An Evening at Blue Star with David Walker of Firestone Walker

David Walker (left) was available to answer any questions and sign a couple bottles.

The Blue Star hosted a six course beer dinner featuring the beers of Firestone Walker on July 25th.  There was more than the usual energy in the room because Firestone Walker's co-owner David Walker attended this very unique and special event accompanied by Colorado Firestone Walker rep, Elizabeth Kagan. British expatriot, David Walker kicked off the dinner with a brief overview of his brewery. He said some very nice things about the Colorado Springs beer scene and compared our community to the community surrounding Firestone Walker in Paso Robles, California. Walker then proceeded to talk about his beer.

We will present each course from two perspectives of the night. The beer portion is written by Isaac Grindeland, a regular FOTB writer, while the food portion is written by Erika Mullett, a food expert and writer who currently works at Blue Star. This is Erika's first post with us and hopefully not the last!

Beer Photo of the Week #8: Jolly Pumpkin

Photos of the Week by Daniel Flanders. Jolly Pumpkin's Baudelaire iO Saison with green tea, hibiscus, and rose sorbet.

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Craft Lager Festival Next Saturday in Manitou Springs

The 10th annual Craft Lager and Small Batch Festival in Manitou Springs is coming up next Saturday, August 4th! This is a very unique festival because in mainly focuses on lagers instead of the typical ales served at festivals.  Plus there will be some of the regions distilleries on hand to sample some small batch whiskies, rums, vodkas, and liqueurs.  Craft lager fest, which is typically a two day long festival, will only be one day this year so make sure to save the date.  There will be two sessions starting at 11 am and 4 pm. You can read more about the festival and order your tickets online here.  I had the opportunity to judge the lagers and spirits this year, and there are some really delicious and unique beers this year.  Look for some excellent standard styles like Mexican lager, pils, black lager, and helles, but also keep your eyes open for chile lagers, fruit lagers, smoked lagers,  india pale lagers, yerba mate lager, and maybe even the rare ice bock.  There will even be gluten free beers at the festival. Live music and food vendors will be on site.  This is a great opportunity to support a fun and unique local beer festival. 

Craft Lager Festival 2012
Saturday, August 4th
Memorial Park, 502 Manitou Ave., Manitou Springs
All Day Pass 11 am - 8 pm - $40
Morning session 11-3 pm - $30
Afternoon Session 4 pm- 8 pm -$30
Designated Driver - $15
Fire Fighter Ticket - $20 ALL DAY PASS

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Beers Made By Walking: The Hike at Palmer Lake Reservoirs

We are in the sophomore season of Beers Made by Walking and we kicked off last weekend Colorado with an evening hike up to the Palmer Lake reservoirs. There were 21 people and one dog who participated in this picturesque hike. Seven out of our eight homebrewers came along to learn about the plants on the hike and to begin making plans for their future beers. Liz Klein, a local botanist, who also led one of our hikes last year, pointed out edible plants and flowers along the hike that led to two reservoirs in the mountains near Palmer Lake. Liz was able to identify around 50 different plant varieties, and a suprisingly large amount of them were edible. We were especially surprised to see so many plants doing so well in the midst of such an extraordinarily warm summer.

Photography from the Jolly Pumpkin Beer Dinner

Last week, Coaltrain and Blue Star threw what may have been the most mouth-watering-est and elegant beer dinner I've ever seen. Eight Jolly Pumpkin beers with a five course menu. I'm going to let the pictures do all of the talking in this post. And don't worry, you're not the only one who is jealous about the dinner, I wasn't able to make it because I'm out of state. If these photos are too much to handle, you better sign up for the Firestone Walker beer dinner that takes place this Wednesday, and the owner of the brewery will be visiting the restaurant from California, so it's really a nice treat.

Lone Tree Meet the Brewer Reminder

Just wanted to post a reminder about Meet the Brewer on Thursday. Really looking forward to having Jason Wiedmaier down from Lone Tree to hang out and we want you to help us pack out Front Range BBQ! Here's the details:

Meet the Brewer: Lone Tree Brewing
July 26th / 6:30pm / Pay Per Pint
At Front Range BBQ / 2330 W. Colorado Ave., Colorado Springs
Facebook Event Page

(Another) Beer Photo of the Week - #7B

Sometimes a weeks timing is just too long for a Beer Photo of the Week. So today I'm sharing the B-side to yesterday's post. This is at the release of Trinity's Cucumber and Basil Saison, which I heard is really great. Yes, those folks are playing with cucumber and basil while drinking the beer. Good times.

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Beer Photo of the Week #7: Three Beers at Cascade Barrel House

Photos of the Week by Daniel Flanders. Apricot, Elderberry, and Figaro sour beers at Cascade Barrel House.

