Colorado: Day 4

I will finish this project, though a few happy hours may pass in the meantime. On to day 4, which was brewery-free and when I became 'that guy,' stumbling around the deck and spraying beanbags as accurate as my steps.

I still had a healthy stable of beers I needed to slug, so this night fell on the binge-drinking sword. As you might conclude, the reviews became quite brief toward the end of the night. No matter; I didn't expect any of these to blow my mind. They simply made the cut by being obscure or from a state I hadn't sampled or something I was sure I couldn't get at home.

Cucapa Chupacabras Pale Ale


Brewery: Cerveceria Cucapa, Mexicali, Mexico

Style: American Pale Ale

ABV: 5.8%

Rating: 3 stars




The best Mexican beer I've had. Certainly more flavor than any I'd previously tried. Good sweet smell, with a nice balance of hops and malt. Hints of Summit's flagship EPA, but is a bit sweeter and lacked the back-end bite that I enjoy. Sips were filling and thick, but the beer itself went down quite easily. Doesn't hurt that I love the chupacabra.


Green Flash Hop Head Red

Brewery: Green Flash, Vista, California

Style: Amber Ale

ABV: 6.3%

Rating: 4.5 stars


This is not your average amber ale. Hops are incredibly aromatic and it has the hazy ruby appearance of a sturdy IPA. Really nice amarillo hops, which I believe are grossly underused in the juiced hops era. Does have a sweet malt backbone akin to an amber ale, but the big hops on the lips are the story. I'm starting to like these hopped-up reds; recently had Pizza Port's Shark Attack Triple Red and loved that as well. Liked this equally, if not more, than the brewery's West Coast IPA.


Kona Wailua

Brewery: Kona, Kailua Kona, Hawaii

Style: American Pale Wheat Ale

ABV: 5.4%

Rating: 2.5 stars




Assumed this one wouldn't be great when I bought it, but I'd never had a beer brewed with passion fruit before. Nor had I ever had one with a waterfall-bathing beauty on the label. Oh, and it was my first Hawaii beer. Real fruity sweetness. Wouldn't be able to tell you it was passion fruit but I'll take their word for it. So fruity, in fact, ratebeer classifies it as a fruit beer. Of the American Pale Wheat Ales I've had, certainly not my favorite.



Left Hand Sawtooth Ale

Brewery: Left Hand, Longmont, Colorado

Style: Extra Special Bitter

ABV: 4.75%

Rating: 2 stars




Maybe I had it out for Left Hand Brewing (much like I did for Boulder Beer), but I did not like this at all. Smelled musty and dirty. And this coming from a guy who typically enjoys ESBs. Very bland flavors. Not much to report. Like I said, the reviews shrunk as the night lengthened.



Bridgeport ESB

Brewery: Bridgeport, Portland, Oregon

Style: Extra Special Bitter

ABV: 6.1%

Rating: 3 stars

Much more pleasant than the Sawtooth. Had a brighter, more lively smell than most ESBs. I noted it was "real smooth at this hour." Sure, maybe I shouldn't have been reviewing this many beers in one night. I'll give you that.



Cooper's Pale Ale

Brewery: Coopers, Regency Park, Australia

Style: English Pale Ale

ABV: 4.5%

Rating: 2 stars


Again, purchased knowing it wouldn't be enjoyed. Tasted like grass. A fair amount of hop flavor, but hops that tasted like grass. Worst beer of the night.

After four days:
34 new beers (16 samples, 12 bottles, 3 pints, 2 cans, 1 half pint)
Best beer: Green Flash Hop Head Red
Worst beer: Left Hand Polestar Pilsner

Colorado: Day 3, Part 2

Lost a little steam last night and couldn't finish day 3, which, incidentally, is sort of how day 3 itself felt.

After the Avery excursion, I still had enough juice to cram in a stop at Boulder Beer, but was apprehensive, knowing that the product probably wouldn't match. Maybe I set myself up from the start, but despite its grander exterior, larger tap room and more global following, Boulder Beer is no Avery.

Nine samples for $11. Not bad. Of the nine, I'd had only two (the Singletrack Copper Ale and the Buffalo Gold Ale, both average), so this was a quick way for me to add seven new beers to my index. And of those seven, only two again were above average. A very disappointing collection. So disappointing that it was all I could do to muster some bullet-pointed, four-word reviews of each. In the order that I drank them and with the words used and ratings given at the time:



Pass Time Pale Ale: "Graham cracker? Sweet, but not good. Whatever. 2.5"


Sundance Amber: "Nothing to say. 2.5"


Sweaty Betty: "Frozen pea aftertaste. Banana is there. 2"


Hazed and Infused: "38 IBUs for dry hopped? So subtle. 3.5"


Planet Porter: "Yes coffee. Nothing else. No depth. 2.5"


Mojo IPA: "Tangy orange tangerine. 4"


Cask Planet Porter: "Bigger head. Flatter. Warmer. Less flavor. 2"




So there you have it. Boulder Beer may as well rename itself Boulder Below Average Beer. I'd like to get a bottle of each of these and systematically refute the brewery-given descriptions of each. Ugh.


