As expected, the Boulder Beer Heat Rave was a great time. For just $25 I was able to sample several rare "tap-house" only beers from 25 different brewers all in one place while enjoying live music and meeting some great people.
Just about every beer was excellent, but there were a few that stood out a little more. These included the new Bourbon Barrel Stout from Odell Brewing (in stores now, so be on the look out for it), New Belgium's Tart Lychee (a sour beer aged in oak barrels with Brettanomyces yeast and blended with lychee and Ceylon cinnamon), and Blue Moon's Peanut Butter Ale (peanut butter in beer actually works!). The event's hosts, Boulder Beer Company, also pulled out all the stops and were offering up a Bourbon Berry Porter, Bourbon Mojo IPA, and 1998 Igloo Ale (that's right 11 years old!) plus their usual selections.
Barrel aged beers were definitely the hot trend of the day. In addition to the 4 already mentioned, there were 4 others available including Twisted Pine's delicious Reilly's Oak Whiskey Red (available in their tap room 9/18), year old Old Ruffian from Great Divide, oaked Mama Pilsner from Oskar Blues, and Avery's new Moloch Ale (I think on tap for the first time and every bit the 13.5% ABV). All in all, it was an excellent day and a great way to start off Boulder Beer Week!
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