Walking to Pubs and Beer Shops

This is a bit of a rambling about how people get along in cars here and how local pubs could play a role in making the city more pedestrian friendly, however the thoughts aren't fully put together in any kind of real thesis. This was basically a free-write of my thoughts. I also want to say that even though I mention Portland, Oregon a lot I don't think Colorado Springs should become like Portland, that's not what I'm trying to say, but my experiences there have made me think about the way other cities organize their space.

According to Google Maps when I lived in Portland I lived a 10 minute walk away from the shop where I usually bought my beer. Now, if I was feeling like getting something really special, I would walk a total of 45 minutes to Belmont Station, a specialty beer shop. Well actually, half the time I would do the 45 minute walk, the other half the time I would drive. In Colorado Springs I live exactly a 20 minute walk from Coaltrain Liquors but I have never walked there, I've only driven. I value walking, and try to do it as much as I can, in fact I've been walking an hour and a half to work a couple times a week now that it started getting hotter out. But, what is it about this 1 mile, this 20 minutes of walking that I've never been able to muster up the energy to walk my way down to Coaltrain? It must have something to do with the city planning of this city?

City planning, that's all I can really boil it down to. In Portland, I was used to walking by loads of other pedestrians and bicyclists on my way to the shop and so not only was it encouraging to walk, it was also socially friendly and fun to do so. Here, I don't walk by one single store on my way to Coaltrain's, except for the 7-11, which is about 100 feet away. One whole mile and not a single store or shop! That's crazy. This city does not foster a walking mentality; the organization of the city itself does not lend itself to being outside and taking a stroll. Someone once commented on this blog that They were proud because this state is not overtaken by big box stores and that there are a lot of small independent stores. Sure, in clusters this is so, but there are 3 Walmarts in the city limits, and a whole bunch that are in nearby towns. This city was built with cars in mind, but I wish it was different. People are made to drive here, there's no way around it, and even when you're as little as one mile from your local beer shop you still feel compelled to drive because there's not a whole lot of good city planning or friendly faces or friendly-kind drivers along the way.

Generally, I feel like people in cars are out to get me. As I step onto the street I hear people put the petal to the metal rather than slowing down for me to cross the street. I get honked at and I see people visibly angry when they are slowed down by my presence, even if I'm crossing the street and I have a cross signal. The world was made for walking in, not driving on, but people can't seem to figure that out. If you pay attention, you will notice that people often frantically jog or run across crosswalks here in order to not slow down other cars. What's wrong with strolling through the crosswalk and letting them wait an extra five seconds? This fear for your life is something that often deters me from wanting to take some of the simplest and shortest of walks.

I can say that when I go to Brewer's Republic, my local and regular watering hole, I walk 17 minutes there and 17 minutes back. It's a bit of a nuisance to have to walk that long just to go have a couple pints but I suppose it's better than what most people in this city can say about their local pub. But in actuality I don't mind walking to Brewer's, it must be that along the way I'm basically heading through downtown and there are usually a few other people walking around, there are shops to look at, and interesting things going on along the way. Also, another reason is that I don't want to drink and drive. It's only 17 minutes of my life each way.

I prefer to walk over taking my bike because the roads feel very dangerous on my bike. I've had smart asses who think it's funny to honk and speed by me at high speeds while getting as close to me as possible, I've been run off the road, I've been yelled at and I've had things thrown at me while I'm riding my bike. What's people's deal?

This city needs to foster a better pedestrian and bicycle friendly attitude, encouraging people to be outside of their cars, encouraging people to not be so damn angry in their cars. I think the city needs to have more neighborhood centric pubs so that people won't be driving across town to drink with friends and then drive home afterward. Everyone who lives in the city limits really should have a pub within walking distance from their house.



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Some Liquor Stores Don't Realize What They're Holding On To

On Easter a group of friends got together and one friend, Keaton Ward, brought a couple bottles of the Bristol Brewing XXX Warlock. I was immediately thrilled, but what's crazy is the story on how he got these beers. He said that on his way to the party he stopped at a liquor store, one on Centennial, and there were three of these bottles tucked away on a shelf in the corner. Each bottle was $13. What!? How does this sort of thing happen? The beer was brewed in 2003 and aged for 3 years before it was bottled in 2006. That means the beer has been sitting in the bottle for 5 years. There's no way these bottles have been sitting on the shelf that long right? The store workers must have found them in a box and just recently put them on the shelf right? He bought all three and is saving one for himself. Well needless to say we all had a hand in sampling this beer, and we were all honored to be able to try it.

