Don’t forget après in your ski season preparations

Oct. 26, 2012

With snow in the forecast in coming days and Loveland and Arapahoe Basin premiering their individual ribbons of chaos for skiing and riding, it’s time to take stock of your personal provisions for the ski season. Ski conditioning classes have been squarely kicking my butt (whenever I can drag said butt out of bed in the morning to attend), and my sticks are standing at the ready for a final tune before Opening Day at Vail on Nov. 16. That leaves only one other key area of preparation to be addressed: après.

You can’t ride into winter without inspecting every arrow in your quiver of fun, from first tracks to last call.

And if you still need some help, head down to the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Nov. 2-4. For the second year in a row, the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Expo will take a double-barreled approach to shelling you into the ski season. If you want to grab some last-minute deals on gear, the expo features the largest ski and snowboard sale in the state, with prices marked down 40 percent to 75 percent on last season’s threads and shreds. But the really brilliant part is that you can don your new winter duds and strut over to the adjoining Rocky Mountain Brew Fest to test your après prowess. Find out if that sweet new softshell can handle a steady drizzle of wobbling IPA or whether you need some work on ski boot walking after a few brews by sampling the wares of these Colorado breweries:

>> AC Golden Brewing Co.

Steve Fletcher, a brewing with AC Golden, said the brewery would be pouring its flagship Colorado Native beer, as well as a relatively new offering, an India Pale Lager.

“It’s a pale lager, so it’s lagered, which really accentuates the character of the hops,” Fletcher said. “It’s more delicate, which makes the hop pop, and finishes really nice and crisp and clean.”

Fletcher has already taken his first few ski runs of the season and said the brewing and ski industries go hand in hand in Colorado because they seek to achieve the same results: have a great time and possibly try something outside your comfort zone.

“Obviously, what’s bigger in Colorado than the outdoors and riding and skiing. I think it’s a perfect blend of things to do,” he said. “Every time I’m up skiing or boarding, everybody is in a great, fun mood. Everybody is on vacation all day long — same with a beer festival.”

>> Elevation Beer Co.

The beer buffs at Elevation take their skiing, and their brewing, very seriously. The brewery divides its products into four categories, green, blue, black and double black, an homage to the universally recognized ski-slope rating hierarchy. Xandy Bustamante, co-founder and national sales and distribution manager, said Elevation, located just outside Salida in Poncha Springs, has a close relationship with nearby Monarch Mountain.

“The ski expo felt like a good fit for us, and we’re excited to be a part of it this year,” Bustamante said. “Our brewery is only six months old; it’s one of the newer ones in Colorado.”

Elevation will be pouring its First Cast IPA, 8 Second Kolsh and either Downpour, a double IPA, or Apis IV, a Belgian quad made with local honey. Elevation brews will be on tap for après at Monarch, Ski Cooper and a couple of places in Copper this winter, Bustamante said, and will also be making their way into the Vail Valley for the first time this season, starting with the black and double black series. Bustamante said the Elevation crew is looking forward to its first Colorado Ski & Snowboard Expo.

“We’re excited to go down there and pour beer for our target consumers, people like us,” he said.

 

>> Left Hand Brewing Co.

This will be the second trip to the expo and brew fest for Left Hand, said Josh Breckel, Colorado sales manager for the brewery. Left Hand will be pouring its signature Milk Stout Nitro and its Sawtooth Ale, a bronze-medal winner in the Ordinary or Special Bitter category at the recent Great American Beer Festival in Denver. The nitro version has a bit of a different mouth feel than the standard carbonated Milk Stout.

“CO2 is much more noticeable on the palate; it’s got that almost carbonic burning sensation on your cheeks and your tongue,” Breckel said. “(The Nitro is) much more smooth, creating a more creamy, rounder effect.”

Breckel said there isn’t a sexy story related to the brewery’s involvement in the expo. Coordinators reached out to Left Hand for the inaugural event last year, and the brewery agreed.

