Recent Posts from the Beer Blogosphere

Recently there's been a ton of interesting reading on the beer blogosphere. I'm going to show you some of the things that we've been reading and inspired by very recently.

- From Homebrewing to the Big Leagues - An Interview with Nebraska Brewing - Very informative and insightful look into how a homebrewer became a successful commercial brewer.

- Brewing Up Power: Beer Maker Finalizes Biofuels Project - Alaskan Brewing has worked sixteen years to make a new boiler where the brewery's own malt waste will be its sole energy source. How awesome is that!!!

Pikes Peak's Firkin Night

Last night I was able to make it up to the Firkin night at Pikes Peak Brewing. The beer had already sold out by the time we got there but we had a friend at the bar save a pint for us. The beer was a Cedar aged IPA and it was really great. It turns out it's the same beer as the Elephant Rock IPA, just with a cedar spiral added to the firkin. The pint I had had sat out a good hour before I got there but the carbonation was still good. I also am pretty sure I got the bottom of the firkin because it was overly yeasty, but I did get a good feeling for the beer. The hop aroma and flavor were surprisingly strong, usually cask mellows that out a bit more. The cedar I thought was a nice compliment to the hops, with a bit of a peppery wood flavor. Wish I had been there to order a couple pints.

Looks like Pikes Peak Brewing will be hosting a firkin night on the last Monday of every month. Next month the plan is to do the Gold Rush with some oak, and then maybe we'll see a straight Mild. Based on my experience last night I'd say that these will be worth going to and that perhaps the brewery should consider permanently adding a full pump and cask to the bar.
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Beer Events In Town Tonight! 1/30/2012

This is a surprisingly slow week for beer here in Colorado Springs, but there seems to be some happenings tonight so let me direct your atttention to Pikes Peak Brewing and Trinity. And we'll be sure to keep you busy with a series of interesting posts this week.

New Brewery Series This Week

We've got a couple big things happening this week at Focus on the Beer. Some of it you will hear about soon but I wanted to give you a head's up about New Brewery Series that we are launching on Feb. 1st. We will be looking at four new breweries that are too open up this year. Steampunk Brewing, Great Storm Brewing, and Fieldhouse Brewing are from Colorado Springs and Elevation Brewing is near Salida. There are many others opening up near Denver as well but we're just going to focus in on these for now. So, this week we'll post the series, one at a time, and you'll need to check back to keep up!
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Two Innovative Beers at Old Chicago Right Now

I was a huge fan of the Deschutes/Boulevard collaborative White IPA. I've had a few bottles of each version and I think I tended to like the Deschutes version a little more, although what do I know, the Boulevard version won a medal at GABF. The beer was different than most Belgian IPAs in that it didn't just take an IPA and use Belgian yeast, it took a Belgian Wit, with coriander, lemongrass, and sage and seamlessly merged it with a NW IPA. The beer was perhaps one of the most drinkable experimental beers of 2011. Well, I recently read that Deschutes will be releasing Chainbreaker White IPA into it's flagship lineup because the beer has done so well in Oregon. This version was actually an early attempt at the collaboration and is more hop forward than the one we got to try here. Sounds awesome! So, on twitter, I asked Deschutes when we'll get to see this beer and they said it's already here...At Old Chicago!

Focus on the Water

At the Vail Big Beer Fest we hung out a bit with the kids over at Denver Off The Wagon. We decided we wanted to start a friendly little rivalry and so we stalked them and photographed them in action throughout the festival. Things escalated a bit when we got into a twitter feud and our new friends have started a fake twitter account for us at @FocusOnTheWater. Their photographer Sean Buchan takes slick photos of beer for the blog and calls it 'beer porn.' Well, lately he's been taking some not so slick photos of water every week and uploading the images to the fake twitter account...calling it 'water porn.' I'm actually thoroughly enjoying this and I wonder how long it will last. So, sorry if this post is a little less about beer than other things. If you want to follow fake-us on twitter, check it out: twitter.com/focusonthewater.

