Of course, there are negative sides as well. While bigger, more established companies experience many of the pros, smaller companies have a lot of trouble catching up and keeping up. Carrying any sort of overhead cuts you down at the knees. And for the consumer, even one who may desire to purchase locally, the local economy suffers.

With that being said, let’s talk about beer.

As craft beer drinkers, we talk about buying local, supporting the local brewery, and teaching our friends, loved ones, and random passerby on the street about craft beer. We revel in telling someone that “oh, actually, Blue Moon is made by Coors, so it’s not really craft”, and enjoy arguing whether or not Sam Adams counts as craft anymore. We watch Beer Wars and I Am A Craft Brewer, and get all amped up to join forces and fight the man.

I remember when the whole Monster v Rockart fiasco happened, I saw Hansen Beverage Company’s brand portfolio. Then I went and looked at Anheuser Busch’s portfolio. And it was shocking at just how many brands these big companies own.

Throw in international law, differences between national and multi-national corporate portfolios, and the difference between what “public knowledge” means and how accessible it actually is, and your head starts to spin.

This all came about when my buddy Tyler goes “Did you know Coors owns La Fin du Monde?!” earlier today. Well no, I did not know that. Is that true?

It’s hard to say.

I tried to find out through some simple scouring of corporate websites, and couldn’t find the information. I turned to Wikipedia for a little help, and they suggest that no, MolsonCoors does not own Unibroue (the brewers of La Fin du Monde). But Sapporo does.

Sapporo’s website doesn’t list Unibroue anywhere. But they do list Guinness. Which is actually owned by Diageo. Which also owns Red Stripe and Smithwicks.

I guess this just poses a few questions, more than answering anything in particular. As a brewery grows, does it have a choice? Can a brewery maintain the quality and passion, yet still distribute to 47 states and 17 countries? Or is it more of a “I knew them back when you didn’t” mentality, and once they break a certain production level, they’re no longer loved? If, somehow, MillerCoors came out with a stout that rivaled , or Sapporo started shipping a barrel-aged lambic blend that could fit in with Lost Abbey’s portfolio, would you like it?

Sam Adams is publicly-owned. New Belgium is employee-owned. Most small breweries are independently owned. Some are public. Do you care?

For me, I like to know someone made the beer. I realize that all beer is made by someone. But I like to know that there is some brewer working his or her ass off to make something special, not just plugging in the same recipe day in and day out to some massive machine. Maybe I’m romanticizing it a bit, but that’s where I differentiate between Great Divide and Anheuser Busch. I know the brewers at Great Divide. I’ve seen them cleaning out the mash tun. I realize that there is someone at AB doing that, but it feels more like a factory than a craft to me. And in a blind taste test, I’m pretty sure I could differentiate Bud Light from a Yeti. Hopefully…

It’s not entirely a scale issue, is it? Sam Adams makes some pretty decent beers, and they make a lot. Granted, there are more barrels of Blue Moon sold than pretty much all the barrels in the craft beer segment combined. But at the same time, I’ve also had some pretty gross beers made on a 10 barrel system.

I want to know what you think. But before you go bashing the big boys, stop and think about what I’ve said. Then, you may bash away.

For your reference, here are some brand portfolios. I’ve listed New Belgium, Sam Adams, MillerCoors, SABMiller, and Anheuser-Busch InBev.

New Belgium

(Source – http://www.newbelgium.com/beer)

Fat Tire, Sunshine Wheat, Blue Paddle, 1554, Mothership Wit, Abbey, Trippel, Ranger IPA, Mighty Arrow, Skinny Dip, 2˚ Below, Frambozen, Hoptober, Le Fleur Misseur, La Folie, Dunkelweiss 30˚, Dark Kriek, Abbey Grand Cru, Biere de Mars, Dandelion Ale, Transatlantique Kriek, Fall Wild Ale, Dark Heather Saison, Trippel IPA, The Trip II, Trip III

Sam Adams – Boston Beer Company

http://www.samueladams.com/world_of_beer.aspx

Samuel Adams Boston Lager, Sam Adams Light, Noble Pils, Summer Ale, Octoberfest, Winter Lager, Old Fezziwig Ale, Cranberry Lambic, Holiday Porter, Boston Ale, Cherry Wheat, Cream Stout, Hefeweizen, Pale Ale, Scotch Ale, Black Lager, Brown Ale, Honey Porter, Irish Red, Blackberry Witbier, Coastal Wheat, White Ale, Double Bock, Imperial White, Imperial Stout, Utopias, Chocolate Bock, Millennium, Triple Bock, Imperial Pilsner 2005 Harvest, Hallertau 24

MillerCoors (USA)

(Source – http://www.millercoors.com/news/facts-and-resources/miller-coors-brands.aspx)

Domestic: Coors, Coors Light, Extra Gold Lager, Hamm’s, Hamms’ Golden Draft, Hamm’s Special Light, Icehouse 5.0, Icehouse 5.5, Icehouse Light, Keystone Ice, Keystone Light, Keystone Premium, Magnum Malt Liquor, MGD 64, Mickey’s, Mickey’s Ice, Miller Chill, Miller Genuine Draft, Miller High Life, Miller High Life Light, Miller Lite, Milwaukee’s Best, Milwaukee’s Best Ice, Milwaukee’s Best Light, Olde English 800, Olde English 800 7.5, Olde English High Gravity 800, Red Dog, Southpaw Light, Steel Reserve, Steel Reserve Triple Export 8.1%, Steel Six

Import: Águila, Cristal, Cusqueña, Grolsch Amber Ale, Grolsch Blonde Lager, Grolsch Light Lager, Grolsch Premium Lager, Lech, Molson Canadian, Molson Canadian Light, Molson Golden, Molson Ice, Molson XXX, Peroni  Nastro Azzurro, Pilsner Urquell, Tyskie

