So, I went to this beer tasting event the other night. It was cool and all, but at the same time, beer tasting events are sort of strange. Cram 100 people into a tight art studio with no tables or chairs and make everyone wait in line so that they can get one oz. worth beer. I guess the important thing to remember is that it is a beer tasting event, not a party. It feels like a party, there’s cheese and crackers, everyone looks ready to party, the music is playing and there’s beer a plenty! But, no you can’t drink it. No, you have to wait in an orderly line with your wine glass and schmooze the server for your sample, then get the hell out of the way, because there’s 20 other people in line.

It’s true that I got to taste some very rare beer, but at the same time I only got to sample the beer. No full glasses, hardly a full swallow, then back to the line. Rinse, repeat if necessary.

So, anyway, despite my complaints, I did enjoy myself and here’s a list of some of the beers I tried:

Deschutes - The Dissident (awesome sour. major step up for the brewery. Best of show IMO)
Stone - 2007 Old Guardian Barleywine (Great barleywine, mellow and sweet)
Stone - Cali-Belgique  (perfect blend of cali hops and belgian yeast)
Rogue - Dry-hop Red (fantastic as usual)
Alaskan - Alaskan Barleywine (tasty)
Alaskan - Alaskan IPA (Good nose, medium taste)
Avery - Ellie’s Brown (one of my favorite browns)
Avery - Hog Heaven Barleywine (never realized how hoppy this thing is! wow)
Great Divide - Oak Aged Yeti (still one of the best imperial stouts around)
Oskar Blues - Velvet Elvis (very rare and very tasty mellow roasty stout. mmm)
Stranahan Whiskey (had to cap off the night with a taste)

So you might think I’d be hammered after consuming that list, but, you’d be wrong. I bet I had a beer and a half total.

Posted by mallen | 2 Comments »

What happens when you combine snowboarding and beer? Euphoria. Well, that’s what happens when Ska Brewing and Venture Snowboards team up anyways. Ska brews the beer, Venture brands the beer, they throw a party and everyone has fun. Sounds like a perfect match to me.

The Euphoria Pale pours out a beautiful amber-red. Crystal clear but with a subpar head of foam. The aroma was a bit of a let down. I was bracing for that dank hit of hops, but it never came. Instead, this pale stays with its malty roots and hides its hoppy character behind a wall of grain.

The taste is a different story though. The hops definitely come through with a nice floral note that is sweet and fruity. Its interesting because generally a beer this hoppy is equally bitter. Not here. This thing almost tastes like a lite beer with its lack of bitter notes. It has a lingering passion fruit aftertaste that is really something.

Overall, it’s not what I expected and I’m glad. Too many pale ales seem to use the same recipe. Ska breaks from standard a bit here and ends up with something that ads a slight twist to the old classic. Pick one up, open it up, drink it down. What are you waiting for. 

Posted by mallen | 4 Comments »

I was in Mondo Vino the other night and noticed this beer sitting quietly in the cooler. After careful examination, it became clear that I had to give this one a go. After all, with an ingredient list reading Water, gerstemout, hop, and candijsuiker en gist how could you go wrong?

It poured out aggresive, almost like a champagne. The color is coppery-orange and mighty dirty, we’re talking major chunks suspended in the beer and a thick sludge of sediment in the bottom of the bottle. Don’t grimace, that’s the good stuff! The aroma is yeasty and fruity, with hints of apple and pear.

The taste is typical of a belgian beer. It starts as a complex blend of flavors and continues to get more complex as it warms. It’s nicely carbonated, though smooth to drink. Fruit and spice intermix. Green apple and orange peel mixing with coriander and honey. They claim that the “taste ends with a nice afterglow.” At 10% ABV, I agree, a nice warm finish tops off this festive brew. 

Overall thoughts - With Double and Triple Pale Ales and Imperial IPAs dominating the US breweries, its easy to overlook the growing variety of belgians available. This beer is a perfect example of how creative one can get with a belgian ale. It’s almost completely void of hop flavor, yet it tastes balanced and complete. At $9 for one 11oz bottle, this one is probably a waste for most, however for the guy that has to try them all… It’s worth the one-time investment. All I know, is that after an exhausting day snowboarding in 12+ inches of fresh pow, this thing hits the spot.