“Skiing is an important part of Colorado,” he said. “The people who get out there and ski and snowboard are definitely our demographic, and we want to support things that are interesting to them. … What I look forward to in any of these events is the guerrilla marketing aspect of it, talking to people who may not have had our beers before and introducing them to something that maybe becomes their new favorite beer.”

Big Choice, Bristol, Eddyline, Grand Lake, Great Divide, Odell and Ska breweries also will be in attendance pouring beers to help with your après conditioning.

Entry to the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Expo is $12, cash only. The Rocky Mountain Brew Fest is an additional $12 or $15 at the door, which includes three beer samples and one full beer. Additional sampling tickets also will be available for purchase. For more information on the expo and brew fest, including a list of exhibitors, or to buy advance tickets, visit http://www.bewisports.com/expos/denver.

Krista Driscoll

Hophead

Vail Daily Weekly

Taste the flickering light of fall before it’s gone

Oct. 12, 2012

Fall in the high country is winding down. A few breezy days have stripped most of the golden-orange leaves from the aspen trees, and the days and nights are getting cold enough for snowmaking at area resorts. But before we say goodbye to autumn and hello to ski season, let’s take one last fond look at some crisp fall beers. Like those aspen leaves, much of this season’s beer selection has been stripped from local liquor store shelves, but a few tempting brews are still clinging on and are worth grabbing up.

We know that cooling weather demands spicier beer with a clean finish for sun-spotted autumn days, but what else makes certain brews the perfect companions to this season?

“While we do choose seasonal ingredients for our fall beers, there is also a historical context for how these beers came to lend themselves to the fall season,” said Jennifer Glanville, brewer for Samuel Adams. “Traditional Oktoberfest beers, like Samuel Adams Octoberfest, are marzen-style lagers. The term marzen — German for the month of March — gets its name from the last month in which the beer was traditionally brewed.” 

Before refrigeration, Glanville said, March was the last month that beers could be “lagered,” or put into cold storage, to survive the warmer summer weather. 

“By doing this, the beers could age during the summer and be enjoyed around this time of the year for the annual fall harvest,” Glanville said.

>> Oktoberfest beers. 

Though not all brewed in the marzen style, lager Oktoberfest beers claim a large chunk of the fall brewing market. David Courtney, of Beaver Liquors, said a couple of favorites that can still be found at his store are the Santa Fe Brewing Oktoberfest, a lighter, lager-style, sessionable brew, and the New Belgium Red Hoptober, which is darker but also easy-drinking.

Hoptober has also been popular at Riverwalk Wine & Spirits in Edwards, said Tim Consadine, along with Beck’s Oktoberfest, another traditional marzen-style lager brewed in Germany. He said he’s also sold a lot of the aforementioned Samuel Adams Octoberfest.

“Our Octoberfest … blends together five roasts of malt to create a brew complete with sweet flavors, including caramel and toffee,” Glanville said of the Sam Adams incarnation. “The malty sweetness found in Octoberfest pairs well with some of my favorite fall dishes, such as bratwurst and roast pork.”

Mickey Werner, of Alpine Wine & Spirits, said the Sam Adams brew also has been a popular one at his shop, along with Left Hand’s Oktoberfest. Left Hand brews in the marzen style, starting in the spring and eating up two months to get the beer to its medium-bodied lagered finish.

“Oktoberfest beers have a deep red amber color that itself is characteristic of autumn and the color of the changing leaves, together with a rich malt complexity,” Glanville said.

>> Pumpkin beers. 

One of the great things about being a woman is that you can drink fruity beer without worrying what your friends will think or whether it will somehow ruin your masculinity. I’ll happily guzzle a framboise or a shandy alongside an IPA or a stout because, as they say, variety is the spice of life, and I want to grab it with both hands.

