Time to talk about some beer. Along with exciting adventures on the trails, spring starts the outdoor beer fest season. This past Saturday (May 9), was New Brew Fest in Niwot. Last year was the inaugural fest, so this year is the 2nd Annual. Remember you can not have a 1st Annual event. This was a fun time last year and is super convenient. Held at Whistle Stop Park, I can hop on the Bolt around the corner from my house and get dropped off right at the park. The idea of this beer tasting fest is to showcase Boulder County brewers who are less than 5 years old. Which is a lot. I like this fest as it wasn't super crowded last year, includes a large number of good brewers, has generous pours, is reasonably priced and gives me a chance to check out the ever growing number of new breweries I haven't had a chance to taste yet.
Unfortunately, the weather leading up to Saturday wasn't great. Rain everyday of the week and some chilly temps. Not exactly the type of weather you want to stand around outside for 5 hours in. When I woke up Saturday morning, it was raining hard. But at 11 it stopped and began to clear out. By noon, the Fest opened to a little bit of sun. There was quite a bit of mud but most everyone there was prepared to deal with it. At about 12:15 my friends and I had entered and started tasting some fine brews. Again, likely due to the weather, it wasn't super crowded, so you could quickly get a beer.
The wind picked up around 2 and the temps began to drop. By 3 it was starting to get cold. Then it began to rain/sleet. It felt more like football tailgating weather (if you are from the midwest), then a brew fest (or maybe more like the infield at Pimlico). But those tailgating experiences make you hardy, and we held out till about 4, when we bailed to head over to Bootstrap. I would say most everyone else had bailed long before then. I doubt many people made it to the 5 o'clock closing time.
 |
| Mud and Beers. Mmm .... tasty. |
A few breweries bailed out and were no shows. Here are the highlights and lowlights from those brave souls who risked frostbitten fingers to pour us some beers.
Best Beer: Blond Stout, Industrial Revolution Brewing Co., Erie
Judged strictly on the merits of a tasty stout, this was incredible. Good coffee flavor without being overpowering, some vanilla notes in there and a smooth chocolatey finish. Just a great stout. But the kicker is that it is the same color as a pale ale or wheat ale as it is brewed without any roasted barley. Your mind becomes confused as it can't process what your eyes see and your mouth tastes. So instead of trying to figure it out, you just drink more, which with this stout is a good thing.
Best New Brewery I Haven't Tried Yet: Grossen Bart Brewery, Longmont
Last year's New Brew Fest introduced me to Powderkeg. They weren't even open yet, so I was in anticipation until they opened a few months later. This year, Grossen Bart made a great first impression. I will definitely stopped in sometime soon. They were serving Walrus Oatmeal Stout and Soul Patch Porter (catch their theme yet. Grossen Bart is German for "Big Beard")
I started the day with the stout and was pretty happy with it. I went back later for the Porter. Both were solid beers. Looking at their website, they seem to have a good selection of beers and a couple that are intriguing, like the Soul Patch Smoked Morita Chili Porter.
Great Beer From Place I Have Only Had Once or So : Wee Rauchy Scottish Strong Ale,
Liquid Mechanics Brewing, Lafayette
Brewed as a collaboration with Grimm Brothers Brewery (Loveland), I really liked this beer. It had a very unique but balanced taste. I have had Liquid Mech brew last year at New Brew and at Colorado Brewer's Rendezvous, but haven't been in their taproom yet. Will now be more interested in stopping by.
Still Tastes Great. Best Old Standby: #42 Poblano Stout, Big Choice Brewing, Broomfield
On a chilly day, it was a perfect choice. Great taste. Smokey. Chili flavor but doesn't hit you with the chili heat. I don't regularly seek out Big Choice, but when I see the Poblano Stout, I usually grab a pint.
Other Breweries I Hadn't Been To, but left good impression:
Front Range Brewing Co., Lafayette
Skeye Brewing, Longmont
Disappointing No Shows: Odd 13 Brewing, Lafayette and Wibby Brewing, Longmont
I love Odd 13's Eric the Red. Love it. Looked forward to having it only to be left disappointed that Odd 13 wasn't there. As for Wibby, they are opening this summer so haven't had their beer at all. But was interested in trying them out. Tasteful lagers are their specialty. I am glad they are keeping things tasteful, just wish I could have tried them.
Disappointing Did Show: Shoes and Brews, Longmont
A shoe store and a micro-brewery taproom all under the same roof. Why didn't I think of that? Oh wait I did, but just didn't follow through. When they opened last year, I was excited to try them out. This was my first time I had any of their brews. Unfortunately the Pale Ale tasted like it was fermented in shoes and the Imperial IPA didn't have much aroma and instead had disappointing taste. I usually give a new brewery a couple of chances as I have seen quality vary from batch to batch early on, so I'll try Shoes and Brews again. One caveat is that when you are tasting a bunch of different beers, it can lead you to have a beer taste weird when it otherwise doesn't. But my friends were also not impressed. So S and B, I'll give you another chance, but in this state, there are too many good beers around to keep drinking something less than good. I do hear they have a great selection of other Colorado beers on tap, so at least it wouldn't hurt to stop in and see their setup.
And as this is both a beer and running blog, I got up the next morning to 4-5 inches fresh snow and did 17 miles. Oddly didn't feel all that bad. Took a couple hour nap that afternoon, but didn't feel that bad. http://www.movescount.com/moves/move61941712
