Required by Law to Drink Stronger Beer?

BeerTapTV pointed me towards an interesting article that was recently published in The Denver Post concerning new laws that just might affect your drinking habits when you go to the pub/bar in the future. You may be well aware of what is commonly called the 3.2 law where beer above 3.2% alcohol cannot be sold in food stores or corner stores. Well, also a law has been in place that prohibits drinking establishments to sell beer these 3.2% beers, although this  has never really been regulated. All that is about to change as "convenience store advocates and their allies in the legislature amended a bill last spring that now requires the state to enforce license restrictions to a T."

The corner store advocates are tired of being bullied into selling only the 3.2% beers and want to have more options available at their shops. Liquor store owners don't like this idea as

Beer Review: Trinity Brewing Chilly Water Baltic Porter

Today I decided to stop in to Trinity Brewing to try their new Chilly Water Baltic Porter. I missed the opening and I had a few phone calls I had to make to talk about upcoming beer projects, so I thought this would make a nice backdrop for the conversation.

Baltic Porters are unique in that they aren't actually ales, they are bottom-fermenting lagers, fermented colder than ales. I had the Great Divide Smoked Baltic Porter just the other day, on Thanksgiving, paired with my dessert so I have this style on the brain right now. I was surprised that there were huge differences between the GD version and Trinity's version, and to be quite honest, the Trinity version won my heart. The beer pours deep, deep, black with a beautiful foamy dark tan head. The smell is of very dark chocolate and a heavy roast and something I'm not too familiar with, I'm guessing it's the special wood the beer was aged on. I've never tasted a beer with this specific wood, they call it Cauchalalate, a rare wood from Mexico. It definitely adds a lot of flavor, which I'll get into momentarily. The texture is smooth and finishes semi-dry. The taste is bittersweet and much earthier than I expected. The dark chocolate presence is definitely there, there is a little smokiness, some coffee-ish flavors and the wood provides a really warm and round light-vanilla taste that reminds me of what you get when beer is aged on oak, but deeper and "dirtier" than that. Not sure how else to explain it. The aftertaste lingers for a nice long time. It's at 8.5% but that sneaks up on you because it drinks lighter than that. It's really a well-balanced beer and everything about it is exciting. I'm used to these beers having dark fruit tastes, which is great, but this one is really unique. This beer is absolutely amazing, and I'm really looking forward to trying it again.

Another Busy Beer Week

Little did I know when I started this blog that I would almost never have a day off from drinking. There are a number of great looking events this week, followed by double the amount of events next week. The calendar on the left column can give you more detail and help you plan further ahead of time if you're interested. So, let's see what we've got coming up:

MONDAY NOV. 29th 
BJ's Beer Tasting and Dinner - 7pm - RSVP
BJ's Restaurant Brewhouse will host a 5 course beer dinner of delicious BJ's food paired with the finest locally brewed beers from, you guessed it, Bristol Brewing Company. $30/person. Call 268-0505 for reservations. BJ's is located at 5150 North Nevada Avenue, Colorado Springs

Interview for Beer Blogger's Conference

Nearly a month ago I attended the first annual Beer Blogger's Conference in Boulder, Colorado. I currently operate another beer blog at beerandscifi.com, which is often about the sociological aspects of drinking, but since moving to Colorado I have been wanting to "focus" more on the craft beer in the specific area that I moved to. I wanted to create a blog that would have interviews with local brewers, list all upcoming events, do local beer reviews and more. Below is a little teaser of the interview, but you really should check out the Beer Blogger's Conference Website to see the whole thing:

I really like the new angle on local beer at Focus on the Beer and am curious – did this come out of an idea from the conference?
 
In a way it did come out of the conference. I’ve been struggling for about a year now with my older blog beerandscifi, trying to rethink my goals with it. When I moved to Colorado 3 months ago I could see that the area needed something that was a little more like Brewpublic. I’m friends with Angelo but after spending 3 days with him I was inspired, and then after being at the conference I was also really inspired. I’ve made 6 blog posts in one week on both blogs, I finally got the energy and “balls” to just start the thing, and I have ideas streaming into my head every day. The conference was a huge inspiration for me...

What do you do for a living and why are you currently in Colorado Springs?

