Total Beverage Beer of the Month (May)

      Today I picked up my Total Beverage Beer of the Month mix six pack, which was free... best gift from my mom ever.  Total Beverage has an awesome program where they select 6 beers that relate to the month and give you tasting notes on each beer.  This month the beers included: Blanche De Bruxelles Wit Beer (Belgium), Karma (Avery), Somersault (New Belgium Brewing), Mexican Logger (Ska Brewing), Saison (Tommy Knocker), and last but not least TBA (Bear Rupublic/Fat Heads/Stone).  I was so excited for this last one that I opened it the second I got home and it was fantastic (check out my review).  I would highly recommend the Beer of the Month program to anyone who is starting to explore more beer but doesn't always know what to pick out in the liquor store.  The beers are picked by what is apparent to be "beer geeks" having something that everyone can appreciate in each six pack.  The awesome beer selection over the past few months makes it clear that they KNOW their beer and want you to know it too.  

Prost!

Bear Republic/ Fat Head's/Stone TBA Collaboration Brew

Background: The TBA Collaboration Ale is and ale created by 3 awesome west coast breweries including probably the most popular Stone Brewing Co.  These breweries have successfully crafted a wonderful brown ale infused with molasses and brown sugar.  This beer clocks in at 7.1% alcohol.



Appearance:  Rich amber/brown color, great head retention and color (light brown)

Aroma:  malty, molasses, slight hops and earthy smells

Taste:  pine, rich brown sugar/molasses flavors are very prominent and mix wonderfully with the pine/earthy notes hidden within the hops and exudes an almost floral after taste.

Mouthfeel:  great head retention provides a wonderful burst of CO2 with every sip, smooth and slightly dry.

Overall:  This is a good solid beer that resonates well on a hot day.  The balance of hops and malt is almost prefect allowing the drinker to enjoy wonderful dark malts/molasses and pine ridden hops.  This beer is prefect for a mellow summer day.  I will most defiantly be buying this beer again!

Ratebeer: 96
Beer Advocate: 85
My Rating: 85

Pond Hopper Collaboration Brew

This beer accents what I believe to be one of the most attractive parts of working in the brewing industry.  Not only is this a collaboration brew between two breweries but the breweries are actually located in two different countries. Thornbridge brewing is located in the UK and Odell brewing is located in good old Colorado.  Pond Hopper, which clocks in around 9%, is double pale ale using ingredients from the UK (malt) and the US (hops) and even some galaxy hops grown in Australia (to honor production manager and head brewer Caolan Vaughan of Thornbridge Brewery).  This beer will be landing in June and is bound to make a respectable splash.

Click Here to listen to Doug Odell and Caolan Vaughan talk about this brew.

Cheers!

Big Choice Brewing

GRAND OPENING MAY 4, 5, and 6

Broomfield brewery opens this weekend!!  For information the many festivties they have in store check out there facebook event at Big Choice Brewing Opening Weekend! I know next to no one reads this blog but I still wanted to give a shout out to Big Choice Brewery.  Good luck on your opening weekend and I will hopefully see you there.  Best of luck!

And many cheers!

Overdue Blog Update!

Recently I have been so busy I have felt like I have had no time at all to post or review any beers!  So here is a quick update:  

A.   I got a free 6 month subscription to Total Beverages "Beer of the Month Club" where every month I get a six pack of beers that represent the season and they even give you tasting notes on the beers. (I still look the beers up on rate beer and beer advocate though... I just cant help it, its habit)  

B. I tasted new beer...                          

Crab Tree Eclipse Black IPA

Ratebeer: 57

Beer Advocate: N/A

My rating: 72

    

Odell Shenanigan's

Ratebeer: 56

Beer Advocate: 86

My rating: 86

Dry Dock Seasonal Tripel

Ratebeer: not listed

Beer Advocate: N/A

My rating: 83

C.  Made a grapefruit pale ale which in the car boy looks remarkably similar to a raw meat.  However, I am confident it will taste great when all is said and done.  I used a recipe from Colin Wescott of Equinox Brewing called Citra Pale Ale and added grapefruit and of course lots of love.  I will let you know how this beer turns out... Now here is a disturbingly wonderful picture.

D.  Last and defiantly not last.  I would like to send a shout out to RedHook who recently lost an employee due to injuries from a exploding keg.  Our thoughts, prayers, and condolences are with you.

Cheers and may we all appreciate the time (and beer) we have, while we still have it.  

The Cheeky Monk

     On my way to the Cheeky Monk in Westminster Colorado I could not stopping thinking about the wonders of being a monk that brews beer.  And while I will never be one, I can enjoy a brewing style that was passed down for generations and are some of the oldest styles of beer that exist today.  The Cheeky Monk had everything from bottle to draft, offering a wide selection of authentic Belgian ales. With so many great beers to choose from I left the decision of what beer I should try to a friend who is a Cheeky Monk regular.  She quickly recommended the Kasteel Rouge and I was pleasantly surprised.  The beer had a wonderful dark cherry and oak flavors that made your mouth almost pucker while at the same time exerting a sweet flavor onto your tongue.  This style of beer went great with the Reuben I ordered and I would recommend with almost any food (like a savory steak!). 

     The glass had a tiny castle on the bottom of the stem that started me thinking about the origins of the beer.  So when I got home I did some research and found out that the Kasteel brewery has a very cool history.  It started as a castle that was built on a burned down monastery in around 1075 and since then the castle has been used as a everything from military stronghold to luxury residency and most recently a brewery that the current owners started in 1900.  

     The awesome history that is behind some of these Belgian breweries and beers adds a depth that is almost impossible to find in the current US beer scene.  Their have been some attempts at it such as MillerCoors release of Batch 19 that was an old recipe brewed in the original Coors plant pre-prohibition, however, I feel the history in Belgian beers is unrivaled. All in all, I would highly recommend the Cheeky Monk to anyone who is looking for good food and a great selection of Belgian beers.  

Cheers!

Denver Beer Company

      What a wonderful day for a beer.  As we sat outside the one of Denver's new breweries we were surrounded by a large assortment of people and of dogs.   Everything from little "yippy" dogs to large drooling St Bernard's.  There had been a pretty consistent wind all day but that was far from affecting Denver Beer Co, they were still packed inside and out.  Sure enough, the beer spoke for the crowd,  there was everything from Hefeweizen to a Graham Cracker Porter and all the beers were wonderful.  My favorite was the Hefewiezen it had an amazing balance of clove and banana flavors with a slight overall background fruitiness that gave this beer a "bubblegum",  yes bubblegum type flavor.  I know that may sound like an unusual flavor but it did an amazing job in complementing the beers style.
      Not only does this brewery make great beer but it has only ever repeated a few of its recipes so you are almost always guaranteed to find something new on tap that has never been released before and might never be released again.  I wholeheartedly agree with this philosophy and think that it is a great way to keep things new and interesting.  Denver Beer Co also (as many small breweries do now) have weekly concerts, food carts, and many other awesome events.  For instance coming up the brewery will be supporting a Denver Bike Day by having bikers who stop by the brewery actually grind the grain for their brew using a bike powered mill!  Super awesome... Anyway, this brewery was fun, upbeat, and wholly delicious.