Rackhouse Pub Opens Today

There is a new beer bar in town as the Rackhouse Pub opens on South Kalamath Street today.  This new pub is located in the old Heavenly Daze Brewery building now occupied by Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey and will offer a large variety of local products including Colorado beers, micro-distilled spirits, soda, meats, cheeses and produce.  The food menu looks pretty good (can't wait to try the Colorado Whiskey Chili), but the show stopper is the 20+ craft beer taps.  The twist here is that every tap is filled with a beer made in this state including such rarities as Odell's Bourbon Barrel Stout and New Belgium's Transatlantique Kriek. The Rackhouse Pub looks like a worthy addition to Denver's craft beer scene and I hope it's successful, so go check it out soon.

Rackhouse Pub Draft Beer List:

• Blue Moon 
• New Belgium 1554 
• New Belgium Abbey
• New Belgium Transatlantique Kriek
• Flying Dog In-Heat Wheat
• Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale 
• Breckenridge 471 IPA 
• Odell IPA 
• Odell Bourbon Barrel Stout
• Great Divide Denver Pale Ale 
• Great Divide Hades 
• Avery Hog Heaven 
• Avery Old Jubilation 
• SKA Modus Hoperandi 
• Left Hand Nitro Milk Stout 
• Del Norte Orale Lager
• Twisted Pine Reily’s Oak Whiskey Red
• Steamworks Steam Engine
• Dry Dock Paragon Apricot Blonde 

Retail Beer Releases (Week of 10/25)

A small new release list this week, but it features some very rare beers that surely won't be on shelves for long. I've already covered Goose Island's fantastic Bourbon County Stout here, but their Christmas Ale is also one you'll want to pick up. Additionally, one-off releases from Widmer Brothers and Redhook have arrived in Denver and a favorite winter seasonal from New Belgium should be available again.

If you're looking for a place to find all these great beers, check out Lukas Liquor in Lone Tree (about 15-20 minutes south of Denver) as they're also having a special beer tasting today from 4:00pm to 7:00pm featuring brews from Left Hand Brewing.  This week they'll have Left Hand's Warrior IPA, Black Jack Porter, Sawtooth Ale, and amazing Milk Stout available for tasting.  Plus a representative from the brewery will be on hand to answer any questions you may have.

New beers available in the Denver area:

• Goose Island Bourbon County Stout (Seasonal)
• Goose Island Christmas Ale (Seasonal)
• Widmer Brothers Cherry Oak DoppelBock (Limited Release)
• Redhook Treblehook Barleywine (Limited Release)
• New Belgium Frambozen (Seasonal)

3rd Annual All Colorado Beer Festival

It may be snowing in Denver, but festival season is not done yet as the 3rd Annual All Colorado Beer Festival kicks off in Colorado Springs next Saturday, November 7th.  The event is being held at the Mr. Biggs Event Center and will feature more than 70 beers from over 30 local Colorado breweries, making it the perfect way to check out all the best offerings in the state at once.  I know I'm looking forward to seeing what will last year's People's Choice winner, Trinity Brewing Company, brings out. 

This year they will be doing things a bit differently with two 4.5 hour sessions, one at 12:00pm and one at 5:30pm. Tickets are available on their website and are $25 in advance or $30 at the door. They include a commemorative tasting glass and unlimited 2 ounce samples. All proceeds generated by the festival are donated to local nonprofit organizations.

Here's a list of the breweries that will be attending:

• Breckenridge Brewery
• Great Divide Brewing Company
• Avery Brewing Company
• The Fort Collins Brewery
• New Belgium
• Blue Moon
• Rocky Mountain Brewery
• Bristol Brewing Company
• Phantom Canyon Brewing Co.
• Ska Brewing
• Tommyknocker Brewery
• Odell Brewing
• Hops
• Black Fox Brewing
• Trinity Brewing
• Durango Brewing Company
• Rock Bottom-Colorado Springs
• Twisted Pine Brewery
• Dillon DAM Brewing
• Left Hand Brewing Company
• AC Golden
• Oskar Blues
• Coors
• Judge Baldwins

Upslope Munson Farms Pumpkin Ale Release Party

Upslope Brewing will be releasing their latest creation at their tap room this week.  Their Munson Farms Pumpkin Ale is a 100% Boulder product using spices from Savory Spice, and obviously pumpkins from Munson Farms. Around 125 pound of locally grown baby bear pumpkins were combined with a mix of Vietnamese cinnamon bark, nutmeg seeds, allspice berries, whole cloves, and shaved mace to create the pilot batch of this new seasonal.  It will be unveiled this Friday, October 30th, at 4:00pm in their tap room, and it sounds like only a small amount was brewed so it probably won't last long.