Consequently, pumpkin ales are my favorite fall style of beer. Brewed infrequently in limited batches, they disappear quickly. There are still a few six-packs of pumpkin brews to be had here and there around the valley, so stock up while you still can.

Consadine said Riverwalk is home to a diminishing supply of Tommyknocker Pumpkin Harvest Ale, brewed with a bit of molasses and spice, and Woodchuck’s Pumpkin Cider, a private-reserve selection that combines Woodchuck’s signature cider flavor with a pumpkin finish.

Also spotted around the valley this month were Dogfish Punkin Ale, which comes in at a higher price point and is packaged in a four-pack, and Uinta Punk’n Harvest Pumpkin Ale, one of my personal favorites. If you’re looking for something a little more main stream that’s a little less flavorful to ease you into this style of beer, try Shocktop Pumpkin Wheat or Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale. Both of these beers dial down the pumpkin and spice ingredients, making for smooth, easy-swilling suds.

Finally, if you want to venture into the unknown recesses of fizzy pumpkin lore, loiter around the Fireside Bar at the Vail Cascade Resort and try to get your hands on some Avery Rumpkin, the crème de la crème of pumpkin beers. This monster of a pumpkin brew is finished in rum barrels and spiced with nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger. I’d be willing to shoulder blue-haired ladies out of the way for a bottle of this stuff. To me, it captures that last bit of fall.

Krista Driscoll

Hophead

Vail Daily Weekly

Like beer? Go here

Sept. 26, 2012

Back in June, I sent out a call for readers to recommend establishments in the valley that go above and beyond with their craft beer selections. After a handful of beer-cooler surveys, I’m happy to announce three of the top local spots to grab a unique brew and, in the words of the proprietors, what makes their beer collections so special:

>> Atwater on Gore Creek, Vail

Total number of beers available: 42.

Number of breweries represented: 34.

Fall beers to try: Avery Kaiser, Elysian Night Owl and Ayinger Oktoberfest-Marzen.

Laura Lodge is responsible for the craft beer program at the Vail Cascade, including Atwater on Gore Creek, the resort’s restaurant. She said she tries to maintain a general proportion of 40 percent Colorado, 40 percent American outside of Colorado and 20 percent international selections on Atwater’s beer list.

“Within that, I try to distribute the styles and drinkers’ experience levels across the board and try to break up the geography: have some East Coast beers and West Coast beers and some in between,” she said.

The goal at Atwater is to give guests the opportunity to have a diverse experience with beer and food, Lodge said, by offering a range of beers from the accessible, gateway varieties to farther off the deep end beers for the connoisseur. The draft beer selection at Atwater changes every six weeks during the busy seasons, and the restaurant features free craft beer tasting on Wednesday nights, Friday Night Flights in the Fireside Bar and monthly Brewmaster Weekends, where brewers talk about their beers while diners sup on small plates crafted by the Atwater culinary team.

“I think that craft beer is something different that’s coming into the food and beverage world that diners and foodies should pay close attention to because it can provide such a unique element to a dining experience,” Lodge said. “I don’t think that all people who love and embrace food are aware of what that craft beer element can bring to a meal.”

>> Kirby Cosmo’s BBQ Bar, Minturn

Total number of beers available: 42.

Number of breweries represented: 23.

Fall beers to try: Stone Arrogant Bastard, Uinta Hop Notch and Oskar Blues Deviant Dale’s.

Mark Tamberino, owner of Kirby Cosmo’s, said that he has two things in mind when stocking beer at his restaurant.

“My overall goal in selecting beer is to make sure that what I have is A, some of the best beer in the valley on tap and in the case and B, to keep it new and fresh, to make sure that what I have isn’t dated,” he said.

To keep his selection fresh, Tamberino rotates his seasonal beers four times a year and keeps an eye on what people in the valley are drinking.

“I do some research at Avon Liquors or Beaver Liquors and see what they are selling a lot of,” Tamberino said. “They can bring in a bigger variety of stuff. … They point me in the right direction.”