Craft: Blue Moon Belgian White, Blue Moon Full Moon Winter Ale, Blue Moon Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale, Blue Moon Honey Moon Summer Ale, Blue Moon Rising Moon Spring Ale, Frederick Miller Classic Chocolate Lager, Henry Weinhard’s Belgian Style Wheat, Henry Weinhard’s Blonde, Henry Weinhard’s Blue Boar, Henry Weinhard’s Classic Dark Lager, Henry Weinhard’s Hefeweizen, Henry Weinhard’s India Pale Ale, Henry Weinhard’s Private Reserve, Leinenkugel’s Berry Weiss, Leinenkugel’s BIG BUTT Dopplebock, Leinenkugel’s Classic Amber Lager, Leinenkugel’s Creamy Dark, Leinenkugel’s Fireside Nut Brown, Leinenkugel’s Honey Weiss, Leinenkugel’s Light, Leinenkugel’s Oktoberfest Lager, Leinenkugel’s Original Lager, Leinenkugel’s Red Lager, Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy, Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat, Sheaf Stout

SABMiller (International)

(Source – http://www.sabmiller.com/index.asp?pageid=315 )

Aguila, Aguila Light, Arany Ászok, Arequipeña, Atlas, Balboa, Balimi Extra Lager, Barena – El Salvador/Peru, Barena – Honduras, Barons, Blue Moon, Bluetongue Alcoholic Ginger Beer, Bluetongue Premium Lager, Bluetongue Premium Light, Bluetongue Traditional Pilsner, Bohlinger’s Lager, Bondi Blonde, Brutal Fruit, Carling Black Label, Castle Lager, Castle Lite, Castle Milk Stout, Chairman’s Extra Strong Beer, Chibuku, Ciucas, Club Colombia, Club Pilsener, Club Premium Lager, Club Premium Lager – Ghana, Club Shandy, Conquer, Coors Light, Costeña, Cristal, Cusqueña, Cusqueña Malta, Dębowe Mocne, Dorada, Dorada – Ecuador, Dorada Especial, Dorada Sin, Dreher Bak, Dreher Classic, Dreher Premium, Dreher 24, Eagle Extra Lager, Eagle Lager, Foster’s, Frisco, Frisco Dry, Fusion, Gambrinus, Gambrinus Dia, Gambrinus Premium, Gingers, Golden Light, Golden Pilsener, Gran Riserva, Grolsch, Grolsch Blond, Grolsch Weizen, Hamm’s, Hansa Marzen Gold, Hansa Pilsener, Haywards 2000, Haywards 5000, Haywards Black, Henry Weinhard’s Belgian Style Wheat, Henry Weinhard’s Blonde, Henry Weinhard’s Blue Boar Pale Ale, Henry Weinhard’s Classic Dark, Henry Weinhard’s Hefeweizen, Henry Weinhard’s India Pale Ale, Henry Weinhard’s Private Reserve, Huadan Dry Beer, Icehouse, Imperial, Indus Pride, Kilimanjaro, Knock Out, Kőbányai Sör, Ksiazece Tyskie, Laurentina Clara, Laurentina Premium, Laurentina Preta, Lech Free, Lech Lite, Lech Mocny, Lech Pils, Lech Premium, Leinenkugel’s Amber Light, Leinenkugel’s Berry Weiss, Leinenkugel’s Big Butt Doppelbock, Leinenkugel’s Creamy Dark Lager, Leinenkugel’s Honey Weiss, Leinenkugel’s Light, Leinenkugel’s Oktoberfest, Leinenkugel’s Original, Leinenkugel’s Red Lager, Lion Lager, Löwen, Maluti Premium Lager, Manica, MGD 64, Mickey’s Malt Liquor, Miller Chill, Miller Genuine Draft, Miller High Life, Miller Lite, Miller Midnight, Milwaukee’s Best, Milwaukee’s Best Ice, Milwaukee’s Best Light, Mosi, Moya Kaluga, Ndovu Special Malt, New Three Star, N’GOLA, Nile Special, Olde English 800 Malt Liquor, Peroni, Peroni Leggera, Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Pilsen, Pilsen Callao, Pilsen Polar, Pilsen Trujillo, Pilsener – Ecuador, Pilsener – El Salvador, Pilsner Urquell, Poker, Port Royal, Radegast Birell, Radegast Original, Radegast Premium, Raffo, Raiz, Redd’s Apple, Redd’s Dry, Redd’s Premium Original, Redd’s Red, Redd’s Sun, Regia Extra, Rhino Lager, Royal Challenge Premium Lager, Safari, SalvaVida®, San Juan, Šariš Dark, Šariš Light, Šariš Premium, Sarita, Shengquan, Singo, Siroco by Tropical, Skelter’s Straight, Smädný Mnìch, Snow, St. Louis, Stejar, Stone Strong Lager, Suprema, Timisoreana, Topvar, Tri Bogatyrya Svetloye, Tropical, Tropical Premium, Tusker, Tyskie Gronie, Ursus Premium, Velkopopovický Kozel, Velkopopovický Kozel Cerny, Velkopopovický Kozel Premium, Velkopopovický Kozel Svěltý, White Bull, Wojak, Wührer, Zero, Zolotaya Bochka Klassicheskoye, Zolotaya Bochka Platinovoe, Zolotaya Bochka Razlyvnoe, Zolotaya Bochka Svetloye, Zolotaya Bochka Vyderzhannoye, Zorok, Żubr, Zambezi Lager, Zambezi Lite, 2M

Anheuser-Busch

(Source – http://www.ab-inbev.com/go/brands/brand_portfolio/local_brands.cfm)