2009 Bourbon County Stout arrives in Colorado

The word is out that the 2009 batch of my favorite beer, Goose Island's Bourbon County Stout, has just arrived in Colorado.  This highly acclaimed brew (100% rating on Rate Beer and an A over at Beer Advocate) is not like anything you've had before. Even other barrel aged stouts can't compare to it's complex chocolate, vanilla, oak, and bourbon flavor.  In fact, it tastes as much like bourbon as a drink can get without being bourbon.  It is also a beer designed for cellaring (up to 5 years), as age can significantly change the flavors.  That has me really looking forward to doing a vertical tasting with one of my remaining bottles of the 2008 batch to see how it's changed.  This year's version is available in both 12 oz and 22 oz bottles, but I've heard only 65 cases were sent to Colorado so grab it while you can.

From Goose Island:

Brewed in honor of the 1000th batch at our original Clybourn brewpub. A liquid as dark and dense as a black hole with thick foam the color of a bourbon barrel. The nose is an intense mix of charred oak, chocolate, vanilla, caramel and smoke. One sip has more flavor than your average case of beer. A great cigar beer.

Recipe Information:
Style: Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
Alcohol by Volume: 13%
International Bitterness Units: 60
Color: Midnight
Hops: Willamette
Malt: 2-Row, Munich, Chocolate, Caramel, Roast Barley, Debittered Black

Serving Suggestions:
Preferred Glass: Snifter
Preferred Serving Temperature: 40º
Food Pairings: Flourless Chocolate Cake
Cheese Pairings: Capriole Bourbon Chocolate Torte
Cellaring Notes: Develops in the bottle for up to 5 years

Upcoming Events (Week of 10/25)

This week is shaping up to be another great one for Denver beer drinkers with no less than 11 events in the area.  Things start off with Great Divide's monthly beer & cheese pairing on Tuesday, continue with several great Halloween parties, and wrap up with a new fall seasonal release from the Wynkoop Brewing Company.  Following this year's Denver Gorilla Run on Saturday, the Wynkoop will tap a cask of their new Riverside Pumpkin Ale (named for Denver's historic Riverside Cemetery).  The twist is that the "cask" is actually a real pumpkin! The beer was brewed with 75 pounds of toasted pumpkin, 30 pounds of pumpkin puree, traditional pumpkin pie spices, and they threw in some flaked pumpkin during the secondary fermentation.  Sounds perfect for a brisk late Fall day.


From Wynkoop:

The beer is a mahogany-colored ale of approx 6.5% ABV and sports a balanced blend of amber malt notes, layers of pumpkin flavors, and gentle spicing. It’ll be available through November while supplies last.

Beer events in the Denver area this week:

• Great Divide Monthly Beer & Cheese Pairing, 10/27, 5:00pm - 8:00pm (RSVP with patrick@greatdivide.com)
• Avery Society for the Pursuit of Hoppiness - Pearl St. Hop Tour, 10/27, 6:00pm
• New Belgium & St. Arnold Beer Event @ Trinity Brewing, 10/28 (Lips of Faith beers, games, and raffles)
• Dry Dock Firkin Friday, 10/30, 3:00pm - 11:00pm
• Oskar Blues Firkin Friday - Spiced Old Chub, 10/30, 5:00pm
• Great Divide Hoppy Halloween Party, 10/30, 6:00pm - 9:00pm ($15 per person) - Check out my write up here
• Left Hand Brewing Halloween Party, 10/30, All Day ($3 dark beers, costume contest)
• Wildnight for Wildlife @ Millennium Harvest House, 10/30, 5:30pm - 10:30pm ($65 per person, beer tasting from local breweries)
• Smoked Stout Release Party @ Twisted Pine, 10/30, 3:00pm - 9:00pm
• Black Fox "Samhain" Pumpkin Saison Release Party @ Bristol Brewing, 10/30, 5:00pm - 9:00pm
• Trinity Brewing Halloween Party, 10/31, All Day (Beer specials from 3:00pm - 7:00pm)
• Real Gourd Beer @ Wynkoop Brewing Company, 10/31, 2:00pm (Riverside Pumpkin Ale release)

Retail Beer Releases (Week of 10/18)

Compared to the last few weeks this is a relatively slow one for new beers in the Denver area, but still a few seasonal releases have arrived.  One to look out for is Ska Brewing's new Hoperation Ivy fresh hopped ale.  This once-a-year brew was one of my favorites at the Colorado Fresh Hop Celebration last weekend and is part of Ska's push to distribute their excellent Local Series further outside of Durango.  Hoperation Ivy is a 100% Colorado beer made in state using Cascade hops that the brewery's employees hand-picked at San Juan Hop Farms in Montrose, CO.  It's supposed to be a limited release, so don't wait to pick some up.

• New Belgium 2° Below Winter Ale (Seasonal)
  
• Port High Tide (Seasonal)
• Ska Hoperation Ivy (New/Seasonal)
• Golden City Evolution IPA
• Rogue Maierfest Lager (Seasonal)
  
• Fort Collins Double Chocolate Stout (Seasonal)