Aside from this market research, Tamberino said he likes to stock beer that he himself would enjoy drinking.

“That’s the best part of my job, the most fun part, choosing beers to bring into my bar,” he said. “I like the smaller craft breweries, and I try to make sure that they are well-represented in my bar. I like to choose beers that are brewed locally in Colorado because I think I have a lot of out of town guests who want to choose beers that are from the state.”

Kirby’s also offers a mug club for its beer aficionados. Once price gets you a 22-ounce mug to keep in the bar, beer specials every day of the week and free dinner once a month, among other perks. Tamberino values his beer drinkers and has created a program at Kirby’s to support them.

“I think it has a lot to do with the success of my restaurant,” Tamberino said. “A lot of people who come into Kirby’s know that we’ll have something different or something that they can’t find on tap anywhere else in the valley.”

>> Old Kentucky Tavern, Eagle

Total number of beers available: 39.

Number of breweries represented: 28.

Fall beers to try: Tommyknocker Pumpkin, Breckenridge Autumn, Left Hand Oktoberfest.

Monica Mattingly is the co-owner and designated beer drinker at Old Kentucky Tavern. When creating the beer list at the restaurant in Eagle, Mattingly tried to keep co-owner Steven “Juice” Morrison in mind.

“I really wanted a variety of beers, and I really wanted beers that were representative of Colorado, especially Bonfire and Crazy Mountain and beers that I like and Juice would like,” Mattingly said. “He’s not really a beer drinker, so things that he would like, too.”

Though Old Kentucky strives to have brews on its list to entice the novice drinker, it maintains a healthy dose of high-octane selections, too.

“Monthly, we try to rotate one or two things in there if someone has something new,” she said. “We do a beer special every single day. If it’s on special, people will have a tendency to try it and they might like it.”

Mattingly has spent a lot of time in the front of the house in bars around the valley and said it’s always fun to have a different selection of beers and to encourage people to try new things.

“One of the only markets that was increasing last year was the craft beer market,” she said. “So you know people are trying it.”

Having Bonfire Brewery close by doesn’t hurt, either.

“Bonfire does some really great short runs that we like to have,” Mattingly said. “When we’re out of Bonfire, we can just run out the back door and grab something; it’s nice and convenient to have a brewery at your back door.”

Craft beer makes sense for Old Kentucky because it pairs well with bourbon and a lot of the restaurant’s Southern cooking, Mattingly said, and it adds to the enjoyment of the meal.

“When somebody comes in and wants something interesting, they know that they can find it here,” she said. “We wanted to focus on Colorado beers because they are so good here, but let people have an experience and keep well informed of different beers.”

Krista Driscoll

Hophead

Vail Daily Weekly

Your pint glass is so passe

Aug. 3, 2012

An article appeared on my desk not too long ago, lovingly torn from the pages of The Denver Post, with a headline that implored me to “Shatter those pint glasses, for the love of beer.” In the clip, Josh Noel, of the Chicago Tribune, spelled out the latest step in the ascension of beer culture: glassware.

Noel lamented the fact that though American beer is no longer “largely terrible,” most establishments continue to serve everything from mass-produced domestics to high-octane specialty beers in pint glasses. These glasses are durable, stackable and can withstand the constant abuse of commercial dishwashers and clumsy patrons, but believe it or not, they can actually detract from your beer-drinking experience.

In the 1950s, the idea was introduced to wine-quaffing circles that the size, shape and even thickness of a glass can dramatically change the aromas and flavors that are imparted to the consumer. The father of this radical deviation in drinking was Claus Josef Riedel, a ninth-generation glassmaker from Austria.

Since then, the Riedel company has produced a slew of varietal-specific wine glasses, enlisting help from panels of vintners who compare style after style of glass to determine the perfect vessel for each vintage. So, what does this have to do with beer and, more specifically, the notion that my collection of pints should be pitched off the nearest rooftop?