Here's the first two images so far:

Photos from Oskar Blues Meet the Brewer

We're running a little late on these but just wanted to post a few nice photos from the Oskar Blues Meet the Brewer event a couple weeks ago. Stay tuned for more Meet the Brewer events in the future, they are seriously a ton of fun. At this one we had eight Oskar Blues beers on tap at Another Pint, three of which were specialty beers. Dave and Dale both spoke and then Dave took the guitar and started singing songs. Afterwards they walked around and talked to people about beer.

Why Aren't There More 3.2% Beers Anyway?

I couldn't sleep last night. I started reading beer articles and I don't know why it took so long for me to consider this, but in my exhausted state it dawned on me that barely any craft breweries are participating in the 3.2%ABV ceiling-law that's currently in place for Colorado grocery and convenient stores. I'm not sure why that is. I mean, why is it that we don't see lots of craft breweries making these lower ABV beers so that they can reach a wider audience? It's certainly not because beer that is 3.2% is no good. In fact, there are plenty of examples of good beers with similar or lower alcohol by volume percentages. For example Rockyard's Rock Weisser, part of their Homebrewers Gone Wild series, is a tasty Berliner Weisse at 3%. Many Berliner Weisse beers sit at that percentage. I've had some great Mild Ales that sat around 3.2-3.5%. I've also had a BrewDog 1.1% hop bomb, which was actually kinda fun to drink if I'm being honest with myself. It's funny to think I could drink 16 of those and perhaps only get dizzy from too many hops. There's plenty more examples of course, including some Blonde Ales, Brown Ales, Bitters, and Pale Ales. Here's an article from Beer Today that reports a number of beers that were brewed specifically to be 2.8% or below and still be impressive.

Do breweries want to distribute to the local liquor shops only? If this 3.2% law remains on the shelf, doesn't it seem likely a brewery could make a good amount of money, or at least expand interest in craft beer, by offering quality beer that meets the regulations of what can be sold in grocery/convenient stores? Maybe the American public just won't accept low alcohol craft beer? That's too bad, if that's the case.

What are your thoughts? Maybe, I'll ask a few brewers these questions so we can get an idea of what they think. Also, I'd be very curious to hear from Breckenridge and Boulder, who I believe do indeed make lighter versions of certain beers in order to sell their beer in these stores. Seems like there should be a lot more available though.

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Jason Leeman Taps Tons At Rock Bottom

I got this amazing email this morning from Rock Bottom with the subject "Good News on Rotating Brews" and part of the email reads "Come Drink My Beer" as well as "Enjoy these rotating beers and be sure to raise a toast to me, the Brewmaster." Then I saw that from Jan 24 - Feb 19, Rock Bottom in Colorado Springs will be tapping a whole slew of Jason Leeman's beers: Zombier Apocalypse, Abbey Tripel, Warning Sign (Barrel Aged), Gibralter, Goat Toppler, Avaste Ye Rogues, and Wittastic. I've had the Warning Sign and Goat Toppler and I really really enjoyed those beers. In fact I'm a big fan of most of what Jason Leeman brews. I hope it doesn't come as a surprise because I do mention that I'm a fan of his beer, although perhaps we don't talk about them enough on this blog. Rock Bottom can get a bad rep because it's a franchise and the brewers have had to start making beer from recipes that Rock Bottom provided. Jason, however, has had extra taps available for his own creations.

Anyway, I emailed him asking what the styles of these beers were, and to see if he'd comment on the nature of this event. Considering Rock Bottom has him making a number of their own beers, Come Drink My Beer seems like an interesting thing to say. He told me that he'd be around on Friday "hanging out for the very purpose of conversation like that."

Hmm, honestly I don't know what's up but I like the sound of it. We're going to do what we can to go try some of these beers and hopefully we'll be there when Jason is. I'd recommend going to this thing.