Posted by mallen | No Comments »

Well, its been a while since I’ve posted a proper beer review, so here we go. I was in the beer store today and picked up a large selection of new and seasonal beers. Hopefully, over the next few weeks, i’ll get the opportunity to taste them and report back with my thoughts. By the way, if you are ever in the Denver area, you need to check out Mile High Wine and Spirits - it is on the verge of taking over as the best beer store around - at the moment, Mondo Vino still holds the title , but Mile High is now the top contender.

Anyway, here we go. I don’t have too much experience with Port Brewing Company, but so far the beers I have tasted from them are fantastic. This week, I’ll take down the Old Viscosity - a thick, dark beer that has been aged in bourbon barrels. It weighs in at a hefty 10% ABV and sounds too good to be true. The label actually refuses to categorize this beer, remaining aloof with descriptions like “it’s thick, as in my chest just grew a wool coat,” and “It’s dark and sludgy like the old 50w oozing from the crank of that old truck.”

As expected, it pours thick and dark, completely opaque, with a dense creamy head that vanished within seconds leaving behind a glass of blackness. The aroma isn’t quite as strong as I would have guessed - but it has a strong grain backbone, with sweet malty overtones. Hints of chocolate and vanilla prevail.

The taste is phenomenal. It’s thick and rich like chocolate/coffee syrup with a very subtle whiskey/bourbon aftertaste that hits a little bitter in the back of the tongue. The more I drink, the more that subtle whiskey flavor lingers and the alcohol warms the body. Overall, this is one heck of a beer. It could be called a dessert beer, as savoring each sip brings new insight and appreciation. Highly recommended.

ABV: 10.0%

Serving Type: 22 oz. bomber and snifter

Posted by mallen | 2 Comments »

Just in case you missed it, the results have been posted here.

As always, many of these could have been predicted, however, there were several surprises.

California brweries had a strong showing in all the Pale Ale categories, taking nearly every medal except Gold and Bronze in the American-Style Strong Pale Ale category, which went to Hop Bomb, Rock Bottom Brewing, Louisville, CO and the Organic IPA from Hopworks in Portland respectively. It was great to see the Hop 15 take Bronze in the Imperial IPA category, though I was surprised not to see a selection from Moylens make the top three - wonder if they entered any beer. . .

Oh, and wow what a nail-biter in the America-Style Light Lager Category where Coors Light narrowly beat out Old Milwaukee and Keystone in a who-cares-they-taste-like-piss-anyway grudge match.

Other WTF notables are Hurricane from Anheuser-Busch winning gold in American-Style Specialty Lager - anyone out there had a hurricane? Good God, its a 40oz of paint thinner. I think they go for like $1.15 a piece. Hurricane beat out Natty Ice and Busch Ice - glad I didn’t have to judge that one.

Russian River and Dogfish Head both had strong showings placing in several categories. It was also good to see Jolly Pumpkin, Victory, and the timeless Alaskan Smoked Porter make the charts. Several Colorado favorites also made a strong showing, most notably, Sweet George’s Brown from Dillon receiving a gold in English Style Brown Ale and the Fifteen from Avery pulling in Silver in the Experimental Beer category.

I was disappointed that Southern Sun didn’t win anything, but oh well, there’s always next year and despite the lack of medals they remain a local favorite.

Posted by mallen | 2 Comments »

After three big nights of saturating ourselves with some of the finest brews on the planet we decided we needed a break. Especially considering the next two nights were going to be just as big if not bigger (Dog Fish Head and Russian River were in our future!). The biggest event we missed was raiding Greg Koch’s Stone Brewing stash. Every year Greg lets the Falling Rock dip into his private collection of kegs. This year was an ’07 Russian Imperial Stout, a keg of the Alesmith/Mikkeler/Stone Collaboration (which I ended up tasting the next night!), the 10^th Anniversary Ale and a keg of Vertical Epic 08.08.08. It was a hard decision to make, but since this event started at 11pm we decided to recharge for the upcoming nights.

Posted by Jozey | 2 Comments »

Night number three and beerpusher shows up in force. Mallen, Jozey and Jon were all onhand to sample the amazing bounty of brew.  This was a night we were looking forward to.