I moved to Colorado Springs for a teaching job at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. I’m teaching entry level art classes, as well as a few other classes like “Art and Social Practice” where I concentrate on how contemporary artists think about community and engage the public, or how artists use food and drink as their artwork...

To read the whole interview, visit the Beer Blogger's Conference website.

Two Upcoming Beer Events at The Warehouse

There are two good looking beer events coming up in Colorado Springs that look to be organized by Coaltrain's Wine/Liquor/Beer shop and both take place at The Warehouse restaurant. They are listed below.

1. Sour Beer Tasting
Dec. 1 /// 6:30pm
$40 /// RSVP to Coaltrain's is Necessary

This is our third installment of the sour beer tasting. I was just digging through my secret stash of cellar beers and sours, and I discovered a handful of special brews I forgot I was saving. These were earmarked for the next sour tasting, and that is now! Please join us on Wednesday, December 1st at 6:30 at The Warehouse to taste 12 deliciously sour beers. The beers will range from slightly sour to mouth puckering monsters. Some with fruit added, and some that will take you back to your days cleaning out the horse stalls at Grandpa's farm.

Nick Hilborn of Rocky Mountain Brewery

The other day I had my first couple beers from Rocky Mountain Brewery. They pretty much knocked my socks off as they didn't seem to necessarily stay true to any given style, but were really experimental. I love experimental beers. After looking into RMB more, I saw they currently have S'mores beer on tap and were about to release something called "Cranberry Sauce." At the All Colorado Beer Festival they won the people's vote for the Favorite Brewer Award. I thought I'd better get in touch with the brewer and ask some questions. So, below is an interview with Nick Hilborn, the head brewer:

I noticed that a number of your beers don't necessarily pertain to any given style, and they seem really experimental, is this something you do on a normal basis? Can you tell me a little about what inspires you to make beer like this?

We are all homebrewers. Before ever getting close to large scale brewing all of us that work here, and volunteer here, brew homebrew for ourselves. We brew beers to taste

Beer Week in Review

On Wednesday I headed to Trinity Brewing for the Avery Tapping. I went with a friend who was visiting from Portland, Oregon. We tried the DuganA and the Fumator. The DuganA is a nicely balanced double IPA, pulling slightly more toward bitter than malty. It's a beautiful beer. The Fumator was really a different and complex beer. It turns out to be a heavily smoked beer with some major roasted, even burnt notes, and the taste of sweetness, whiskey, brandy, and cigar and oak. This beer was truly unique.

After Trinity closed it's doors we headed to Brewer's Republic because we weren't ready to call it a night. I heard about this place on Twitter and the owner happened to be working that night. It turns out this place

Beer Pairings for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is less than a week away. I love Thanksgiving for the food but have generally never been able to find a wine that goes well with the dinner. I converted to trying out beer with dinner so I'll share some of my thoughts with you, using beer you should be able to pick up in Colorado Springs. If you're in the Pikes Peak Region, but not the Springs, take some of my ideas and work with the offerings at your local brewery. Even if you're in the Springs, you'll have to either visit Coaltrain's, the Springs Liquor Outlet, or another place that carries good beer. Or visit the brewery to pick up a growler (64oz) of beer.

I think many people choose to bring wine to the Thanksgiving Dinner because family has gathered together and wine has the appearance of being a bit more classy, well, it is when you compare it to the 3.2% beers you buy in the grocery store. But good beer can offer a complexity and flavor palate that far surpasses anything that wine can offer, and it can be presented in an elegant way as well. If you don't have snifter glasses, just pour the beer into a wine glass.