Rock Bottom is located at: 3316 Cinema Pt., Colorado Springs
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A Step Forward for the Ivywild Project

Some good news down on South CascadeAve. It sounds like the Ivywild project that Bristol has been working diligently on for nearly two years will be able to move forward and some big changes will start taking place! Bristol and Blue Star have been working together to purchase the empty school and convert it into an expanded brewery, bakery, garden, and really what sounds to me like a neighborhood center.

Artist rendering of the Ivywild Project

I don't have all the exact details but yesterday the city council voted and passed the project. A few months ago, the Gazette reported that the plan had hit a snag when Mayor Steve Bach wanted to look closer at the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) redevelopment plan "that allows the project to

Zymurgy Institute 6 Starting Soon

CSU Pueblo has been offering the Zymurgy Institute since 2009. Each semester is approximately 5 months long and one of the objectives is to "gain refreshing hands-on experience in the science and technology of fermentation and beer brewing techniques." For a few seasons the classes were held at Bristol, they've had classes on campus in Pueblo, and now Pikes Peak Brewing will host Zymurgy Institute 6. This could be a nice Valentine's Day gift for your beer loving partner.

This time we'll see a ten-part advanced-brewing series of courses using the ½ Barrel All-Grain Brew-Magic Pilot Brewing System, manufactured by Sabco. The ten brew sessions are every other Saturday. Each will have a lecture the Wednesday before brew day and will cover:

1) German Pilsner - Feb. 8 & 11
2) Steam Beer  - Feb. 22 & 25
3) Octoberfest - March 14 & 17
4) Kolsh - March 28 & 31
5) Belgian Wit - April 11 & 14
6) Belgian Saison - April 25 & 28
7) American Pale Ale - May 09 & 12
8) Oatmeal Stout - May 23 & 26
9) India Pale Ale - June 13 & 16
10) Imperial Russian Stout - June 27 & 30

Individual sessions cost $125 each, or $999 for all ten sessions. The course is a non-credited course through CSU Pueblo although it looks like you might be able to get Continuing Education Units (CEU) for it. Click here for more information and links to the registration form.

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Reading List: Embrace The Funk

I just read a really nice interview with Chad of Crooked Stave on a blog titled Embrace the Funk. I just wanted to direct your attention there because it is perhaps the best and most concise interview I've seen so far about what he's doing, what he's got planned, and his worldview on Brettanomyces yeast. Additionally, the Embrace The Funk blog looks really great and I plan to follow it on a more regular basis. Hope you don't mind how often we post about Crooked Stave since they aren't from the Pikes Peak area, but we really enjoy their beer, we think they are doing some fascinating stuff, and they do bring their beer down here on occasion. Here's an older interview that we did with Chad last year too.

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The Pub vs. The Growler

Update - Just found out that this month's The Session (#60) will focus on growlers as a topic, so I'm submitting this post even though I've already published it. Hey, it's not even been two weeks!

A month or so ago Isaac posted some really wonderful information about the history of the growler as well as thoughts about growlers and their future from leaders in the beer industry. Today I was reminded of why I don't like growlers, and I want to tell you a little about it. Today I began rereading an old post I wrote a year ago about how to make Colorado Springs a bigger beer destination. I plan to do a type of rewrite of that post soon, so I'm not going to link to it now, but there's one thing that immediately stuck out to me and I had to write about it. In the post I say:

I will create a list of areas I believe we could improve, but I will say that I believe the biggest and most important item is to develop a thriving local beer and pub scene for ourselves. Neighborhood communities should each have their own craft beer bar to encourage walking and getting to know those you live around.

That got me thinking about growlers and their role in developing a beer community. I don't really like growlers, although I really like Isaac's posts, and I have been known to use growlers here and there. The reason I don't like them, especially in this town, is because I think people need to drink in the pub more often. More people need to get out to their brewery, sit in there and drink some beer, rather than buy a growler and leave. You lose your connection to a place, to a brewery, when you don't ever go there, and when you do it's just to get in and get out. The pub, or the brewery, should be a center for social activity (my opinion), a way to bond people together, and the less that happens the less of a craft beer community we'll have.