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Rocky Mountain Brewery's 8 World Cup Beers

Last week we posted information about the special tapping at Rocky Mountain Brewery, they were selling tickets so folks could try the 8 beers they entered into the World Beer Cup. Our pal Nick Arseniak, checked out the brews and decided he'd like to send a report. There were only 100 tickets available, so many of us won't get to try these beers and Nick's descriptions might make you a bit jealous. Here's Nick's report:

On Tuesday, July 17, I stopped by Rocky Mountain Brewery to try the eight beers they sent to the World Beer Cup. The eight beer sampler is 10 bucks. It’s not advertised at the brewery so you’ll either have to ask for it or have already bought a ticket. The beers are available till at least Saturday July 21. After that, there are no guarantees. These beers are worth tasting if you have an interest in experimental beers, fruit beers or gluten free beers that actually taste like a beer.

Great American Beer Fest 2012 Tickets on Sale Soon!

Tickets for the Great American Beer Festival will go on sale soon. If you've never been and always wanted to go, now is your chance. You have to ask fast though. Literally tens of thousands of tickets will disappear within less than a week, starting on Aug. 2nd. The event costs $65 and is absolutely worth every penny. It is the biggest, craziest, and one of the funnest of beer events ever. Here's what the Brewer's Association says:

Presented by the Brewers Association, GABF is the premier U.S. beer festival and competition. Each year, GABF represents the largest collection of U.S. beer ever served, bringing together the brewers and beers that make the U.S. the world’s greatest brewing nation. Over the course of three days, more than 49,000 attendees will have the opportunity to meet hundreds brewers and sample a variety of diverse beers from today’s large and small U.S. breweries.

Additionally, the GABF competition awards gold, silver and bronze medals for excellence in 84 beer style categories. The awards are recognized around the world as symbols of brewing excellence and are among the most coveted in the industry.

Go here to get your tickets

Inaugural Homebrew Competition at the El Paso County Fair

There's a new homebrew competition coming up and while this isn't in any way enough notice for you to make a beer, if you've made some summer style beers recently you may want to consider entering them into this. Here's all the details:

Competition:
The El Paso County Fair homebrew competition is an AHA/BJCP sanctioned event.

Categories accepted: Summer styles: Light Lager (BJCP style 1), Pils (2), Light Hybrid (6), American Ale (10), German Wheat and Rye (15), Belgian & French (16), and Fruit Beer (20).

Magical Paradigm Shift

A couple months back we did a review of the New Belgium Shift and while I think we were fair, we didn't give it the most favorable marks. I've thought a lot about the beer since, my feelings for it have changed and I'd like to tell you the story...

I'm a bit of beer geek. Usually this term might be one of endearment but today I use the term in a slightly more negative way. I'm a beer geek that sometimes can't see the forest through the trees. I was given a couple cans of Shift and decided this would be a beer that I'd review. I cracked open the can and promptly poured the contents into a glass and started my note taking. I don't do this with all beers, just ones that I want to really dig into. I wrote the review, it ended up being not my favorite beer when I sat there and tried to really deconstruct what was happening in terms of flavor, aroma, color, mouthfeel, and the usual suspects.

Anyway, Isaac and I headed to Fort Collins earlier in the summer and we toured New Belgium, Odell, Funkwerks, and Equinox during the day. At night we headed to a bar that was located reasonably close to the college campus. The bar looked like it was probably an old dive that had been converted into a now-cool place, complete with bikes hanging off the ceiling, writing all over the bathroom walls, and dapper bartenders with awesome mustaches. The night was warm, the place was filled with young people, the bike parking was completely packed and the bar had a contagious energy. Tall cans of Shift were priced at $3 and just about every single person in the bar carried one in hand. There was something completely amazing about that, I can't exactly explain this the way I'd like to, but it's something like magic.

Three bucks is Not Bad, so I picked one up, cracked it open and slammed it in about two minutes. I went to the bar and ordered another and went out for a smoke. I came back in for another can of Shift and finished that one off inside the bar. I wasn't there for long, perhaps an hour, maybe a little longer, but I had at least three, perhaps four cans of this beer and I changed my mind about it. That night it was the perfect beer. And it has been the perfect beer a few times since then as well.

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Blue Star brings out the big guns for another beer dinner

Okay...Blue Star is awesome. Not only do they have that Jolly Pumpkin beer dinner but they've not got this pretty fantastic one with Firestone Walker Brewing from Colorado. Why is that cool? Well, Firestone continues to win countless (I do mean countless) awards at GABF, they have absolutely perfect beers, AND I've recently heard that FW owner David Walker is flying out and will be a part of this dinner. Yep, so if you go to the dinner you get to meet David Walker and get a few special beers. That's really cool.

Here's info for the dinner, you'll want to book your tickets now.

Firestone Walker Beer Dinner
At Blue Star / 1645 S. Tejon, Colorado Springs
Wed. July 25th / 6:30pm / $65 / RSVP 719 .632.1086

Photo Review of Brewers Rendezvous in Salida, CO

Hopefully many of you headed out to Salida for the Brewer's Rendezvous. Here's a photo recap of the event.

Jason Yester from Trinity Brewing being Jason Yester. Nice shirt.

Beer Photo of the Week #6 - Churchkey Pilsner

Photos of the Week by Daniel Flanders. Churchkey Pilsner at the Bagby Hot Springs.

