Parade of Darks @ Wynkoop Brewing Company

This Saturday, Wynkoop Brewing Company will be hosting a special event they're calling the Parade of Darks.  Much like their Beers of the Year event a couple of weeks ago, they'll be tapping several rare brews and also featuring guest brewers.  In total almost 40 "dark" beers (brown ales, porters, doppelbocks, stouts, dunkels, barleywines, dubbels, etc.) will be on tap. 4 oz samples are available for $1, or you can purchase unlimited samples for $25.  Additionally, SOCIAL members will get a $5 discount.

Here's a partial beer list for the event:

• Backcountry - Whiteout Barley Wine and Jack Frost Doppelbock
• Boulder Beer - Planet Porter and Never Summer Ale
• Breckenridge - Mighty Brown and Porter-Porter
• Bull & Bush - To Be Determined
• Dogfish Head - Indian Brown Ale and Palo Santo Marron
• Dry Dock - Vanilla Porter
• Great Divide - Yeti Imperial Stout, Old Ruffian Barley Wine, Oak-Aged Yeti, St. Bridget’s Porter, Hibernation
• Jolly Pumpkin - To Be Determined
• Left Hand - Fade to Black, Milk Stout, Imperial Stout
• Lost Abbey - Devotion, Lost & Found, Inferno
• Sierra Nevada - Bigfoot
• Ska - Ten Pin Imperial Porter and Steel Toe Milk Stout
• Stone - Black IPA and 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout
• New Belgium - 1554 and Small-Batch Stout
• Wynkoop Brewing - B3K Schwarzbier, Milk Stout, Coconut Milk Stout, Berserker Barrel-Aged Mead, Churchyard Scottish Ale

February is Stout Month at Mountain Sun

Next month, the Mountain Sun Brewpub will be hosting it's 17th annual Stout Month at all three of it's locations (Mountain Sun, Southern Sun, and Vine Street Pub here in Denver).  They'll be celebrating everyone's favorite winter beer by having no less than 12 of their own and 15 guest stouts on tap throughout the month.  Additionally, Adam Boggs won this year's competition and will be brewing up his Mint Chocolate Stout at Mountain Sun.  Can't wait to try all these beers!


Beer List for Mountain Sun Stout Month:
House Stouts:

• Nitro Belgian Dip Chocolate Stout
• Nitro Korova Cream Stout
• Nitro Old School Dry Irish Stout
• Yonder Mountain Stout
• Thunderhead Stout
• Oaked Thunderhead Stout
• Dropkick Stout
• Cherry Chocolate Dip Stout
• Trickster Stout
• Usurper Imperial Stout
• Nihilist Imperial Stout
• Addition - a NEW Coffee Imperial Stout

Guest Stouts:

• Stone Russian Imperial Stout
• Belhaven Imperial Stout
• Deschutes Imperial Stout (I'm not sure which one this is)
• Avery The Czar Imperial Stout
• Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout
• Young's Double Chocolate Stout
• Port Brewing Old Viscosity
• Moylan's Dragoon Stout
• Bear Republic Big Bear Stout
• Victory Donnybrook Stout
• Port Brewing Ryan Sullivan's Imperial Stout
• Stone 12th Anniversary
• Ska Brewing Steel Toe Milk Stout
• Pumphouse Brewery Collaboration and more
• Port Brewing Santa's Little Helper

Upcoming Events (Week of 1/10)

This looks like a huge week for beer drinkers in the Denver area with several great events.  It also looks like just about every brewer around has decided to release a new beer on Friday.   It'll be almost impossible to try them all, but two that I know I won't miss are Great Divide's Barrel-Aged Yeti and the latest in Avery's Barrel-Aged series, Black Tot.  Yeti is already one of my favorite Imperial Stouts and if this brew is anything like the Barrel-Aged Hibernation I had over Christmas, it'll be worth every penny of the $25 price tag.  Black Tot is also a barrel-aged imperial stout, but Avery aged the beer in Gosling's Old Rum barrels rather than the more common whiskey barrels.  I've never had a beer aged in rum barrels before, but the tasting notes say this adds "deep flavors of roasted dark malts, sweet rum, espresso and more subtle elements of brown sugar, molasses and vanilla." Can't wait to try it!