Maybe I'm giving Boulder Beer a hard time. They were one of the first microbreweries and obviously have had tons of success. The Mojo was delish. They've probably had other specialty beers throughout the years that are worthwhile. I just haven't had any of them. Have and of you?


One final stop for the night at the Mountain Sun Pub and Brewery for dinner and what turned out to be just one half pint of suds. I was stuffed with beer, a bit worn out from the heat and ready for a nap. There were plenty of options to choose from, and I took a stab and went with the nitro tap Illusion Dweller IPA. The results were not what I had in mind. This was not an American IPA, and there was not literature telling me so. Had the sweetness of a British IPA and was flat as could be. There was a certain amount of dry bitterness, but it couldn't offset the sweet flatness. A disappointment and not how I wanted to remember a well-reviewed brewpub.


With that said, the staff was incredible and accommodating, we were greeted with a free appetizer, and though the service and speed were fine, the manager knocked a third of our bill off because of some minor, everyday mishaps. I would go there again if I found myself back in Boulder. And do a little research beforehand.


After three days:
28 new beers (16 samples, 6 bottles, 3 pints, 2 cans, 1 half pint)
Best beer: Avery Hog Heaven Barleywine
Worst beer: Left Hand Polestar Pilsner

Colorado: Day 1

I'd love to tell you I didn't spend 20 minutes trying to think up a more creative title than that, but I don't want to lie. When did title-writing become so difficult? Maybe the better question is when did I start caring? Nobody needs fake chuckles at lame play-on-words headlines. Besides, it's not like any of my readers have a post with a similar title...

The goals of this trip (beyond the obvious family bonding, outdoor adventures, yada yada yada):

1. Visit any number of the numerous--and there are tons--breweries, brewpubs, saloons, gastro pubs, beer bars and watering holes in the central Colorado area.
2. Purchase, consume, ponder and review a wide selection of beers unavailable in Minnesota.
3. Leave with taste buds intact and functioning.
4. Don't alienate and/or piss off family.
5. Don't be 'that guy.'

That's sort of a prerequisite goal of any trip, outing, situation. Has being 'that guy' ever been a good thing? Unfortunately, I believe I became 'that guy,' drunkenly chucking bean bags across the cabin deck by myself well into the morning hours.

Day One.

Missed the 7:15 am flight to Denver. Several reasons. Incredible congestion at airport. One security person funneling all passengers to one bag-checking metal-detecting line. Random bag-check selection. Most remote departure gate. Whatever the reason, the four of us somehow made it onto the next flight when twelve connecting passengers missed their connection. Arrive in Denver around 11 am. Bags, shuttle, rental car, and we're on our way to Boulder, and stop number one: Liquor Mart.

This is what I love about liquor stores, and exactly what I was getting at at the top of this post. Rarely does a liquor store have a creative name, and more often than not, the facade simply says "LIQUOR." They know it, we know it, everyone knows it--you need not say anything more. How many "Liquor Marts" or "Liquor Depots" or "Wine and Spirits" are there in the country? Sure, you could throw your name in front of 'Liquor,' but people are stopping all the same. Why bother?

Liquor Mart was the stop because I read they had the best selection of singles in the area. I was surprised in general at the lack of favorable liquor store reviews in Colorado, specifically Denver. Luckily, Boulder was directly on the way to our destination, and I had a car full of booze-hungry fiends ready to splurge. I picked up a dozen or so single bottles and cans--yes! cans! (20% off mixed six packs!), mostly from mountain/west coast breweries I'd heard of but never tried. I just made my monthly exclamation point quota. Had to grab a Chupacabras Pale Ale from Mexico because I simply love the chupacabra. A label-saver if I've ever seen one.

Before leaving Boulder, we stopped for lunch at the Lazy Dog Sports Grill and Bar. Maybe wouldn't have been our top choice but we were famished and already feeling the one hour time difference. I tried the Lazy Dog Amber, which I later learned was an in-house brew contracted by Firestone Walker Brewing Company in Paso Robles, California. Oh well. It was decent, but really fell off toward the last third of the pint. Ambers are difficult for me. This one was pretty nutty, biscuity (don't like using that word. feels awkward) and had an aftertaste akin to a handful of dirt. My last two comments: "Gets worser and worser. Skunky." Decent may have been overstating it I guess.