The beer was fantastic, reminding me of how great it is to try beers like Deschutes Abyss or the Harviestoun Ola Dubh 30 Year. Just wonderful. It poured almost black, really syrupy, with a thin dark tan head. The aroma was sharp with whiskey and oak, but balanced very nicely. The flavor was of vanilla, oak, whiskey, I could almost taste the 18.4% alcohol but it didn't burn or anything. Lots of chocolate, caramel, some roast but mostly sweet, and lots and lots of molasses. Plenty of complexity and richness, a real contemplative beer. The beer was at 80 IBU's and did indeed have a bitter finish after all these years.

To say the least, this beer was a real treat, by far the best Bristol beer I've had. Be on the lookout for it, apparently people don't know what they're selling.


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Latest News from the Beer Blogosphere

* Updated
It's been a while since I posted updates from around the beer blogosphere but regardless, here is some of the latest news, headlines, and topics that I've found interesting. Of course, there are others, such as the sale of Goose Island to Anheiser Busch, and how the brewer of Goose Island was found pissing into pint glasses at a Chicago Bar, and then there's the sale of Iron City Brewing as well...but we've heard about that stuff right?

Beerless Royal Wedding
In Britain there's a wedding coming up for the royal family. Numerous breweries have created beer in honor of the wedding, including BrewDog who supposedly created a beer with Viagra creating a pun with the name Prince Willy (I seriously doubt this is real, and the post seems to be removed from the BrewDog site). However this post just came out saying that it's not appropriate to serve beer at the royal wedding. Here's an unhappy response from Scottish beer blogger Robbie Pickering. Here's a less angry response from Alan McLeod, and then an angry response from Jeff Alworth.

* Update - According to the Brookston blog, BrewDog will have 1000 of their Viagra beers available...

Denver Off The Wagon
For all you readers in Colorado, I wanted to point you to the beer blog called Denver Off the Wagon. I'm not sure if the blog is new or not but I discovered it about 2 months or so ago. They've got a lot of people writing for them and are pulling together lots of great info about beer around Denver.

Millet
Colorado state agriculture officials are promoting the use of millet to Colorado brewers. There is some hope that millet will become a big industry in the state. Eddyline Brewing is one of many breweries that will try out millet beers and we will talk to them about it soon.

Money Lending Breweries
Sam Adams has a money lending program to those who are starting new breweries. Not sure when the Sam Adams venture was started but, you know what, New Belgium does this as well, for non-profit organizations who's ideologies align with theirs..

Non Profit Pub
Oregon Public House, possibly the world's first non-profit pub (but certainly not the last if I have anything to do with it...yes I want to start a non-profit pub someday) was recently featured on NPR.

All-In-One Homebrewing Machine
A controversial all-in-one homebrewing machine, called the WilliamsWarn has been tested out in New Zealand. The machine is expensive, you buy their malt extract, push a few buttons each day, and within 7 days you have a beer. I'm not sure how much you learn about beer by doing it, but it's being marketed to people who don't have time or who need homebrewing to be easier than before. Pretty interesting conversations if you follow the link.

Colorado Senate Bill
Colorado Senate Bill 194 was killed last week. The bill was similar to HB1284, which we discussed at length on this blog but the SB194 had much less of a chance after the House Bill was demolished.

Distillers
Peach Street Distillers, the sister company to Ska Brewing, won five gold medals at the Craft Distillers Conference in Portland, Oregon. I've never had any of their spirits but I look forward to it.


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Get Your Homebrew on at Rocky Mountain Brewing

It's been a while since we heard from Rocky Mountain Brewery but we haven't forgotten about them! After all, we're planning Beers Made By Walking with them and one of FotB's favorite people is Grant Goodwiler, one of the RMB brewers.