We have some really great drinking spots, we have plenty of room for more great beer bars, but the only way for them to be successful and for new ones to be successful is to actually go to them, bring some friends, and enjoy a few pints of beer. Ultimately this is what will make Colorado Springs more and more popular with the beer crowd because showing up is what brings life to the pub. If we don't show up, no one will know about that place or care about it. Not only that, but less craft beer will be distributed to this town if we aren't out there asking for it. I think that growlers do pubs a terrible disservice. I think growlers have their place, they can be good for parties, I know that they are generally cheaper per ounce, but perhaps in this town we rely on them too much?

These are just initial thoughts, not really put together really nicely, but I wouldn't mind hearing from you all about what you think.

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Speculation about Trader Joes in Colorado

This is all speculation, so we don't need to get into any arguments like we did last year...at least not yet. Rumor has it that Trader Joe's will be opening up shop in Boulder and that they will open their one allowed alcohol retail location next door to that location. There's also rumor of three Trader Joe's opening up in Denver. The article linked above suggests that perhaps Trader Joe's hasn't entered Colorado due to the nature of our liquor laws, which we are all familiar with from last year...that grocery and convenient stores cannot sell alcohol over 3.2% abv. This can't really be entirely true because Trader Joe's already has some locations that don't sell alcohol. Of course, the reason Trader Joe's never entered this state has never been outright stated, and this is all speculation but I just thought I'd throw it out there to you all. Who knows if we'll see a big push for the "3.2 bill" again this year or not, according to this Denver Post article, it's not really on the dockets this year and everyone is tired of fighting their side.

As an anecdote, I for one would like to have a Trader Joe's or two in Colorado Springs. In general I'm a consumer at local businesses and of local products, and I won't stop shopping at those if TJ moves in, but I think Trader Joe's plays a gigantic part in getting people to think more about what's in their food, which gets people to think a little more about where their food is coming from. So even though it may be competition for my favorite local grocery shops, I think TJ has an important role in changing people's attitudes about food and so I see the good in it.

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Ska Brewing Dinner at Another Pint

Another Pint has another good looking beer dinner coming up on February 6th. Five courses to be paired with five Ska beers. The beers will be the True Blonde, True Blonde Dubbel, Buster Nutcracker, Decadent, and a special brewer's pick announced a week in advance. That's four special beers that aren't normally available, and True Blonde, which is just a great beer. You'll get to meet the Ska beer rep, get some free stuff from the brewery and as much beer as you can drink. Seats are limited, and you must RSVP, so act quickly.

Ska Beer Dinner at Another Pint
February 6th / 6:30 starting, dinner at 7pm
Cost: $39.99
Call to reserve: 719.481.6446
Another Pint is located at: 13860 Gleneagle Dr. Colorado Springs

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More On Cans That Change Colors

Last week or so we made an announcement that Lyle Small, who started Chromatic Technologies Inc. and invented the ink that changes color, won entrepreneur of the year by a group here in town. Here's a bit more information on him and his company, this is a video that Fermentedly Challenged shared and I thought I'd share it here too:


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Busy Beer Weekend Coming in February! 2012

Just want to get this onto your radar. In about a months timing there will be a pretty huge beer weekend in Colorado Springs. For some of the events you need to register in advance to participate so check out what's happening on Feb. 17th and 18th, 2012. More events may be added on at the last minute too, but here's what's happening so far...read more for info on Trinity's Brain of the Turtle Release, Peterson Air Force Base Homebrew Party, Rocky Mountain Microbrewing Symposium, and the Firkin Rendezvous at Bristol!