When I arrived, Jozey was sitting mellow on the leather couch talking to some folks from Oregon. He was holding a glass and there was something dark in there. Hmm. I wandered over to the bar and ordered up a Whiskey Ten Fidy from Oscar Blues Brewery. If you’re not familiar with Oscar Blue, you should be. Famous for their Dale’s Pale Ale, and unique in the fact that they don’t bottle - they only distribute their beer in cans, Oscar Blue is in a world all their own.

The Ten Fidy is usually available in a canned 4-pack for about $12. It’s an Imperial Stout of monumental proportions, so when they announced that they had some that had been aged in Colorado Stranahan whiskey casks, I knew I had to try one out. It was wonderful. The combination was a match made in heaven. Thick and chunky, this one stuck to my ribs all night.

Next, Jozey ordered up a Whiskey Dick, which is the Dale’s Pale Ale aged in the Whiskey Cask. We were a bit disappointed with this one. The combination of hops and whiskey aging, didn’t seem to work very well. The Whiskey flavor pretty much cancelled out the hop taste and what was left resembled a watered down Pale Ale. But, that’s the beauty of this week at the Taphouse, you get to try a lot of experimental brew.

I ordered the Green Flash Le Freak next, which is sort of a Belgian IPA. It was delicious. I usually feel that this style fails due to the hops and belgian yeast competing rather than complimenting each other. But this one maintained the hoppy character and was quite satisfying. Meanwhile, Jozey ordered up the Lost Abbey Witches Wit - typical of Lost Abbey is was full of carbonation with a strong belgian yeast backbone. I only got a sip, but it seemed a bit of a stretch to call this a Wit - not to say it wasn’t delicious.

We then found out from a guy waiting in line at the bathroom that they did indeed have Great Divide’s Titan IPA on cask! So, of course we jumped at the opportunity. The joy of cask beer never grows old. And an IPA of this caliber is a perfect match. It was room temperature, hoppy as hell and wonderful. Everything a cask beer should be. Something about the cask really brings out hidden flavors in the beer. After blasting our taste buds with IPAs the night before, this was a much mellower, flavorful beer that we gobbled up quick.

It was time for a break, so we headed out to Illegal Pete’s for some burritos. Though we had plenty of time, we both were rushing about so as not to miss the 9pm unveiling of Avery’s finest.

Back at the Taphouse, it was finally time. The moment we had waited for. 5 experimental Avery beers there for the taking. So we ordered them up, sat down at a table and meticulously examined our bounty. First up was Bad Sally Batch #2 was first up. This thing had a major Brettanomyces flavor, due to the secondary fermentation, but it also had a smooth bitter hop balance. Someone noted a slightly rotten hop aftertaste, and said it was good.

The second Avery was the Reverend Rare - which is their Reverend aged in an Eagle Rare Barrel. This was one of the favorites. It had a strong caramel body, with a sour malty finish. Stronger than the first, this one just had more to it.

Third, we had the Platypus. Not much was known about this one, someone somewhere heard it was a blend of three or four beers. Overall, our least favorite. Jozey blurted out “wet peaty horse blanket” but for me the words gnarly caramel came to mind. We were anxious to try the fourth.

Oooh boy, we saved the best for last, well at least it was my last. How about The Beast aged in a whiskey cask? Talk about an amazing beer. This thing would turn away probably 95% of beer drinkers out there due to its overwhelming malt and high alcohol content. It’s a lot more like drinking bourbon then it is beer. I would describe the flavor as ultra heavy malt, whiskey vanilla, and tart oak with molasses graham cracker and a dried fruit nose. Sound complex. Yes it was. And in the end this was the best, though I couldn’t drink more than about 4oz.

At that point I headed out, but rumor has it that shortly after my departure, they came on the loudspeaker again and announced the beer I had been most psyched for - the Uberschwein. Oh well, there’s always next year.

Posted by mallen | 1 Comment »

Last night at The Falling Rock was awesome. Jozey and I were sitting outside on the porch enjoying some of the finest brew on the planet and we couldn’t have been happier. The atmosphere was relaxed though there was a buzz in the air and you could tell that people were there to check out the special releases. The presidential debate was playing on the big screen, but the focus was on the beer. Jozey and I had the opportunity to taste a handful of new selections. Here’s how it went down.

