Summer of Pubs IX - Mini Road Trip

A Series Begins

So it was 6 miles again this morning with another late start and 90+ degree temperatures by the time we finished. What better way to finish my time in Colorado than a long, hot, sweaty walk followed by a mini pub crawl road trip through the northern metropolitan Denver area? Oh, and a shower in between.

Today would be the first of a series of geocaching events because caching is also a social sport so event caches are a wonderful way to encourage the community to meet and talk about their favorite hobby. Over the next few days as I made my way to a rendezvous with my friend Ivan in Seattle, I would host six such events in six different cities, covering 1800 miles on a rather indirect route to the West Coast. The first of these would be in the little northeastern municipality of Brighton, county seat of Adams County and home to exactly ONE brewpub, an innocuously named little place called Something Brewery right on the old-fashioned main drag of town. As usual, accompanying me on this journey would be my brother in brews, Kevin, who once again agreed to hurl himself in front of the beer so I could just taste and continue to chauffeur us around.

As we arrived at the doors of Something just before they opened at noon, the temperatures approaching the century mark, a strange conglomeration of people began to make themselves present. Many were adorned by odd shirts, strange buttons, carrying odd trinkets and glyph-festooned coins. Yes, the geocachers were arriving in force, some 24 in all, ready to talk caches and drink beer. The very nice brewmaster who opened the doors for us was clearly overwhelmed at the enormous number of people arriving at opening, telling us that he usually gets that many people all afternoon on a Sunday. But it didn’t matter much; he was very friendly and geocachers are a patient bunch so we took over the front of the pub and dove into our flights as they arrived, most talking about their latest finds. Sitting at the bar with Kevin and I was a geocaching “widower”, his fanatical wife being the one far more interesting in our ridiculous hobby than him. Like us, he was more interested in sampling the beers so we befriended him, the three of us splitting a huge flight of every beer they had to offer.

The first thing I should note about Something is their unique mode of experimentation, which is to introduce tea into the conditioning process to enhance fermentation and to infuse different flavors into their beers. This best comes out in two of their IPAs: the incredible Savory IPA, which uses Vanilla Bourbon Black Tea to give a robust and sweet finish, and their White Out IPA, which is wonderfully tropical, floral, and citrusy. While I have subsequently seen a few places that use tea in fermenting their brews, Something was the first I came across that used it in virtually all of their beers, some to excellent effect and others not so much (the Blackberry Wit, for example, uses blackberry tea but it’s barely noticeable). Despite a few setbacks, the beer here is overall quite strong and they received huge bonus points for giving us an impromptu tour of the facilities, despite how busy they were.

A Longmont Pilgrimage

Kevin and I parted company with the geo crowded shortly after 1:00, eager to meet with another friend, my mate Peter’s son Mark and his lovely wife Becky, who amazingly I had never met prior to this meet up. And we were converging on a beer Mecca of sorts, the headquarters and taproom for Oskar Blues in Longmont. One of the newer breeds of craft brewers who have made a mark across the country, Oskar Blues is known for their fabulous Dale’s Pale Ale- one of the best of the type I’ve had- and their equally incredible Pinner IPA, a sessionable hopfest that comes in at only 4.9%ABV, making it a fabulous quaffing beer year round. Now, a quick caveat about the tasting room; it is NOT air-conditioned, a fact that amazes me. How could anywhere on the Front Range NOT be air-conditioned, given that 90+ and 100+ days are pretty common in the summer? So I wasn’t really going into this tasting with the right attitude, I have to admit, since my sweat is not a savory mix with flights. Still, there were standout brews and knowing that Mark & Becky would lead us to another, air-conditioned tasting room after this place make the visit more tolerable.

So about the beers: despite the heat and my usual dislike of heavier beers in hotter weather, their Smidy Fingers Molasses Stout was marvelous, it’s smoky and sweet goodness balanced by a remarkable drinkability. But the real find here was a variant on the Pinner IPA, a new version infused with passionfruit that was canned and ready to distribute far and wide (hopefully to New Mexico soon!). The addition of fruit to this elixir gives it a tropical quality that balances well with the hoppy goodness and the low alcohol makes this a near perfect brew on a hot weather day.