Vail Big Beers 2012 Image Recap

I think I've talked enough about the Vail Big Beers Festival over the past month. I've been to quite a few beer festivals, I've written a few times about my opinions on good vs. bad beer festivals, and this one is hands-down my favorite. If you go next year, you should plan to go to the seminars earlier in the day, and if you can afford it, go to the ones the night before too. Because I've talked about the festival so much already I'm not going to say a whole lot in this post, I'm going to let the photos do most of the talking. Oh! And if you haven't seen it yet, here is our recap of the DJ Dogfish Head seminar, here's a recap from Denver Off The Wagon and another nice summary from the Beer Run Blog.

One reason to go to this festival: you can meet and talk to
all these pretty amazing brewers and brewery owners.

And if you needed another reason to attend the festival...

Yes, this happens there too... (from Crazy Mountain Brewing)

Firkin Rendezvous is Coming...

The Firkin Rendezvous was one of our favorite festivals last year and it's just around the corner again already. Breweries from all over the state take a shot at making some cask conditioned beer, so if the beer is not already a one-off, it's usually different than usual because it's cask. We were very pleased with the fest last year, here's a recap. The festival will benefit the Colorado Brewer's Guild. Better get your tickets before they sell out!

Tapping a firkin

What's a Firkin? I'm glad you asked. A firkin is a 10 gallon (approximately) cask where beer is fermented and then served straight from that container through the use of either gravity or a hand-pump. The firkin needs to be tapped with a mallet (see image above)! This is very different than the kegged beer that you get normally. Kegged beer uses C02 or Nitro  to carbonate, but in a cask or firkin, the carbonation occurs naturally. Aditionally a beer will enter it's secondary fermentation in a firkin as well, whereas sometimes beer in kegs has not been allowed to finish secondary fermentation. These beers will taste smoother and rounder (an effect that nitro taps try to mimic) and many of the subtler flavors will be pronounced. Also, I enjoy cask because I can differentiate hops much better. This is how beer in many parts of the world has traditionally been made up until the last 70 or so years, it is still very popular in Britain, and it is a lovely way to drink.

Firkin Rendezvous
At Bristol Brewing / Feb. 18th / 2:00pm (1:00 for VIP)
$35 regular / $50 VIP
Get your tickets: 719-633-2555 x11

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Beer Filled Events Starting Thursday

Thurs. Jan. 12th / 5pm
Bristol Releases English Old Ale
At Bristol Brewing

Bristol Brewing is kicking it up a notch with their new specialty releases and their new designs and we are really stoked for them. Be there when the beer is released to the public. Here's some notes from the brewery: a huge and hearty winter warmer that has been bottle conditioning since August 2011. This very traditional ale is medium-bodied and singularly malty, supplying sweet caramel undertones and age-related character at every turn.

Oh! and that reminds me...the general and VIP tickets to this year's Firkin Rendezvous just went on sale. This is definitely one of the better festivals of the year and I give it a high recommendation. The event is set for Feb 18th at Bristol, call 719-633-2555 x11 to reserve.

Fri. Jan 13th / 5pm
Black Fox Release Somnombulance
At Bristol Brewing

On your way to the Meet the Brewer event later in the evening you should stop by the Bristol Brewing taproom and try the newest batch of Somnombulance. This is one of Black Fox's famous beers, absolutely cherished by the locals and guaranteed to sell out quickly. A description of Somnombulance: A very rich Belgian brown ale brewed with coffee beans, vanilla beans and Ghirardelli caramel.

Fri. Jan 13th / 7pm
Meet the Brewer (and owner): Oskar Blues
At Another Pint: 13860 Gleneagle Dr.

Then on Friday night you've gotta head up to Another Pint for the special opportunity to meet the brewer as well as the owner of Oskar Blues. You can hang out and ask them questions...or just stare at them. They'll be bringing three specialty beers with them along with an old classic. We are co-sponsoring this event so we'd love to see you there!.

Sat. Jan 14th / 5pm
New Beer Released at Pikes Peak Brewing Co.
At PPBC - 1756 Lake Woodmoor Dr, Monument

PPBC created a special beer, 4319 Smoked Red Ale, to benefit the  Firefighters from Local 4319. The beer, loosely based on Devil's Head Red but with a lower hop profile and the addition of smoked malt. Come to the party and a portion of the proceeds will be donated.