With the advent of the craft-brewing boom, a few companies started creating glasses specifically for their brews. According to Maximilian Riedel, Claus’ grandson and CEO of Riedel Crystal of America, those original forays into matching a beer with a glass were more marketing ploy than science. This still left a vapid gap between the ever-evolving glassware for wine and the archaic mugs and clunky glasses into which bartenders were sloshing our precious brews. Into this void marched Spiegelau, which is attempting a beer glass revolution in the same vein as parent company Riedel’s mind-blowing epiphany of the 1950s.

Maximilian said consumers in North America are educated about their beer and brewers are starting to demand that the care and quality put into each craft brew be mirrored in the shell that Spiegelau builds to contain it. To accomplish this, the same method is employed with beer glasses as is used with Riedel’s wine glasses. Panels of brewers taste their specific styles of beer in different glasses, narrowing them down to which shapes capture the aromas, which sizes help dissipate the alcohol hit in the bigger beers and which glass thicknesses direct the beer to the proper parts of the palate.

The research has paid off, and Spiegelau now makes a handful of glasses for specific beer styles — wheat, lager and pilsner among them — which have been fine-tuned over the past few years. The latest project for the company is a collaboration with Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head to create an India pale ale glass. I’m looking forward to building a new collection of proper beer glasses as they roll off the line — from now on, the pints will be reserved for vodka root beers and margaritas.

If you want to learn more about the beer-glass revolution, check out the Beaver Creek Wine & Spirits Festival’s Spiegelau beer glass seminar on Aug. 10. For more information or to buy tickets, visit www.beavercreek.com and click on “Events and Activities” and then “Wine & Spirits Festival.”

From the Fridge: Left Hand Milk Stout

As I haven’t yet had the opportunity to grow my collection of beer glasses, I poured this sweet, dark beer into a wine glass. Specifically, I put it in a rose bud-shaped Riedel glass designed for pinot noir. The bell of the glass opened up the flavors of the beer, and the tapered and flared lip concentrated the aromas of cream-and-sugar coffee. If you already have a collection of wine glasses, they can serve in a pinch to elevate your beer. As Noel said, even leaving it in a bottle is better than ruining it in a pint glass.

Glass snobbery aside, this beer is one of my favorite stalwarts of the Colorado brewery compendium. The hue is a deep brown, almost black, with a thick brown head, and the blend of six different malts weaves an intricate pattern below the easy-drinking surface. Left Hand made this beer sweet by using milk sugar, commonly known as lactose, in the brewing process, which gives it a much different aftertaste and mouth feel than other sweet stouts.

Pair this beer with sweet barbecue or chicken and waffles with a giant pat of maple butter. Or bake it into cupcakes with one of the recipes on the Left Hand website.

I dumped this beer from the wine glass into a pint glass just to see what all of the fuss was about. Almost immediately, the coffee and chocolate notes disappeared, leaving behind a sort of flat, milky nose. The pretty head on the beer also receded rapidly. Though still delicious, it proved that perhaps the Spiegelau guys are on to something.

Krista Driscoll

Hophead

Vail Daily Weekly

Nothing’s more American than beer and barbecue

May 25, 2012

This week, we will celebrate Memorial Day. In honor of those who have fought and died for our country, we will partake of the fruits of the very soil they gave their lives to protect — fermented, bottled and paraded across the lawn at Beaver Creek.

Beer and barbecue at Kirby Cosmo's BBQ
Bar in Minturn. Photo by Christian Caslin.

This year, for the first time, Blues, Brews & BBQ will allow co-mingling of beer and brisket. The all-outdoor venue will stretch from the lawn adjacent to the Centennial lift down to the plaza around the ice rink, allowing beer snobs to rub elbows with barbecue aficionados. I’m predicting a chaotic jumble of anarchy — kolschs paired with pulled pork, ribs dunked in brown ales, hot links crammed into mouths alongside IPAs. It’ll be fantastic.