Anyway, Rocky Mountain Brewing will help Colorado Springs celebrate National Homebrew Day (May 7th) in one of the most fantastic ways imaginable...a giant slew of homebrewers all brewing together! FotB will be heading to the eastern part of town and we'll set up at least one homebrewing station along with many other homebrewers. Anyone and everyone who homebrews, no matter what level you're at, is welcome to participate in this event. Bring your equipment and your ingredients, Rocky Mountain will provide your cold and hot water. It's going to be one big huge potluck of homebrewing, everyone brewing all at the same time. Bring some of your beers too because at 10am there's going to be a nationwide toast to homebrewing! If you don't brew, come along anyway, there will be plenty of stuff to drink and people to talk to/watch.

Big Brew Event
Sat. May 7th, starting at 9:30am
Rocky Mountain Brewing is located at 625 Paonia St. Colorado Springs, CO.
Big Brew FB event page

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Ladies Night at Focus on the Beer

One of our fellow beer bloggers, The Beer Wench, has just posted the 2011 most eligible bachelors of craft beer. The person must work for a craft brewery and not be married. Judging was based on industry talent, personality, and appearance. I personally would have added facial hair as a judging category, but what do I know. I thought I'd give a shout out to the local Front Range bachelors who made the cut. 6 out of 20 ain't bad, and our own homeboy, Jason "Saison Man" Yester, made the cut. If facial hair was considered, he would have been top 5 for sure!

#18 Mr. Chad Melis

Marketing Director, Oskar Blues

#16 Mr. Eric Salazar

Brewer, New Belgium Brewing Company

Saison Fest 2011 Image Recap - Part 2

Saturday marked the annual Saison Festival held at Trinity Brewing. Jason Yester and Trinity organize this festival, bringing in beers from all over Colorado and a few from out of state as well. Most of the breweries brought special beers that we probably won't get to see again, and many others brought their fantastic flagship saisons. Many of the breweries haven't seen distribution down to Colorado Springs yet, so this was a real treat. As I've mentioned in previous posts, Saisons are one of my favorite styles because they lend themselves to experimentation and a vast use of ingredients that are complemented by the style. Our Focus on the Beer photographer, Dan Flanders, shot almost all of these great photos. He also made a video (at the bottom of this post), if you haven't seen it yet, you need to check it out. Isaac Grindeland and myself, Eric Steen, took notes on the beers we sampled and tried to come up with a list of favorites, as well as our favorite straight saison of the day. So, we're going to talk about our favorites, we're going to talk about Crooked Stave, and we'll also talk about the version of Buddha Nuvo that we sampled.

We were all given these very large and beautiful Trinity goblets. A lot of the pours were a hefty 6oz or more so to be totally honest we didn't make it through every beer. I tried, but the pours were so large that it just wasn't possible to hit them all and be responsible adults :) The glass was a wonderful take-away gift but I also thought it was perfect because Saisons tend to have tall heads of foam and you need to put your nose in the glass to get the aroma. Little tasters probably wouldn't have complimented the beer well enough, although I would

Saison Fest Video Recap - Part 1

The Saison Fest was really fantastic. We're going to have a nice summary for you soon, with some of our thoughts, but first we thought we'd show you this wonderful video from the Focus on the Beer photographer, Dan Flanders.

2011 Saison Fest and Beer List

Trinity makes over thirty Saison style beers each year so it's really no wonder that they also organize the Saison Festival just as spring kicks into gear. Saisons are some of my favorite beer styles because they lend themselves to experimentation, wild ingredients, and playfulness. The style came from Belgian, the beers were low in alcohol and made in farmhouses for workers, stored throughout the year and served as refreshing late summer drinks. Typically nowadays the yeasts used for Saisons are yeasts that use a higher temperature for fermentation, ranging from 85-95 F instead of the standard 65 F. Many Saison's made today sit between 6-8% abv, which is at least twice as high as it was traditionally. Some, like the Trinity/Black Fox Double Rainbow, are upwards to 14%, which I guess technically wouldn't fit the exact style guidelines, but who's looking anyway?