Alexander Keith’s, Antarctica, Aqua Fratelli Vita, Astika Fine Quality Lager, Baisha, BagBier, Bass, Belle-Vue, Boddingtons, Bohemia, Boomerang, Bud Light (U.S.), Bud Light (Canada), Caracu, Castlemaine XXXX, Chernigivske, Diebels, Diekirch, Dimix, Dommelsch, Double Deer, Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier Hell, Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier Dunkel, Franziskaner Weissbier Kristallklar, Gilde Ratskeller, Guaraná Antarctica, Guaraná Brahma, Haake-Beck, Harbin, Hasserõder, Hertog Jan, Hoegaarden Citrons, Hougaerdse Das, Jinling, Jinlongquan, Julius, Jupiler, KK, Klinskoye, Kokanee, La Bécasse, Labatt Blue, Labatt Blue Light, Labatt Family, Labatt Ice, Labatt Sterling, Lakeport Pilsener, Liber, Löwenbräu, Löwenbräu Oktoberfestbier, Löwenbräu Original, Marathon, Michelob Lager, Mousel, Murphy’s, Oranjeboom, Paceña, Permskoye Gubernskoye, Piedboeuf, Phoenix, Quilmes Cristal, Red Shilliang, Rifey, Rogan, Safir, Santai, Sedrin, Sibirskaya Korona, Skol, Spaten Original Munich Beer, St. Pauli Girl, Sukita, Tolstiak, Vieux Temps, Yali, Yantar, Zizhulin, Zhujiang

Well pucker up buttercup.

The line forms for SourFest

The Inaugural Boulder SourFest was at Avery last weekend, and it was amazing. Tickets were very limited, but not very expensive. The first round sold out in a few weeks. Avery convinced some more brewers to bring sours to the fest, and then released some more tickets. Which were sold out within about 2 minutes.

There were approximately 500 people at the festival, which filled two of the big warehouse rooms, the tap room, and a good sized tent. The longest line I waited in was the will-call line for tickets, and that took a whopping 5 minutes. After that, you just looked for a beer you wanted to try, asked for it by number, and received your sample. In an awesome Avery tulip glass branded with the SourFest logo. An awesome glass that I promptly lost as the festival ended.

One of the rooms at SourFest

Up to this point, the Big Beers festival in Vail was my favorite. But SourFest takes the cake. While the beer selection wasn’t nearly as diverse as Big Beers, considering they were all sours, the beers were absolutely amazing. And the atmosphere was perfect. With no lines, you were able to relax, find your next sample, and talk it up with fellow geeks. At one point I sat down to enjoy a snack and ended up talking about how hop utilization and storage differs between beers available locally, from the East Coast, and from the West Coast. Random, yes. Awesome, yes.

Beer being poured and enjoyed at SourFest

The crowd was full of local geeks, geeks from afar, and brewers from all over. Pretty much the entire crowd had a smile at all times, except when someone was puckering from a super tart offering.

In almost every post I’ve written here, I’ve mentioned Duck Duck Gooze. Well, that was available. In fact, Lost Abbey brought 5 different options, most of which are incredibly hard to find. The host, Avery, showed up with a whopping 8 sours. Allagash traveled the furthest, bringing some of their Interlude all the way from Maine. The list goes on and on. I had beers that felt like I licked the inside of a Sour Patch Kids package. I had beers that were reminiscent of a wet horse blanket. I had beers that almost made me weep due to their overwhelming awesomeness. I even had one that tasted just like a cherry pie.

Which would you choose?

It’s hard to pick an absolute favorite, especially out of the 64 available options. So I’ll pick four. In no particular order, except for Veritas being #1 by a long shot:

• The Lost Abbey Veritas 007 – Essentially Isabelle Proximus aged with Cabernet Franc grapes
• Avery Voltron – Dark, tannic, sour blend from five barrels
• Cambridge Brewing Benevolence – Barrel fermented Strong Dark Ale, rocking the charts at 12.6% abv
• Cascade Brewing Sang Noir – Bourbon barrel aged sour red with bourbicide and cherries added

And no, I didn’t try all 64. I’m only human.

Some of my favorite beer geeks thinking about their next beer

SourFest lasted about 5 hours. The heart burn lasted a bit longer, but it was definitely worth it. After last call was called, and the last pour was poured, my friends / ride and I had the privilege of staying after for the brewers’ BBQ dinner. More beer, some awesome catered BBQ, and awesome conversation with brewers and other brewery types was a great way to end the event.

Thank you Avery and all the breweries who sent sours over. The event was incredible, and definitely something not to miss next year. If you can, definitely plan on going in 2011, and buy your tickets early!

That’s what one friend told me once, when I was researching different ways to store beer, or “cellar” beer. Let’s look at some alternatives.

@TheHopsHoney's Happy Spot

First off, not all beer is meant to be stored long-term. Beers with “fresh” ingredients, such as a super fresh hopped IPA, generally aren’t as tasty two years down the road. They’ll be interesting, for sure, but the hop flavor tends to go stale.

Barrel-aged beers, sours, stouts, porters, other super malty brews, these are beers that age well. Low hops, high malt, and high gravity. When you age a beer, the flavors tend to mellow and even out. It’s also nice to have beer on hand. If you have a good cellar, you can find a beer for any situation or pairing.

My collection was pretty small until my visit to Total Bev. I think I had about four bottles of commercial and one or two homebrews. Then I gained another dozen and a half, and storage became an issue.

One of @TheArtOfBeer's many overfilled beer fridges

So, the topic at hand is how to store beer. Especially if space is an issue. If you’re trying to age your beer, you don’t want to store it at your normal fridge temperature. That’s too cold, and it will take many years for any noticeable change to occur. Room temperature is definitely an option, unless you live in a hot climate. Let’s not microwave that bottle of Stone Vertical Epic 02.02.02, alright?