Beer events in the Denver area this week:

• 1st Annual Potluck Dinner @ Twisted Pine - 1/12, 6:00pm - 9:00pm
• Participants are to prepare dishes incorporating Twisted Pine. The dishes will then be judged by 3 local chefs with proceeds being donated to a local food organization.
• This event is free if you prepare a dish or a $5 donation if you prefer just to eat. Sign up early as it will be capped at 20 dishes and 50 participants.
• Barrel-Aged Yeti Release @ Great Divide, 1/15
• A special release of Great Divide's Yeti Imperial Stout that has been aged for 9 months in Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey barrels.  Like the brewery's two previous Barrel-Aged releases this will only be available at the tap room and select Colorado retailers in 750 ml bottles.
• Mojo Risin' Roll-Out Party @ Boulder Beer Company - 1/15, 4:00pm
• Boulder Beer is hosting a special tapping party for this year's batch of their Mojo Risin' Double IPA.
• Papa Legba Release Party @ Trinity Brewing Company - 1/15, 5:00pm
• Another new saison from this great brewpub in Colorado Springs.  Pappy Legba was brewed with flaked maize and aged on a grip of pie cherries.
• Firkin Friday @ Dry Dock Brewing - 1/15, 3:00pm - 11:00pm
• Black Tot Day @ Avery Brewing - 1/15, 5:00pm - 8:00pm
• A special party for the 3rd beer in Avery's Barrel-Aged series. This is a limited one-time release and only around 300 cases will be available with a very limited distribution.
• They'll also have 5 gallon kegs of unoaked, rye barrel, and bourbon barrel versions as well as Black Tot. $3 per taster
• Parade of the Darks @ Wynkoop Brewing Company - 1/16, 1:00pm - 5:00pm
• Featuring over 25 brown ales, porters, doppelbocks, stouts, dunkels, barleywines, dubbels, and other dark colored beers from Wynkoop and guest breweries including Lost Abbey, Left Hand, Stone, Boulder Beer, Great Divide, Back Country, Breckenridge, Bull & Bush, and New Belgium.
• Attendees can purchase $1 tokens for a 4 oz sample or a $25 wrist band for unlimited samples.

If you know of any events I've missed or would like your event added please e-mail me: denverbrew@gmail.com

Retail Beer Releases (Week of 1/3)

A relatively slow beer week continues in the Denver area with only two new releases.  However, I've also added all the beers that came out during the two weeks I was on vacation.  One that you definitely won't want to miss is Flying Dog's new Raging Bitch Belgian IPA.  This special beer was brewed to celebrate the brewery's 20th Anniversary and features all the hops you'd expect from an American IPA, but with the addition of a Belgian yeast twist.  If you can't find a six pack in town, it's also currently available on tap at the Rackhouse Pub.

Also today, the Rock Bottom Brewery on 16th Street will be giving away FREE BEER from 6:00pm to 6:30pm to celebrate the release of their new Salamander Amber.  That's a price you can't beat and while you're there I recommend trying the oak aged Imperial Stout and Hop Bomb IPA.  Both were excellent the last time I was there.

New beer releases in the Denver area this week:

• Deschutes Red Chair Pale Ale (Seasonal)
• Widmer W10 Black IPA (New)

Beer releases you might have missed:

• Flying Dog Raging Bitch Belgian IPA (Limited Release)
• Avery New World Porter (Seasonal)
• Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout (Seasonal)
• Avery Mephistopheles Stout (Seasonal)
  

Upcoming Events (Week of 1/3)

Happy New Year, everyone! It looks like 2010 is going to get off to a slow start beerwise in Denver, but this weekend also marks the 10th Annual Big Beers, Belgians, and Barleywines Festival out in Vail. This is a huge event that will feature some of the biggest names in brewing and several brand new beers made just for the festival. A full listing of the events are available below, and it looks like it's not to be missed.