So, needless to say, Focus on the Beer will attend the festival and we'll report back with our thoughts and some nice photos. You can follow me on twitter at @cspringsbeer as well, and I'll be posting live updates. Here's the beer list:

Saison Festival
Saturday April 16th, 12-5pm at Trinity Brewing in Colorado Springs - $35
For tickets call Trinity at 719-634-0029

Saison Fest Beer List:
Tommyknocker - Golden Saison
AC Golden - Belgian Style Saison
Super Saison League of Friends - Baby Buddh
Phantom Canyon - Citroenboom
Great Divide Brewing - Colette
Black Fox - Faust Part 2
Black Fox - Somnombulance
Kona Brewing - Oceanic Organic Saison
Ska Brewing - Pineapple Saison
Pagosa Brewing - Ranch House Ale
Funkwerks - Saison
Funkwerks - White
Three Barrel Brewing- Saison
Boulevard Brewing - Saison Brett
Boulevard Brewing - Tank 7 Farmhouse
Crooked Stave - Saison Brett
Crooked Stave - The Slayer
Rockyard Brewing - Saison du Rouge
Rock Bottom - Saison Jonquille
Ouray Brewing - Vern
Trinity Brewing - Rebel Son
Trinity Brewing - 3 Flower Farmhouse Saison

So, this is a fantastic looking list, let me tell you which beers have caught my eye. Probably the first beer I'll be tasting, and the one I'm most excited about, is the Baby Buddha, an early look at the super collaborative Buddha's Nuvo beer that's being aged over at Rockyard Brewing. This version is a pre-Bretta and pre-barrel version of the beer we will get later. I'm also excited about the Kona Brewing beer, which happens to be the first certified organic beer in Hawaii. Let's see...Phantom Canyon, of course, because anything that Alan Stiles touches turns to gold, plus who doesn't want a beer with rye, oats, unmalted wheat, lemongrass, and lemon peel? I was in Kansas City the other day and I got to try the Boulevard Saison Brett straight from the fermentation tank, it was really great, so I'm definitely looking forward to tasting it again. Funkwerks has really impressed me, their regular Saison is fantastic and I always go back to that beer. I've talked about Crooked Stave a couple times on this blog, and they only last month released their first beer to the public. Their Slayer Saison is looking good, it's aged in oak and has lavender added. Lastly but certainly not leastly, because ultimately these all look great, the Ska Brewing beer has coconut, candied pineapple in addition to more familiar Saison trimmings.


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Bierwerks Plans Trip to Bavaria with Customers

I've never seen a brewery plan an entire trip for it's Mug Club Members. I've seen bike tours, jogging programs, pub crawls, etc., but never an entire field trip to another place. Bierwerks has planned a trip to Bavaria. Does that sound cool or what? If you're not a Mug Club Member, it's not very hard at all to become one. You might want to go check out Bierwerks.

Bierwerks in Bavaria
August 29 - September 5

The costs are all listed in the catalog, which you can pull from the Bierwerks website here. The itinerary looks like a lot of fun as well. I'll give you a sneak peak but you have to look at the catalog for full details:

Day 1 - Denver to Munich
Day 2 - Munich - Inner city / Hofbraeuhaus
Day 3 - Munich - Hacker Pshorr Brauerei / city tour / a second brewery tour
Day 4 - Neuschwanstein Castle / Oberammerga / Andechs Brewery and Cloister
Day 5 - Munich - Nuremberg / Tour the city
Day 6 - Rothenburg Ob Der Tauber / Tour the city / Landwehr Brewery
Day 7 - Nuremberg / surprise special beer / farewell dinner
Day 8 - Nuremberg to Frankfurt to Denver

After looking at the catalog, if you have any additional questions feel free to call Penny directly at 719-623-1011 or email her at penny@worldwidetravelspecialists.com.

HB1284 Colorado Beer Bill Fails

Representative Larry Liston arguing in favor of the bill.

Today HB1284, the bill that would allow full strength beer to be sold in grocery and convenience stores, failed to be passed again. In fact, Destroyed might be a better word with the vote coming in at 46 to 17.  In a couple days you'll be able to watch an archive of the video from The Colorado Channel. We've gone over the bill a few times in the blog, you can read comments from both sides here as well as a response from Mike Bristol in the comment field here. Most people in the Colorado Craft Beer industry will be very enthusiastic about these results.