Pre-Dinner Beer:
If you're the average household during Thanksgiving, the guys are all watching TV in the

Busy Beer Week in Colorado Springs

The rest of the week is going to be pretty busy in the beer world in Colorado Springs. I hope to make it to a number of these events and to post a review of the week, but we'll see, it'll be a lot of hard work! The events all rotate between Bristol and Trinity Brewing. There's also a Brewer's Dinner at Eddyline in Buena Vista tonight, so if you're in the area, you need to call them to confirm they have room for you. Okay, here we go:

Wednesday
Over at Trinity on Wednesday Night you will be able to to find four special release Avery Beers. Avery, being from Boulder, isn't too far away, but some of their specialty beers are limited to their own tasting room and/or a few select bars in Boulder and Denver...and their beers are extraordinary. There's no word yet on what beer will be available but I have a hope that we will see Rumpkin Ale, a pumpkin beer aged in Gosling Rum barrels. (Update, Trinity is tapping Fumator (exclusive), Hog Heaven, DuganA, and Czar). I was at Avery just 2 weeks ago and they had 22 beers on tap,

He Said/She Said: Twisted Pine's Hoppy Knight Beer Review

Welcome to the first He Said/She Said Beer Review. The goals of He Said/She said are to have a beer reviewed by both a male and a female. For the first few, I may be reviewing them with family or friends, but I hope eventually to have local beer people doing the He Said/She Said reviews. Occasionally we'll have someone who doesn't drink a lot of craft beer, sometimes we'll have someone who only buys craft beer, and sometimes we'll have major beer nerds. It will hopefully be a good mix of different ideas. I hope you enjoy the format, and if you want to do a review, please get in touch.

Tonight's Beer:
For tonight's review we are tasting Twisted Pine's Hoppy Knight, classified as a Black IPA, or a Cascadian Dark Ale, if they used Pacific NW hops. Twisted Pine is located in Boulder, CO and their beer should be available in Colorado Springs at Coaltrain's or at Spring's Liquor Outlet. These both should carry Twisted Pine beers, so maybe try calling them to see if they've got Hoppy Knight.

SHE:
For tonight, "She" is Stephanie, living in Colorado Springs. She does not consider herself a beer nerd at all. She loves wine, and when she drinks beer she prefers Lagers, Hefs, Blonde's,

Rock Bottom and Gordon Biersch Merge

The big news of the day is that both Rock Bottom and Gordon Beirsch changes are merging together to become CraftWorks Restaurants and Breweries. It looks as if both companies will retain their brand, so the Rock Bottom of Colorado Springs will still be Rock Bottom, if I'm understanding this correctly. CraftWorks, which also owns Old Chicago will now be in operation of almost 200 brewpubs throughout the United States. There are no plans for rebranding or closing any operations at this point in time. I'm not sure what this will mean for the Rock Bottom in Colorado Springs, but I hope that we will still be seeing the seasonals and specials that make this brewery a great part of our city. Hopefully the brewers will not be limited in any way.

Here is the press release:

Centerbridge Capital Partners, L.P. and its related entities (“Centerbridge”), formed CraftWorks

Bierwerks Hosts Homebrew Christmas Beer Competition

Bierwerks Brewery in Woodland Park is hosting Holiday Cheer Christmas Beer Homebrew Competition, which is sanctioned by the American Homebrewers Association. Entries will be accepted for one category only: 21.B, (Spice, Herb and Vegetable) Christmas/Winter Specialty Spiced Beer.

Deadline: Dec. 7 with brewer's party to follow on Dec. 11

Details:
This contest is open to all amateur brewers. Two (2) bottles of your beer must be submitted along with the completed entry form and a $5 entry fee.

TRiNiTY & Black Fox Beer Updates

1. TRiNiTY Brewing - Black Porter for Black Friday
November 26th: Chilly Water Baltic Porter Release

What isn't always known about Baltic Porter's is that the style is not an ale, it's made with a bottom-fermenting lager yeast. Not very many breweries in the United States make this style, in fact the only popular ones that I can think of include the Alaskan Brewing (I'm not sure if this is a lager though) and Great Divide Baltic Porter. Typically these beers are brewed stronger with higher IBU's but the bitter hop quality is less present than you might expect.
These beers also have a higher degree of complexity than their porter-families, often with some smokiness present, aromas and flavors can include dark fruits, chocolate, and more.

Eddyline Brewery Releases New Logos for Canned Beer

Eddyline Brewery in Buena Vista, Colorado announced early this morning that they are expanding and are moving their brewing operations to a new location sometime early next year. They decided they will be canning their beer, and I assume this is part of their commitment to being as green as possible. I'm not certain they will be shipping their beer, because in their green-commitment-statement to being green they say that they don't ship their beer.* However canning beer helps