55˚ or so seems to be a good standard for aging beers. Keep it out of the light. Keep it upright.

Also, remember to be patient. I know, it’s hard to see all that beer sitting on the shelf and not be tempted to open a few. When you’re buying beer for storing, buy at least two bottles. One of them you’ll want to open and drink right away. This serves two purposes. One, you can see if you like it. If not, it might not be worth storing it for years, just to be disappointed with the outcome. Two, it serves as a base for comparison. Take notes if that’s your style. Then, when you decide to open the beer’s pair, you can compare how it aged. Science!

@chuckularone likes organizing his homebrew by batch number

If your place of living maintains a moderate temperature, you could just store your beer in a nice cool dark closet. Bam, done.

If not, you might need to purchase equipment.

My find on Craigslist - upright chest freezer for $75

Go on craigslist.org. Buy a fridge or chest freezer. Get a temperature control device, such as this one from Northern Brewer. Put your beer in it. Open it a year later. Enjoy. You can also buy a wine fridge, except that that forces you to store your beer on its side. Not as advised as upright storage, but it works.

There is a lot of great information out there on more specifics on long term beer storage. Here are a few, should you want to pursue the topic further:

• Beer Advocate – How To Store Beer
• Beer Utopia – How (and why) to age beer
• The Brew Basement – A blog on beer storage
• Brew Advice – How to store beer
• Brew Advice – Beer Refrigeration Suggestions (Long Term)

How do you store your beer? Leave some tips or some pictures of your stock pile!

So starts my weekly need to visit a beer-related establishment.

This week we visited Pints Pub. It was a Wednesday night, and relatively quiet. Pints is a great pub, with about a dozen beers brewed in house, and a whiskey selection to make your head spin. They also have a fantastic food menu, and great service.

It’s a decently and deceptively sized spot. There’s a few tables when you first walk in, and then more around the corner. And then more upstairs. And then more around the corner upstairs.

Where the friends stop and the wall starts is a mystery...

The entire place has a nice British pub theme to it. Granted, I’ve never been to England to verify the authenticity of said theme, but it looks nice. There’s a cool red phone booth when you walk in, but since no one uses  phones with cords anymore, there’s an ATM inside the booth instead.

I started the night off with a Black Ajax Stout. It was solid. Not remarkable, but solid for sure. Creamy too. Between the five of us, we tried most of their selection. John Bull, Dark Star Ale, Bitchcraft Blonde Ale, Gael Force, and the Alchemy E.S.B. Of all the beers I was able to taste, the Gael Force was by far the best. Like the description says, it’s dark and malty. And delicious. Other than that, the beers are generally decent. Nothing to write home about, but nothing to send back either.

The food at Pints Pub is perfect. Big portions, delicious greasiness, things you’ve never heard of (or at least things I’ve never heard of), good prices, and it comes out pretty quickly. I had the “Bird in the Hand”, a sandwich made of smoked turkey, tomato, sautéed onions, mushrooms, dill havarti, and dijon. Highly advised.

And no matter if you’re there for dinner or just drinks, get an order of Bisto Chips. Fries smothered in gravy and cheese and curry. Ridiculously good. And the Raspberry Trifle is not to be trifled with. A delicious dessert, decidedly.

Pints pub happens to have every scotch ever made. Seriously. Ever. Their whiskey list is many, many pages long, with all sorts of scotches, Irish whiskeys, and other delectable treats. Prices range from $8 to $875. While this is a beer blog, I do enjoy scotch. A lot. I have a beard. It’s just natural.

I enjoyed a nice glass of Caol Ila 12. I can’t even begin to spell or pronounce some of the other choices we made. But they were all delicious. Do you like scotch? What are some of your favorites? I’ll be sure to go back and try them, if they’re under the $875 price tag.

While the food and beer prices are decent, and the scotch prices are as well, I could see myself getting into trouble at Pints Pub. There are so many different beers and whiskeys to choose from, I could definitely envision an entire paycheck disappearing under the ceiling of whiskey bottles. You’ve been warned. Now go forth and enjoy.

Pints Pub Brewery & Freehouse
221 West 13th Avenue
Denver, Colorado
pintspub.com

Courtesy of akaras on Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/akaras/2169368279/

We arrived last night around 8:30, and it was relatively empty. We were able to grab a booth, which when combined with the mood lighting and high ABV choices, promoted feelings of sleepiness.

Gulden Draak and 10 Commandments

I started the night off with a Gulden Draak, a delicious dark brown concoction weighing in at 10.5% abv. This beer is brewed by Brouwerij Van Steenberge, which I cannot pronounce. The beer came in a Gulden Draak glass, and it was delicious.

Katie had a Lost Abbey 10 Commandments. I love when this beer is on tap. It’s so so delicious. Dark, thick, slight tinge of sour, raisins, and awesomeness. This one came in a Cheeky Monk glass.

10 Commandments? Or the beer list...

Kell ordered one of the sampler options. Since he was our driver, four small beers made much more sense than one or two large ones. His sampler came with Tripel Karmeliet, Duchesse, St. Bernardus ABT 12, and Gouden Carolus Hopsinjoor. It came on a paddle. There were holes in the recesses where the glasses sat. I said they were for proper airflow. Kell suggested they were for easier draining. I like my theory better.

Cheeky Monk Sampler

Phill had a full glass of the Duchesse. I love that beer. It’s one of my favorites, definitely.

Phill also had some food. He ordered the Monte Cristo. Which is a crazy sandwich of awesome proportions.  The rest of us had already eaten – a delicious dinner if I do say so myself – so we just stole some of his fries. Or friets, as the server called them.

At this point, Katie and Kell tapped out. With the average ABV ranging somewhere in the double digits, and the wine and homebrew during dinner, we can let it slide.