Stomachs and trunk filled, we meandered toward the Estes Park area and location of Luther Lodge. Where, it turns out, bloody marys were being served, with Left Hand's Polestar Pilsner as chaser. I believe that was the role this beer was meant to play. I'm not one for pilsners to begin with, but this one was "like gnawing on a sock." Not even worthy of my traditional complaint about lackluster pilsners tasting like grass. No matter, the bloody was putting me in the right place.

Next up was Great Divide's Denver Pale Ale, a malty English pale ale with a bit of a metallic hop finish. I like these beers, but this one wasn't my favorite. Next. A can! I like cans, and I enjoyed canned beers from three different Colorado breweries on the trip. This one, SKA Modus Hoperandi, was my favorite beer of the night. Nice grapefruit hop smell as soon as you crack it. One of the reasons I love cans. You can't crack a bottle like you can a can. That sizzle snap followed by bursting scents is pure and untouchable. This was one of those beers I could tell I was going to love just by its color and how it rolled in the glass. Nice creamy texture; not too thin, and definitely not syrupy, but with enough flavor to satisfy. Terrific pine bitter finish as well.

My final beer of day one was the Alaskan Summer Ale, a kolsch. Again with the styles I don't terribly enjoy. On the night's spectrum, this one fell somewhere in between the Lazy Dog and the DPA. Not skunky, for sure, but not a lot to keep me coming back to the glass. Had a ciderish quality to it, like a sweet, flat British tap cider. I'm not sure the words sweet and flat could be used to describe anything in a pleasant way. Maybe a frosting-slathered graham cracker. Day one in the books.

Catching Up

I wish I could say my neglect of this blog has no correlation to my beer consumption, but sadly, it's direct. Money's going elsewhere, time's being split and I'm once again undergoing a mini-cleanse. I did manage to find a quiet night for the Russian River Consecration I scored from my uber-generous Uncle Mike. A beautiful beer, one that both Kristie and I enjoyed, but one that I simply can't find enough fitting words to review. Maybe someday. It wasn't my favorite beer of the year, but had I had it as one of my first sours, it probably would be. Follow? Anyway, the fact that it had 10% ABV completely blew my mind. Drinking the whole bottle would be quite literally like drinking an entire bottle of wine. Thankfully, Kristie helped out a bit, though I wasn't a huge fan of sharing. A rare treat I hope to enjoy again someday.

Summit Horizon Red Ale


Brewery: Summit, St. Paul, MN

Style: Amber Ale

ABV: 5.7%

Rating: 3.5 stars

New full time release by Summit, had to give it an early test run. Smell reminded me instantly of Bell's Two Hearted, which is always a good sign. The blunt American hops never fail to please. Taste, however, wasn't quite as wonderous. I guess I prefer something a bit more lively, such as the Two Hearted, and this one settles in a little hard for my palate. Maybe that's why I'm not generally a huge fan of ambers. Not lively enough to satisfy my most loyal taste buds, and not full enough to smooth my mouth and stomach with chewy goodness. If you're not following this, I'm not either, so don't worry about it.

Essentially, if I'm going to grab a pint of Summit or pick up a six pack, I still probably lean toward the classic EPA. Never disappoints. The Horizon Red isn't good enough for me to chew on one all evening, and it isn't drinkable enough for me to want to drink six of 'em. Not the most glowing of reviews I suppose.

It took me six months, but you can only hold down a music junkie for so long. And after a dreadful 2008, I'm back on the pulse and enjoying quite a few things these days in the music world. So here's a tiny taste of my picks for the first third of 2009

Rock Compilation Album Division: Dark Was the Night. Running unopposed. Quite a few solid tracks on this AIDS benefit album. Here's my quick list:
"Knotty Pine," Dirty Projectors and David Byrne
"Cello Song," The Books featuring Jose Gonzalez
"Train Song," Feist and Ben Gibbard
"So Far Around the Bend," The National
"Sleepless," The Decemberists
"Hey Snow White," The New Pornographers

But the disc's brightest star is Sufjan Stevens covering the Castanets' "You Are the Blood." Intoxicating.

Concept Rock Opera Album Division: "The Hazards of Love," The Decemberists. Again, pretty much unopposed. Don't love it, but it has its moments, and the thought of devising an entire work of this confusion and depth from one 60s vocal piece is astounding.

Pitchfork Retro Tech Lite Rock Division: "Daniel," Bat For Lashes

Afro Pop Division: "Sabali," Amadou and Mariam

Canadian Synth Pop Division: "Gimme Sympathy," Metric

Obligated by Previous Work Division: "The Palace at 4 a.m.," A.C. Newman

Revenge of the French Pop Rock Division: "1901," Phoenix

Won't elaborate on those, but check 'em out if you wish. More beer SOON.