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DJ Sam Calagione at Vail Big Beers 2012

Pearl Jam beer paired with Pearl Jam's music

You should listen to The Mekon's on grooveshark.com while you read this post...

I look forward to it now every year, and somehow the Vail Big Beers Festival has already come and gone and it continues to be my very favoritist beer festival. Perhaps one of the most seductive parts of the festival is the night we all get to spend with Sam Calagione, founder of Dogfish Head. Each year he gives a presentation at the festival, last year he lead us on a visual journey of all the places he visited to create the brewery's set of historical ales, and this year we had more of a sensory experience as he led us through beer and music pairings. The event was relatively intimate, a large group sat in a small room complete with candles, bean bag chairs, and a large display of glassware and beer.

From Westword: Top 10 Beer Stories of 2011

Image from Westword

I just have to direct your attention to this Westword post highlighting the 10 Biggest Beer Stories of 2011. I'm not giving anything away so you have to go there to check it out.

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Wild Beer Dinner Coming Up at Trinity

If you can afford it, you should get your tickets to the Wild Beer and Wild Game Beer Dinner at Trinity Brewing before it sells out. With the exception of Avery's Beer and Breakfast dinner at GABF, this may be the most exciting beer dinner I've seen. This will be a six course setting paired with six beers from Trinity, Crooked Stave, AC Golden and the Super Saison League (Buddha Nuvo). These three breweries are perhaps the most innovative in the state as it goes with experimentation with wild yeasts (Avery could be in there too... And yes, AC Golden included, they make damn fine, experimental beer) and they contend with the most innovative breweries in the country.

So, the dinner is pricey for sure at $80 but I just wanted to give you the DL because it should fill quickly. Below you'll find the pairings as well as descriptions of the beer:

Wild Beer and Wild Game Dinner
February 12 / Seating at 8pm
$80 - RSVP Only - 719.634.0029
At Trinity Brewing, Colorado Springs

A Visit to Heretic Brewing in California

Sometime last year I heard about a new startup brewery called Heretic Brewing. There's a lot of new breweries opening up all over the country but this one stood out to me because I read that it was going to open production in Pittsburg, California. My family lives in a neighboring city, just a short ten minute drive away, and there are only two or three beer options in the area even though hundreds of thousands of people live there. The more I looked into it, the more Heretic became a must-see during my once-a-year visit over the holiday season.

The brewery was founded by Jamil Zainasheff who has a radio show on The Brewing Network, has written a couple books on brewing and fermentation, and has won the Ninkasi Award from the Brewer's Association. The fact is, Jamil is a bit of a hero, living the dream, making the jump from a 5 gallon brewing system to a 40 barrel brew pot and four 30 barrel fermenters. Currrently he's sharing space with the brewery EJ Phair at their new location in Pittsburg. By May, Heretic will have been in business for a year and will have brewed approximately 2000 barrels. The brewery definitely functions as a production brewery, with no tap room of their own to speak of, and Jamil says that they're already doing really well. At some point soon they'll need to choose a distributor, but at the moment they're being selective with who they distribute to, pacing things out to avoid getting stuck waiting for beer to finish fermenting. Once the brewery hits 2000 barrels it should be easier for them to work out their own production space and a deal with a distributor.

Those Cans That Change Color Are Pretty Cool

Technically this post isn't exactly 'craft beer' related but, whatever, I enjoy myself a Coors Light here and there (uh oh! the cat's out of the bag). I just read that the Colorado Springs Regional Economic Development Corporation handed the founder of Chromatic Technologies Inc. an award for 'Entrepreneur of the Year.' CTI is the manufacturing company that invented the Thermochromic inks used on Coors Light beer cans that turn blue when your beer is at the proper chilled temperature. Maybe some people think it's a gimmick, you can always use your hand to check the temperature, but no one wants to drink a warm Coors Light...Hey, in all honesty and sincerity I think this is a pretty sweet award and I congratulate the group. Maybe someday soon we'll see if we can get a visit and see how the whole thing works.