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Meet the Brewer: Lone Tree Brewing

Meet the Brewer: Lone Tree Brewing
July 26th / 6:30pm / Pay Per Pint
At Front Range BBQ / 2330 W. Colorado Ave., Colorado Springs
Facebook Event Page

We're thrilled to announce the next brewer in the Meet the Brewer series will be Jason Wiedmaier of Lone Tree Brewing. We were first introduced to Lone Tree when we were seeking breweries for our Battle of the Brewers event. We visited the brewery and were thoroughly impressed with the quality and spot-on tastiness of Jason's beers. Throughout the competition Lone Tree continued to impress others, and they made it to the final round, ending up in second place. We decided right then that Colorado Springs should get to know Lone Tree a little better and we invited Jason to come and hang out with us. Join us on Thursday July 26th, at Front Range BBQ, and we will drink our fair share of Lone Tree beers, some from their mainstay lineup along with some seasonals. You also really need to check out Jason's beard in person, it's pretty impressive.

The Beers:
Acres O' Green Irish Red, Ariadne's Belgian Blonde, Puddle Jumper Pale Ale, Hoptree 2IPA, Toots' Oatmeal Stout, and Pilsner.

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Paradox - New Brewery to Open in Woodland Park

We are excited to report that there will be a new brewery in Woodland Park called Paradox Beer Company, a brewery that will specialize in barrel aged beers. The brewers are not new to the area by any means, Jeff Aragon and Brian Horton are the former brewers for both BierWerks and Trinidad Brewing Company. Their business, Independent Brewing Consultants, have been contracted by Paradox to make the beer.

Local Beer Happenings in the Near Future

Here's a few things to put onto your calendar if you want some special craft beer goodness.

Special Tapping at Rocky Mountain Brewery

Just got word that Rocky Mountain Brewery will tap all eight beers that they entered into this year'sro World Beer Cup. If you remember, RMB finished up with some huge recognition, winning the Gold AND Silver in the Fruit Beer category with their Eat A Peach and Da Yoopers. You can get those, along with six other special beers next week that will likely be surprising. RMB does a really good job with fruit beers, dessert type beers, and strange concoctions. You have to go to the brewery and buy your tickets now, next week is too late.

Special Tapping at Rocky Mountain Brewery
625 Paonia St., Colorado Springs
Flight of 8 Beers / Limit 2 per person / $10 each
Tickets will be honored any time next week July 16-21
Go to the brewery to buy your tickets.


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Beer Drinker of the Week #7

Beer Drinker of the Week is a segment that will serve as a way to show off all that delicious beer you've been drinking, or just simply show us what beers you enjoy on a normal basis. This series allows you to present your beer in an artistic environment, tell us what you think about the beers you're trying, what beer is in your fridge regularly, or tell a story about how you acquired a hard to find beer. You and your beers are the focus here.

Beer Drinker of the Week #7: Chadd Nelson

P(OR)tland Photo Recap Part 1

I'm spending most of the month of July visiting family in Oregon, and I've got a little bit of work that I'm doing out here too. I've already spent a good amount of time at my favorite bars and breweries. It turns out that my pals in the Springs wanted to come along for part of the trip as well. Grant, Leah, Isaac, and Daniel all came out and spent four days. I showed them some good bars and good spots and wanted to send you all our photo recap. I'll continue posting my adventures as well. But we'll start with Horse Brass Pub...

Brewer's Rendezvous Beer Festival Coming Up

Many people speak very highly of the Brewer's Rendezvous and unfortunately I'm out of town every year at this time so I'm never able to make it. Here is information for this awesome Salida beer festival:

The 16th Annual Colorado Brewer’s Rendezvous (CBR16) is set to host a record 62 Colorado breweries in beautiful Riverside Park, downtown Salida. The July 14th event is one of the most anticipated beer events for both brewers and Colorado beer lovers. This family-friendly event attracts people from around the country to the heart of Colorado to sample beers from the states leading breweries.

Breweries must be members of the Colorado Brewers Guild to pour their beers at CBR16. “As CBG grows, so does the Rendezvous.” Explains John Carlson, Executive Director of the Colorado Brewers Guild, “The Rendezvous has a build a stellar reputation over the last 16 years for beer lover. Plus, CBG brewers love coming to Salida.” CBG has over 90 member breweries and is signing new breweries every month.

CBR16 will have almost 200 different beers, music, local food vendors, and root beer for the kids and designated drivers. The Colorado Brewers Rendezvous occurs on the second Saturday of July and is a fundraiser for the Colorado Brewers Guild and the Salida Chamber of Commerce.

Info:
July 14, 1-5pm / Riverside Park, Salida / $35 at door

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The Colorado Brewers Guild (CBG) is a non-profit trade association promoting the Colorado craft brewing industry. With 142 Colorado craft breweries and counting, CBG provides information for Colorado beer lovers, and promotes Colorado craft breweries by advancing positive public policy for Colorado craft beer. For more information, visit the website.

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Beer Photo of the Week #5 - Barrel Aging

Photos of the Week by Daniel Flanders. Barrel aging beer.

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