First Night In Denver

Before heading to Boulder, Colorado for the weekend’s Beer Blogger Conference, we made our first night one in Denver. Colorado’s largest city, Denver is also one of the state’s most vibrant craft beer areas as well. Our plane arrived in the late afternoon, and after a shuttle ride about 40 minutes from the airport to downtown, we finally were set loose into a warm evening prepared to soak in some of the city’s craft beer culture.

Over dinner at an amazing vegetarian establishment called Water Course Foods, we ordered local brews from Wynkoop from the menu. Draught pours of the Denver brewery’s Two Guns Pilsner and the B3K Schwarzbier. The pils was a golden colored Czech-style lager with some standard grassy notes and an American brewer’s added hop character. A bit creamy and lacking a little crispness you’d expect from a Czech pils, this one wasn’t as enjoyable as the B3K. The dark lager offered  a rounded roast complexity with just the right balance of hops. It was easy to taste why this particular schwarz garnered a gold medal at the 2008 Great American Beer Fest here in town.

Familiarizing yourself with Denver is quite easy if you find yourself near the heart of downtown. Which, as it turns out, is exactly where our hotel was located. Just a few blocks from 16th Street, where the bus mall provides access to freeand frequent electric buses, makes getting around to the Lower Downtown region (LoDo) where many of the city’s craft beer establishments are located, quite simple. The only question on this evening was where to start.

Well, being a bit uncompromising when it comes to the pursuit of great beer, we headed first to Falling Rock Taphouse. So many times have we heard stories about the amazing selection offered at Falling Rock and the enormous swarms of people who gather here during GABF week, that we had to get our taste of this stop on our great beer bucket list.

After passing the Summit Music Hall across the street where an Insane Clown Posse fan base of face-painted groupies congregated awaiting entree to see ICP’s Twiztid (these diehard cult followers are referred to as Juggalos. Upon entering the Fall Rock, we observed a sign disallowing entry to individuals with face paint (this was obviously pointed toward to potentially raucous Juggalos.

After finding a spot at the bar, we immediately fell in love with Fall Rock. A great lineup of beers on their menu categorize geographically and stylistically, the beer geek in us said to go for the beers we can’t currently find back home in Oregon. So, here’s what we went after:

Avery Joe’s Pilsner: We first heard about this beer some month ago from BeerNews.org. The accurate descriptor of this light refreshing beer: “You’re holding a contemporary rendition of a classic style. Hopped with purpose, Joe’s is beautifully bitter and dry with an abundance of floral, Noble German hops. Uber-sessionable. Utterly American. This is Premium American Pilsner.” 4.7% ABV.

Dry Dock Bligh’s Old Ale: This beer immediately stood out on the beer list. Not only had we never had beers from Aurora (suburb of Denver)’s Dry Dock Brewery, but this particular offering was highlighted in the specialty portion of the Falling Rock menu. In addtion, who could pass up a brew that is barrel aged in Stranahan’s barrels? A big brown-amber bodied brew with a thick beige head, this Old Ale emitted a hearty bourbon nose. But not just a booze bomb, this ale held the complexity of creamy oak, sweet candied notes, and was rounded with just the right hop additions. Commercial description for this brew: Bligh’s is our HMS Bounty Old Ale that has been aged in Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey Barrels and aged for over 6 months to develop this ale’s complex character.

Black Fox La Noche Del Diablo: Sounds decadent doesn’t it? But what kind of beer is this? The only beer not on the printed menu that appeared on the chalk board above the bar, we were quick to ask one of the amicable barkeeps what the deal was with this brewski. And, his response was a fat sample pour of the beer in an Orval stem glass. Deep dark pitchy in color with tinges of amber in the light and a sudsy off-white head, this beer smelled great. Peppery cacao with a full alluring fruity, bready and yeasty odor. What is this?! We googled the name of the beer and found the brewery’s website that described the beer as: A Black Saison-aged on Ghirardelli dark chocolate and cherries. Tres bien.Turns out, Black Fox Brewing has been brewing Belgian-style beers near Pike’s Peak since early ’09.  This beer was quite heavenly despite the demonic name. For the remainder of our stay in Colorado we will seek out the beers of this fine brewery.

Odell’s Saboteur: Odell is a name that relates to quality artisan beer. We’ve enjoyed some of  this Fort Collins brewery’s beers in the past and have not been disappointed thus far. This particular beer is aptly described as:  “an unpretentious, yet sophisticated brown ale. Then they plotted, and dosed this full-bodied ale with brettanomyces, the ultimate adversary of wineries. Embracing this vintner’s nemesis resulted in a complex and wonderfully drinkable beer. Intense earthy undertones, and notes of vanilla and pineapple come together with a sour silhouette. Aged in American oak barrels.”  The Brettanomyces in this dark brown ale did justice by the beer. Not always does Brett achieve the level of complexity and fruitiness that many brewers hope, but here, was a spot on dessertif with immensely enjoyable complexities yet still a brew that was thoroughly approachable and deeply distinct.