Though touted as an exclusively Colorado microbrew tasting, one curious entry slipped through the chinks in Beaver Creek’s beer festival armor. Scott Gubrud, director of sales and marketing for the Park Hyatt, acknowledged the limitations of the new online registration system. It lacks the checks and balances that would require breweries to be indigenous of Colorado. Thus, we have Brasserie Brunehaut, from Belgium. But Beaver Creek’s marketing foible is a coup for beer lovers.

Charlie Cindric, importer for Brunehaut, said he would be pouring three or four beers, starting with a gluten-free beer that he claims to be the best of its class in the world. Possible hyperbole aside, it’s worth wandering over to get a taste and also to try Brunehaut’s St. Martin Brun and Trippel. St. Martin was originally produced in 1096 as a trappist beer, making it one of the oldest recipes in the world. Cindric said the brown-sugar, caramel taste of the Brun will pair well with the sweet tang of barbecue.

Rockyard Brewing Co, out of Castle Rock, is toting a foursome of carbonated creations up the mountain, starting with Hopyard IPA. Brewmaster Jim Stinson said the IPA has the aroma of skipping through a hop garden and would be a faithful companion to zestier barbecue. He’s also bringing the Scottish export-style Red Hawk Ale, which just won a silver medal at the World Beer Cup in Denver, and his Double Eagle Ale, which he said is good for before or after mowing the lawn. Stick around the Rockyard tent for a couple of deviations, too. Stinson said they’d most likely have Belgian, imperial or super somewhere in the moniker.

Josh Breckel said the brewers at Left Hand are cranking out beer as fast as they possibly can, working their fingers to the nubbins, as my mother would say. The result is that they never know quite what they will have on hand to bring up to Beaver Creek until the last minute. The guys in the warehouse will be picking a few favorites, but Breckel said two brews that will definitely make an appearance are the nitro version of the well-loved Milk Stout and Smokejumper, an imperial smoked porter. Left Hand smokes all of the malt for this beer in house, allowing the brewers to choose a blend of woods that give the exact flavor hit they’re looking for. Smokejumper is an apt choice for a dry year: Left Hand works with the National Smokejumpers Association to raise money for trail restoration.

Other beers to look for: AC Golden’s Colorado Native, an amber lager made with all Colorado ingredients and one of the oldest yeast strains in the U.S.; Bristol Brewing’s Laughing Lab Scottish ale, a malty brew that goes well with heavy, greasy barbecue; and Golden City Brewery’s Clear Creek Gold kolsch, a sessionable, effervescent palate cleanser.

For a full list of the breweries attending the festival, visit www.beavercreek.com and look for the “Blues, Brews & BBQ” link under the “Events & Activities” tab.

From the Fridge: Crazy Mountain Lava Lake Wit

Crazy Mountain will be bringing its Hops of Prey fruit-forward IPA, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades ESB and brand-new summer seasonal Scenic Route Kolsch to the Blues, Brews & BBQ beer festival at Beaver Creek, but I’ve lately been enjoying the sunshine with cans of the brewery’s Lava Lake Wit.

 

Canned beer is perfect for summertime. You can pop it in your backpack to enjoy on the trail, throw it in a cooler for a raft trip down the river or haul it to a softball game by the case. Crazy Mountain began canning its Lava Lake Wit and Mountain Livin’ Pale Ale this spring, completing a trifecta that started with its flagship Amber Ale.

This beer is a golden color with a strong coriander flavor and hints of orange. I was recently cooking an Oaxacan-inspired pork tenderloin with a chipotle-orange sauce and got giddy about grabbing one of these wits to pair with it, only to find that they had all mysteriously vanished from the fridge — or maybe not such a mystery, since I was probably the one who drank them all.

Enjoy this beer with a light conscience: A percentage of all of the proceeds are donated to the Eagle River Watershed Council.

Krista Driscoll

Hophead
Vail Daily Weekly