Westmalle Triple and Malheur 10

Phill and I needed one more each, however. He ordered Malheur 10 and I had a bottle of Westmalle Tripel. Both were tasty, though I liked the Westmalle much more. It’s just a great Trappist ale. I personally didn’t like the label on the Malheur; it reminded me of Summit’s branding, which I’m not a huge fan of either. I’m a huge fan of the Westmalle label. But, since we don’t judge beer by it’s cover…

Anyway, overall the night was a lot of fun. I enjoy The Cheeky Monk, though I don’t go there nearly as often as I go to other beer spots, like Falling Rock, Vine Street, or Rackhouse. It’s pretty pricey, first of all. The mood is a little more toned down than I generally enjoy. It’s the place to go when you want to drink delicious Belgians and nothing else – though they do have Stone Oaked Arrogant Bastard on tap right now – or the place to go for a nice quiet beer date. Overall, it’s absolutely a great place, just not the place to go if you’re on a budget. Check it out at least once for sure. I’d be happy to meet you there for one. Or two..

The Cheeky Monk
534 E. Colfax
Denver, Colorado
thecheekymonk.com

All photos courtesy of Kell Benson unless otherwise noted.

My second night in town, we went to Stone Brewing – aka Disneyland – for some food, beer, and a release party. The release wasn’t for Stone. It was for Firestone Walker 13. Firestone Walker is known for making pales. However, their anniversary brews are dark. Really dark. And absolutely amazing.

Before the bottles of 13 were opened, the individual components that were blended to create the achievement were available on tap. The final blend contained varying proportions of 7 different brews. They include:

• Parabola – Russian Imperial Oatmeal Stout aged in bourbon barrels – 39% of final blend
• Bravo – Imperial Brown Ale, 1/2 aged in bourbon barrels, 1/2 in brandy – 24%
• Velvet Merkin – Traditional Oatmeal Stout aged in bourbon barrels – 15%
• Opal – Wheat Wine aged in rye barrels – 6%
• Rufus – Continental Imperial Amber Ale aged in rye barrels – 6%
• Double Double Barrel Ale – Double English Pale Ale aged in FW union barrels – 6%
• Saucer Full of Secrets – Belgian Strong Ale aged in bourbon barrels – 4%

For more information on this blend, all the work that went into it, and the individual details of each component, visit the Firestone Walker site and download the fact sheet.

We were able to try most of these, individually. Some were amazing at the start, but lacked finish. Some had great body, but not much in the way of kick. Some were just amazing.

Then Dr. Bill opened the 13, and the 12 for comparison. And a Firestone Walker brewer had a bottle of 11 as well.

My world changed this day.

I make beer. I’ve been working on a breakfast stout recipe, trying to get all my flavors into one batch. Trying this masterpiece opened my mind to new possibilities. Rather than trying to balance different flavors and experiences in one recipe, I can make multiple recipes, focus on individual components, and then find the perfect blend to make everything right. I believe this is how world peace will be accomplished.

When we talk about blending beers, there are a few different ideas to come to mind. Ever had a Black & Tan or a Snakebite? What about a Great Divide Yeti mixed with their Wild Raspberry Ale? Michael Agnew wrote a post on many variations of blending two or more beers into a beer cocktail, and there are a lot of creative ideas.

These are blends occurring after commercial packaging. What I’m talking about happens before the beer is packaged. When you open the bottle, the blend is inside.

Many larger brewers blend their beer, and I’m pretty sure all of the macro ones do this. They’ll make 10 batches of their premium light lager, blend them together, and package the result. This helps with consistency across brew days.

I’m not really referring to that either.

I’m talking about art.

Avery and Russian River have a collaborative blend called “Collaboration not Litigation“. The story goes thusly:

Salvation. The name of two intricate Belgian-style ales, created by us, Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing and Adam Avery of Avery Brewing. After becoming friends a few years ago, we realized we both had a Salvation in our lineups. Was it going to be a problem? Should one of us relinquish the name rights? “Hell, no!” we said. In fact, it was quickly decided that we should blend the brews to catch the best qualities of each and create an even more complex and rich libation.

Dogfish Head blends their 90 Minute IPA with an oak-aged English Strong ale to create Burton Baton.

Then there’s Isabelle Proximus. This is essentially the same recipe, brewed on different systems, with house sour yeasts, blended to perfection. It’s a collaboration between Dogfish Head, Lost Abbey, Avery, Allagash, and Russian River. Yes, I just named the heavy hitters. Yes, their owners got together and made beer. Yes, it’s amazing.

I mention it often, but Lost Abbey’s Duck Duck Gooze is also a blend. This one is a blend of young and old barrel aged brews. It allows for some of the fresh tartness of a new brew and the mellow smoothness of an old brew.

If you’ve never had a blended beer, fear not. Blending is very popular in wine. I don’t know very much about wine, but I often see things like “67% Malbec, 33% Syrrah” or something. That might not be an actual combination. But anyway, blending wine is a tried and true tradition. In fact, the brewers at Firestone Walker invite experienced wine blenders (they probably have a sexier title than that) to assist in the anniversary blending.

I plan to have a party when my components are ready. My friends will each get a bottle of each component, a measuring device (shot glass?) and some paper. We’ll try different ratios, and see what happens. You know you want to be there.

Blending is definitely something that is fun, exciting, and opens many new possibilities within the industry. What are some blends you’ve tried, or some crazy blending ideas you’ve thought of?

Personally, I enjoy simplicity, most of the time. A white label with “Good Beer” printed in Arial would sell me.

One reader, “NoiZe”, suggested Rasputin from Brouwerij De Molen. It’s got a lot of information on it. Not much in the way of art, but it’s pretty cool. Also, do you have any idea how hard Rasputin was to kill? Check this out, scroll to the last story for his feats.

