News
ENLARGE
GQ magazine, arbiter of all things hip, has spoken with its list of "50 Beers to Try Before You Die." What? Only 50?
Many of the 50 will be familiar to fans of craft brews, but it's a good list for newbies to take on. In fact, even serious devotees may find a few they haven't tried.
The ever-expanding Oskar Blues Brewery in Longmont has not one but two beers on GQ's list — Dale's Pale Ale, a hoppy, classic American style, and Old Chub, a malty, Scottish-style ale.
The list made a splash on national TV when GQ's Adam Rapoport and "Early Show" host Harry Smith went through a few on-air. "We saw it on the 'Early Show,' " said Oskar Blues founder Dale Katechis. "I was watching TV with my kids. We were watching, screaming."
There is a dark side, if you could call it that. Oskar Blues, which opened a new brewery in Longmont two years ago, just finished an expansion and plans another later this month. But the publicity produced by the GQ article has stretched supplies to the limit. "The phones are ringing off the hook," said Katechis, whose beers are sold in 26 states. "Distributors are calling. We're juggling beer again. Please don't consider any of that complaining. It's nice to see people enjoying what you do."
The GQ list is wildly diverse, from Belgian wheat beers to hoppy IPAs to Boston Beer's Samuel Adams Utopias, which go for $150 a bottle. Katechis loves the idea. "We just opened a beer bar in Longmont and decided, 'Let's get people into our arena so we can talk to them.' We're not beer snobs. It is a list for anybody thinking about getting into (craft) beer." The 50 "must tries" are online at GQ.com.
The only other Colorado beer to make the favorite 50 was Great Divide Brewing's Espresso Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout. Coincidentally, Great Divide just released another version of Yeti, this one with cocoa added to the oak-aged mix.
Colorado gold
Eleven Colorado beers won medals in last month's World Beer Cup in Chicago, including a gold in the wood/barrel-aged category for Bull & Bush Pub and Brewery in Denver with its The Legend of the Liquid Brain.
It was not an overnight sensation. "We've been doing it for about 10 years," said Erik Peterson, one of two cousins who own Bull & Bush. "We only brew it a couple of times a year." It's hard to find because it must age one to three years in oak barrels before it's ready to drink.
Don't rush down to drink it; there's none available right now. When it comes back, Peterson said, they'll sell 1-ounce samples for a buck with the proceeds going to charity.
Kannah Creek Brewing Co. in Grand Junction also brought home a gold for its Land's End Amber in the German-style brown ale competition.
The barrel-aged category, with 113 entries, was the largest in the World Cup. This year's competition attracted 3,330 entries from 44 countries. A complete list of medal winners is available at brewersassociation.org.
Beer notes
Get ready, beer patriots: May 17-23 is American Craft Beer Week, billed this year as "The Mother of All Beer Weeks." There will be new releases, special dinners and tours to mark the sixth-annual event, sponsored by Boulder- based Brewers Association. . . . Hot, hot, hot: Twisted Pine Brewing in Boulder out this week with a flamethrower beer. Ghost Face Killah is made with six kinds of chiles, including the much-feared bhut jolokia (ghost chile), the world's hottest. "You are left with a very flavorful smokiness," says brewer Jeff Brumley. Probably your tongue bursting into flame. . . . Odell Brewing takes a more traditional route with its St. Lupulin Extra Pale, released Monday: Lupulin is the oil in hops that creates flavor and aroma. . . . This year's Russ Scherer Award, named for the late brewer at Wynkoop Brewing and presented by the Brewers Association, went to Ken Grossman, CEO and president of Sierra Nevada Brewing, for "innovation in brewing." . . . Quotable: "Nondrinker: a weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure." — Ambrose Bierce.
Many of the 50 will be familiar to fans of craft brews, but it's a good list for newbies to take on. In fact, even serious devotees may find a few they haven't tried.
The ever-expanding Oskar Blues Brewery in Longmont has not one but two beers on GQ's list — Dale's Pale Ale, a hoppy, classic American style, and Old Chub, a malty, Scottish-style ale.
The list made a splash on national TV when GQ's Adam Rapoport and "Early Show" host Harry Smith went through a few on-air. "We saw it on the 'Early Show,' " said Oskar Blues founder Dale Katechis. "I was watching TV with my kids. We were watching, screaming."
There is a dark side, if you could call it that. Oskar Blues, which opened a new brewery in Longmont two years ago, just finished an expansion and plans another later this month. But the publicity produced by the GQ article has stretched supplies to the limit. "The phones are ringing off the hook," said Katechis, whose beers are sold in 26 states. "Distributors are calling. We're juggling beer again. Please don't consider any of that complaining. It's nice to see people enjoying what you do."
The GQ list is wildly diverse, from Belgian wheat beers to hoppy IPAs to Boston Beer's Samuel Adams Utopias, which go for $150 a bottle. Katechis loves the idea. "We just opened a beer bar in Longmont and decided, 'Let's get people into our arena so we can talk to them.' We're not beer snobs. It is a list for anybody thinking about getting into (craft) beer." The 50 "must tries" are online at GQ.com.
The only other Colorado beer to make the favorite 50 was Great Divide Brewing's Espresso Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout. Coincidentally, Great Divide just released another version of Yeti, this one with cocoa added to the oak-aged mix.
Colorado gold
Eleven Colorado beers won medals in last month's World Beer Cup in Chicago, including a gold in the wood/barrel-aged category for Bull & Bush Pub and Brewery in Denver with its The Legend of the Liquid Brain.
It was not an overnight sensation. "We've been doing it for about 10 years," said Erik Peterson, one of two cousins who own Bull & Bush. "We only brew it a couple of times a year." It's hard to find because it must age one to three years in oak barrels before it's ready to drink.
Don't rush down to drink it; there's none available right now. When it comes back, Peterson said, they'll sell 1-ounce samples for a buck with the proceeds going to charity.
Kannah Creek Brewing Co. in Grand Junction also brought home a gold for its Land's End Amber in the German-style brown ale competition.
The barrel-aged category, with 113 entries, was the largest in the World Cup. This year's competition attracted 3,330 entries from 44 countries. A complete list of medal winners is available at brewersassociation.org.
Beer notes
Get ready, beer patriots: May 17-23 is American Craft Beer Week, billed this year as "The Mother of All Beer Weeks." There will be new releases, special dinners and tours to mark the sixth-annual event, sponsored by Boulder- based Brewers Association. . . . Hot, hot, hot: Twisted Pine Brewing in Boulder out this week with a flamethrower beer. Ghost Face Killah is made with six kinds of chiles, including the much-feared bhut jolokia (ghost chile), the world's hottest. "You are left with a very flavorful smokiness," says brewer Jeff Brumley. Probably your tongue bursting into flame. . . . Odell Brewing takes a more traditional route with its St. Lupulin Extra Pale, released Monday: Lupulin is the oil in hops that creates flavor and aroma. . . . This year's Russ Scherer Award, named for the late brewer at Wynkoop Brewing and presented by the Brewers Association, went to Ken Grossman, CEO and president of Sierra Nevada Brewing, for "innovation in brewing." . . . Quotable: "Nondrinker: a weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure." — Ambrose Bierce.