First up, I ordered the 2006 Odell’s Imperial Stout and Jozey went for the Full Sail Lupulin Ale. The Imperial Stout was covered yesterday, so I don’t need to review it, but suffice is to say that it was something special. I know this beer is from their small batch series and it tastes great in the bottle, but this was an entirely different animal. The two years of aging turned a good beer into a legend. If I was blindfolded, I would have bet my car that this thing were aged in a bourbon cask. It was awesome.

Meanwhile, Jozey was sipping the Full Sail Fresh Hop Lupulin Ale - part of the Brewmaster Reserve Series. This stinky brew is chock full of Mt Rainier, Cascade and Nugget Hops and the aroma was enough to make any hophead smile. As Full Sail’s Brewmaster John Harris says “The beer isall about hops. It’s wet hopped, kettle hopped, hop back hopped, wet hopped in the fermenter, and dry hopped in the fermenter with 135 pounds of hops per 24 barrel batch. That’s 5.62 pounds of hops per barrel! Expect a bold hop aroma of citrus and spice and a nice caramel flavor with a pronounced citrus character.” Yeah, that about sums it up.

Next up, I had to try the Lupulin Ale myself, and Jozey moved on to The Southern Sun’s Batch 1000. This one may have been the favorite of the night. Served in a half-pint, this thing blew us both away. I haven’t been able to find any info out on the ingredients, but it is obviously an IPA of enormous proportions. The aroma of stinky hops climbed up in my nose and never left. It was oily with hop resin and well balanced with a bitter and slightly malty finish. I have no doubt that this one is gonna win some awards this year at GABF - hopefully availability will increase afterward.

EDIT: I just got off the phone with one of the brewers at the Southern Sun and have a little more information on Batch 1000. It was brewed and named in celebration of their one thousandth batch. Its mostly comprised of 2 Row and Vienna Malt and is liberally hopped with Cascade, Ammarillo and Simcoe Hops. Batch 1000 has an initial gravity of 1.080 and a final of 1.100 yielding a powerful 9.3% ABV. Trust me, you’ll feel the effects of a half-pint. 

After that, I had to order one for myself, and Jozey moved on to New Belgium’s La Fleur Misseur which was brewed to celebrate NB’s 15th Anniversary. Described on the menu as “Pale” and “slighty funky” this one was all that and more. Not quite as sour as its better known cousin, Eric’s Ale, Jozey seemed to enjoy it. Served in a wine glass, it looked delicious.

That about wrapped up the evening for us. We were disappointed to learn that the cask conditioned Titan IPA was all gone, but that’s how it works around here. Some of the selections are only available for a matter of hours. So, as they say, the early bird gets the beer.

Posted by mallen | 3 Comments »

Once a year the Great American Beer Festival comes to Denver, Colorado to host one of the greatest beer festivals in the world. A little secret, which has been catching on slowly, can be found at the Falling Rock Tap House during the week leading up to the GABF. Several of the top brewery’s will dig deep in their collection of kegs and pick out something very special. It might be an imperial stout that’s been sitting for four years or maybe your favorite brown ale that they placed in a bourbon barrel for a few months. Whatever it is, you can be sure that it won’t be at the GABF…only at the Falling Rock. All you have to do is jump on the Falling Rock’s website and you can see what day and time these certain special brews will be unveiled. So what I’m saying is you would have to be a god damn fool to miss this because nowhere on the planet will you find a finer concentration of beer of this caliber.

That being said, last night I went to the Falling Rock to sample brews from Day 1. On a typical Monday night the Falling Rock is a very mellow place, but this night there was definitely a buzz in the air coming from the 70 or-so people in the tap house. They have a ‘Countdown to GABF’ clock on the wall and it was finally reading 0 Months, 0 Days, 0 Hours, 0 Minutes and 0 Seconds. I went straight to the bar and asked my bartender what I need to try. The first brew was an 8 oz glass of Odell’s Imperial Stout from 2006. Two years of mellowing definitely smoothed out this stout and brought out some great chocolaty flavors. I couldn’t believe how much better this 2 year old stout was compared to the un-aged version! Definitely my fav of the night. Next came a double brown ale from Lagunitas. This one didn’t have a name…it was just some random creation from the brewer. This 8% pint smacked me in the mouth with its robust maltyness. Much more alcohol in the flavor compared to the Odell’s stout, but still damn good. My third and final brew for the night was a double IPA from Dry Dock Brewing. They brewed up this batch just for the Falling Rock and it was a nicely balance bitter has hell IPA.