This next one is both awesome and.. well.. I wouldn’t call it attractive, but that’s just my personal preference. @ClimberJim brought her to my attention. Olde Frothingslosh, the pale stale ale with the foam on the bottom. She’s a kick back. I’d probably pick her off the shelf, though I might need a beer or 6 first:

Next up we have a label that is just sort of boring, courtesy of @mwmicrobrews. Bell’s Brewery generally has pretty good labels. Sometimes they’re even great. But they missed the mark on the Two Hearted Ale. Not bad, just… meh.

The stone gargoyle of Stone Brewing is one of my favorite beer brands. He’s a badass! I love how at the brewery, they have iron lamp shades that project the demon all over the place. He’s definitely an arrogant bastard.

Left Hand Fade to Black is definitely one of the cooler labels I’ve seen in a while. Definitely not simple. There is a lot going on. But it’s great:

I don’t drink Budweiser. I’ll drink cheap beer, but I don’t drink Bud. I really dislike it. But, they have a pretty patriotic label. And the raised eagle on the glass? Pretty sweet. (The previous words were slightly sarcastic, but not entirely) (Also, Bud is currently owned by an international company, so it’s not really the whole AMERICA, F*** YA! anymore)

Lastly, this one is cheap, tastes like crap, and has a bad label. Win!

What do you think? Leave a comment with some other terrible or amazing labels.

And I’m a homebrewer. I brew really good beer (says me). And I really enjoy brewing.

In my beer exploration adventures, I’ve come to realize that not all beer geeks are homebrewers, and not all homebrewers are beer geeks. Both sides obviously revere good beer, but in different ways. And then there are those who overlap.

So, before I delve into homebrewing, do me a favor and take a poll. I want to see how much geeks and brewers overlap.

Take the poll. Then come back.

Welcome back.

Carboy of a Black Butte Porter clone

For those who already homebrew, feel free to continue reading. Because, you know, I write good.

Homebrewing is a great way to express your love of beer. Many people will tell you it’s cheaper than drinking beer, and that’s why you should homebrew. Honestly, I don’t think those people homebrew. Or, I just spend a lot on the hobby. I guess giving away all my beer all the time might make it cost more. Maybe it is cheap. Who knows.

The joy of homebrewing, for me, comes in creating something that I enjoy. It’s also something you can share with others, both in the creation process and in the final product. It’s a topic of discussion, and something to bond over.

Also, you’re making beer. Beer! How cool is that!?

The initial costs aren’t too extreme. You probably have some equipment at home already. Most people start off making extract batches based on a kit, which are much easier, much faster, and way harder to screw up. It’s a good way to learn the process without worrying about the science and art just yet. Think of Chem101 or something. They don’t teach you how to make cool things blow up until you know how to make them NOT blow up.

32 quart kettle full of wort

One thing you’re generally going to need that most equipment starter kits don’t contain is a kettle that can hold 3 gallons (12 quarts). A 5 gallon kettle is good, because you don’t want 3 gallons of your concoction boiling over a 3 gallon kettle. Equipment starter kits range from around $60 on up. I’ll link you to some online shops, but I highly suggest going to your local homebrew shop. The people there will be an invaluable resource in your homebrewing journey.

Most starter kits should have some or all of the following, with some differences here or there:

• Fermenting vessel (either a glass carboy, Better Bottle, or Ale Pail)
• Air lock / lid for fermenter
• Siphoning tube
• Bottle Capper
• Thermometer
• Hydrometer
• Bottle Filler
• Caps
• Instructions / Book

Some equipment starter  kits:

• Northern Brewer
• Midwest Supplies
• Austin Homebrew

Grains for my Rye Dry Stout

You’ll also need your first batch of ingredients. Definitely start with a kit for this as well. As you start to learn more, you can create your own recipes, but at the start, it’s best to use a kit. There are also a lot of resources online and in books that can help you find a clone of your favorite commercial beer. Maybe there’s a stout you really like, but it needs more chocolate? Find a clone recipe, increase the chocolate, and you’re good to go! All those sites I listed above have recipe kits as well. Again, your local homebrew shop will have all those things as well, and people to explain it all. A basic ingredient kit should run about $25-35. An over hopped imperial IPA all-grain might be closer to $60.

Eventually, you’ll need bottles to package that yummy beer you just made. You have a few options here. One, start saving bottles. This means you have to drink enough beer to save 48-60 bottles. Call some friends. Get on that.

You can also go to your local beer bar or brewery and ask for some bottles. They generally just throw them out, so you might as well put them to a good cause.

You should also get some books. The internet is a wonderful resource, but it’s nice to have a book in the kitchen as a quick reference. I wrote about a few books I have here. There are many more. They make great coffee table books too. “Hey, what are you reading?” “Oh, you know, how to homebrew. I make beer.” It’s a great conversation starter. That’s why I brew.

Kidding.

There are a lot of terms and names for things that won’t make sense at first. Search online or open one of those books you bought. Some things you’ll hear of include kettle, carboy, hydrometer, wort, krausen, sani, and a boatload more.

It’s very possible to brew on your own, but brewing with someone else is much more fun. Invite some people over! Share a previous batch you’ve made, or some good commercial beer if you haven’t made any of your own yet. The rule of thumb is that you must have a homebrew in hand while making homebrew. Don’t break the rule.

There are some great resources online for quick questions, discussion, recipes, etc. What’s your favorite beer? Let’s say it’s Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, just for fun. Google “Young’s Double Chocolate Stout clone recipe” and see what happens. Tons of results!

Here’s just a few resources to get you going. You’ll find more as you go:

• BrewAdvice.com
• HomebrewTalk
• Brew Your Own
• Homebrewer’s Association
• Basic Brewing

As you progress into full obsession, you’ll learn new techniques, acquire more equipment, and generally enjoy life that much better. It will truly become an amazing part of your life. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment here, and I’ll help where I can.

