12/6/13 Our Mutual Friend Brewing

The last stop on the tour during 2013 was to Our Mutual Friend, small spot up in the River North neighborhood.

From the Dickensian name, to the books on the shelves behind the taps, to the overall decor, OMF definitely had a hipster vibe going for it.  But, we don't discriminate as long as the beer is good.

OMF was small, but cozy.

Freshly shorn Shirey.

Sampler 1.

Sampler two.

Fortunately I had enough foresight to write down some notes in my trusty phone.  Some highlights:

"Proletariat - tastes like Casa Bonita"

"Coffee Stout - tastes like Scotch"

"Winter Warmer - like drinking a latte.  Shirey's favorite"

"West IPA - mmmmm"

I do remember the Proletariat having a very distinct taste that reminded me of Casa Bonita processed cheese.  Not exactly a good thing.  Their Saison was also something of a miss, not tart or fruity enough for my tastes.

But the IPA, Winter Warmer and Coffee Stout more than made up for the earlier misses.  

8/10/13 Wit's End Brewing

The end of 2013 saw two more trips out on the tour, but the blog was sorely neglected.  The first trip, which I *think* took place on October 10th, was to Wit's End Brewing.  Small, nano-brewery in the industrial section of town just south of Mile High Stadium.

We had wanted to try Wit's End ever since we visited Renegade Brewing last February.  On that trip the head brewer from Wit's End was on hand to release a collaboration beer called Judge Whoppner.  We'd been excited to try Wit's End every since.

Tasting room was small but had a nice wrap-around bar.

Sampler mat.

Shirey.

Me.

Notes for the beers have been lost to the sands of time.  But overall the impression of Wit's End was good.  I think.

8/10/2013 Diebolt Brewing

Time for another extremely late post to the blog!  For the past year Shirey has been watching with eager anticipation as a brewery began to take shape across from his place of work.  Over the course of months Shirey even lent a hand in moving some of the equipment around, so it was exciting to finally get to see Diebolt Brewing getting ready to open.

Diebolt (pronounced Dee-bolt) is a family owned brewery making beer with a French influence.  They occupy a cool spot in Sunnyside, just north-west of downtown.

Nice sized tap-room.

As I write this I see that the current beer list is long, but at the time we went they were only pouring two - a porter and a pale ale.

I believe that's Mrs. Diebolt manning the taps.

Mr. Diebolt himself!  As this was a special soft opening he took all the patrons on a tour of the brewery.

Brew equipment, straight from China!

No real winners or losers here; both beers we sampled were good.  We look forward to heading back and sampling the full menu!

7/24/2013 Black Shirt Brewing

Black shirt brewing - a brewery tour told in photo:

Unfortunately I lost my notes for this brewery tour stop, but I do remember a couple of things.  First, the brewery is located pretty far north in the Rino neighborhood, but it's a good spot and the space itself was a great place for an afternoon beer.  

Second, the beer theme at the time was 'red' - red saison, red ale, red pale ale, red IPA, red sour mash saison and red porter.  We had no idea there was a way to make so many red beers.  Not sure if their lineup is always red beers, but when we went that's what they had.  Definitely interesting.

Winners

Can't remember.  I probably liked the saison, Shirey probably liked the porter or ale

Losers

I don't remember anything standing out as bad.

Overall

Good spot.  Nice bar.  The beers weren't the greatest we've sampled, but it was interesting to try so many different reds.

Umm, that's it?

6/12/2013 TRVE Brewing

TRVE Brewing.  An ode to metal and beer.  Sounds like the perfect spot for a stop on the beer tour!  Shirey and I had originally planned on hitting up Wit's End Brewing, but upon arrival we were met with a closed sign, much like Wally World.  But, not to be daunted we pulled up our trusty beer map and decided to try interestingly named TRVE Brewing.

