What were your favorite beer discoveries of 2009?
I've been a crank and bashed beer in the past. I'm usually impatient with the amount of room that beer takes up in my stomach, and gravitate to the efficacious kick and bite of bourbon and vodka.
But time spent with my girlfriend, who is a craft beer fan, has reopened me to the pleasures of slowing down, parking it at a cozy Colorado tap room, and savoring some handcrafted beers. I've had a few brewery-borne revelations this year:
• On a Boulder crawl this July, I stumbled into a pint of Boulder DraftHouse's Blackberry Wheat. The smoky, peachy brew that the others had ordered caught the early evening light from the street just so. I was seduced. It tasted as good as it looked. Too bad there's no more until next summer.
• Left Hand Brewing Company's Milk Stout is like a perfect date: a little spicy at first, creamy in the middle, then it just melts away. Remarkable. Stout lovers are always telling lighter-beer drinkers that they shouldn't be put off by the dark color—which the neophyte equates with heaviness—and this is the reason why.
• Ah, the joys of the holiday slowdown. The week before last, I found that the Avery Tap Room was a three-minute drive from my office. I sneaked out around four p.m. and got a seat at the very popular outlet, where I repented anew all the bad things I'd said about beer during my confession to the Reverend. Reverend Belgian-Style Quadrupel Ale dances all over your tongue with a complex interplay of multi-staged flavors, and, at 10% ABV, kicks your ass a little too.
How about you, folks? What were your revelatory beer-drinking finds of 2009?
But time spent with my girlfriend, who is a craft beer fan, has reopened me to the pleasures of slowing down, parking it at a cozy Colorado tap room, and savoring some handcrafted beers. I've had a few brewery-borne revelations this year:
• On a Boulder crawl this July, I stumbled into a pint of Boulder DraftHouse's Blackberry Wheat. The smoky, peachy brew that the others had ordered caught the early evening light from the street just so. I was seduced. It tasted as good as it looked. Too bad there's no more until next summer.
• Left Hand Brewing Company's Milk Stout is like a perfect date: a little spicy at first, creamy in the middle, then it just melts away. Remarkable. Stout lovers are always telling lighter-beer drinkers that they shouldn't be put off by the dark color—which the neophyte equates with heaviness—and this is the reason why.
• Ah, the joys of the holiday slowdown. The week before last, I found that the Avery Tap Room was a three-minute drive from my office. I sneaked out around four p.m. and got a seat at the very popular outlet, where I repented anew all the bad things I'd said about beer during my confession to the Reverend. Reverend Belgian-Style Quadrupel Ale dances all over your tongue with a complex interplay of multi-staged flavors, and, at 10% ABV, kicks your ass a little too.
How about you, folks? What were your revelatory beer-drinking finds of 2009?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by G on -
Blue Moon Cru - coming soon. I'm partial to Blue Moon because my brother invented it - he's the brew master for Coors - but this is a great beer. Being a brewmaster sounds like fun, but there is more work to it than people might think. The cool thing is we get to sample new brews before they come out. Cru is an amped up version of Belgian White - up 8.5% and more hop flavor. Its going to retail for around $9 per 22oz bottle. Stop by G's sometime next month - I'll stock it and throw a sample to any sixshooter.
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Permalink Reply by Ewing Klipspringer on -
Ernie's Pizza on 44th has about 30 beers on tap and sells them in 10oz glasses for $2.75 (or less). Gives you a chance to sample a few different beers without filling up too much. Awesome menu of snackie things too and really good pizza.
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Permalink Reply by Col. Hector Bravado on -
That sounds like a great call. We should get up two two-man (or woman) teams and have a "race to the middle" from either end of the row of taps (see DHH's comment below). More of a marathon than a sprint. One-line reviews for each beer, and note how long it took the two teams to meet.
Also, you were responsible for another great discovery that, in retrospect, should have been on my list: that Midas Touch you let us try down at Colt & Gray. Yum.
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Permalink Reply by Dark Haired Honey on -
Ewing, I think twice this month we've (Col and I) have been sitting at the bar at Trinity fantasizing about a day where we each start at one end of their tap selection and meet some where in the middle.
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Permalink Reply by Ewing Klipspringer on
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That's a really cool idea. Hey, if you guys are out beering it up in the Springs, my friend Alan Stiles just landed the head brewer job at Phantom Canyon. He's been there about two months, so I think all the beers are now his. He's an amazing brewer and will probably be getting pretty creative with the seasonal beers. His coffee stout is phenomenal if you like coffee.
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Permalink Reply by Victor Dils-Bozack on -
Just tried a Boulevard Double Wide out in Kansas City--it was revelatory, but I have no idea where to get it out here. My guess would be Falling Rock, for obvious reasons.
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Permalink Reply by Ewing Klipspringer on
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Argonaut has a variety of bottled Boulevard beers (big bottles). Not sure if the Double Wide is one of them though.
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Permalink Reply by Rico on -
My big revelation came at the GABF this year when I tried Stone Brewing's Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale. It poured dark as midnight, so I was expecting either a porter or stout. What I got instead was a IPA that was as dark as my liver and a creative brew that totally flipped my craft beer paradigm on its head. A black IPA? It completely blew my mind - so I homebrewed one. It's not nearly as good, but it'll do.
By the way Col., it was awesome meeting you at the Avery Tap House that cold evening. I found your card yesterday and decided to sign up. Love the site!
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Permalink Reply by HeidiTownMayor on -
First of all, I use to be a big beer connoisseur, but in the last five years or so, I have the same issue as the Col. - beer fills me up, so I prefer liquor or wine.
However, I still enjoy a good beer and just this past November, we had the privilege of tasting beers from Grimm Brothers Brewhouse (http://www.grimmbrosbrewhouse.com/brewery.html) at the Pourhouse in Loveland. I wrote about it at HeidiTown.
Anyway, we tasted 5 beers and I really enjoyed their Rumpelstiltskin Hefewiessen. I am a big fan of Hefewiessen beer. This one had a strong banana flavor with a touch of orange and a lingering background taste of cloves. I liked it a lot. I gave this beer a rating of 4 out of 5.
Keep an eye out for the Grimm Brothers. I think they have a lot of potential. They are currently brewing out of their garage, but are looking for a space in downtown Loveland.
Fun Beer Game: Go to the Yard House at Colorado Mills. Order beers by using the “count right from x” method. For instance, “I’ll take the beer 38 to the right of the Coors Light tap. With over 120 beers on tap, this is a great game for beer lovers. We’ve played it several times and the bartenders really get into it!
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