And as you’re sure to hear as you go:

Relax. Don’t Worry. Have a Homebrew.

This past weekend, some friends and I drove to Vail, Colorado, for the Big Beers, Belgians and Barley Wines Festival. After a lazy morning and a stop for some food, we arrived at the 8,150 feet about sea level base village. We had secured a hotel room at the Lionshead Inn on VailOnSale.com (definitely check it out, super cheap rates if you don’t mind booking last minute). The festival was to start at 2:30, so we hopped on the free in town bus and made our way to the Cascade Inn.

I’ve been to a bunch of beer festivals. From as small as the 12 beer Wet Hop Festival at Falling Rock to the enormity that is Great American Beer Fest, I’ve enjoyed my fair share. I had yet to attend the Big Beers fest, even though I lived in Vail for a year. I know, I know. For shame.

We got to the event 15 minutes early. A line was already starting to form, wrapping down some stairs and through the lobby. The clock struck 2:30 – sadly, there were no chimes or bells to ring us in – and we entered our first Big Beers, Belgians and Barley Wines festival.

To the right, Aspen Brewing. To the left, Allagash. Directly ahead, a table of bread and water. Bread. And water. It’s the little things. This table, and the other few scattered around the room, would prove to be the most popular booths after a while.

At this point, I was taking notes of each beer that I sampled. Next year I’ll bring an assistant or something to follow me around and write down what I say. Because there were way too many beers for me to keep track after a while.

With no rhyme or reason, we started to pinball around the festival, trying whatever looked good. Which, of course, was everything.
The room was a good size. Not too big, but bigger than, say, my living room. More like a banquet hall for a decent sized wedding. There were booths along all four walls, and then a rectangular island in the middle with more booths. So pinballing around meant getting a good sample of all that was out there.

After starting the festival with a Shot in the DARK from Aspen, my next stop was Avery. Yes, I live 45 minutes from the brewery. What of it? They brought a ridiculous selection of over 15 beers. My first choice was Moloch. Moloch can have a few meanings, but according to Wikipedia, ”‘Moloch’ can refer derivatively to any person or thing which demands or requires costly sacrifices.”

Good summary. My summary: “Holy Jesus!”

Avery Moloch, termed “big, barrel-aged beer”, is a 50/50 blend of Reverend and Samaels aged in a bourbon barrel “until it was ready to blow your mind…”

Like I said. “Holy Jesus!”

Phill thinks it's good too.

I moved down the row a few booths and grabbed an Allagash Four. Rob Tod was serving. We had a nice chat about how [expletive removed] tired he was after all the awesome skiing, drinking, and general socializing he’d done over the previous few days, especially at 8,000 feet and higher. I totally understood.

The next stop was a few booths back toward Avery, at Dogfish Head. Sam Calagione was serving 8+ ales. Some I’d had, most I’d heard of. I grabbed a Chateau Jiahu.

For your sake, Dear Reader, I won’t get in to every beer I sampled. Just know that there were a lot, and they were generally amazing to incredible. But I will tell you about a few.

We wandered to the other side of the room, where I saw someone I had spoken with via email, but hadn’t yet met: Chad Yakobson. Chad is a brewer at Odell Brewing Company. He also write a blog, or as he calls it, “An open source Masters dissertation from start to finish on Brettanomyces spp. and their use as a primary fermentation yeast.” You can read more at brettanomyces.wordpress.com. The moral of the story is that he loves a sour beer. So do I.

This is a great point to mention that Chad was pouring beer for Odell. Adam Avery was pouring at Avery. Rob Tod was pouring at Allagash. Sam Calagione was pouring at Dogfish Head. Almost every single booth was manned by the brewer, owner, or both. I love GABF and the volunteers do a great job, but this was something special. Every beer was poured by the hand that made it. Define “craft” better than that.

Overall, the festival is absolutely amazing. If you’re able to go next year, I highly, highly advise it. The beer, the people, the town, it all adds up to the best beer festival I’ve been to.

If you want to read more of this story, head over to my personal blog for Event Recap: Vail Big Beers, Belgians and Barley Wines 2010, Part II.

I’d like to thank Laura and Bill of Highpoint Brewing for setting up the event. Also, Kell Benson and Phill Tearse took some wonderful photos. You can see more of their shots in this slideshow, or their individual Flickr pages: Kell Benson’s Flickr – Phill Tearse’s Flickr

Wednesday night, after work, I went to Rackhouse Pub. It was a snowy night, which I enjoy. Sadly, the rest of Denver sees snow as a stop sign every thirteen feet, so it took a while to get there. Anyway.

Rackhouse is part of the new Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey building. Stranahan’s used to be downtown, next to Flying Dog and Blake Street Tavern. Now the building is located near the corner of Santa Fe and Alameda (208 S. Kalamath, to be exact).

My first visit to Rackhouse was for the Movember party. It was after a stop at Falling Rock for their Life & Limb release, and before a few other stops, so I didn’t get a good taste of the place.

My second visit to Rackhouse was for dinner after a day of skiing. It made me want to visit again.

My third visit was Wednesday night.

I realize that I generally leave pretty good reviews. I like to go to good places. Sorry for the eternal optimism. This review sticks to that trend.

Twenty or so beers on tap. All Colorado craft. Craft whiskey. Craft vodka. Craft gin. Craft tequila. Amazing food. It’s a good place.

My buddy Taylor and I got there around 6pm, which falls within happy hour. That means $1 off all beers, Stranahan’s whiskey, and probably something else. Not wine. They don’t have wine. We both ordered a 10 oz glass of New Belgium La Folie. During happy hour, that comes to $3 a person. Seriously. La Folie. On Tap. $3. I think it was served a little too cold. But the nice thing about a beer that’s too cold is that it warms up. Too warm, you’re sort of stuck with it.