After a few other quaffs of beers such as Russian River Redemption (Belgian-style single) and Bull & Bush Man Beer (a particularly diacetyl-laden amber IPA), we bid our new friends at The Rock adieu and made our way down the street past an assortment of watering holes and beer halls, past the mighty Coors Field (home of the Colorado Rockies baseball club and Sandlot Brewing), and landed nearby at Wynkoop Brewing Company. Established in 1988, Wynkoop is known for being the city’s oldest brewpub. A massive beer hall upon first entering, we were unaware that an upstairs portion equally as gigantic as that of downstairs existed. After obtaining a pint of cask conditioned Silverback Smoked Porter from the beer engine, we headed upstairs where the server from below informed us that the specialty taps could be found.

Wynkoop Silverback Smoked Porter: Brewed for the Mountain Gorilla Conservation Fund, this rich and drinkable dark ale is an Imperial-style porter of 7.2% ABV that’s made with pale, roasted and caramel malts, and about 35% beechwood-smoked malts from Bamberg, Germany. Not only is this beer delicious, but 25% of the pint proceeds go toward the conservation efforts of the beautiful African gorillas.

Wynkoop Orville: We had a hankering for some funk and that we found here at Wynkoop with the Orville, described as a Belgian-style strong golden ale. Fermented in oak barrels with wild yeast. The beer was slightly sour, and as the description says “balanced and goosebumping.” Served as at Rare Beer Tasting at GABF as a fundraiser for Pints For Prostates, reports have it that this beer became extinct quickly, so we’re very pleased to get our palate around it.

In addition to Orville, Wynkoop’s Brewer’s Vault lineup offered two vintages of barleywine from ’08 and ’07. We forewent on the ’08 Big Easy dry-hopped vintage and instead opted for the ’07. The name of this particular brew was whited-out on the hand slip we held. However the description of this monstrously boozy and bold brew was accurately depicted as follows: “Nov. ’07 barleywine aged 2 years in whiskey barrels. Deep flavors of whiskey, oak, time. May produce shivers and/or halos. 11.5% ABV, 95 OMGs.””

After the commencement of our tasty beers and the ice hockey match on the television (The hometown Colorado Avalanche fell to the Vancouver Canucks), we traipsed back along the bus mall for one final libation destination.

Despite being a chain establishment, Rock Bottom breweries each offer a unique lineup of world class beer. Denver’s Rock Bottom was as good as any we’ve encountered.  An amazing array of a dozen or so beers that ran the gamut of styles to our beer geek delight. Our very courteous and customer service savvy bartender kindly obliged our request for a sampler.

Rock Bottom Snake Spit: Brewed in October, this Black India Ale (Cascadian Dark Ale). No description of the beer could be found other than that it was 6.6% ABV and 69 IBU. However, despite a somewhat trashed palate, it was clear to taste that this beer possessed a hearty helping of citrus and piny hops with a very minimal roast from dehusked malts. It could have been the most deceptive (meaning it tasted light and hoppy like an American IPA) CDAs we’ve had to date, or as mentioned, it could have been a shot palate. Either way, quite good!

Rock Bottom Anniversary Raspberry Ale: A robust yet somewhat cloyingly sweet 7% ABV porter brewed to celebrate this brewery’s fourth anniversary. Probably our least favorite of the flight, this beer had an identity crisis. Was it a fruity non-beer drinker beer or a bold dark heady ale? It overlapped a bit of both. Well built, but we weren’t a fan of the recipe design.

Rock Bottom Double Batch Venti: Next to the beer name, the board read “blah blah blah” perhaps to allow for the beer’s massive coffee presence to speak for itself. Perhaps the labeler was too geeked on the grind. We may never know. What is certain however, is that this beer is all about the coffee. A light 5% ABV stout with just 10 IBU but a kick in the teeth of java. We realize coffee beers aren’t for everyone, but this is a choice cup of alcoholic joe for the late night quaffer.

Rock Bottom Hop Rocks Dry Hopped Red: High alpha hops run amuck in this orangy-amberish heady treat that drank like a straight up American West Coast IPA. Spiced with hefty helpings of Simcoe, at 5% ABV, 50 IBU, this beer was able to cut through our decrepit taste buds and deliver a dose of dry, well-attenuated love with some exciting fruity esters.

Rock Bottom Gathering Saison: A light 5% ABV Belgian-style saison with standard peppery notes perhaps from just the yeast and wheat play. Perhaps we will never know, and dare we reiterate that our palates were damn shot.

Rock Bottom Stash: Okay, after all the bold and cutting brews of this night, this one is the true nightcap. A big, bold barleywine aged for two years in ten year old Wild Turkey barrels. What more do you want us to say? Not sure if this beer or the Wynkoop ’07 barleywine was more bourbony, but its safe to say they both went balls deep. Now, some water and a pillow. Cheers!

After our visit to Boulder, we’ll be off to Fort Collins for more beer excursions. Then, we’ll be back in Denver to try more interesting craft beer. Stay tuned…