 

TRVE is just south of downtown in the hip stretch of Broadway.  It's pretty small and nondescript from the outside; we nearly missed it as we drove by.  A small black sign was about all there was to indicate there being an awesome brewery inside.

Once you enter you're faced with a fairly skinny but looong room full of people.  The space is much larger than what you'd expect from the street.  The other thing you notice when you enter is the music - rock and metal.  \m/  As TRVE describes it, "rad place to hang out and drink killer beer".  

The theme of this place is definitely metal: black kegs, morbid paintings on the wall, skulls with candles, and pentagrams galore.  And beer.

The beer menu.  

Shirey was amped to get started on some beer!

Shirey was still so amped he couldn't hold his camera still!

During our tasting we sampled everything TRVE had to offer, and then some.  They, like Renegade and Crooked Stave, pretty much only gave us good beer.  Not a bad one in the bunch.

Winners

Prehistoric Dog - Holy crap a salt beer.  As in, the brewer told us they put in 10lbs of salt into the mixture when they brew the beer.  It sounds like it might be weird, but it was actually pretty effing awsome.  Shirey's favorite.

Tunnel of Trees - An american IPA.  Hoppy, but not insanely so.  And it had hints of, well pine.  Maybe pun intended?  Luke's favorite.

Losers

There were no losers here.

Notables

Nazareth - Double IPA.  Secret flavor: Chicken in a Biscuit!

Wanderlust - The brewers favorite beer.  Belgian Ale that starts out sweet and slightly syrupy, but finishes really well.  Tasty.

Overall

TRVE pretty much nailed it: unique vibe, great beer and awesome location.  We will definitely be back.

5/8/2013 Crooked Stave

For the next stop on the beer tour, Shirey and I decided to try a spot that I've been excited to visit ever since we started - Crooked Stave.

From my limited access to the Denver Beer scene Crooked Stave definitely seemed to be garnering a lot of respect for the brews they're creating.  Started waaay back in 2010, this artisan brewery grew from a master's dissertation about Brettanomyces yeast.  Bretta-waaa?  

Apparently the Brettanomyces yeast (heretofore referred to as Brett) is a strain found on the surfaces to certain types of fruit and has been used for years in wine-making to alter the palette of various wines.  However, Brett isn't often used in beer brewing as many consider it to create "off" flavors.  But, certain types of beer - namely some traditional Belgian ales -  benefit from these flavors. Lambic, gueuze, wild-yeast saison and farmhouse ales all owe their flavor profiles to Brett.

So what does this mean for Shirey and I?  That Crooked Stave is brewing some of my favorite types of beers based around some serious science.  I was uber pumped to finally give this brewery a try.

Crooked Stave is small - located just NW of downtown Denver in a small office park.

That small sign is about all you get to help you find the place.

The inside is pretty small, one of the smallest tap-rooms we've been to.  

There were a few people there to sample Crooked Stave's offerings.

Shirey was excited.

I was just ready for some beer.

The flight!  During our visit they had 5 beers on tap (from left to right):

 Vielle Saison

 Apple Whiskey Vielle Saison

 Surette

St. Bretta

 Hop Savant

Winners

Hop Savant - Shirey's favorite.  It was tart and sweet at the same time, and had a tiny hint of what we finally determined to be pineapple.

St. Bretta - My favorite.  Light and refreshing, a little bit tart.  Also had an earthy smell.

Losers

None!  

Overall

Similarly to DeSteeg, Crooked Stave had a small offering, but what they had was delicious.  Both versions of the Vielle Saison were excellent - especially the regular Vielle.  The apple whiskey version was interesting; a little stronger flavor with some extra flavors - most notably caramel.  Smooth, but not quite as good as the main version.  

Crooked Stave is small but cool spot to go drink some very interesting and less common types of beer.  It's doesn't have the space or the vibe of a Denver Beer Co. or Renegade, but I don't think that's their goal.

All in all we give Crooked Stave an introspective stare into the sky.