I was able to watch a little bit of the live feed before I had to go to work so I actually missed the final verdict. But there were a few interesting points that the side-in-favor made. One of those was a study by Henry Sobanet that concluded results that are very different from the Summit Economics study that is so often mentioned by dissenters. The other point was that in other states where all beer and alcohol are allowed in grocery stores, there is a higher per capta number of liquor stores. This was new news to me. On first glance I couldn't immediately find the exact study they were mentioning so I'm going to have to wait a few days and once the recording is uploaded I will go back and see which study they are talking about and try to find it online. I never did hear back from Summit Economics about how they acquired their data.

Also, Bristol Brewing did a great job giving a play-by-play on Twitter so that on my way to work I was able to keep up with what was happening. Thank you Bristol for doing that. For those of you who want to know exactly what happened, but don't have the patience to wait three days for the video to be uploaded on The Colorado Channel, I am going to post their updates below before they get sent into the never-ever-land of the Twittersphere:

My Trip to Arizona and Back

I've been doing a lot of traveling, half of it's been for work, the other half for family. A couple weeks ago I went to Arizona for a family trip and I was able to stop at a couple breweries on the way home. I didn't make the journey in order to try new beer so I don't have a lot of great information about the breweries, the beers, the brewers, etc. I was simply passing through quickly and I took some photos and a couple notes.

I found myself in Scottsdale, Arizona, which for me was actually kind of an exciting place. We drove past hills and mountains covered in cacti that were 20+ feet tall, the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art was a great art venue, there were all sorts of plants and animals that I haven't seen before, quail running around everywhere. But, on the bad side, mostly everything was in a strip mall, a very Southern California flavor, and I read here that Scottsdale has the highest concentration of pollution in the air, above Los Angeles and Bakersfield. Yikes!

Papago Brewing

Inside Papago is a cozy pub atmosphere, thirty taps, and a fridge full of bottles

Anyway, I was able to stop at a little place called Papago Brewing. There's not too many beer places in the city, and people had recommended that I actually go to Four Peaks Brewing, but after seeing Papago's ranking on Rate Beer I decided to go there. Besides, later that night I happened to drive by Four Peaks and it looked like the kind of chain Sports Bar/Restaurant that I try to avoid. Papago contracts their brewing out of two breweries, one in Phoenix and Oak Creek Brewing in Sedona. They had 30 beers on tap, many that I haven't seen in Colorado Springs, such as Bear Republic's Imperial Belgian Rye IPA, Green Flash le Freak, and a Ballast Point Imperial IPA. I ordered a number of Papago Samplers. They switch their beers out with every keg, so they don't even have their own normal line up although they do have a couple beers that are on more regularly than others. I like this model for a brewery.

Samples at Papago Brewing

This brewery was really fantastic, the beers were experimental and a lot of fun to drink. The most style bound beers were the tasty Belgian Strong Ale with notes of orange and banana, and the El Robusto which was a Porter with light roast and a thin body. They also had a Coconut Coffee Stout that was delicious, a Vanilla Mandarin Wheat which was refreshing but a little too Fruit Loopy to me, an Irish Coffee Milk Stout and a fantastic Barleywine, super cloudy appearance, aged in rye whiskey barrels, strong on citrus hops, with a bitter and dry finish. I really enjoyed these beers because there was a range of the normal to the not-so-normal. Some of the beers were crisp and clear in appearance, others were cloudy and thick, some were restrained, others were playful. I enjoy a brewery that plays around like this.

Beaver Street Brewery

A few days later I found myself at Beaver Street Brewery in Flagstaff, Arizona. The town was really cute and we were staying at a really great, cheap little hostel about two blocks away. I ordered a pint of the Cascadian Dark Ale because, hell, I'm from Cascadia and I like to see how these CDA's compare to the homeland CDA's. Also, I find it really interesting when a brewery that isn't in the Pacific NW comes to call their beer a CDA and not a Black IPA.

Odell Myrcenary vs. Russian River Pliny the Elder

Posted by Isaac Grindeland

I've been drinking the heck out of Odell Myrcenary lately. Over the last month, I've gone through 2 4-packs and probably a dozen pints at A Second Cup served by northern Colorado Springs finest beer pourer, Chad Shayotovich. I've been thinking, Is Myrcenary as good as my gold standard for double IPAs, Pliny the Elder? I found it hard believe that my old friend, Pliny the Elder, could be knocked off its glorious pedestal, but I couldn't help but think Myrcenary might have a fighting chance. So I decided, frick, let's put these heavyweights to a head to head challenge. I have to practice as a judge for the AHA national homebrewing competition anyway right? To recreate the challenge for yourself, you must buy both beers at the same time and listen to The Avett Brothers Live Volume 3 album. Judging methods are based on the BJCP guidelines. Here are my results.

