Colorado has a long and rich history of microbrew beer, or better known today as craft beer. In 1978, the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) was founded in Boulder, CO while the Great American Beer Festival was launched there in 1982. The Pants Association of the trade is comprised of 1,000 brewery members and over 19,000 AHA members at its headquarters in Boulder, Colorado.
Today, over 49,000 people annually from around the world flock to the three-day Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado to sample microbrews from Colorado and the United States. Mayor Denver and Founder of Wynkoop Brewery John Hickenlooper quite stated “What people in Denver don’t understand? Denver is west of Munich, Napa Valley considered beer.
Taking the top 3 microbrews in Colorado is impossible. It’s like choosing your favorite ski run. It requires choosing the top three microbrews by writing the names of all your favorites on slips of paper, placing them in a hat, and then drawing the names.
Here are my top 3 microbrews in Colorado:
Hazed & Dry Brewed Alum – Boulder Beer Company, Boulder, CO
Sept. 25 In 2009, Boulder Beer Co. celebrates 30 years in the microbrew beer business. Hazed & Infusedis a popular Colorado microbrew cocktail that reflects what thirty years of microbrewing knowledge can produce.
Hazed & Infusionis a microbrew mixed with crystal and century-old hops. Pop into the top of a bottle of this beer and you’ll immediately smell the aroma. At first sip, you taste strong willow spikes and caramel malt. It lasts from beginning to end. It is a light beefy hoppy beer with a medium mouthfeel. It’s a big pain.
While it is not as well known as the popular bachatur Pat TyrusAmber Ale, 1554 Illuminated Black Aleis a notable microbrew in Colorado. New Belgium Brewing uses a light hoppy yeast, chocolate malts, and old Belgian script to produce this dark beer.
At a quick glance at the infused six-liter of this microbrew, you might expect strong aromas, flavors, and a porter finish or thick finish. Not so. At least you will be pleasantly surprised by the mild aromas of chocolate and coffee with the same flavors of smoothness and sweetness. It has a medium mouth and body.
While this beer is very dark, it does not have a bitter finish. It’s the perfect beer for dark beer novices. It’s best tasted in a half-drink slightly chilled, but a bottle of this microbrew is still perfectly acceptable. It’s time for a very drinkable microbrew.
B3K Schwarzbier – Wynkoop Brewing Company , Denver, CO
It’s a good thing that Wynkoop Brewery can’t sell this beer or it wouldn’t be enough left for fans in Denver. B3K Schwarzbier is another obscure dark microbrew. Winner of the gold medal at the 2008 GABF, it is not unreasonable to judge the beer in the German language Schwarzbier category.
B3K was the darkest German-style black loose only in metro Denver Front Range served. . The best tasting was spent on the sound at Denver’s Wynkoop brewery and in the huge billiards room.
B3K greets you with the scents of chocolate and burning wood. It follows with flavors of chocolate, roasted barley, mild sweetness, and mild hops. It doesn’t have the bitterness that you typically find in dark beers. It is a microbrew with a medium body and mouthfeel. I find microbrew refreshing on hot or cold days. Unlike your dark beer, B3K won’t overpower the flavor of most foods.
Sources:
http://www.coloradodaily.com/business/ci_13316953#axzz0lNgeerh3