Small & Large

After one flight, Mark & Becky suggested that we drive to the little town of Niwot, home to Bootstrap Brewery, nestled in a difficult-to-find location in the tiny town, so difficult that our GPS couldn’t even locate it, forcing us to rely on our friends to find it. Bootstrap has a ways to go to match up with the big players in the area, with many fine but unexceptional brews on tap. The notable standouts, however, are their Flagstaff Amber, a hoppy red and their Boomer’s Brown, a lighter brown ale that is quite sessionable and chocolatey. Needless to say, I was happy we came and look forward to seeing what they have to offer in the future. After all, my local was pretty mediocre for its first year and now it’s my posse’s usual haunting place for their great beer and food.

After we finished our tasting at Bootstrap, Mark & Becky had to make their way back to Longmont seeing as how they actually had to return to real life and prep for the work week ahead. Kevin and I, however, wanted to hit one more stop and the location presented itself almost immediately: Avery Brewing Company. This is one of the better of the new breeds of craft brewers that have made their mark on the international scene, distributing and bottling mainstream varietals as well as some remarkable cask-aged and wild marvels. Just recently celebrating their 23rd year, Avery was a clear and present choice, resting on the fringe of Boulder en route back to Broomfield and Kevin’s house. The headquarters is a massive affair, an enormous all-in-one facility of production, bottling, fancy restaurant, hipster tasting room w/ fabulous (and pricey) nibbles and an enormous outdoor area for trendy dog-lovers everywhere.

We tasted ten of their beers and, apart from an overwrought raspberry sour that was just a bit too much on the sour side, I universally loved their beers, 4+ stars the lot of them. That is a remarkable statement as I can't say it about any other places I went to this summer. So I present to the four most interesting, memorable, and generally incredible beers we tried here, from least alcoholic to most.

• Eremita IX, a dark wild ale aged for half a year in tequila barrels, tempering the sour and bringing out the pepperiness of the tequila like a fine Añejo. Delicious! And at only (?) 7.5%ABV, this was the least alcoholic of the barrel-aged brews we tried.
• Certatio Equestris, a bourbon barrel aged “sour” that is far more tart than sour, quite reminiscent of a mint julep, largely due to the barrel aging and the introduction of spearmint to the fermentation process. And at 8.9%ABV, this one packs a wallop.
• The weirdest beer of the my whole trip was probably their Dionysian Series #3: Erato, a beer/wine hybrid that introduces Malbec grapes into the fermentation process and finished in Cabernet Sauvignon barrels. I had tried a couple of beers like this out in Buellton in the heart of wine country back in May but this probably exceeded those in terms of complexity, with tannic qualities shining through. And this is far closer to a wine in ABV, topping out at 12.5%!

The last two beers I’ll talk about here are also some of the heaviest, each clocking in at a whopping 17.5%ABV! These are also two of the finests brews I’ve ever had, which should be tempered by the fact that they are sipping beers, exclusive $12 a 12 ounce bottle wonders that should be savored throughout the evening like a fine wine or brandy. In both cases, the flavors notably and wonderfully change as the glass temperature increases, giving them real staying power. And they genuinely pull off the high alcohol without the taster being overwhelmed by too much alcoholic fizz. That also makes them exceedingly dangerous.

• Tweak is a bourbon barrel aged, spiced coffee stout, a dessert beer that is like a glass of very fine Kentucky bourbon mated with Turkish coffee, cardamom and coffee shining through the jet black elixir. I happily plonked down 12 bucks for a 12 ounce bottle.
• Callipygian, named appropriately for a well-formed backside, is as close to sex as you’ll ever find in a glass, a candy-in-the-glass wonder of cocoa, vanilla bean, bourbon, and coffee. This is a slow drinking wonder and one of the first beers I’ve ever had.

It pleases me tremendously that I ended my Colorado adventure at this remarkable place and I think Kevin was too, although he was a too tipsy to reveal too much other than giddy laughter.

Parting Shots

As I reflect on my time in Colorado, I want to acknowledge and give thanks to Carl, my gracious host, who tolerated by beer & geocaching obsessions and forced me to work some of those sudsy calories every morning. Kevin was also a fabulous companion as he has been for the 30 years I've known him. And I should also acknowledge my fabulous host Morland in Colorado Springs, who showed me the "shady" side of the Springs, which I enjoyed as much as any brewpub. Finally, I want to thank the fabulous Denise and Roger; sibs of extraordinary awesomeness. Not only did they roam far and wide to try Springs beers, they also helped me get Guinevere fixed up and served up a right mean salmon as well. You lot are the best!

Next up, the big six days of driving occurs, 1800 miles of fun, brews, and bucket list visits. The first day: Mt. Rushmore, Rapid City, South Dakota and my first introduction to the Pokemon Go obsession. Stay tuned!