Odell Myrcenary 9.3% ABV 12 oz. bottle

• Fun Fact - Myrcene is a component of essential oil in the hop flower!
• Aroma - A hop explosion of light citrus fruits such as grapefruit and passion fruit. Slight pine and grassy notes. No earthy hops. A sweet malt but not cloying. No diacetyl. 11/12
• Appearance - Golden amber. Clear. White head, low head retention 2/3
• Flavor - Hop flavor predominates with fruits of citrus, grapefruit, and pineapple. Long lingering bitterness but not harsh. Nice medium low sweet malt with a dry finish. 18/20
• Mouthfeel -Smooth medium body. Not astringent. Medium carbonation. Overall dry. Some alcohol warmth. Not hot. 5/5
• Overall - Very hoppy with nice balanced malt sweetness that finishes dry and smooth. Excellent double IPA. 9.3% is impressively hidden. World class double IPA!! 9/10

Overall score : 45/50 Grade: A+

Russian River Pliny the Elder 8.0% ABV 500 ml bottle

• Fun Fact - Pliny the Elder was a Roman naturalist, scholar, historian, traveler, officer, and writer. Pliny and his posse created the first botanical name for hops, "Lupus salictarius", meaning wolf among scrubs. He died while watching Mount Vesuvius erupt in 79 AD.
• Aroma - A hop explosion of grassy citrus notes and grapefruit. Sweet malt. No diacetyl. 10/12
• Appearance - Golden amber with a touch of copper. Clear. White head with low retention. 2/3
• Flavor - Hop flavor is strong and full of citrus, grassy, and grapefruit notes. Malt flavor is low but sweet. Very dry finish with great bitter aftertaste that is smooth and clean. 19/20
• Mouthfeel - Smooth, medium body. Not astringent. medium carbonation. Smooth low alcohol warmth. 5/5
• Overall - Complex and intense but smooth hoppy beer with an amazing inspiring dry finish all the way through. A perennial all-star of double IPAs! 9/10

Overall grade: 45/50 Grade: A+

Well, that's annoying. Both scores are the same! These beers are very close in their hop and malt profiles. While Myrcenary is a tad sweeter in the malt profile and finish, Pliny the Elder is a little more dry throughout and has a little less alcohol warmth. Myrcenary had a more intense hop aroma, but that may be due to shelf life. As the beer warmed, Mycenary had a slight piny hop flavor too. Pliny kept its high citrus notes as it warmed. Overall, I still pick Pliny the Elder as my double IPA of choice mostly because of the dryer finish, but as I stated previously, these beers are super close in aroma and flavor, and it was a very close race. In a blind tasting, I may not be able to pick one from the other. Great job, Odell, on bringing another great double IPA to the Front Range for us to enjoy! It is one of my favorites in Colorado!

Craft vs. Macro Beer

Hi everyone. I've been really busy with work lately and have done a lot of traveling in the last few weeks so I've not been able to keep up on the blog the way I'd like to. Until I can get back on track I offer you this controversial video on craft vs. macro beer. Do us craft beer drinkers really sound like this?

Beer and Poetry

***Update This post was written as an April Fool's joke. I left it up without mentioning it but I can't stand it! and now I have to let you all know...it's not real!

As most of the people who read my articles on this blog know, I'm very passionate about beer. But very few of you know that I also like to write poetry about beer. I started writing poetry in high school, and as my love of beer developed, I started incorporating beer into my daily poetry writing. Here is one poem that I've been working on this week. Any words or encouragement or comments are welcome.

IPA for a Dreary Day

by Eric Steen

As I gaze out my window

On this dark and dreary day
I can't help but wonder if there's a beer out there
That can make me happy and gay

I do enjoy a port or stout

And sometimes I like wheat
But on this particular day
An IPA would taste just great!

With notes of citrus and pine

That would be sublime
Or maybe of earth and malt
Like an English draught

No, that's a bad idea

I'm from the Cascadia
Grass citrus pine and more hops
That would be just tops!