, Copper Kettle Brewing Company, Dry Dock, Left Hand Brewing, and Odd13.

Find more information and buy tickets at http://www.beavercreek.com/events-and-activities/blues-brews-bbq.aspx

Sunday, May 25th 2014:
Festival of the Brewpubs

The 13th annual Festival of the Brewpubs will take place at Arapahoe Basin Ski Resort on Sunday, May 25th. 2014. Sample beers from 12 Colorado breweries, including beers from nearby Pug Ryan’s, Dillan Dam Brewery, Breckenridge Brewery, and others! See more information and buy tickets here.

All Weekend

Besides these large festivals, local breweries have daily specials and other special events throughout the weekend. Happy Memorial Day from Colorado Brewery List.

Welcome To Colorado Brewery List

November 19, 2013 by Ryan Steadman

Thanks for checking out ColoradoBreweryList.com! We’re striving to make a complete list of breweries and beers in the state of Colorado. However, we are more than just a list – we are a complete resource to help you find the breweries you like.

With nearly 200 craft breweries in the state of Colorado, there are a lot to choose from. The choices we have make us very lucky, but so many options can be overwhelming. This isn’t a problem for the brewery-hopping people that love to try different beers, but what about the times that you are looking for a specific type of brewery? Sometimes you want to visit a place that has a full restaurant so you can have a full meal with family while sampling a tasty microbrew. Other times, you might want a small and simple brewery where you can try a flight of unique beers or tour the facility. This is where Colorado Brewery List comes in.

We have a search page that will allow you to search for breweries by specific characteristics that you are seeking in a brewery. You can see these results on a map, and find other breweries in close proximity. We’ll regularly be adding more categories to the search, and eventually even let you find breweries based on the type of beer you like! We have a lot planned for this experience, but love to hear your feedback as we get things ramped up. Please contact us if you have any comments or features you’d like to see. If you own or work with a brewery, please submit any information that we do not have on file! With more accurate information, we will help other potential customers find your brewery and the beer that they will love.

Thanks again for visiting, and we look forward to helping the craft beer community expand their horizons!