There were several others that I needed to try, but it’s all about moderation during this week, otherwise you’ll blow your load prematurely and miss out on good beer.

Stay tuned for more…

Posted by Jozey | 7 Comments »

With the Great American Beer Festival officially kicking off this Thursday, The Falling Rock Taphouse is THE place to be for anyone interested in the event. Last year, beerpusher tasters were onhand for the event, and this year we will be back.

The Falling Rock Taphouse has one of the most impressive selections of beer in the country and starting tonight they are tapping 10 new kegs of rare beer for us to enjoy. Over the course of the next 6 days they will be unveiling dozens more kegs. Check it out:

Monday Oct. 6th

5 pm GABF Kickoff Tapping Party

Our Countdown Clock reaches Zero and 10-12 Special Kegs Get Tapped. Kegs are an assortment of kegs that I have saved for this event and some sent by the breweries for the tapping party.

Wednesday Oct. 8th

4 pm - Oskar Blues ‘Got Wood ?’

Try out some of Oskar Blues Beers Aged in Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey Barrels.

9 pm - Avery Brewing brings a few unusual experiments to the table.

Ūberschwein (Hog Heaven dry hopped in the keg), Bad Sally batch #2(Salvation aged 6 mos. in oak w/a secondary Brettanomyces fermentation), Reverend Rare (Reverend aged in an Eagle Rare Barrel), Deviation (Kaiser fermented with their Belgian Yeast strain) & Vogelbekdieren (Platypus)

Thursday Oct. 9th

11am-2pm San Francisco Beer Week.

Come try a taste of some of the Bay Area’s Beers & find out more about the SF Beer Week, February 6-15 2009.

10 pm - An Evening with Dan Shelton of Shelton Brothers Imports.

Dan Imports some of the most distinctive and traditional beers in the world. Come & drink things like Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus & Iris on draught as well as quite a few bottled products from his line-up.

11:00 pm - Stone Brewing, Greg’s Stash.

Once again I got to raid Greg Koch’s vintage Cellar for this event. Wanna know what was in Greg’s Stash? How about an ’07 Russian Imperial Stout, a keg of the Alesmith/Mikkeler/Stone Collaboration and 10th Anniversary Ale ? Also we’ll have a keg of Vertical Epic 08.08.08.

Friday Oct. 10th

High Noon - Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale “Kill-a-Keg”

Come help us beat last year’s time of 15 minutes 42 seconds to drain a Keg of Harvest Ale. Harvest Ale was the First “Wet Hop” beer, now in it’s 12th year of production. Always one of our Favorites here @ Falling Rock.

12:15pm Sierra Nevada Chico Estate Harvest Ale.

The Hops for this Harvest Ale were harvested off of Sierra Nevada’s own hop farm on the brewery grounds. Currently around 3 acres with an additional 8 acres being planted this coming year. Only 3 kegs allocated to Colorado, we have them so come & get it !

10 pm - All About Beer Magazine & Dogfish Head “Around the World in 6 Beers”

Taste the flavors collected from all over the planet as represented by some of Dogfish Head’s special beers. Raiso d’Etre, Chateau Jiahu, Midas Touch, Pangaea, Palo Santo, and the all new Theobroma (made with Aztec cocoa powder and cocoa nibs , honey, chilies, and annatto (fragrant tree seeds). Price $10 for a sample of all 6 & a special Glass from All About Beer Magazine

11 pm Alaskan Brewing

The Folks in Juneau Sent us a keg of 2006 Barleywine & the just released 2008 Alaskan Smoked Porter

Saturday Oct. 11th

5pm - Russian River Brewing.

Vinnie & Natalie Cilurzo graciously sent us 2 - 5gal kegs of their new Wood Aged Beer, Consecration, made with Currants & aged 9 months in Cabernet barrels. Natalie says this is her new favorite of the wood aged beers, thanks for letting us have some.

10 pm - New Belgium’s Love Fest ‘08.

This year’s ‘Love’ will be from Foeter #3. It’s really hitting it’s stride. We will also be pouring La Folie, Le Fleur Misseur (New Belgium’s homage to Orval, first brewed for their 15th Anniversary in 2006) & Eric’s Ale (7% Light Colored Sour Ale with Peaches )

Posted by mallen | 3 Comments »