Taylor decided that a beer wasn’t enough, so he ordered a glass of Stranahan’s Whiskey, which was served with a glass of ice on the side. They know how to serve whiskey.

We ordered some food to tide us over. I had the hot bean dip, and Taylor ordered the white bean chili. Normal offerings. But they truly outdo themselves, even on something as simple as bean dip. Food comes in measuring cups and other things you’d fine in an average home kitchen. It’s pretty cool. At one point, after sweating a little from the chili, Johnny Cash comes on the jukebox. Taylor was overwhelmed:

Wait. Wait. I can drink La Folie. I can drink whiskey. Craft whiskey. I can eat white bean chili. Hot chili. And cornbread. And listen to Johnny Cash. All in the same bar? I’m ok with that.

When we got to the bar, I had sent a picture of the beer list to the Twitter. Three different people all suggested I have the Twisted Pine Oak Whiskey Red. Sadly, they were out of it. So I ordered a Flying Dog Raging Bitch. Sort of a hard beer to find, considering it wasn’t really released in town until the next day. What a great Belgian IPA! Raging Bitch was the only non local beer on tap. And Flying Dog used to be local – next door to the old distillery, in fact – so we’ll let it go.

Taylor ordered an Odell Mountain Standard. Also a great choice. He probably should have ordered it with the chili. I think it would have paired with it wonderfully. But by that point, the chili was all gone. Too tasty!

The bar was pretty empty this night. With the weather, and it being a Wednesday, people just weren’t up for going out. Rackhouse has an interesting location, which might inhibit some visitors. If you don’t live in the heart of Denver, then Rackhouse is in an awesome location. It’s right off I-25, Santa Fe, and Alameda, and super close to Broadway, 6th, the light rail, and other main thoroughfares. However, if you live in Capitol Hill, downtown, or other relatively close neighborhoods, it’s not quite close enough to walk. It’s really not that hard to get to, but it’s a little out of the way if you’re planning on having a few drinks. Parking isn’t a problem. I’d definitely suggest having someone pick you up if you plan to truly enjoy the bar.

On that note… two more friends showed up around this point. Phill, a friend from college, and Bess, of Total Bev. You know, the one who forced a shopping cart on me at the awesome liquor store. Ya, her.

Phil ordered a Left Hand Milk Stout on nitro. Bess had the Dry Dock Apricot. Taylor also had the Milk Stout.

And I had some Stranahan’s Snowflake Whiskey. As the extremely knowledgeable bartender explained to me, Stranahan’s takes some of their aged whiskey, and ages it further in various types of wine barrels. They use anything from port to table wine. The variety I tried was from a cab franc barrel. I don’t know wine at all, but as she described it, there were hints of pepper, and other stuff. I heard pepper and decided it was for me. Definitely a good choice. I like whiskey, and I love Stranahan’s whiskey. This was definitely a great variety of it.

And they call it Snowflake because no two bottles are the same.

Have you ever had this thing called mac and cheese? It’s remarkable. Bess ordered it. I’ve had something with a similar name out of a blue box. You add milk and stuff and it’s tasty. The kind they make at Rackhouse Pub is absolutely out of this world. What I mean to say is, you should probably try it. She also had the Rogue Hazelnut Rum, which sort of blew my mind.

By this point we had moved from the bar to a table, as our group was growing. The beer menu at the table, while carrying the same time stamp as the one at the bar, had different beers listed. This was confusing at first, but then just added more variety to the options. That being said, I had a Crabtree Oatmeal Stout. Phill had another Milk Stout.

Then the jazz band started. Mind you, there were two occupied tables on this snowy night. But the band must go on. They were pretty decent. The drummer made our night though. I don’t even know how to describe him. He would literally sound out the noises he wanted his drums to make as he played. It looked like he was telling a joke to himself, or yelling at a small child, depending on the song. I honestly couldn’t watch for very long. I was laughing too hard.

With this new music and new menu and whatnot, I decided to be adventurous and try the only Denver brewery I hadn’t yet tried in my time living here: Del Norte. They had the Mañana on tap. The bartender was aware of our beer geekiness by this point, and was honest when I asked her how it was. Her exact words escape me, but it was something to the effect of “you won’t like it.”

She was right.

We had a 3 oz sampler. Three of us tasted it, and couldn’t finish the sampler. I’m sorry, I really like trying new beer, and I really like brewers who try new things. But this beer was genuinely not good. It was like a cheap mexican lager version of Fat Tire.

We finished the night with a Breckenridge Christmas Ale. I’ve said before my feelings on Breckenridge beers. Allowing for that bias, I think the beer was pretty good. Not great, nothing special, but good.

Hot Za - Photo courtesy of Adam P. on Yelp

We didn’t eat much food, obviously, but from what I’ve had before and from what I’ve heard from others’ experiences, the food is top notch. It’s still normal bar food in the end, but it’s far and above the normal greasy bar food you get at most places in town. And the pizza is amazing. They have a pizza of the day every day. Yesterday’s? 12 hour tomato, Artichoke, Goat’s Cheese, Mozz, Tomato Sauce, Herbs. And Avery New World Porter was beer of the day.

Rackhouse Pub also has events, and they plan to have more and more. Thursdays you can find Geeks Who Drink, hosted by none other than Erica, aka RedHeadWriting. Other nights there is live music, parties, etc.

I highly suggest you check the place out. The food, the beer, the liquor, the atmosphere, and the people are all sure to make you a jolly good fellow. (See what I did there? Tying the title back into it? I know, literary awesomeness. It makes more sense if you listened to the song.)

Rackhouse Pub is located at 208 South Kalamath in Denver, Colorado. You can find them online at rackhousepub.com, and follow them on Twitter at @rackhousepub.