Return to Colorado part 1 – Boulder breweries

Back in October we attended the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) and as announced in our recent article Beer Infinity wanted to make a return visit to Colorado to check out some of the breweries that we did not manage to get to whilst in Denver as well as seek out some others located within this brewing State.

In an improvement over our previous articles we are not only going to indicate which beer(s) from each sample or flight were our favorites but also give some impressions on how we found the beers from a taste and/or aroma perspective. If you agree or disagree then please let us know by leaving your Comments at the end of the article.

Outward journey

A 4am start is not everyone’s idea of how to begin a trip like this but when travelling more than half way across the USA in only a few hours, needs must! We knew from the weather forecast on the previous day that 2-3 inches of snow was due overnight so our 4:30am taxi arrived and we were at our local airport within 20 minutes. Indications were that the flight was on-time and there should be no reason why we could not make our connection in Philadelphia for our onward direct flight to Denver.

That was until 10 minutes before departure when the ground crew started scraping snow off our plane and snow plows took to the runway at the request of the pilot – hmmm we thought our straight forward connection was looking like it was in jeopardy. Eventually we boarded to then sit in a queue for the plane to get de-iced. To cut a long story short we landed in Philadelphia 2 minutes after our connection to Denver had already taken off!

We headed over to the airline lounge to speak with the staff and see which alternative flight(s) we could get on. It turned out that we could fly to the likes of Chicago or Charlotte but the connecting flights onto Denver were all full. The only option was to be placed on standby for the next direct flight out of Phillie some 10 hours later… fortunately seats became available within a couple of hours and 1st Class no less so we settled down for a day of working in the airport lounge.

There was one bonus with the delay and that was a surprise exhibition in Philadelphia Airport between Terminals B & C. This showed various past and present beers from the Philadelphia & Pennsylvania area.

Bush & Bull Pub & Brewery

After staying overnight in Denver following our delayed arrival we decided to go to a local brewpub for some lunch before heading on to Boulder. The Bush & Bull Pub & Brewery is located in the Glendale part of Denver and has been owned and run by brothers Dave & Erik Peterson since 1994. Originally it was purely a pub but a 7 BBL brewhouse was added and recently they started bottling in order to allow wider distribution. The beers are largely British-style (though not all) and we sampled the following flight:

• The Tower ESB – 6.8% (slightly hoppy)
• Big Ben Brown Ale – 6.0% (well rounded)*
• Stonehenge Stout – 5.5% (little thin)

A second flight included:

• Patio’s Vat Dunkelweiss – 5.0% (lots of banana & cloves)
• Holiday Spiced Old Ale by Copper Kettle Brewing – 8.0% (syrup-like imperial spiced ale)
• Chai Milk Stout by Yak & Yeti Restaurant & Brewpub – 5.3% (balanced spices aroma)*

* denotes our favorites in the above samples.

Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery

Once we arrived at Boulder we headed downtown to the Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery which had come with a recommendation from a friend of ours who now lives locally. The layout inside is all tables and booths with no seating at the bar. We had arrived mid-afternoon so getting seated was not a problem but by the end of office hours it was packed including a decent crowd standing at the bar. Our initial impression was that from a layout perspective the Mountain Sun felt similar to a Fish & Chip Restaurant in the UK. We tucked into the following flight (bottom Right to top Left in the photo):

• Raspberry Wheat – 4.8% (tart, clean, low alcohol taste)
• Old School Irish Stout on Nitro – 5.6% (roasty & bitter aroma with thin mouthfeel)

  

• Hooligan Porter on Nitro – 6.1% (smooth & sweet)
• Saison de la Strega – 6.7% (black basil Saison with large Belgian taste from yeast)*
• Harvest Wind Imperial Pumpkin – 10.1% (long lasting head, alcohol burn, no detectable spice)
• Colorado Kind Ale on Nitro – 5.6% (amber in color, smooth, hoppy aroma & flavor)

* denotes our favorite in the above sample.

This above flight was followed by a pint of:

• True Blonde Ale by Ska Brewing – 5% (clean, clear & subtle)

Walnut Brewery & Restaurant

On our way to our next planned brewery visit we were going past Walnut Brewery & Restaurant so decided to indulge in a sampler:

• Old Elk Brown Ale on Nitro – 5.5%, 25 IBU’s (better on CO2 than Nitro as latter takes away some flavor but does improve mouthfeel)
• Cease & Desist Ale – 10.8%, 62 IBU’s (sherry notes with toffee)
• Rye Porter – 6.3%, 36 IBU’s (bitter & roasty with a spicy finish)*
• Old Elk Brown Ale on CO2 – 5.5%, 25 IBU’s (pleasant but a little thin)
• St. James Irish Red Ale – 4.9%, 29 IBU’s (malty and a bit hoppy)
• Blueberry Wheat – 5.3%, 18 IBU’s (little blueberry flavor)

* denotes our favorite in the above sample.