Here's a little bit more information from the Southside Business News:

CTI has since expanded to provide thermochromic (temperature sensitive) inks that can indicate hot temperatures, as well as photochromic inks which are sensitive to light. In addition to Coors products, the company’s growing customer list now includes additional marketplace giants as Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, Duracell, Monster Energy and Pizza Hut....

The 2011 award represents the third time the Colorado Springs Regional Economic Development Corporation has recognized Mr. Small: in 2010, CTI was named the ”Manufacturing Company of the Year,” and in 2009, Mr. Small was cited as “Inventor of the Year” by the organization.  

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Top 10 Beer Spots in Colorado Springs: #1 Trinity Brewing Company

Here is #1 from the Focus on the Beer list of the top 10 beer spots in the Colorado Springs area. We started at #10 and have worked our way down to #1. The rest of the Top 10 can be found here. Let us know what you think! 

#1 Beer Spot of Colorado Springs: Trinity Brewing Company
Trinity Brewing Company exploded onto the beer scene in August of 2008 with the guidance of co-founder and president Jason Yester. He brought to this city a mixture of classic styles with a Trinity twist and a plethora of Saisons and sours. In the last three years Trinity's beer portfolio has greatly expanded, a GABF gold medal was won, and they are in they have expanded their lineup, distribution, and brewing capacity.

The Beer: Trinity sports four to five house beers that are on tap all year: the Soul Horkey Ale, Flo IPA, Awaken Coffee Stout, Sunna Wit, and Saison Man. Flo IPA is a nicely balanced IPA that is conveniently served in three forms, CO2, Nitro, and Cask (A.K.A "Flask" by the locals). These aren't the beers that have put Trinity on the national map though; Yester has created an immense assortment of seasonal Saisons, farmhouse ales, and sours that are creative and highlight his knowledge of and passion for these styles. Trinity is

Meet the Brewer (And Owner!): Oskar Blues

Meet the Brewer: Oskar Blues
Friday, January 13th / 7pm
Another Pint / 13860 Gleneagle Dr., Colorado Springs
Facebook Event Page

Hope your holidays were fantastic! We thought we'd start the New Year off strong so we are partnering up with Another Pint for what will be an incredible Meet the Brewer event on Jan 13th. This time, we've got the ever popular Oskar Blues and we have both Dave Chichura (Head Brewer) as well as Dale Katechis (Owner) driving down from the Lyons/Longmont area to visit us. This will be a sweet opportunity to meet the folks who made canning craft beer popular! But that's not all...They're bringing some special beers with them. We'll already have the classic Mama's Little Yella Pils on tap but we'll also see Deviant Dales, Belgian Smidy, and Velvet Elvis.

Deviant Dales is an extraordinary IPA, originally released through the Old Chicago exclusive contract but will soon become one of Oskar Blues most sought after beers. It won the Silver Medal in the largest-ever category at GABF this year and it hasn't been available in Colorado Springs since it's debut at Old Chicago in October 2010. Booya! Belgian Smidy...hmm, that sounds familiar doesn't it? Smidy was one of the beers at our Anniversary Part a month ago and is a beer made from the second wort runnings from the popular Ten Fidy...this version is different though as it has been turned Belgian. Finally we'll see Velvet Elvis, which is an American Stout named after a guy who looks and sounds like Elvis and is only released here and there at specialty locations.

Beers will be available to sample and purchase by the pint. Dale and Dave will give some brief talks and will come around and answer questions personally.

So come out and help the growing Meet the Brewer series become increasingly popular. It will be something you'll be sorry to miss:

Meet the Brewer: Oskar Blues
Friday, January 13th / 7pm
Another Pint / 13860 Gleneagle Dr., Colorado Springs

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