If you know of any events I've missed or would like your event added please e-mail me: denverbrew@gmail.com

Beer events in the Denver area this week:

• American Sign Language Night @ Avery Tap Room - 1/5, 4:00pm - 8:00pm
• Join Avery on the first Tuesday of each month for an ASL happy hour! Must be deaf or actively signing (or learning to sign!) to get the discount: $1 off pints.
• Tenth Annual Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines Festival @ Vail, CO - 1/7 - 1/9 (Tickets are $40 for the Saturday events pass and are available on their website)
• Thursday, 7:30pm - Adam Avery, Brewmaster/Founder of Avery Brewing, and Sam Calagione, Founder/President of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, start the weekend off right with some incredible beers at our Calibration Dinner
• Friday Late Morning, 8:30am - 12:00pm - The Cicerone Program with program creator Ray Daniels.
• Friday Afternoon, 12:00pm - Welcome Reception - All About Beer Magazine provides you with the opportunity to taste all Commemorative Tenth Anniversary beers that have been created for Big Beers Weekend.
• Friday Afternoon, 1:30pm - American Homebrewers Association-sanctioned Belgians, Barleywines and Strong Ales Homebrew Competition.
• Friday Afternoon, 2:30pm - Ray Daniels will be administering the Certified Cicerone Exam to interested parties who have passed the online Certified Beer Server exam
• Friday Evening, 8:00pm - Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywines Brewmasters’ Dinner
• Saturday Morning, 10:00am - 12:00pm - White Labs Yeast Company presents an Experimental Brewing Seminar, titled “Brewing Outside of the Box: Brewers Gone Wild!”
• Saturday Early Afternoon, 12:30pm - 1:30pm - International Featured Brewmaster, Lodewijk Swinkels of LaTrappe/ Bierbrouwerij Koningshoeven, will be speaking on a topic of his choice for an educational seminar
• Saturday Afternoon, 1:30pm - 2:30pm - Colorado Featured Brewmaster, Peter Bouckaert of New Belgium Brewing Co., will be speaking on a topic of his choice for an educational seminar
• Saturday Afternoon, 2:30pm - 7:00pm - Commercial Tasting portion of the Big Beers Festival featuring over 150 different commercially produced specialty beers from around the world.
• Dry Dock Brewing Firkin Friday - 1/8, 3:00pm - 11:00pm

Winter Brew Fest & Boulder Beer Rave Tickets On Sale

In addition to Avery's SourFest, tickets are now available for two more upcoming beer festivals in the Denver area.  The first of these is the Winter Brew Fest on Friday, January 22nd at Mile High Station right here in town.  It will feature beers tons of great breweries including Alaskan, Big Sky, Bristol, Del Norte, Fort Collins, Left Hand, Odell, Twisted Pine, Avery, Boulder Beer, Great Divide, Oskar Blues, Ska, Upslope, Wynkoop, Breckenrdige, Blue Moon, Flying Dog, Mountain Sun, Pyramid, Stone, and Sierra Nevada.  Regular tickets are $30 in advance and $35 at the door for unlimited tastings and a souvenir glass, but they also have a VIP option for $10 more that includes admittance an hour early and a special beer & cheese pairing by Sierra Nevada and Avery.

Then just over a week later, Boulder Beer Company will be hosting their third annual Beer Rave on Saturday, January 30th.  For just $25 you'll get to sample rare craft beer from around the country and they promise "this is NOT your typical Colorado beer festival." Tickets are on sale for $25 at their web store.

I'm about to head out of town for the next 10 days, so this might be my last post until next year.  Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Inaugural Boulder SourFest

Avery Brewing in Boulder has recently announced that they will host a sour beer festival on February 27th (12:00pm - 5:00pm).  The fest will feature at least 35 beers from some of the leading sour beer makers in the world.  A preliminary list of all the brewers involved is expected next year, but I can confirm that all attendees will receive twenty 2oz. sample pours and a complimentary tasting snifter.

Advance tickets go on sale 12/22 at 8 AM on their website or at 12 PM on at the Avery Tap Room.