West Flanders Brewing

Our final destination for the day was West Flanders Brewing on Pearle Street which is in the pedestrianized area of Downtown Boulder. Rather than having samplers they do short or full pints of both their own and local guest beers. Behind the bar you can see all the brewery’s equipment including the Mash Tun, Boil Kettle, Fermenters and Bright Tanks. In addition to good quality beers we ordered dinner from an interesting menu which featured great food. Below are the beers that we sampled:

• Angry Monk – 6.8% (somewhere between a Belgian Blonde and Dubbel)
• Lion Heart Stout – 7.7% (dark bitter chocolate)
• Obfuscation Trippel – 7.5% (slightly sweet)
• Tropic King by Funkwerks – 7.5% (nice zing, not too sweet or sour)*

* denotes our favorite in the above sample.

Avery Brewing

The following morning we visited Avery Brewing which is located in an industrial estate on the edge of Boulder. The current brewery produces 50k bbl/year but a new facility is being built 5 miles away and should be ready in about 2 years. The new facility will open with a production capacity of 200k bbl/year and have the potential of 500k bbl/year.

We visited the Tap Room which is alongside the current brewery and had the following samples selecting beers that were marked as being available in the Tap Room only.

Sampler #1:

• 4Point4 Milk Stout – 4.4%, 25 IBU’s (chocolate & bitter yet smooth)*
• Joe’s Premium American Pilsner – 4.7%, 50 IBU’s (light in color, clean with hop bitterness, uses Weihenstephaner Pilsner yeast)
• Lilikoi Kepolo belgian-style wit – 5.6%, 10 IBU’s (citrus aroma and sharp/clean flavor from infused passion fruit)
• Liebenweizen – 5.5% (banana & slight toffee)

Sampler #2:

• Chocolate Mint Stout – 6.5%, 51 IBU’s (bitter yet smooth with distinct mint flavor)
• Gored pumpkin ale – 5.3%, 35 IBU’s (good balance of spices, well made for low alcohol level, plenty of mouthfeel)*
• The Reverend – 10%, 18 IBU’s (subtle banana, some toffee, well balanced for level of alcohol)*
• Missionary Position (Reverend with guava & pinapple) – 10% (slight richness with fruit flavors towards back of tongue)
• Erimita VI sour beer – 6.5% (Brett taste with Key Limes, not too tart)

Sampler #3:

• Currawong saison – 7.1%, 25 IBU’s (malty bitterness)
• Nutty Professor (built upon The Czar) – 10.3%, 55 IBU’s (peanut flavor from chopped peanuts)*
• Bolder Weisse berliner weisse – 5.0% (zingy start that clears, not worth $6 for taster or $12 for 10 oz glass)

Sampler #4:

• The Czar Imperial Stout – 10.3%, 55 IBU’s (a top quality Russian Imperial Stout)*

* denotes our favorites in the above samples.

Sanitas Brewing

Next we intended to visit Fate Brewing which is close to Avery Brewing but alas there was a private party on so instead a local recommended we check out Sanitas Brewing which had only recently opened in September 2013. The brew house consists of a 15 bbl system with 2 x 15 bbl fermenters and 1 x 60 bbl larger fermenter. They also have their own canning line for their Black IPA and Saison. The building Sanitas are housed in definitely has plenty of room for storage and expansion. Below is the sampler we tried:

• Black IPA – 6.5%, 68 IBU’s (bitterness from malt, low hopping in flavor)*
• Saison – 5.2%, 21 IBU’s (bit thin and low zing)
• Stocking Ale with figs – 8.0%, 37 IBU’s (plenty of dark fruits flavor)*
• Bird of Prey Double IPA – 10.7%, 100 IBU’s (sweet & malt forward, 80% Glalaxy hops including dry hopping)*

* denotes our favorites in the above sample.

What Next?

In our next article we will cover our onward trip to the City of Longmont, just a few miles North-East of Boulder.

If you would like to discuss, or have any questions on, this article then please use the Comments section below? We would also like to hear your opinions on the beers and breweries mentioned above?